Newsroom
OSCE Mission Head presents report on Croatia's international commitments
ZAGREB 19 November 2002
ZAGREB, 19 November 2002 - A report on Croatia's fulfilment of its international commitments was outlined to the media today by the Head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Peter Semneby. The 30-page report details progress in areas under the OSCE mandate including freedom of the media, justice and the rule of law, refugee return, reintegration and restitution of property, policing issues and work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) over the period May to November 2002.
The report will be presented to the 55 members of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, 21 November.
Presenting the main conclusions of the report at a news conference in Zagreb today, the Head of OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Semneby, gave the following statement:
"Let me first of all start by taking this opportunity to highlight the qualitative improvement of the Mission's interaction with the Government. Prime Minister Ivica Racan has made a personal commitment to maintaining a regular dialogue on issues within the OSCE mandate in a recent meeting with me and several of my international community colleagues in Zagreb. In several recent cases, the Mission has been invited to provide input on draft legislation. There are regular working contacts between the Head of Mission and several Cabinet Ministers. The Minister for European Integration has shown a particularly strong interest in co-operation on issues of joint interest to the OSCE Mission and the EU within the framework of the Stabilization and Association Process. Finally, Foreign Minister Tonino Picula has accepted an invitation to address the Permanent Council on 12 December.
In the past six months, the Croatian Government has made efforts towards resolving several of the outstanding issues related to the Mission's mandate and the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union. But although many important decisions have been taken and the trend is positive, the overall picture remains contradictory. Progress in terms of implementation remains slow. Many initiatives have stalled or remain incomplete.
More importantly, the Government's commitment to some of the issues, notably refugee return, is still ambivalent. This was demonstrated by the omission of refugee return from the list of priorities that was adopted by the new Government in July.
On refugee return, which remains the Mission's overriding concern, there have been legal changes that facilitate the repossession of housing properties by Serb returnees and refugees from temporary occupants. Reconstruction assistance has for the first time been extended to Serb beneficiaries at a noticeable scale. There have also been limited reinforced efforts to reinstate permanent residence for Serb returnees.
However, the decisions to facilitate property repossession have still not been underpinned by a credible organizational structure to ensure that the legal deadlines will be met, and they still have to be followed up by decisions on repossession of land, business properties, and other occupied properties than housing.
A sustainable programme for refugee return will also have to include remedies for former residents of socially owned apartments, where they had so-called occupancy/tenancy rights. Many such refugees do not have access to any housing if they decide to return. The extension of reconstruction assistance to Serb beneficiaries at a larger scale is still hampered by financial constraints and local resistance in many communities.
Minority rights are closely related to the return issue, since most of Croatia's minority population remain outside the country. The presentation of a largely acceptable Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities to Parliament for a first reading in July was therefore an important step to provide reassurance to the minority population inside and outside the country. However, the Constitutional Law has still not been adopted because of disagreements regarding the model for minority representation in Parliament.
The Government has taken important steps to strengthen the rule of law by the adoption of a comprehensive judicial reform programme and by reinforced efforts by the Chief State Prosecutor to review questionable war crimes indictments. Although it is too early to evaluate the judicial reform programme, the challenges related to its implementation are enormous, because of the magnitude of the problem and the relative weakness of the Ministry of Justice and the judicial administration. The reinvigorated war crimes review has largely been overshadowed by controversies around ICTY as well as problems in domestic war crimes trials against Croatian military personnel.
Further steps have been taken to modernize media legislation, in particular legislation on radio and TV, with the involvement of expertise commissioned by the Mission and the OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media. These efforts have, however, revealed sharply conflicting interests on key issues.
Within the field of policing, the Mission welcomes the decision of the Government to develop a community policing programme. Croatia now complies with the commitments on Serb participation in the police force in the Danube Region that were made when that region was peacefully reintegrated. The crucial reform of police administration has, however, progressed slowly.
There is an increasing awareness of the importance of the role of NGOs and civil society development, represented by the establishment of a new semi-government body for civil society development. Still, civil society development is still being hampered by a shortage of financial resources and a regional imbalance that limits resources available to the war-affected areas.
Based on this, it seems appropriate and possible for the Government to make efforts on the following issues during the next six months:
First, there should be a stronger Government endorsement of refugee return. There should also be further efforts to engage with the neighbouring countries within the framework of the "Common Principles on Return", which have been included in the Agenda for Regional Action II of the Stability Pact.
