ACFC/SR(1999)005 REPORT SUBMITTED BY CROATIA PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 25, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES ______ (Received on 16 March 1999) ______ ACFC/SR(1999)005 2 GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES Zagreb, January 1999 * * * 3 ACFC/SR(1999)005 CONTENTS PART I........................................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................5 I. COUNTRY AND PEOPLE ....................................................................................................5 A. Demographic and ethnic structure of population...................................................................5 B. Socio-economic indicators.....................................................................................................9 C. Female households, migrant workers and refugees .............................................................10 II GENERAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE..............................................................................12 A. Brief historical overview and international recognition ......................................................12 B. Type of government and organization of executive, legislative and judicial bodies...........13 C. Legislative branch................................................................................................................13 D. Executive branch .................................................................................................................14 E. Judicial branch .....................................................................................................................15 F. Constitutional Court ...........................................................................................................15 III. GENERAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTION OF HUMAN AND MINORITY RIGHTS...............................................................................................................17 A. Basic human and civil freedoms and rights.........................................................................17 B. Individual and political freedoms and rights .......................................................................18 C. Economic, social and cultural rights....................................................................................19 D. The Convention and domestic law ......................................................................................20 E. International agreements in the field of human and minority rights to which the Republic of Croatia is a party:......................................................................................................................20 F. Legal remedies .....................................................................................................................22 IV. INFORMATION AND THE PUBLIC ..............................................................................23 A. The activities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia aimed at the protection and furthering of human rights and national minority rights ..........................................................23 B. Non-governmental associations of the national minorities in the Republic of Croatia .......24 C. Non-governmental associations for the protection of human rights in the Republic of Croatia ......................................................................................................................................25 D. The Ombudsman's Office ....................................................................................................26 E. The reports based on the international documents to which the Republic of Croatia is party ..................................................................................................................................................27 PART II ...................................................................................................................................28 Article 1 ....................................................................................................................................28 Article 2 ....................................................................................................................................28 Article 3 ....................................................................................................................................28 Article 4 ....................................................................................................................................34 Article 5 ....................................................................................................................................50 Article 6 ....................................................................................................................................70 Article 7 ....................................................................................................................................79 Article 9 ....................................................................................................................................93 Article 10 ................................................................................................................................106 Article 11 ................................................................................................................................115 Article 12 ................................................................................................................................118 Article 13 ................................................................................................................................126 Article 14 ................................................................................................................................127 Article 15 ................................................................................................................................138 Article 16 ................................................................................................................................146 Article 17 ................................................................................................................................149 Article 18 ................................................................................................................................151 ACFC/SR(1999)005 4 Article 19 ................................................................................................................................153 Article 20 ................................................................................................................................153 Article 21 ................................................................................................................................154 Article 22 ................................................................................................................................154 Article 23 ................................................................................................................................154 Article 30 ................................................................................................................................154 * * * 5 ACFC/SR(1999)005 PART I INTRODUCTION I. COUNTRY AND PEOPLE This report is based on the data collected during the last census conducted in 1991. We stress, however, that the 1991 census does not provide a full and accurate picture of population trends as it does not reflect critical changes that occurred after the beginning of the aggression on Croatia in 1991, the occupation of one quarter of its territory, genocide, ethnic cleansing of all the non-Serbian population, Croats as well as members of national minorities such as Hungarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Romanies, Germans, Austrians and others. Non-Serbian inhabitants were either killed or forcibly driven out from their centuries- old habitat. Next, there were two waves of refugees arriving to Croatia; one from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the other from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The population structure was further affected by another great wave of refugees streaming into the country after the outbreak of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Apart from ethnic Croats, these refugees included many Moslems, Romanies, Rutheniens, Ukrainians and members of other national minorities. After the occupied territories of Croatia had been liberated, a number of Serbs left the country, but the last several years have witnessed their gradual return. The other ongoing process is the return of the displaced population into the formerly occupied territories of Croatia, as well as the return of a certain number of refugees to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The completion of this process, however, requires (re)construction of houses, industrial facilities, infrastructure, schools, cultural and religious institutions, as well as reparation of damages, caused by pillage and destruction during the aggression. It is therefore expected that the next census will offer a more accurate picture of the structure of the population in Croatia. A. Demographic and ethnic structure of population 1. Population by gender