Kumanovo, 2 August 2026 (MIA)

Aleksandra MAKSIMOVSKA

On 2 August 1944, in the St. Prohor Pchinjski monastery, at what was liberated territory at the time, delegates to the First Session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) adopted nine historic decisions, four of which laid the foundations of modern Macedonian statehood. Among them was the Declaration on the Fundamental Rights of the Citizens of Democratic Macedonia, a document establishing the core democratic principles on which the new state was to be built.

 At a time when much of Europe was still engulfed in World War II, Macedonian sons and daughters adopted a declaration encompassing fundamental civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Rooted in French legal tradition 

The ASNOM Declaration was inspired by the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It embraces the principle that all citizens are equal before the law and that the state has a duty to guarantee their fundamental freedoms. 

The document consists of eleven articles setting out the principles of equality, legal certainty, the right to property, freedom of conscience and religion, and the freedoms of speech, the press, assembly and association. Thus, the Declaration links ASNOM's state-building commitments with the European tradition of human rights. 

Citizens' rights

In addition to equality before the law, citizens are guaranteed the security of their person and property, the right to own property, freedom of religion and conscience, freedom of speech, the press, assembly, agreement and association. The right to vote is established as universal, equal, direct and personal, and is exercised by secret ballot. 

All citizens aged 18 and over have the right to vote and to stand for election to all representative bodies of the people's government, with the exception of persons convicted of criminal offences, those deprived of legal capacity, and those accused of acting against the interests of the National Liberation Struggle. Every citizen is also guaranteed the right to appeal decisions taken by the authorities, as well as the right to submit petitions and complaints to all state institutions. 

In the area of social and cultural rights, the people's government committed itself to eradicating illiteracy, promoting public culture and providing free education. National minorities were guaranteed all the rights necessary for a free national life, reaffirming the new Macedonian state's commitment to equality among all peoples and nationalities living within it.

Of particular significance is the Declaration's affirmation of equality between women and men, which, in the historical circumstances of the time, represented a revolutionary achievement aimed at overcoming the long-standing subordination of women. 

Adopted four years before the UN Universal Declaration 

The document carries additional historical significance due to the fact that it was adopted four years before the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Several principles that would later become part of the universal human rights framework were already enshrined in the ASNOM Declaration. 

These include equality without discrimination, freedom of thought and religion, freedom of expression, the right to association, universal suffrage, the right to appeal, the right to property and the right to free education. 

Democratic standards in time of war 

The Declaration's significance lies not only in its content but also in the circumstances in which it was created. It was signed on Ilinden, 2 August 1944, at the St. Prohor Pchinjski monastery, by Metodija Andonov-Chento, President of the ASNOM Presidium, and Secretary Ljupcho Arsov. 

At a time of active war and occupation, the delegates did not limit themselves to decisions relating solely to the liberation struggle, but adopted a constitutional act defining the relationship between the state and its citizens. In this context, the Declaration represented a political programme for the future organisation of the state, rather than merely a document of the wartime period. 

Photo: MIA/MIA archive/ Parliament/ "Kumanovo" book by Dimitar Masevski and Miodrag Arsovski-Bolto