The Network for Protection against Discrimination reacts to the physical inaccessibility faced by people with disabilities and people with mobility difficulties in the Municipality of Negotino in the process of collecting signatures for the initiative to hold a local referendum. The purpose of the referendum is for citizens to state their opinions about the announcements for the construction of a landfill for industrial inert waste. The gathering of signatures for the initiative to hold the local referendum, which began on 19 December, takes place on the third floor of the building of the municipality of Negotino which has no elevator. This is why people with physical disabilities, as well as all those who face mobility difficulties, are not able or face serious problems in exercising their right. Moreover, the initiative to collect signatures should last 30 days, but citizens only have 19 working days to support this initiative, due to a large number of non-working days in the given period.
Such treatment by the Municipality of Negotino is discriminatory and contrary to the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, according to which access to infrastructure implies taking appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to public facilities.
We appeal to the Municipality of Negotino to enable people with disabilities to participate in the process of collecting signatures for announcing the referendum on equal terms with other citizens. Equal conditions mean that signature collecting sites should be accessible to persons with disabilities for the entire duration of the referendum. The inaccessibility of the municipal building for these people means a violation of the constitutional right to vote and a deprivation of citizen participation in decision-making. Failing to do so, the Network for Protection against Discrimination will address the competent authorities for protection against discrimination.
We also appeal to the Ombudsman to act urgently and proactively and to request the Municipality of Negotino to enable people with disabilities to exercise their right to vote.
On the eve of the early parliamentary elections we remind the Government of the obligations arising from the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We demand preparation and procurement of the necessary means for people with disabilities to be able to exercise their right to vote unhindered and independently.
LPPD under the microscope: Monitoring the implementation of the new Law on Prevention of and Protection from Discrimination project is financed by the Foundation Open Society Macedonia.
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27 December 2019