TITLE: CROATIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994 AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DATE: FEBRUARY 1995 CROATIA Three years after the Republic of Croatia declared independence, one-quarter of its land continued to be occupied by rebel Serbs. No progress was made in 1994 in implementing the Vance Peace Plan, and the United Nations Protective Force (UNPROFOR) continued its peacekeeping activities in four U.N. protected areas (UNPA's). A March cease-fire created a 2-kilometer-wide zone of separation and led to a dramatic decrease in violence. In December the Government and the rebel Serbs agreed upon a package of economic and confidence-building measures, the implementation of which began with the opening of the Zagreb-Belgrade highway to civilian traffic on December 21. Croatia is a constitutional parliamentary democracy with a powerful presidency. President Franjo Tudjman, elected in 1992, serves as Head of State and commander in chief of the armed forces, chairs the influential National Defense and Security Council, and appoints the Prime Minister, who leads the Government. President Tudjman's party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), holds the majority of seats in both houses of Parliament. Government influence weakens the nominally independent judiciary. The enormous constitutional powers of the presidency, the military occupation of large sections of the country, and the overwhelming dominance of one political party tend to stifle the expression of diverse views. The Ministry of Defense oversees the military, while the Ministry of the Interior oversees the police. Both police and military personnel were responsible for abuses, including physical abuse of prisoners and detainees. In the Serb-controlled UNPA's, the well-armed police and military forces of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Serbian Krajina" ("RSK") continued their pattern of egregious human rights abuses against both Serbs and non-Serbs, including physical violence and "ethnic cleansing." Of the 44,000 Croats who before the conflict lived in what is now UNPA Sector South, only 800 to 900 remain. In Sector North, only 1,000 Croats of an original population of 112,000 remain. Croatia has a mixed economy in which industry is largely state owned, and agriculture is mostly in private hands. The Government's stabilization program, introduced in 1993, continued to keep inflation low, but little progress was made on either privatization or free market reforms. The continuing division of the country, the massive refugee problem, and the threat of renewed war all limited economic recovery. While the use of violence by security forces against Serbs in government-controlled areas declined, cases of disappearance and harassment continued near the frontline areas. Ethnic Serbs continued to suffer from ever-present, subtle, and sometimes open discrimination in such areas as the administration of justice, employment, housing, and the free exercise of their cultural rights. In fewer numbers than in previous years, Serbs were also victims of anonymous threats, vandalism, and--more rarely--physical attacks. Many Serbs left Croatia during the year as a result of the combined economic discrimination and physical threats, although the total number was impossible to determine. The Government made only token efforts to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of the more egregious abuses committed in 1992 and 1993 and continued to discriminate against non-Croats in the granting of citizenship. Early in the year, the Government also discriminated against Muslim refugees from Bosnia, using arbitrary detention and forced repatriation. In the Serb-controlled portions of the UNPA's, there was no improvement in the human rights situation. The police and military forces of the "RSK" continued to use violence, intimidation, harassment, and displacement against nonethnic Serbs to achieve the goal of ethnic cleansing. All residents were subjected to a totally controlled legal system operating in an atmosphere without any of the basic human rights of freedom of expression, assembly, press, religion, movement, or the right to change their government. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing There were no substantiated reports of politically motivated or other extrajudicial killings in government-controlled parts of Croatia. However, opposition and human rights groups criticized the failure of Croatian authorities to bring to justice the parties responsible for several cases from previous years, particularly those of Serbs killed in 1991 and 1992. Those allegedly implicated in the killings include personnel in the Defense and Interior Ministries, but the Government insisted the charges were baseless. Reports of political killings in the Serb-occupied UNPA's also decreased, although a disproportionate number of homicide victims in the "RSK" were non-Serbs. More than one-third of the reported 68 homicide victims in the Serb-controlled UNPA's were non-Serbs, according to local (Serbian) police. Out of an estimated remaining Croatian population in Serb-controlled territory of perhaps 4,000, 16 ethnic Croats (or one out of every 250) were murdered during the year. Serbian forces allegedly committed several murders along the confrontation line, including the mass murder of five men in May in Sector West, and the killing of a fisherman near the Dalmatian coast in August. Police apprehended no suspects. A Dutch citizen fighting in the Croatian armed forces died while in custody of Serbian forces several days after his capture near the front lines in April. Serbian obstructionism continued to block the excavation of the mass grave sites in the UNPA's. In the case of the mass grave of presumed murdered Serbs exhumed in Sector West in October 1993, the Croatian Government has still not brought any charges. b. Disappearance There were few new cases of disappearances reported. At year's end, the Government reported more than 2,500 cases of missing persons still unresolved from the 1991-1992 war. This figure was down from over 7,000 cases at the beginning of the year. Progress was made in removing names from the list of the missing as a result of prisoner and body exchanges. