The Croatian judiciary fails to adequately deal with human rights violations dating from the war, regardless of the ethnicity of victim or perpetrator, AI said in its report for 2006.
The document recalled that according to official data, of 300,000 displaced Croatian Serbs, 125,000 had returned to their prewar homes, but AI noted that this figure was exaggerated.
The report said that Serbs in Croatia remained discriminated against in employment and the exercise of socioeconomic rights, and highlighted the impossibility of returning due to revoked tenancy rights.
The report also noted violence against women and the education of Roma children as problems in Croatia.
The number of cases of violence against women remains very high, the report said, recalling that the Autonomous Women's House Zagreb had reported to the courts the staff of a local social care centre and two judges for failing to protect a 25-year-old woman who was killed by her husband after numerous requests for protection from relevant bodies.
With regard to the Roma, AI said they did not have full access to elementary school education, notably in areas where there are no government or other programmes for the inclusion of Roma children in the local community.
Roma children still face discrimination, mainly due to negative stereotypes, but exclusively Roma classes are rare, the report said, recalling that unlike other minority languages, the Roma language was virtually nonexistent in schools.