Drugo službeno mišljenje o RH

Zajednica Srba Rijeka

Community of Serbs in Rijeka

Trg Sv. Barbare

51000 Rijeka

Hrvatska

tel. ++385 51 / 330 - 867

fax. ++385 51 / 330 - 873

e-mail: vsnm-ri@net.hr

Vijeće srpske nacionalne manjine

za Grad Rijeku

City Council of Serb National Minority Rijeka

Strasbourg, 13 April 2005

ACFC/INF/OP/II(2004)002

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES

Second Opinion on Croatia,
adopted on 01 October 2004

Table of contents:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Croatia has taken a number of steps to improve the implementation of the Framework Convention following the adoption of the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee in April 2001 and the Committee of Ministers’ Resolution in February 2002. This process has included important changes in both legislation and practice, and it has been facilitated by an increased dialogue between the authorities and representatives of national minorities.

There remain nevertheless problems in putting the new legal guarantees into practice. For example, the participation of national minorities in the judiciary and in administrative bodies is not yet adequate. The authorities should also pay more attention to the protection of minority languages in particular at the local level.

The work to remove obstacles to the return of persons belonging to the Serbian national minority to Croatia must be continued, and ethnic discrimination needs to be tackled more vigorously. Roma continue to face various problems and therefore the commendable initiatives in the National Programme for the Roma should be carried out without any undue delays.

SECOND OPINION ON CROATIA

1. The Advisory Committee adopted the present Opinion on 1 October 2004 in accordance with Article 26 (1) of the Framework Convention and Rule 23 of Resolution (97) 10 of the Committee of Ministers. The findings are based on information contained in the State Report (hereinafter the State Report), received on 13 April 2004, and other written sources and on information obtained by the Advisory Committee from governmental and non-governmental contacts during its visit to Zagreb and Vukovar from 6-10 September 2004.

2. Section I below contains the Advisory Committee’s main findings on key issues pertaining to the implementation of the Framework Convention in Croatia. These findings reflect the more detailed article-by-article findings contained in Section II, which covers those provisions of the Framework Convention on which the Advisory Committee has substantive issues to raise.

3. Both sections make extensive references to the follow-up given to the findings of the first cycle of monitoring of the Framework Convention, contained in the Advisory Committee’s first Opinion on Croatia, adopted on 6 April 2001, and in the Committee of Ministers’ corresponding Resolution, adopted on 6 February 2002.

4. The concluding remarks, contained in Section III, could serve as the basis for the Committee of Ministers’ forthcoming conclusions and recommendations on Croatia.

5. The Advisory Committee looks forward to continuing its dialogue with the authorities of Croatia as well as with representatives of national minorities and others involved in the implementation of the Framework Convention. In order to promote an inclusive and transparent process, the Advisory Committee strongly encourages the authorities to make the present Opinion public upon its receipt.

I. MAIN FINDINGS

Monitoring process

6. Croatia has pursued a constructive approach to the monitoring process under the Framework Convention. It agreed to early publication of the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee and it was one of the first countries to host a follow-up seminar to discuss, with national minorities and representatives of the Advisory Committee, how these results could be put into practice. Also, several additional seminars on national minorities organised in Croatia have helped to raise awareness of the Framework Convention.

7. The authorities have continued to apply an inclusive approach in drafting the State Report, by consulting representatives of national minorities and by including some of their concerns in the Report. This is a welcome method of working but it merits being developed further, taking into account that some relevant non-governmental organisations maintain that the consultations should have been more inclusive and that the resulting State Report should have reflected their concerns more fully.

General legislative framework

8. Since the adoption of the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee, Croatia has improved markedly its legal framework concerning the protection of national minorities. The most significant step was the adoption, after repeated delays, of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities in 2002. The Constitutional Law is in general a good legal framework for the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, including persons belonging to numerically small groups, and it addresses a number of legal gaps and inadequacies identified in the first cycle of monitoring of the Framework Convention, including in the field of participation of national minorities in decision-making processes.

Participation

9. The Constitutional Law has resulted in clear improvements, inter alia, in the participation of national minorities in Parliament and in local councils along the lines recommended by the Advisory Committee in its first Opinion on Croatia. In addition, the newly-established councils of national minorities can have an important role in the implementation of Article 15 and other principles of the Framework Convention, provided they develop into bodies with wide support amongst communities they represent and provided they have a clear role as well as the capacity and resources to provide significant and constructive input to the relevant decision-making processes.