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The Constitution prohibits torture or cruel or degrading punishment, but government forces continued to commit such abuses. There were credible reports that security forces frequently beat and mistreated prisoners during detention and interrogation, particularly early in the year. The best documented cases typically involved Serbian or Muslim prisoners. Helsinki Watch indicated in February that the authorities at Lora prison in Split had engaged in the torture and beating of prisoners who were former Yugoslav National Army (JNA) reservists. Six Serbs captured in early July, however, who the Croats claim had infiltrated across the front lines, reported no beatings or mistreatment to the European Community Monitoring Mission which visited them. Detention facilities generally meet accepted standards of cleanliness, nutrition, and amenities. Jails are crowded, but not to excess, and family visits and access to counsel are available. Prison conditions in the Serb-controlled UNPA's, however, are reliably reported to be abysmal. Harsh treatment of non-Serbs is commonplace, and the Serbian "authorities" do not punish abusers. Two journalists who were detained in December by local police and paramilitary forces were beaten, as well as subjected to psychological torture, such as death threats. d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile The Constitution contains provisions to protect the legal rights of all accused, but the Government does not respect these rights in practice. The Government frequently abuses pretrial and investigative detention. Most cases of arbitrary arrest or detention involved Muslim residents and refugees in Croatia early in the year, while Croatian and Bosnian government troops were fighting in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were no large-scale police sweeps nor attempted forced repatriations such as took place in late 1993, but refugee organizations continued to report instances in which police arbitrarily detained Muslim refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and threatened them with forcible expulsion. Police normally seek arrest warrants by presenting evidence of probable cause to an interrogating magistrate. Police may arrest a suspect without a warrant if they believe he might flee, destroy evidence, or commit other crimes. If police arrest a suspect without a warrant, they have 24 hours in which to justify their decision before the local interrogating magistrate. After arrest, persons must be given access to an attorney of their choice within 24 hours; if they have no attorney, the interrogating magistrate will appoint one from a list of public defenders. The interrogating judge must, within 3 days of the arrest, decide whether sufficient cause exists to hold the arrestee in custody, pending further investigation. The judge must justify the decision in writing, including the length of detention ordered. These decisions may be appealed, either immediately or later during the detention period. The usual period of investigative detention varies from a few days to a few weeks but by law may be as long as 2 years. Accused persons have the right to have their attorney present during the entire investigation as well as during any appeal of investigative detention. While this is typically the case, there were instances in which detainees did not have adequate access to legal counsel. In practice, arrestees are almost always bound over for investigation unless it is clear no case against them exists. Once the investigation is complete, persons are usually released on their own recognizance pending trial, unless the crime is a major offense or the accused is considered a public danger. There are no provisions for posting bail, although police will sometimes retain the accused's passport to prevent him from leaving the country. In the Serb-controlled areas of the UNPA's, virtually no safeguards exist against arbitrary detention, and Serbian forces continued to use detention to intimidate non-Serbs. Many cases involved residents of the Bihac pocket in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, who had to transit Serb-held territory to reach the outside world. In August Serbian forces arrested a Catholic priest as he fled the fighting in the Bihac pocket and held him for several weeks without charge before his release could be negotiated. Serbian forces also commonly arrested Croatian civilians in the separation zone created by the March cease-fire agreement, charging that they were illegally attempting to enter the "RSK." The Constitution prohibits exile, and it is not practiced. e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The legal system consists of municipal and district courts, a Supreme Court, and a Constitutional Court. The High Judicial Council (with a president and 14 members from all parts of the legal community) appoints judges and public prosecutors. Judicial tenure is permanent. The House of Counties nominates persons for membership on the High Judicial Council, and the House of Representatives elects members to 8-year terms. The 11 judges of the