The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today concluded its consideration of the combined ninth to fourteenth periodic report of Croatia, with Committee Experts commending the State on increased health insurance coverage for the Roma, and asking questions on the prosecution of hate speech and the segregation of Roma students in elementary education.
One Committee Expert welcomed that the national plan for Roma inclusion included disaggregated health indicators for the Roma, and that health insurance coverage for the Roma had increased.
Faith Dikeledi Pansy Tlakula, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Croatia, said that despite legislative progress, only a few crimes of hate speech had been prosecuted and the provisions on racist motivation as an aggravating circumstance were rarely applied by the courts. Attacks against Serbs and Roma reportedly often went unreported due to lack of trust in the police and judicial system and the lack of knowledge about the complaint mechanism. What capacity building efforts were being taken for police, prosecutors and judicial officers in the area of criminal law relating to racial discrimination, hate speech and hate crime?
Michal Balcerzak, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur for Croatia, said Roma students reportedly still faced segregation in elementary education and the practice of segregating Roma students into separate classes reportedly continued. Why had little progress been made in preventing the segregation of Roma children? What measures had been taken to prevent segregation, reduce dropout rates, and improve access to quality education for Roma students? To what extent was the Romani language used at schools and in State exams?
Tatjana Vlasic, Deputy Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia, said the Roma were among the groups most commonly discriminated against. As many as 46 per cent still lived in spatially isolated and segregated Roma settlements, with much poorer housing conditions and no availability of utility and infrastructural services. Segregation of Roma students in elementary education remained a challenge.
Introducing the report, Alen Tahiri, Director of Croatia's Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities and head of the delegation, said amendments of the Criminal Code from 1997 and 2006, together with amendments of the Criminal Procedure Code from 2009 and 2017, had strengthened the legislative framework for the elimination of racial discrimination. Through these amendments, the concept of a "hate crime" was introduced in Croatian criminal legislation as an aggravating circumstance in any criminal offence.
The delegation said the working group for monitoring hate crimes consisted of representatives of academia and relevant institutions and civil society organizations, including organizations for Roma people. The mandate of the working group included data collection on hate crimes and coordination of policies to combat hate crimes. The police had recorded 55 cases of potential hate crimes in 2022, of which 17 were prosecuted and seven were sentenced. Twenty-five cases of incitement to hate crimes were also recorded in 2022. Judicial academy training also addressed hate speech and racial discrimination.
Mr. Tahiri said a public policy in support of the Roma had been implemented since 2003, and had been improved through independent evaluations since 2015. Although the share of Roma children attending integrated classes ranged from 90.2 to 95.9 per cent, the Government was aware of the regional differences and the specific situation in the Međimurje County. The Government was determined to achieve positive change, undertaking serious infrastructural actions, changing the paradigm behind professional work with the Roma, and making activities and services more accessible to the community.
The delegation added that two million euros had been invested in special measures to promote the education of Roma children. The State was co-financing pre-school education programmes, providing education in Croatian language education for Roma children, and had increased higher education scholarships for Roma students.
In concluding remarks, Ms. Tlakula said the delegation had provided important information on plans to improve the situation of minorities in Croatia. Ms. Tlakula said she looked forward to the next dialogue with Croatia, in which she expected that the State party would report on the results of the various national programmes and action plans in place in support of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Tahiri said, in concluding remarks, that Croatia had undertaken work to fully implement the Convention. Such work was not complete, but the State had made significant strides in promoting the rights of all persons regardless of ethnicity or other factors. The Committee's recommendations would guide the State party's legislation and policy efforts to enhance the rights of ethnic and racial minorities.
The delegation of Croatia consisted of representatives of the Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities; Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs; Ministry of Justice and Public Administration; Ministry of Regional Development and European Union Funds; Ministry on Interior; Ministry of Culture and Media; Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development; Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets; Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy; Ministry on Science and Education; and the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The Committee will issue its concluding observations on the report of Croatia after the conclusion of its one hundred and tenth session on 31 August. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. The programme of work of the Committee's one hundred and tenth session and other documents related to the session can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public on Thursday, 10 August at 3 p.m. to consider the combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic report of Uruguay CERD/C/URY/24-26).
Report
The Committee has before it the combined ninth to fourteenth periodic report of Croatia (CERD/C/HRV/9-14).
