CCPR/C/79/Add.96 page 2 inhibits individuals from impugning State actions through the courts and other agencies established for the purpose, and through the Optional Protocol. Continuing ethnic tensions, particularly concerning the Albanian minority, also remain a matter of major concern. C. Positive aspects 4. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is attempting to ensure the protection accorded under the Covenant to its population in a period of fundamental change of political and economic systems and a redefinition of State institutions. It observes that the level of that protection has been further reinforced by the ratification of the two Optional Protocols to the Covenant. 5. The Committee welcomes the fact that, by virtue of article 118 of the Constitution, the Covenant is a part of the internal legal order which cannot be changed by domestic legislation, and that its provisions may be directly invoked before the courts. 6. The Committee welcomes the commitment made by the State party to proceed with the reform of the judicial system and of the system of penitentiary institutions. 7. The Committee considers the passage of the Law on the Ombudsman in February 1997 and the subsequent appointment by the Parliament of the Ombudsman as an important element in the building of an effective system of institutional protection of Covenant rights. 8. The Committee commends the State party for the enactment of legislation designed to comply with the anti-discrimination provisions of the Covenant (arts. 2, 20, 26 and 27), including the Act on Public Information, the Act on Telecommunications and the Law on Broadcasting, which prohibit the use of mass media to incite national, racial or religious hatred or intolerance; the Act on Political Parties, which prohibits the establishment of parties whose aim is the incitement to national, racial or religious hatred and intolerance; the Act on Social Organizations and Citizens' Associations, which also prohibits activities that violate human rights or encourage national, racial or religious hatred or intolerance; and the Assembly Declaration of 1997 on the promotion of inter-ethnic relations. 9. The Committee also commends the State party for its cooperation with non-governmental organizations and foundations, including the Macedonia Center for International Cooperation, the Open Society Institute, and women's organizations. It further welcomes the dissemination given to the Covenant and the Optional Protocol in the Macedonian language and in the languages of the ethnic minorities. D. Principal subjects of concern and the Committee's recommendations 10. The Committee expresses serious concern at ethnic violence involving the police in Gostivar on 7 July 1997, in the course of which three persons lost their lives and hundreds were wounded. It is also concerned at indications