Constitutional Court are elected to 8-year terms in the same manner. The judicial process is not free of ethnic bias or political influence. The Government has not yet established the Provisional Court of Human Rights, mandated by a 1992 constitutional law on minorities. The emergency measures established in 1991 are still being applied, despite a number of appeals by the U.N. Special Rapporteur that these be abolished. The orders provide for the suspension of certain remedies in legal proceedings and give the six-court military legal system jurisdiction over a large number of cases involving civilians. Although the Constitution provides for the right to a fair trial and a variety of due process rights in both civilian and military courts, in practice, the prosecuting attorney has leeway in deciding whether to bring a case against an individual, and, in cases considered "political," both the indictment and the conduct of trials are sometimes subject to outside influence. In the case of nine members of the Dalmatian Action Party arrested on suspicion of having plotted the bombing of their own political party offices in September 1993, the local military court took jurisdiction. Two trial sessions were held, the latest in April. Observers believe that, as the case looked increasingly weak, the prosecution decided to suspend action. The prosecution did not dismiss the charges, however, which observers decried as an attempt to keep the defendants in legal limbo in order to hamper their political activities. The legal system in the Serb-controlled UNPA's remained a sham, with its procedures and practices increasingly open to outside interference by those in power. f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence The Constitution declares the home inviolable. Only a court may issue a search warrant, stating the justification for the search of a home or other premises. Police may enter a home without a warrant or the owner's consent only if necessary to enforce an arrest warrant, apprehend a suspect, or prevent serious danger to life or important property. In practice, the authorities often failed to adhere to these constitutional requirements. Military or civil police carried out evictions by force, involving several hundred families, ethnic Serbs and Croats as well as Muslims. In Split, 230 families were reported to be seeking through the courts to remove soldiers who had seized their apartments. Almost all of these cases involved apartments previously owned by the JNA, over which the Ministry of Defense asserted ownership. Referring to property laws which remove tenancy rights as a result of any 6-month absence or if the tenant is ruled to have acted against the interests of Croatia, the Ministry of Defense granted soldiers tenancy of occupied flats. The soldiers then frequently took residences by force of arms, either evicting the current tenants or forcing them to cohabitate. During the year, human rights organizations became increasingly effective at calling public attention to forced evictions, and their members turned up in large numbers at the announced time of the eviction. But in at least two cases, police beat and injured human rights monitors seeking to obstruct an eviction. In May the Defense Ministry issued public orders to remove any soldiers who had illegally forced their way into an apartment, using force if necessary. But military police never carried out these orders, reporting privately to observers that their commanders had told them to refrain from arresting the soldiers. The tenants of these apartments were typically Serbian families or the spouses and children of Serbs in the JNA who had left Croatia. At a July 12 press conference, President Tudjman justified the forced evictions by linking them to the Serbian aggression against Croatia and eviction of one-quarter million Croats. The Constitution guarantees the secrecy and safety of personal data, but it was unclear if such guarantees were adhered to in practice. Serbian authorities in the UNPA's showed no compunction about interfering with the privacy rights of the inhabitants of those areas, particularly non-Serbs. UNPROFOR continued to provide 24-hour patrols of several minority villages to protect the inhabitants from armed bands. The practice of forcibly moving Serbian refugees or soldiers into the homes of non-Serb residents continued as well, which was clearly designed to pressure the non-Serbs to leave. One couple in Sector West was forced to live in their pantry after Serbian soldiers took over the remainder of the house and Serbian refugees moved into their outbuildings. Inhabitants were even denied the right to talk on the telephone, with the authorities putting severe restrictions on international observers who provided mobile telephones to villagers during visits to permit them to call relatives on the other side of the line. g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts On March 29, the Government and the leadership of the "RSK" signed a comprehensive cease-fire agreement in Zagreb, the capital, which successfully reduced the amount of shelling to almost zero and the number of shooting incidents by about 99 percent. There were only a handful of fatalities during the year from shooting incidents involving cease-fire violations. However, occasional shelling did occur from Bosnian Serb positions bordering Croatia, most commonly onto the Slavonian city of Zupanja and onto the area around the Dubrovnik airport. These attacks caused substantial property damage but no reported fatalities. In October and November, the "RSK" military began a concentrated campaign of bombardment and ground attacks against the territory held by