All returnees should be provided access to adequate housing, regardless of whether they came from areas directly affected by the war or from other parts of Croatia and regardless of what type of housing they had before the war. This would require:
Second, the Constitutional Law on National Minorities should be adopted and should provide a high degree of protection for the minorities. The new Constitutional Law should address the real concerns of the minorities and safeguard rights that they have already acquired. In particular, this would involve:
Third, the judicial reform programme should be pursued vigorously and be supported by adequate resources. In the areas of rule of law, the conditions for the work of domestic "watchdog" institutions, notably the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman, should be safeguarded. The domestic war crimes review should be continued, with dubious cases dropped and serious crimes prosecuted.
Fourth, in the media field, legal inconsistencies, particularly regarding radio and television, should be eliminated in order to bring media legislation in conformity with European standards.
Fifth, the reform of the police should continue with particular emphasis on efforts to make the police more representative and responsive to community needs. This would involve further efforts designed to affect recruitment and training, and the introduction of community policing.
Sixth, civil society development should be supported by adequate resources. A reasonable regional balance should be ensured, and efforts should be made to inform local and regional political leaders about the role of civil society.
Let me conclude by saying the following:
On all these issues, the Mission is working increasingly closely together with both the Government and international partners. The contacts with the EU - both the Presidency and in particular the local Delegation of the European Commission - stretch virtually across the board, since there is a substantial overlap with the political tasks in the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
The outlook for next year on the issues within the Mission's mandate is relatively encouraging. The Government has taken a number of initiatives that could prove to be significant, if properly implemented. The Government's commitment to using the resources of the Mission and its international community partners is strengthening. Here, there are extensive synergies to be used, particularly related to the Stabilization and Association process with the EU.
But progress will require a stronger political commitment and forceful action on the part of the Government in support of sustainable return, minority rights and the rule of law. Success will also depend on the Government's ability to prevent other political distractions from dominating the agenda in an election year", concluded Ambassador Semneby.
The report will be presented to the 55 members of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, 21 November.
Presenting the main conclusions of the report at a news conference in Zagreb today, the Head of OSCE Mission to Croatia, Ambassador Semneby, gave the following statement:
"Let me first of all start by taking this opportunity to highlight the qualitative improvement of the Mission's interaction with the Government. Prime Minister Ivica Racan has made a personal commitment to maintaining a regular dialogue on issues within the OSCE mandate in a recent meeting with me and several of my international community colleagues in Zagreb. In several recent cases, the Mission has been invited to provide input on draft legislation. There are regular working contacts between the Head of Mission and several Cabinet Ministers. The Minister for European Integration has shown a particularly strong interest in co-operation on issues of joint interest to the OSCE Mission and the EU within the framework of the Stabilization and Association Process. Finally, Foreign Minister Tonino Picula has accepted an invitation to address the Permanent Council on 12 December.
In the past six months, the Croatian Government has made efforts towards resolving several of the outstanding issues related to the Mission's mandate and the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union. But although many important decisions have been taken and the trend is positive, the overall picture remains contradictory. Progress in terms of implementation remains slow. Many initiatives have stalled or remain incomplete.
More importantly, the Government's commitment to some of the issues, notably refugee return, is still ambivalent. This was demonstrated by the omission of refugee return from the list of priorities that was adopted by the new Government in July.
On refugee return, which remains the Mission's overriding concern, there have been legal changes that facilitate the repossession of housing properties by Serb returnees and refugees from temporary occupants. Reconstruction assistance has for the first time been extended to Serb beneficiaries at a noticeable scale. There have also been limited reinforced efforts to reinstate permanent residence for Serb returnees.
However, the decisions to facilitate property repossession have still not been underpinned by a credible organizational structure to ensure that the legal deadlines will be met, and they still have to be followed up by decisions on repossession of land, business properties, and other occupied properties than housing.
A sustainable programme for refugee return will also have to include remedies for former residents of socially owned apartments, where they had so-called occupancy/tenancy rights. Many such refugees do not have access to any housing if they decide to return. The extension of reconstruction assistance to Serb beneficiaries at a larger scale is still hampered by financial constraints and local resistance in many communities.
