ILGA-Europe and the LGBTI Support Centre reported five incidents of damage to property, including against community centres and personal property; one incident of threats by a group against a group of LGBT activists; and two physical assaults resulting in serious injuries against transgender people, including one carried out by a group. The organizations also reported an arson attack against an LGBTI support centre.
The OSCE Mission to Skopje and the Macedonian Helsinki Committee reported a series of incidents of damage to property against the LGBT Support Centre in Skopje, including damage to the door and windows, one attack against the centre that put staff present at the time at risk, and a separate arson attack. The Macedonian Helsinki Committee reported a further three incidents of damage to property, including one additional attack against the LGBT Support Centre during gay pride week; a series of physical assaults against LGBT activists by a group, and a further physical assault against a gay man by a group; and one incident where a group of people threw stones at the house of a well-known LGBT rights activist.
The Macedonian Helsinki Committee reported ten physical assaults by groups of attackers causing serious injuries and often involving weapons, including knives and sticks, as well as 46 physical assaults, five of which caused serious injuries. Victims of the assaults were either ethnic Albanians or ethnic Macedonians. In addition, the Committee reported 20 incidents of damage to property, including 13 incidents in which stones were thrown at buses or trains, several of which resulted in injuries, and an unspecified number of additional incidents targeting objects affiliated with ethnic groups. The Committee also reported two incidents of racist graffiti, one each on an Orthodox church and a mosque.
The Macedonian Helsinki Committee reported four incidents of desecration to places of worship.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that swastikas and fascist graffiti were drawn on buildings in the city of Bitola on the anniversary of the deportation of Macedonian Jews to the Nazi extermination camp at Treblinka.
The Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and the OSCE Mission to Skopje set up the "Supporting National Stakeholders in Tackling Hate Crimes and Hate Speech" project. This project's overall goal is to increase understanding and strengthen the capacity of institutional and civil society stakeholders to effectively deal with hate crime and hate speech in accordance with domestic legislation, OSCE commitments and international standards.
The OSCE Mission in Skopje designed and implemented the “Supporting national stakeholders in tackling hate crimes and hate speech” project, which supported the development by the Helsinki Committee of hate crime monitoring activities in the country. Project activities included establishing a website that provides information about hate crime and allows for direct reporting by victims, delivering training for judges and prosecutors on hate crime and, in partnership with ODIHR, delivering training for civil society.
The OSCE Mission to Skopje reported a series of incidents of damage to property against the LGBTI support centre in Skopje, including damage to the door and windows, an attack against the centre that put staff present at the time at risk and one arson attack. These incidents were also reported by the Macedonian Helsinki Committee.
The OSCE Mission to Skopje reported one physical assault against an ethnic Macedonian boy and several additional assaults against ethnic Albanians; several incidents of vandalism; one attempted arson attack against an ethnic Albanian settlement; one incident of vandalism against the statue of an historical Serbian leader; one incident of damage to property against agriculture facilities owned by ethnic Albanians; and several incidents of vandalism to cars owned by ethnic Albanians. The Mission did not provide specific numbers in some cases.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has reported to ODIHR that it does not collect hate crime data.