the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a region known as the Bihac pocket. The Krajina Serbs coordinated these attacks with Bosnian Serb and rebel Muslim forces. The bombings included both artillery and air attacks and were frequently directed against civilian population centers such as Bihac town, Cazin, and Velika Kladusa. Targets included the civilian hospital in Bihac. Numerous civilian casualties resulted from the attacks. In addition, the "RSK" used restriction of humanitarian aid as a weapon against the population of the Bihac pocket, completely shutting off access to government-controlled portions of the pocket for U.N. aid convoys from May until late December. With small steps toward normalization along the confrontation line under the March 25 cease-fire, the extent of previous mine-laying during the conflict was increasingly evident. UNPROFOR troops, as well as soldiers and civilians from both sides, were victims of unmarked and uncleared minefields. A particularly dangerous situation arose in August when the forces of Bosnian Muslim rebel leader Fikret Abdic were defeated by the Bosnian army and tens of thousands of people left the Bihac pocket, forcing their way into the separation zone to demand entry into government-controlled Croatia. The Government refused to grant entry, and the refugees refused to turn back and leave the heavily mined area. Despite efforts by UNPROFOR to clear the immediate area of mines, several refugees were injured by mine explosions. Croatian citizens, originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, reported that the Government forcibly mobilized them to fight in the Bosnian Croat paramilitary forces during the first few months of the year. For 5 weeks in the summer, Croats displaced from the Serb- occupied areas of Croatia blocked all checkpoints into the UNPA's, protesting the ineffectiveness of UNPROFOR in reintegrating the occupied territories into Croatia and in assisting the return of the displaced to their homes. They also accused UNPROFOR of supplying the Serbs with nonhumanitarian supplies, including fuel. UNPROFOR accused the Government of being behind the blockades and violating its international legal obligations. While it was not clear that the Government actually organized the blockades, the protesters clearly enjoyed government sympathy and support. After the Government negotiated an inspection procedure to verify that UNPROFOR personnel were not transporting any contraband into the UNPA's, the blockade was lifted. In the Serb-occupied UNPA's, expulsions, in the form of ethnic cleansing, continued to be used aggressively and with the blessing of local "officials" against Croats, Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, and other non-Serbs. Throughout the year UNPROFOR and other international agencies organized the transit of a slow but steady stream of non-Serbs out of the UNPA's. Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. Freedom of Speech and Press The Constitution provides for freedom of thought and expression, specifically including freedom of the press and other media of communication, speech, and public expression, and free establishment of institutions of public communication. In practice, government influence on the media through state ownership of most print and broadcast outlets limits these freedoms. In addition, government intimidation induces self-censorship. Politicians, political activists, and journalists are often reluctant to criticize the Government in public forums for fear of harassment, job loss, intimidation, or being labeled a traitor to war-torn Croatia. The Government controls all national television broadcasting and all but one national radio station, and retains a controlling interest in two of four news dailies and some weeklies. The sale of a majority of shares in the leading newspaper, Vjesnik, to a local bank appeared to increase rather than reduce government influence at the paper. The chairman of the bank's board of directors is an HDZ Member of Parliament, and the editor in chief of the paper was replaced in December by a less experienced journalist, who despite claiming no party affiliation, had close links with the HDZ. Although these state-controlled or heavily state-influenced media, particularly the press, frequently carry reportage critical of the Government, government control nonetheless ensures an overall editorial slant generally favorable to the Government and the HDZ. Each of the opposition parties is allocated 4 minutes of television time per week. Access to the print media is minimal, with occasional coverage of press conferences and interviews. Two nationally publicized instances of physical threats against journalists by local politicians generated media debate but no action by the Government. A few newspapers continue to guard their independence, including the daily Novi List in Rijeka, the weekly Globus, the intellectual bimonthly journal Erasmus, the satirical weekly Feral Tribune, and the weekly Arkzin, published by "the Antiwar Campaign." A new weekly, Pecat, with an independent editorial line began publishing in September. Even some extremist publications, with a virulently antigovernment slant, could be purchased at newsstands, although they had very small circulation. The highly popular Feral Tribune, whose material continued to push the boundaries of good taste, was reclassified for tax purposes as a pornographic magazine and, therefore, subject to a 50-percent turnover tax. The Minister of Culture admitted that this reclassification was a result of Feral's continuing attacks on the Government. International papers and journals remained available throughout government-controlled areas, including