ZAGREB, Jan 28 (Hina) - The Council of Europe Monitoring Committee in charge of supervising the fulfilment of commitments of member-countries on Thursday assessed Croatia has achieved certain progress, despite war and the burden of
reconstruction and mine clearing, but it "has still some way to go before complying with the commitments it accepted upon its accession to the Council of Europe". The conclusion of the report adopted by the committee in Strasbourg on Thursday welcomed "the progress Croatia has made towards honouring part of its commitments and obligations as a member state". Rapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Marija Stojanova recalled that Croatia had ratified all conventions. Progress has been noted in the fulfilment of obligations from the Dayton and Erdut agreements, as well as in the regulation of relations with southern and eastern neighbour states. The Council of Europe is currentl
ZAGREB, Jan 28 (Hina) - The Council of Europe Monitoring Committee
in charge of supervising the fulfilment of commitments of member-
countries on Thursday assessed Croatia has achieved certain
progress, despite war and the burden of reconstruction and mine
clearing, but it "has still some way to go before complying with the
commitments it accepted upon its accession to the Council of
Europe".
The conclusion of the report adopted by the committee in Strasbourg
on Thursday welcomed "the progress Croatia has made towards
honouring part of its commitments and obligations as a member
state".
Rapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Marija Stojanova recalled that
Croatia had ratified all conventions.
Progress has been noted in the fulfilment of obligations from the
Dayton and Erdut agreements, as well as in the regulation of
relations with southern and eastern neighbour states.
The Council of Europe is currently examining Croatian laws to
determine their compatibility with the Council's principles, the
report said.
Although the Croatian Government's Programme for Return was
described as "a major step forwards", the rapporteurs said "many
measures have still to be taken" to implement the programmes of
return and reconstruction.
The rapporteurs in the conclusion welcomed the solving of financing
the Joint Council of (Danubian) Municipalities and the adoption of
the Plan for Reconstruction.
The implementation of the Programme for Return should gradually
allow the solution of not only easy cases, but also of more
difficult cases such as finding accommodation for displaced
persons living in houses of other returnees.
Among other measures yet to be undertaken in order to spur return is
the "elimination of discriminatory legislation which should be
given priority by both Government and Parliament; the settlement of
property and housing issues; regulation of documentation
requirements; acceleration of the process of reconciliation
between the Croat and Serb ethnic communities, notably through the
reactivation of the implementation of the Programme for the
Establishment of Trust, accelerated return and normalisation of
living conditions in the war-affected areas, which has so far been
disappointing; provision of clear information and transparency in
all amnesty procedures".
Representatives of the Serb ethnic community should make use of the
possibilities to take concrete action on the ground to promote
reconciliation, among others through the National Committee to
Establish Trust and local trust committees, wherever established,
"in which they should participate more actively, as well as the
Joint Council of Municipalities in the Danube region".
Rapporteurs estimated that progress was "less significant" in
respect to other commitments related to the fundamental principles
of the Council of Europe - democracy, rule of law and human rights.
The conclusions state that not one recommendation for amendments to
the electoral laws has been observed.
"The most crucial issue remains the special representational
rights of Croatian citizens living abroad".
Other issues that need urgent attention include minority voting and
the independence and impartiality of the Croatian Radio and
Television (HRT) during electoral campaigns.
"Despite the ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-
Government, there is still no new law on local administration and
autonomy compatible with the charter", the report said.
Problems persist with the administration of justice regarding the
backlog of cases and the enforcement of court decisions.
As regards adopted amendments to the Law on HRT, the rapporteurs
described them as "only a small step forwards", and called on
further consultations aimed at further democratisation of
electronic media.
The report recommends the decision not to privatise the third
channel of the HRT to be reconsidered.
The rapporteurs called on the Croatian Government to undertake
measures to respond to problems created by the monopoly of
distribution of newspapers. "Moreover, state officials should
refrain from using the defamation legislation to intimidate
journalists".
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly should adopt a
resolution at a session in April, on the basis of the report adopted
by the Monitoring Committee.
(hina) lml jn