WASHINGTON, April 1 (Hina) - Last year, Croatia achieved progress in the respect for human rights, but there are still some serious problems in that field, the U.S State Department said in a report on human rights in the world in
2002, which it released on Monday.
WASHINGTON, April 1 (Hina) - Last year, Croatia achieved progress
in the respect for human rights, but there are still some serious
problems in that field, the U.S State Department said in a report on
human rights in the world in 2002, which it released on Monday. #L#
According to the Croatian section of the report, the government
generally respects the rights of its citizens.
Some problems in this field crop up in war crimes trials, and
include discrimination against ethnic minorities, primarily Serbs
and Romany and a step backward in Zagreb's cooperation with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
According to the report, Croatian courts continue to process war
crimes cases trying to de-politicise the cases against Serbs and
launching investigations against Croatian army's members.
The State Department, however, criticises Croatia for cases, the
report says, when Serbs remain in prisons after being sentenced in
non-transparent and politically-motivated trials in recent year.
According to the report, the ongoing reforms in the judiciary have
brought about some improvements.
The State Department admits that Croatian courts have initiated a
series of processes against Croats suspected of war crimes, but it
remains to be seen whether the judicial system is enough capable of
conducting fair and transparent trials in such complex and highly
charged cases, read the report.
The State Department points the finger at the Lora case in which a
local judge, Slavko Lozina, favoured the defence and eight former
military policemen, accused of war crimes. On the other hand, the
trial of the Gospic Group has been cited as a positive example of a
court process conducted fairly and smoothly.
The report added that others problems in the functioning of courts
are political influence, bureaucratic obstacles, a lack of funds
and many pending cases.
As regards ethnic minorities, Serbs and Romany are faced with
serious discrimination and sometimes with violence, according to
the same source.
Serbs in the war-affected areas continue to be an object of abuse,
intimidation and sometimes violence, the report read.
In addition, the restitution of Serb-owned property is slow and
problematic.
Besides, poor economic conditions also slow the process of return
of refugees.
Of 18,396 cases of temporarily occupied houses and flats, in which
mainly Serbs lived before the war, 7,099 are still occupied.
Although many of those temporary tenants have been given orders for
eviction, the orders are seldom carried out in the practice.
The Croatian government, however, has expedited the solution of
applications of ethnic Serbs for assistance in the reconstruction
of their homes, the report read.
It positively assesses the new law on national minorities' rights,
basing its assessment on the remarks the OSCE (Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) gave about that law.
The American report read that the discrimination against the Romany
minority was continuing. According to the 2001 census, there were
9,463 Romany although some estimates put the figure between 30 and
40 thousand. Members of this ethnic group are faced with inadequate
education, problems in obtaining citizenship, and a lack of the
will of the country's authorities to solve their problems.
According to the State Department's report, cooperation with the
ICTY was good until last September when Zagreb refused to comply
with its obligations in the case of retired general Janko Bobetko.
The report doubts about the real efforts of the Croatian government
to nab General Ante Gotovina, indicted by the ICTY.
The report said the freedoms of the speech and press are generally
observed in Croatia.
The report cited the OSCE's concern over the new law on Croatian
Radio and Television (HRT) which might not sufficiently decrease
the parliament's influence on the election of the HRT leadership.
The report criticises Croatia for continued discrimination against
women and for violence in families.
(hina) ms