Serbian periodicals which subscribers continued to receive by mail. Croatia has four major television channels, as well as regional stations in Zadar, Split, Vinkovci, and Osijek. Zagreb-based Channels One, Two, and Four are part of the official Croatian Radio and Television enterprise (HTV), headed by a well-known HDZ member. Zagreb Channel Three, OTV-youth television, with a signal that reaches only the capital district, has an uncertain legal status and operates at the sufferance of the Government. Parliament in July passed a broadcasting law providing for the allocation of radio and television frequencies to new, private outlets, but the Government has not yet implemented it. Private local radio stations operate under provisional licenses in Croatia, but their legal status is open to question until the media law is implemented. The broadcasting law mandates that one parliamentary member of the Council for Croatian Television be a minority representative, but this person has not yet been appointed. A seven-member council of government and nongovernmental representatives, established by Parliament in 1993 to protect the freedom of the press, has yet to meet because Parliament failed to appoint a chairman until late in the year. In the Serb-controlled portions of the UNPA's, freedom of speech and press virtually does not exist. With martial law still in effect, there are no guarantees of press and other freedoms, and the authorities control the tone and content of the media. Serbian papers, usually published in Belgrade, are generally available, although the supply is sometimes sporadic. There is one small paper published weekly or biweekly in Serbian in Sector North. A few low-powered local radio "stations" broadcast from Serb-held territory in some of the UNPA's, and Croatian radio and television signals are received in these areas as well. The Serbian Television Krajina, whose studios are in Petrova Gora and Knin, broadcasts daily. Two other Serbian mobile studios operate out of Beli Manastir and Plitvice. Academic freedom is generally respected in Croatia. However, there is apprehension within the academic community concerning the centralizing effects on faculty and programs of the university reform law. When it became apparent that the new government Council for Higher Education could not review all the revised academic programs prior to the start of the 1994-95 school year, the Government delayed introduction of the new curriculums. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association The Constitution provides that all citizens have the right to peaceful assembly and association for the protection of citizens' interests or the promotion of social, economic, political, national, cultural, and other convictions and objectives. Citizens may freely form, join, and leave political parties, trade unions, and other associations. In practice, the rights of peaceful assembly and association are respected in Croatia. The Government requires permits for rallies but grants them routinely. Political parties, refugee associations, women's groups, and others held peaceful rallies and demonstrations without hindrance or incident. These gatherings included events which both supported and criticized government policies. All citizens enjoyed these rights, including members of the Serbian and Muslim communities. In Serb-controlled areas, however, these rights were not respected. In the fall, local media reported that several men were arrested in the Serb-held town of Benkovac when they protested a recent military mobilization by local Serbian authorities. c. Freedom of Religion There is no state religion. The Constitution provides for freedom of conscience and religion and free public profession of religious and other convictions. All religious communities are free to conduct public services and to open and run social and charitable institutions. Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Islam are the major faiths in Croatia, and there is also an active Jewish community. The majority of practicing Croats are Roman Catholic, and the Government provides an option of Catholic religious education in schools. There are no formal restrictions on religious groups. The main mosque in Croatia is in Zagreb, where it serves not only as a religious center but also as a social aid office for the large Bosnian Muslim refugee population. Croatian Protestants from a number of denominations, as well as foreign clergy, actively practice and proselytize. Some foreign religious organizations seeking to provide social services reported bureaucratic obstacles to their establishment in Croatia, but it was unclear if this had any connection to their religious character. A Baptist church seeking to purchase property for a new church site also reported problems receiving the necessary approvals. The close identification of religion with ethnicity had earlier caused religious institutions to be targets of violence. The investigation into the bombing of the Serbian Orthodox eparchy in Karlovac on December 24, 1993, led to no arrests. During the night of December 20, a bomb exploded inside the Orthodox church of the eastern Slavonian city of Osijek, causing some damage. Police have not arrested any suspects. The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Zagreb remained open, and several other Orthodox churches and monasteries operated freely in government-controlled Croatia. Although the majority of Orthodox clergy left at the start of the war in 1991, a few priests and nuns, most of them retired, remained to carry out religious duties. International human rights monitors said these clergy reported generally good relations with their Catholic neighbors.