10. The implementation of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities has, however, been regrettably slow in some other key areas of participation. Shortcomings are particularly manifest as regards the participation of persons belonging to national minorities in the state administration and judicial bodies, where the monitoring of the current situation and the implementation of the legal guarantees are yet to be developed. Shortcomings in this sphere – which the Advisory Committee highlighted already in the first monitoring cycle – continue to impair the implementation of the rights contained in Article 15 and other provisions of the Framework Convention and merit more urgent attention by all bodies involved in judicial and other appointments. This issue also requires further attention by the relevant authorities in the design and implementation of related legislation, policies and practices.

11. Shortcomings in the effective participation in economic life, identified in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee as an issue of serious concern, continue to be a problem for many persons belonging to national minorities. This is in many cases due to the fact that persons belonging to national minorities reside in areas with particularly serious economic problems and high unemployment affecting both the majority and minority population. These geographic areas merit particular attention in terms of the preparation, implementation and assessment of various development programmes, to which persons belonging to national minorities should be associated.

Return process

12. Croatia has made real progress in addressing a number of problems relating to the return process identified in the first cycle of monitoring of the Framework Convention. For example, persons belonging to national minorities have been given improved access to reconstruction programmes and senior public officials have made laudable statements encouraging persons belonging to national minorities to return to Croatia. There are, however, still real obstacles hindering sustainable return of persons belonging to the Serbian national minority, such as incidents of hostility in certain localities and remaining housing concerns, including those involving former tenancy rights holders. The authorities should pursue their commitment to resolve these outstanding issues with vigour and do their utmost to make sure that their support for the return process is felt also at the local level in accordance with Article 6 and other principles contained in the Framework Convention.

Discrimination

13. Croatia has taken steps to develop its legal framework to combat discrimination following the recommendations by the Advisory Committee in the first monitoring cycle. In the light of the credible reports of discrimination in the field of employment, the amendments to the Labour Code, adopted in 2003, prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination, are particularly important and their enforcement needs to be pursued and monitored vigorously. In order to improve further the implementation of Article 4 of the Framework Convention, the legislative work in this sphere needs to be continued and, taking into account the lack of reliable statistics, enhanced methods of monitoring developments in this field should be introduced.

Role of the judiciary

14. The judiciary has a key role in ensuring that the rights contained in the Framework Convention are implemented. It is therefore imperative that the reported shortcomings in this sphere, ranging from serious backlogs to ethnic bias within certain courts of first and second instance, are addressed through training and other initiatives. It is to be hoped that the concentration of war crimes trials in selected courts of general jurisdiction will lead to improvements in the procedures. In this connection, the rights of persons belonging to the Serbian national minority should be fully protected. Improvements in the representation of persons belonging to national minorities within the judiciary would also be likely to contribute to confidence by persons belonging to national minorities in the judiciary.

Office of the Ombudsman

15. The important work of the Ombudsman’s office in the field of discrimination and other human rights issues linked to the implementation of the Framework Convention needs to be better recognised. The office should be provided with additional support and its presence in the regions where minorities reside compactly should be consolidated.

Citizenship

16. Those persons belonging to national minorities who have no confirmed citizenship status are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and other human rights problems. Croatia should address such human rights concerns and take further steps to regularise the status of these individuals. In this connection, Croatia should ensure that the citizenship criteria and the citizenship process in general do not contain undue obstacles and take better into account the particular challenges, pointed out already in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee, that many Roma, women in particular, and persons belonging to other national minorities continue to face in terms of obtaining documentation and meeting other conditions. In these circumstances, it is important to ensure that the Croatian legislation and practice pertaining to national minorities, including the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities, contain no undue citizenship requirements.

Education

17. The Croatian Law on Education in Languages and Scripts of National Minorities provides a number of valuable elements in terms of the implementation of the rights contained in Articles 12 and 14 of the Framework Convention. However, it does not provide clear conditions and procedures for the implementation of educational models envisaged in the law, including the establishment of schools with education in minority languages. The resulting legal uncertainty, which was pointed out already in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee, is compounded by the disputes as to the respective responsibilities of state, county and municipal authorities for such schools. Clarification of the applicable rules and responsibilities would be valuable, including in solving the existing disputes in relation to Serbian language schools in Vukovar. This should be done in a manner in which the legitimate concern for inter-ethnic dialogue is balanced with the need to ensure that minority language education is organised in accordance with the law and the principles contained in the Framework Convention, taking into account the existing demand.

