Statement on the European Commission’s annual progress report on Croatia
19/11/2007
Submitted by
Sanja Juras
PRESS RELEASE
Zagreb, November 15th, 2007
To whom it may concern,
We are adressing you to inform you on the European Commission’s annual progress report on Croatia. In chapter 2.2. on human rights and the protection of minorities it is stressed out that Croatia has made limited progress in the field of anti-discrimination policies. It is stated that the national strategy and action plan on prevention of all forms of discrimination has not yet been adopted and that the level of protection against discrimination in practice and its judicial prosecution is still not in line with EU standards. It is also emphesised that the State is not determined in regards to implementing the existing anti-discrimination legislation and that only four cases ave been pursued under the hate crime provisions of the criminal code. For the first time the annual progress report on Croatia notes that homophobic incidents were recorded and that the support to the victims of discrimination is marginal.
We assesssed the Report to be positive in regards to the protection from discrimination and the prevalence of homophobia. We believe that the Report is in concordance with the real indicators of functionality of the State in combat against hate crimes and homophobia.
We would like to stress out that on the November, 2nd 2007 the Government adopted the National Program of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights for Years 2008 to 2011. The Program approaches protection of sexual and gender minorities from discrimination apsolutley inadequatley. Although the Governmental Office for Human Rights received complaints of our organizations to the National Program, they were not adopted. That leeds us to conclusion that the Government believes that it has made enough progress in the field of rights of sexual and gender minorities. Contrary to that the European Commission notes homophobic incidents and lack of reluctance from the State to combat the discrimination.
It seems that the Government wanted to fulfill the criteria for adopting the national strategy and action plan on prevention of all forms of discrimination by proposing new anti-discrimination law, and therefore to avoid the critique from the European Commission. However, the European Commission clearly points to the fact that the existing legislation is not adequately implemented, therefore, by proposing new legislation the Croatian Government only wants to blur the vision of Croatian and international public.
Violence against sexual and gender minorities, discrimination on all levels of human rights, especially denial of rights of same-sex couples, hate speech, and the unadequate practice of the police and the judiciary are only some of the everyday examples that testify on low level of functionality of the State in the field of protection against discrimination.
We express hope that the message of the European Commission to the Republic of Croatia through the Progress Report will be taken seriously by the State Institutions and that the process of harmonization of implementation mechanisms will start to go in positive direction. In contrary Croatia can be classified in the category of countries in which the worst values are understood to be the best.
Best regards,
Sanja Juras,
Coordinator of Lesbian Group Kontra
Kristijan Grđan,
Coordinator of Iskorak- Sexual and Gender Minorities Center
Zagreb, November 15th, 2007
To whom it may concern,
We are adressing you to inform you on the European Commission’s annual progress report on Croatia. In chapter 2.2. on human rights and the protection of minorities it is stressed out that Croatia has made limited progress in the field of anti-discrimination policies. It is stated that the national strategy and action plan on prevention of all forms of discrimination has not yet been adopted and that the level of protection against discrimination in practice and its judicial prosecution is still not in line with EU standards. It is also emphesised that the State is not determined in regards to implementing the existing anti-discrimination legislation and that only four cases ave been pursued under the hate crime provisions of the criminal code. For the first time the annual progress report on Croatia notes that homophobic incidents were recorded and that the support to the victims of discrimination is marginal.
We assesssed the Report to be positive in regards to the protection from discrimination and the prevalence of homophobia. We believe that the Report is in concordance with the real indicators of functionality of the State in combat against hate crimes and homophobia.
We would like to stress out that on the November, 2nd 2007 the Government adopted the National Program of Protection and Promotion of Human Rights for Years 2008 to 2011. The Program approaches protection of sexual and gender minorities from discrimination apsolutley inadequatley. Although the Governmental Office for Human Rights received complaints of our organizations to the National Program, they were not adopted. That leeds us to conclusion that the Government believes that it has made enough progress in the field of rights of sexual and gender minorities. Contrary to that the European Commission notes homophobic incidents and lack of reluctance from the State to combat the discrimination.
It seems that the Government wanted to fulfill the criteria for adopting the national strategy and action plan on prevention of all forms of discrimination by proposing new anti-discrimination law, and therefore to avoid the critique from the European Commission. However, the European Commission clearly points to the fact that the existing legislation is not adequately implemented, therefore, by proposing new legislation the Croatian Government only wants to blur the vision of Croatian and international public.
Violence against sexual and gender minorities, discrimination on all levels of human rights, especially denial of rights of same-sex couples, hate speech, and the unadequate practice of the police and the judiciary are only some of the everyday examples that testify on low level of functionality of the State in the field of protection against discrimination.
We express hope that the message of the European Commission to the Republic of Croatia through the Progress Report will be taken seriously by the State Institutions and that the process of harmonization of implementation mechanisms will start to go in positive direction. In contrary Croatia can be classified in the category of countries in which the worst values are understood to be the best.
Best regards,
Sanja Juras,
Coordinator of Lesbian Group Kontra
Kristijan Grđan,
Coordinator of Iskorak- Sexual and Gender Minorities Center
