The associations urged the public broadcaster and the human rights watchdog to protect them from "media-led persecution to which they are systematically exposed by being put in the context of corruption and portrayed as privileged beneficiaries of the state budget".
The associations noted that a majority of war veterans were employed and exercised their right to work under the same conditions as all other citizens.
"Only a small number of Croatian war veterans, namely some 10 percent, use some of the rights set out in the law regulating veterans' rights, which has been repeated on many occasions."
"This fact is deliberately ignored in the media given that citing the figure of half a million war veterans is more interesting to the media and more sensational than the truth," the associations said.
They also accused the media of harming the dignity of war veterans and their families by creating for no reason a negative image of Croatian veterans through superficial, ill-intended and groundless reports and thus inciting hate speech.
The associations said they were willing to talk with the HRT and HHO representatives about these problems to stop media-led persecution and to ensure the reporting war veterans deserved.