18. The lack of up-to-date textbooks in some minority languages, noted as an issue of concern in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee, continues to hamper the implementation of Articles 12 and 14 of the Framework Convention. The authorities should redouble their efforts in this sphere in order to address this problem, including through bilateral co-operation.

Use of minority languages in relations with administrative authorities

19. The Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities expanded the right to use minority languages in contacts with administrative authorities and thereby strengthened the legal guarantees for the implementation of Article 10 of the Framework Convention, along the lines suggested by the Advisory Committee in the first monitoring cycle. The new legal guarantees have, however, not been properly implemented in all relevant units of self-government, and the authorities at all levels should take more proactive measures to ensure that throughout Croatia local statutes and practices are in full compliance with the law.

Data collection

20. The adequate implementation of minority rights requires in many fields data on the number of persons concerned, and in this respect the 2001 population census of Croatia was of central importance as was highlighted in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee. The reliability of the census results, which show a drastic decrease in the number of Serbs and certain other national minorities in relation to the previous census, has however been contested by many representatives of national minorities. It is alleged that fear of discrimination prompted many to hide their minority identity and that persons belonging to national minorities of Croatia who resided outside the country were not adequately included in the census process. Independent research, including that launched by the Council for National Minorities, to analyse the census process and its results, merits support as it could be a valuable way to address the concerns expressed and to identify ways of collecting supplementary data on national minorities in accordance with Article 3 and other articles of the Framework Convention.

The National Programme for the Roma

21. Croatia has adopted a National Programme for the Roma, as was recommended in the first Opinion of the Advisory Committee. The drafting process was inclusive and the Programme contains a range of commendable initiatives aimed at preventing ethnically motivated hostility and improving the protection of the rights of Roma in education, employment, health and other key sectors where they face considerable problems. While some selected elements of the Programme have been launched and while there is a clear commitment to it in certain parts of the administration, stronger financial and other support is required for its overall implementation and for the Programme to yield tangible improvements in the protection of Roma. This should be facilitated through evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of the Programme, in accordance with set time-framed targets.

II. ARTICLE-BY-ARTICLE FINDINGS

ARTICLE 3 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION

Constitutional definition of the term national minority

Findings of the first cycle

22. In its first Opinion on Croatia, the Advisory Committee regretted that only some of the national minorities covered by the Constitutional Law on National Minorities were explicitly mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution of Croatia while the rest were referred to as “others”, and it noted that this limited listing was reflected in the electoral system of the country.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

23. The list contained in the preamble of the Constitution remains unchanged. However, the new Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities does not contain any list of national minorities but defines, in its Article 5, in general terms the Law’s personal scope of application. Furthermore, 12 national minorities not mentioned in the preamble of the Constitution were included in 2003 in the scope of Article 16 of the Law on Election of Representatives to the Croatian Parliament concerning representation of persons belonging to national minorities in the legislature. This is a welcome development (see also related comments under Article 15 below).

b) Outstanding issues

24. While the legal impact of the inclusion or non-inclusion of a national minority in the said listing has thereby been diminished, it continues to carry symbolic significance amongst the national minorities concerned.

Recommendations

25. The authorities should take seriously the concerns expressed by those persons belonging to national minorities who are not explicitly mentioned in the preamble to the Constitution. The authorities should also make sure that the implementation of the norms pertaining to the rights of persons belonging to national minorities covers all national minorities protected in accordance with the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities.

Citizenship criterion in the definition of the term national minority

Findings of the first cycle

26. In its first Opinion on Croatia, the Advisory Committee encouraged the authorities to include persons belonging to additional groups, including non-citizens as appropriate, in the application of the Framework Convention on an article-by-article basis.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

27. The Advisory Committee welcomes the fact that the Croatian authorities have, in the course of the monitoring exercise under the Framework Convention, engaged in dialogue with the Advisory Committee also on the protection of individuals who do not have confirmed citizenship of Croatia.

b) Outstanding issues

28. The Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities could be interpreted as providing an a priori exclusion of non-citizens from its scope of application: It defines in general terms under Article 5 the term national minority for the purposes of the said law as a “group of citizens whose members traditionally inhabit the territory of the Republic of Croatia, its members having ethnic, linguistic, cultural and/or religious characteristics different from other citizens and are led by the wish to preserve these characteristics” (emphasis added). Furthermore, Article 4 of the Constitutional Law states that every “citizen of the Republic of Croatia has the right to declare freely to be a member of a national minority” (emphasis added).