Presentation of Report
ALEN TAHIRI, Director of Croatia's Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities and head of delegation, said the Republic of Croatia had come a long way from its first reporting year. It had become a full member of the European Union in 2013, and in 2020 held its first presidency of the Council of the European Union. In 2015, it faced a migrant crisis of unprecedented scale, and had continuously engaged to upgrade its crisis response. In March 2022, the Government introduced temporary protection for displaced persons from Ukraine, which it provided for more than 22,000 Ukrainians.
Crucial, historic work had been undertaken by the Government to ensure the implementation of the Convention. In 2009, the Anti-Discrimination Act came into force. In addition to protecting and promoting equality, it also created pre-requisites for the realisation of equal opportunities and regulated protection against discrimination on 17 grounds, including race or ethnic affiliation, colour and national origin. The Act provided protection against direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, segregation and victimisation. It placed the burden of the proof on the potential perpetrator and allowed for collective protection lawsuits.
Amendments of the Criminal Code from 1997 and 2006, together with amendments of the Criminal Procedure Code from 2009 and 2017, had additionally strengthened the legislative framework for the elimination of racial discrimination. Through these amendments, the concept of a "hate crime" was introduced in Croatian criminal legislation as an aggravating circumstance in any criminal offence. The amendments also established minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and introduced a new mandatory procedure for the individual assessment of victims. The 2021 revision to the protocol on procedures in the case of hate crimes also included an improved recording system of hate motivated crimes. The new protocol allowed for monitoring throughout criminal proceedings and the gathering of data on the motive for the crime and specified the obligations of each competent authority.
The Government had also undertaken efforts to deepen protection, preservation and promotion of the rights of Croatia's 22 national minorities. It had amended in 2010 and 2011 the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities, and introduced the 2011 law on the register of councils, coordination of councils and representatives of national minorities, and the 2019 law on the election of councils and representatives of national minorities. Based on those legal acts, at the 2020 parliament elections, eight minority representatives were elected in the Croatian Parliament. Furthermore, a member of the Italian national minority currently held the position of Parliament Vice President, while the Deputy Prime Minister was a member of the Serbian national minority. In the 2021 local election, a total of 278 members of representative bodies of local and regional self-government units were elected from members of national minorities, as well as 55 deputy heads of municipalities and deputy mayors and 12 deputy prefects.
Since 2017, operational programmes for national minorities had been created in cooperation with members of national minorities. The current level of investment in targeted activities of minority organizations was almost 40 million euros annually. Much more was provided through mainstream and other activities also involving national minorities. The most prominent activities implemented through the umbrella associations of national minorities included honouring the memory of the Roma, Jewish and Serbian victims of World War II concentration camps and historical persecution of Roma (Samudaripen), including through the construction of the Roma Memorial Centre in Uštica and a national ceremony held every 2 August; supporting the commemorations of innocent Serbian victims in the Homeland War; investing in various cultural institutions of national minorities; and ensuring the development of regions with high populations of national minorities.
Mr. Tahiri said a public policy in support of the Roma had been implemented since 2003, and had been improved through independent evaluations since 2015. Recent research showed that 95.3 per cent of Roma children were engaged in primary school education, and that in comparison with 2019, the rate of severe material deprivation of Roma as well as in the share of Roma deprived of housing had decreased by 47 per cent. Furthermore, the share of the population with access to drinking water had increased by 14 per cent, and the population at risk of poverty had decreased by seven per cent. Although the share of Roma children attending integrated classes ranged from 90.2 to 95.9 per cent, the Government was aware of the regional differences and the specific situation in the Međimurje County. The Government was determined to achieve positive change, undertaking serious infrastructural actions, changing the paradigm behind professional work with the Roma, and making activities and services more accessible to the community.
The Government had adopted in March 2023 the national plan for the protection and promotion of human rights and combatting discrimination for the period until 2027, with two accompanying action plans. The new policy aimed to ensure coordinated action of state administration bodies and to supplement existing sectoral policies, as well as to raise the level of knowledge and awareness of equality and ensure the overall exercise of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and international treaties, including the Convention.
Deeply aware of the horrors of war and its consequences, the Government was determined to preserve the memory and commemorate the victims of all crimes based on ethnic, racial or national grounds. This determination had been vividly shown though Government actions and the pledges of the Republic as a presiding and committed member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Opening Statement by National Human Rights Institute
TATJANA VLASIC, Deputy Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia, said the Ombudswoman of Croatia was an independent institution that was especially and legally entrusted with fighting discrimination. It handled complaints of discrimination and conducted field visit research, training, awareness raising, strategic litigation in discrimination cases and annually submitted reports to the Croatian Parliament, including on the state of non-discrimination and equality. The largest number of complaints had traditionally been received in relation to discrimination on the ground of racial or ethnic origin from Roma, Serbians and migrants, and they related largely to labour and employment.
