Zbornik Radova Filozofskog Fakulteta u Prištini (Jan 2009)
Retrospective of the human rights situation in Croatia through legislation and judicial practice, with emphasis on minority rights
Abstract
Since the establishment of new states of former Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia led discriminatory legislative and judicial policies towards minorities, politically 'unsuitable' and families of mixed ethnic structure, with the aim of creating ethnically pure Croatian. For this purpose, brought a series of racist and discriminatory laws, some of which had a retroactive effect and apply, all to existing state: deportation of over 350,000 citizens, the confiscation of over 30,000 apartments, the suspension of payments of pensions over 33,000 users, mining and destruction of over 78,000 residential and farm buildings in private ownership, and other damages... caused solely due to ethnicity - legalized. In addition to the illegal seizure of property, are members of minority status and the laws reduced civil rights, and which further worsened their position in Croatia. The legislative policy is followed synchromesh and jurisprudence, so that damaged and disenfranchised people are not even legal way was able to obtain their material status and rights were before the war, as well as Croatian citizens, and had made in Croatia. Unfortunately, the institutions of the European Court of Human Rights, which many believed, proved a failure, because it is generally rejected all claims for refund compensation or restoration - not believing that the Croatian courts violate any law, or that the damage caused prior to November 1997th, ie, until the signing of the Convention, Croatia is not responsible. Since Croatian independence until today, discrimination against minorities (mostly by Serbian), although under pressure from the international community an improved law - in practice, remained present in almost all spheres of life. In addition to Serbian, has problems and the Albanian minority, which Croatia is denied issuance of work permits, and thus the right to stay, and deportation orders from the economic crisis, the structure of human rights extended to all categories of the population. But we need to distinguish when violating human rights due to the impact of economic crisis, and when it is violated systematically and deliberately because of hatred towards others because of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation. In this case, its in international law: a crime of hate.