29. The Advisory Committee agrees that a citizenship criterion can be a legitimate requirement in relation to certain measures taken in accordance with the principles of the Framework Convention. This is the case for example as regards provisions guaranteeing minority representation in the legislature, in accordance with the Constitutional Law and the Law on the Election of Representatives to the Croatian Parliament. A generally applicable citizenship criterion is, however, problematic in relation to guarantees in some other key fields covered by the Framework Convention, such as non-discrimination and education, especially taking into account that a number of Roma and other persons affiliated with national minorities reside in Croatia without a confirmed citizenship and have had difficulties in acquiring citizenship (see related comments under
Article 4 below).

Recommendations

30. Croatia should consider amending the Constitutional Law on National Minorities in so far as it provides an a priori exclusion of non-citizens from its scope and the authorities should ensure that in the relevant sectoral legislation and practice such a requirement is invoked judiciously and only in cases where it pursues a legitimate aim.

Data collection

Findings of the first cycle

31. In its first Opinion on Croatia, the Advisory Committee encouraged the authorities to ensure that collection of data on individuals’ affiliation with national minorities be coupled with adequate legal safeguards and that the right not to be treated as a person belonging to a national minority is also protected.

32. As regards the population census of 2001, the Advisory Committee expressed the hope that it would result in accurate statistics and that persons belonging to national minorities of Croatia who reside outside of Croatia would have the possibility of taking part in the census.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

33. Croatia has improved guarantees pertaining to data collection, notably by adopting the Law on the Protection of Personal Data in 2003. The authorities are also committed to following the principles of Article 3 of the Framework Convention in the on-going process of setting up a central registry of civil servants, which will contain confidential information on the civil servants’ affiliation with a national minority only if the individuals concerned so wish.

b) Outstanding issues

34. The 2001 census results have a direct impact on the implementation of some of the provisions of the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities and of several other key laws, including the Law on the Official Use of Minority Languages and Scripts and the Law on Local Elections. The results showed a drastic decrease in the number of persons declaring that they belong to a national minority in relation to the 1991 census, including as regards the Serbs (whose share of the population dropped from 12.2% to 4.54%), Hungarians (from 0.5% to 0.37%) and Slovenes (from 0.5% to 0.3%) and Ukrainians (from 0.1% to 0.04%). While no detailed research on the issue is yet available, it is clear that the reductions appear to reflect in part the demographic changes that have occurred, including as a result of the war. It should however also be noted that conduct of the census itself has been the subject of criticism, including as regards the limited extent to which those Croatian Serbs who currently reside outside the country were included in the census and the extent to which Roma and other national minorities were involved in the process, for example, as census takers. It also appears likely that some participants decided to use their right not to reveal their affiliation with a national minority due to their past experience of discriminatory practices or hostility towards certain national minorities.

35. The Council for National Minorities has concluded that various factors around the census results merit being examined further and it has launched an independent research project to analyse the census process and its results. This may provide important results that could help to address the concerns expressed and to identify ways to obtain additional disaggregated data on national minorities in accordance with Article 3 of the Framework Convention.

Recommendations

36. The Croatian authorities should support independent research, including the research launched by the Council for National Minorities, to analyse the census process and its results. Results of such research could be used to address concerns expressed in relation to the census and to identify ways to obtain increasingly reliable and up-to-date disaggregated data on national minorities in accordance with Article 3 of the Framework Convention. At the same time, the authorities should ensure that the census results are not given undue weight in the design and implementation of minority policies.

Status of Muslims

Present situation

a) Positive developments:

37. Persons identifying themselves as Bosniacs were for the first time categorised as such in the 2001 census results, after having been previously placed in the census results under the category “Muslims”. This is a development to be welcomed in the light of Article 3 of the Framework Convention.

b) Outstanding issues

38. It appears that the status of Muslims has not been clearly addressed. The number of those who declared their “nationality” as Muslims (19,677) was included, not in the list of national minorities, but as a “note” to the official census results¹. It remains unclear to what extent they are entitled, in the view of the authorities, to the protection of the Framework Convention and have the right to invoke provisions contained in the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities, including those pertaining to councils of national minorities.

Recommendations

39. The authorities should clarify, in co-operation with the persons concerned and taking into account the results of research on the census, their approach to the category “Muslims” in a manner which accords with the right to self-identification under Article 3 of the Framework Convention.

