ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OMBUDSWOMAN OF REPUBLIC OF CROATIA March 31st 2016 CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 5 2. STATISTICAL DATA FOR 2015 ............................................................................................... 8 2.1. DATA ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE OFFICE ................................................................................ 8 2.2. STATISTICAL DATA ON THE OCCURRENCES OF DISCRIMINATION ....................................... 11 2.2.1. Discrimination Complaints Received by the Office of the Ombudswoman.................................................. 11 2.2.2. Consolidated Data of All Ombuds Institutions ............................................................................................ 13 2.2.3. Suppression of Discrimination at the National Level and the Problem of Underreporting .......................... 16 3.1. JUDICIARY ............................................................................................................................... 18 3.1.1. Complaints to the Ombudswoman ............................................................................................................ 19 3.1.2. Legal aid ..................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.3. Support for victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings ......................................................................... 22 3.1.4. Judicial Cases Related to Discrimination ..................................................................................................... 25 3.1.5. Hate crime .................................................................................................................................................. 31 3.2. THE RIGHTS OF NATIONAL MINORITIES ................................................................................ 32 3.3. DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE, ETHNICITY OR COLOUR, AND NATIONALITY ......... 39 3.7. EMPLOYMENT AND CIVIL SERVICE RELATIONS ..................................................................... 14 3.7.1. Rights during unemployment ..................................................................................................................... 16 3.7.2. Employment relations in public services ..................................................................................................... 17 3.7.1. Civil service employment relations ............................................................................................................. 18 3.7.3. Psychosocial support for police officers in the Ministry of the Interior, prison guards and authorized officials of the Ministry of Justice ............................................................................................................... 20 3.7.4. Employment relations in the private sector and crafts ............................................................................... 21 3.7.6. Citizenship as an obstacle to access to work and employment ................................................................... 24 3.8. DISCRIMINATION IN THE AREA OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT ......................................... 26 3.9. RETIRED PERSONS AND THE ELDERLY.................................................................................... 33 3.9.1. Social Security of the Elderly Persons .......................................................................................................... 33 3.10. AGE-BASED DISCRIMINATION ..................................................................................... 41 3.11. SOCIAL WELFARE ............................................................................................................ 45 3.12. ENERGY POVERTY ........................................................................................................... 54 3.13. UTILITIES AND OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES ........................................................................ 58 3.14. ENFORCEMENTS ............................................................................................................. 66 3.15. CROATIAN HOMELAND WAR VETERANS ....................................................................... 72 3.16. CIVIL VICTIMS OF WAR ................................................................................................... 75 3.17. HEALTH ........................................................................................................................... 78 3.19. EDUCATION .................................................................................................................... 87 3.20. DISCRIMINATION IN THE FIELD AND ON THE GROUNDS OF EDUCATION .................... 88 3.21. DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF RELIGION ...................................................... 92 3.22. PUBLIC DISCOURSE ......................................................................................................... 94 3.23. PROPERTY RIGHTS ........................................................................................................ 100 3.24. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND HEALTH ECOLOGY ........................................... 106 4. PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY AND THE FUNCTIONING OF THE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM ....................................................................................................... 112 4.1. PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY BY ACTING ON COMPLAINTS ............................................................................................................................ 112 4.1.1. Complaints filed by persons deprived of their liberty who are in the prison system .................................. 113 4.1.2. Complaints filed by citizens with regard to work of the police during the act of deprivation of one’s liberty ................................................................................................................................................................. 116 4.1.3. Complaints filed by persons with mental disorders .................................................................................. 117 4.2. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM ................................................................................. 118 4.2.1. Visits to the prison system ........................................................................................................................ 119 4.2.2. Visits to police stations and prison units ................................................................................................... 128 4.2.3. Visits to psychiatric institutions ................................................................................................................ 131 4.2.4. Visits to homes for the elderly .................................................................................................................. 131 4.3. ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF RESPECT OF RIGHTS OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY ..................................................................................................................................... 133 4.3.1. Persons deprived of their liberty who are in the prison system ................................................................. 133 4.3.2. Persons deprived of their liberty in police stations and detention units .................................................... 139 4.3.3. Applicants for international protection, irregular migrants and persons who have been granted international protection ........................................................................................................................... 141 4.3.4. Persons with mental disorders.................................................................................................................. 143 4.4. CAPACITIES, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT ON THE NPM .......................................................................................................................................... 144 4.4.1. Amendments to the Act on the National Preventive Mechanism ............................................................. 144 4.4.2. International cooperation in performance of tasks of the NPM ............................................................... 145 4.4.3. Capacities of the Office of the Ombudswoman for the performance of tasks of the NPM ....................... 145 5. GENERAL INITIATIVES ....................................................................................................... 147 5.1. REFUGEE CRISIS OF 2015 ..................................................................................................... 147 6. LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND PUBLIC ACTIVITIES AIMED AT HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTION AND COMBATING DISCRIMINATION ...................................................... 162 6.1. COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................. 162 6.2. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.......................................................................................... 164 7. HUMAN RESOURCES, ORGANIZATION OF WORK AND THE OFFICE BUDGET .................... 167 8. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 169 Annual Report of the Ombudswoman of Croatia for 2015 1. INTRODUCTION The year behind us was characterized by numerous