The Roma were among the groups most commonly discriminated against; 92.3 per cent of the Roma were poor, while about 70 per cent of Roma families lived in extreme poverty. As many as 46 per cent still lived in spatially isolated and segregated Roma settlements, with much poorer housing conditions and no availability of utility and infrastructural services. Segregation of Roma students in elementary education remained a challenge. The Ombudswoman had recommended the creation of an action plan for desegregation, which had not yet been done. This practice was being carried out in 10 elementary schools, half of which were located in Međimurje county. In addition to segregated classes, there were two completely segregated district schools. Data showed that Roma students attending segregated classes had weaker educational outcomes.
Members of the Serbian national minority and persons of Serbian origin were still exposed to prejudice and negative sentiments in the public. Serbians who returned to their pre-war residences were vulnerable to discrimination. Croatia still did not have a migration or integration policy in place. There was a lack of systematic integration measures, including in providing Croatian language courses, housing, employment and education, as well as access to the health care system.
Questions by Committee Experts
FAITH DIKELEDI PANSY TLAKULA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Croatia, said today was national women's day in South Africa, and she welcomed the high representation of women in the delegation. The report covered the period of 2007 to 2018. She asked the delegation to provide updated information.
The common core document had not been updated and was based on the 2001 census. When would the State party draft the updated common core document to reflect the population demographics of the 2021 census? The 2001 census provided the demographic composition of the population disaggregated according to ethnic origin, and in the 2011 census, an individual was freely able to declare his or her ethnic affiliation in line with the principle of self-identification. In this census, there was an increase in the number of individuals who identified as belonging to a region (primarily Istrians), followed by Bosniaks and Roma. What had been the main changes in the ethnic population found in the 2021 census?
The Committee asked for disaggregated data on the economic and social indicators of the various minority groups living in the territory, and updated statistics on migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons. The Committee noted the application of the principle of self-identification, as it recommended in its previous concluding observations. What methodology did the 2021 census use? The number of citizens who self-identified as Serbs had reportedly decreased from 4.36 per cent in 2011 to 3.2 per cent in 2021, and this decrease was reportedly related to prejudice towards Serbs. Could the delegation comment on the decrease?
The Committee noted the adoption of the national anti-discrimination plan of 2017-2022 and the action plan of 2019, and of the national plan for the protection and promotion of human rights and combatting discrimination 2022-2027 and its two action plans in March 2023. Reportedly only a small number of activities in the 2019 action plan were implemented. What results had the plan achieved, and had an official evaluation been carried out? What was the consultation process with civil society organizations in the drafting of the 2022-2027 national plan? How would the Government ensure its effective implementation?
Representatives of local authorities in self-government units reportedly failed to implement measures to combat discrimination, impeded them and treated Serbian national minorities unequally. This was especially the case in areas that were exposed to direct armed conflict during the 1990s. For example, the mayor of Vukovar rejected the June 2019 decision of the Constitutional Court calling for the urban authorities to respect the right to equal use of the Serbian language and scripts within the city. What action was taken against this mayor? How did the Government ensure the full implementation of anti-discrimination legislation and policies, especially at the local level? The Committee took note of the adoption of special measures concerning the preferential employment of members of national minorities in the public sector. Had special measures in other areas been adopted or planned? Were members of national minorities consulted regarding these measures?
Despite legislative progress, only a few hate-motivated crimes of hate speech had been prosecuted and the provisions on racist motivation as an aggravating circumstance were rarely applied by the courts. Attacks against Serbs and Roma reportedly often went unreported due to lack of trust in the police and judicial system and the lack of knowledge about the complaint mechanism. How many complaints had been received by courts or national institutions regarding acts of racial discrimination, racist hate speech and racist hate crimes? Could the delegation provide examples of court cases where hate crimes or racist motivation were considered as aggravating circumstances? What capacity building efforts were being taken for police, prosecutors and judicial officers in the area of criminal law relating to racial discrimination, hate speech and hate crime. What was the mandate, composition and activities of the working group on hate crimes monitoring of 2021? How was the Government raising public awareness regarding complaints mechanisms related to hate speech and hate crimes?