ARTICLE 4 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION

Legislative developments in the field of discrimination

Findings of the first cycle

40. In its first Opinion on Croatia, the Advisory Committee called on the authorities to ensure that rules concerning implementation of legislation contain no discriminatory provisions and that efforts should be taken to develop anti-discrimination legislation to cover all relevant societal setting.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

41. Croatia has adopted improved guarantees against discrimination and intolerance through amendments to the Criminal Code, adopted in 2003 and 2004, as well through amendments to the Labour Code, adopted in 2003, prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination and it has addressed problems related to certain normative acts containing discriminatory provisions.

b) Outstanding issues

42. A lack of detailed legislation against discrimination persists in certain key fields, such as education and housing.

43. Another problem is that the authorities do not possess adequate data on the implementation of the laws pertaining to discrimination, including on the number of civil and criminal cases brought before the judiciary and information on the resulting decisions. The overall impression is however that the relevant legislation is rarely invoked in comparison to the minorities’ estimates of the actual number of cases involving discrimination, notably as regards Roma and Serbs.

Recommendations

44. The authorities should develop further non discrimination legislation in key fields such as education and housing. Croatia should also introduce enhanced and inclusive methods of monitoring developments in this field.

Repossession of property

Findings of the first cycle

45. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee encourages the authorities to address discrimination that was particularly prevalent in the context of return of persons belonging to national minorities, including in decisions related to the repossession of property.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

46. Croatia has made significant progress in solving cases of repossession of property by the returnees belonging to national minorities and in addressing discriminatory elements that have hampered this process.

b) Outstanding issues

47. There remain substantial problems in the return process including damage and looting caused by the temporary users of the property and claims by temporary occupants for compensation for alleged improvements they have made to the property during their occupancy. Furthermore, delays in the processing of repossession cases, including by the judiciary, and in the execution of certain eviction orders, have caused significant problems in some instances.

Recommendations

48. The authorities should complete the work on the pending repossession cases in accordance with the deadlines set and ensure that the cases of looting and claims for damages are handled in a non-discriminatory manner.

Former tenancy rights holders

Findings of the first cycle

49. In its first Opinion on Croatia, the Advisory Committee urged the authorities to pay particular attention to the problems related to the former tenancy rights holders belonging to national minorities.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

50. Croatia has introduced two programmes to provide housing assistance to the former tenancy/occupancy rights holders, most of whom are Serbs. These programmes were welcomed as important elements in building conditions for sustainable return especially in urban areas.

b) Outstanding issues

51. The authorities showed limited commitment to the implementation of the above-mentioned programmes up until the launching of an information campaign in co-operation with the international community in September 2004, less than four months before the dead-line for applying for such assistance outside the areas of special state concern.

52. In addition to the issue of housing needs per se of the former occupancy/tenancy rights holders, some persons belonging to national minorities have challenged the legality of the past termination of their occupancy/tenancy rights. In one such case, the European Court of Human Rights recently concluded that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the Convention (right to respect for one’s home) or of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) to the Convention², but other cases involving different circumstances are still pending before domestic instances.

Recommendations

53. The authorities should give a high priority to the provision of adequate housing for former occupancy/tenancy right holders, and make sure that the application of deadlines are not unreasonable in the light of the recent launching of the information campaign on this matter.

54. As regards cases concerning the legality of the termination of occupancy/tenancy rights, particular care should be taken to ensure that each case is examined carefully and in a non-discriminatory manner by the relevant domestic instances.

Office of the Ombudsman

Findings of the first cycle

55. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee concluded that the work of the Office of the Ombudsman in tackling discrimination merits increasing support.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

56. Issues pertaining to national minorities continue to be an important element of the work of the Office of the Ombudsman, and the office reports that its relations with relevant governmental instances have somewhat improved.

b) Outstanding issues

57. Limited resources continue to be a problem for the Office of the Ombudsman. With funds from international sources, the Office has been able to conduct visits to certain regions where minorities reside compactly, including in the areas of special state concern, but it has no permanent presence outside Zagreb.

Recommendations

58. Bearing in mind that many key human rights problems facing national minorities often pertain to regions outside Zagreb, Croatia should enable the Office of the Ombudsman to consolidate its regional presence, for example, through regional offices.

Special measures

Findings of the first cycle

59. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee urged the authorities to launch additional positive measures in the field of employment with a view to ensuring full and effective equality for persons belonging to national minorities. The issue of employment was also raised in the Committee of Ministers’ first Resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention in Croatia.

Present situation

Outstanding issues

60. Persons belonging to national minorities continue to face serious problems in the field of employment, which is partially due to the fact that certain areas of their compact residence face particularly serious economic difficulties. The Advisory Committee has not been informed of any positive, targeted Government programmes launched to counter the impact of the past discriminatory measures that Serbs in particular experienced in various fields of employment (see also related comments under Article 15 below).