Minority rights are closely related to the return issue, since most of Croatia's minority population remain outside the country. The presentation of a largely acceptable Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities to Parliament for a first reading in July was therefore an important step to provide reassurance to the minority population inside and outside the country. However, the Constitutional Law has still not been adopted because of disagreements regarding the model for minority representation in Parliament.
The Government has taken important steps to strengthen the rule of law by the adoption of a comprehensive judicial reform programme and by reinforced efforts by the Chief State Prosecutor to review questionable war crimes indictments. Although it is too early to evaluate the judicial reform programme, the challenges related to its implementation are enormous, because of the magnitude of the problem and the relative weakness of the Ministry of Justice and the judicial administration. The reinvigorated war crimes review has largely been overshadowed by controversies around ICTY as well as problems in domestic war crimes trials against Croatian military personnel.
Further steps have been taken to modernize media legislation, in particular legislation on radio and TV, with the involvement of expertise commissioned by the Mission and the OSCE Representative on the Freedom of the Media. These efforts have, however, revealed sharply conflicting interests on key issues.
Within the field of policing, the Mission welcomes the decision of the Government to develop a community policing programme. Croatia now complies with the commitments on Serb participation in the police force in the Danube Region that were made when that region was peacefully reintegrated. The crucial reform of police administration has, however, progressed slowly.
There is an increasing awareness of the importance of the role of NGOs and civil society development, represented by the establishment of a new semi-government body for civil society development. Still, civil society development is still being hampered by a shortage of financial resources and a regional imbalance that limits resources available to the war-affected areas.
Based on this, it seems appropriate and possible for the Government to make efforts on the following issues during the next six months:
First, there should be a stronger Government endorsement of refugee return. There should also be further efforts to engage with the neighbouring countries within the framework of the "Common Principles on Return", which have been included in the Agenda for Regional Action II of the Stability Pact.
All returnees should be provided access to adequate housing, regardless of whether they came from areas directly affected by the war or from other parts of Croatia and regardless of what type of housing they had before the war. This would require:
- the development of a mechanism for redress to all returnees who lived in socially owned housing and whose occupancy/tenancy rights were taken away;
- a vigorous implementation of the property repossession scheme already adopted;
- an extension of the provisions for repossession to other types of property than housing, notably land and business premises;
- continued improvement in the availability of reconstruction assistance to minority returnees; and
- the removal of other legal and administrative obstacles to return.
Second, the Constitutional Law on National Minorities should be adopted and should provide a high degree of protection for the minorities. The new Constitutional Law should address the real concerns of the minorities and safeguard rights that they have already acquired. In particular, this would involve:
- fair and non-discriminatory representation in Parliament and other elected bodies through representatives elected by the minorities;
- institutions with appropriate competencies to represent minority interests in particular at the local and regional level; and
- representation in administrative and judicial bodies commensurate with the minorities' share of the population.
Third, the judicial reform programme should be pursued vigorously and be supported by adequate resources. In the areas of rule of law, the conditions for the work of domestic "watchdog" institutions, notably the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman, should be safeguarded. The domestic war crimes review should be continued, with dubious cases dropped and serious crimes prosecuted.
Fourth, in the media field, legal inconsistencies, particularly regarding radio and television, should be eliminated in order to bring media legislation in conformity with European standards.
Fifth, the reform of the police should continue with particular emphasis on efforts to make the police more representative and responsive to community needs. This would involve further efforts designed to affect recruitment and training, and the introduction of community policing.
Sixth, civil society development should be supported by adequate resources. A reasonable regional balance should be ensured, and efforts should be made to inform local and regional political leaders about the role of civil society.
Let me conclude by saying the following:
On all these issues, the Mission is working increasingly closely together with both the Government and international partners. The contacts with the EU - both the Presidency and in particular the local Delegation of the European Commission - stretch virtually across the board, since there is a substantial overlap with the political tasks in the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
The outlook for next year on the issues within the Mission's mandate is relatively encouraging. The Government has taken a number of initiatives that could prove to be significant, if properly implemented. The Government's commitment to using the resources of the Mission and its international community partners is strengthening. Here, there are extensive synergies to be used, particularly related to the Stabilization and Association process with the EU.
But progress will require a stronger political commitment and forceful action on the part of the Government in support of sustainable return, minority rights and the rule of law. Success will also depend on the Government's ability to prevent other political distractions from dominating the agenda in an election year", concluded Ambassador Semneby.