61. In a number of villages and hamlets inhabited by returning Serbs, the situation has been aggravated by the fact that the authorities have not ensured the provision of electricity and other essential infrastructure. This has made it very difficult to launch economic activities and hurt sustainable return in these areas. Therefore, the authorities’ announcement, in September 2004, that a new electrification project will be launched to address this problem is to be welcomed.

Recommendations

62. Croatia should introduce special measures aimed at guaranteeing persons belonging to national minorities full and effective equality in the field of employment, and it should seek financing for such initiatives. It should also ensure that basic infrastructure is provided to communities throughout Croatia in a non-discriminatory manner.

Citizenship

Findings of the first cycle

63. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee urged the authorities to address the problems that persons belonging to national minorities face in their attempts to invoke citizenship legislation.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

64. There is reported progress in administrative procedures pertaining to citizenship. Also, the National Programme for the Roma makes reference to some of the problems concerning the citizenship status of Roma and envisages important measures to address them, including improved awareness-raising efforts on the applicable rules and procedures and employment of persons with Roma language skills in the relevant administrative structures.

b) Outstanding issues

65. Despite progress, the requirements under the Law on Citizenship and the application in practice continue to pose problems for persons belonging to national minorities. Many Roma in particular encounter difficulties in providing necessary documents to prove they meet the residency requirement and, due to the problem of illiteracy, especially amongst Roma women, in meeting the “proficiency in the Croatian language and Latin script” requirement under the said law. The application of the said Law’s residency and other criteria also pose problems for persons belonging to other national minorities, including Bosniacs. In this connection the Advisory Committee recalls that the Law on Citizenship contains a simplified citizenship procedure reserved for ethnic Croats only, which has been criticised, inter alia, by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination³.

66. Lack of confirmed citizenship makes persons concerned particularly vulnerable to discrimination and could constitute an obstacle in the realisation of their rights, including economic, social and cultural ones⁴.

67. The implementation of the relevant parts of the National Programme for the Roma has only begun and more targeted efforts are needed to tackle some pertinent problems such as the obstacles linked to the Croatian language and Latin script proficiency requirement.

Recommendations

68. Croatia should take further measures – including training, improvements in administrative procedure as well as legislative amendments, as necessary – to ensure that a lack of confirmed citizenship does not constitute an obstacle in the enjoyment of basic rights and that the citizenship process is fully accessible to persons belonging to national minorities.

National Programme for the Roma

Findings of the first cycle

69. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee concluded that Croatia has not been able to secure full and effective equality between the majority population and Roma and it urged the authorities to develop more comprehensive programmes and strategies to address concerns of this national minority.

Present situation

a) Positive developments

70. Following extensive consultation with Roma and other relevant partners, the Croatian Government adopted a National Programme for the Roma in October 2003. The programme contains a range of commendable initiatives aimed at preventing ethnically motivated hostility and discrimination towards Roma, including by improving the performance of the law-enforcement bodies, and at improving the protection of Roma in education, employment, health and other key sectors where Roma face considerable problems.

71. There is a clear commitment to the implementation of the Programme in certain parts of the administration, including in the Government Office for National Minorities, and some important activities envisaged in the programme have been launched, such as training initiatives for young Roma.

b) Outstanding issues

72. The overall implementation of the programme has to date been disappointing. The programme was not given the necessary priority in the 2004 budget and in many sectors the envisaged projects have not started in line with the agreed schedule. The Commission, established in April 2004, to monitor the implementation of the programme will hopefully help to accelerate the process.

73. For many Roma, the increased commitment of the central government to Roma has not yet brought about local improvements, including in terms of their access to key public services, many of which are the responsibility of local authorities. For example, in the informal Roma settlement of Struge in the city of Zagreb, Roma families have lived since 1960s in sub-standard housing conditions, without basic sanitary facilities, heating, running water and electricity.

Recommendations

74. Stronger support, financial and other, both at the central and local level is required for the overall implementation of the National Programme for the Roma in order to achieve tangible improvements in the protection of Roma, including in terms of addressing the status of informal settlements and providing them with basic infrastructure on a non-discriminatory basis. This should be facilitated through evaluation and monitoring of the implementation of the Programme, in accordance with set targets.

ARTICLE 5 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION

Support for minority cultures

Findings of the first cycle

75. In its first Opinion, the Advisory Committee urged the authorities to maintain support for projects to develop