• Human Rights in Croatia

    As Croatia approaches European Union membership, expected in July 2013, it faces ongoing challenges in human rights protection. Croatian authorities took a significant step towards improving domestic war crimes trials. However, a housing program designed to assist Serbs stripped of property rights during the war has benefitted only two of the more than a thousand households that were eligible. Croatia’s asylum system remains unable to cope with growing arrivals, mainly from Afghanistan and Somalia. And abuses against persons with disabilities continue.

  • Croatia: No Let Up on Rights Abuses
    Jun 28, 2013
    Croatia’s European Union (EU) accession on July 1 is an opportunity for the government to show its commitment to safeguard human rights and to properly address outstanding abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the Croatian prime minister, Zoran Milanović.
  • Balkans: Rights Protections Lagging
    Jan 31, 2013
    Human rights protection in the Western Balkans fails to match the region’s aspirations for European integration, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo during 2012.
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Croatia

  • Croatia: No Let Up on Rights Abuses
    Jun 28, 2013
    Croatia’s European Union (EU) accession on July 1 is an opportunity for the government to show its commitment to safeguard human rights and to properly address outstanding abuses in the country, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the Croatian prime minister, Zoran Milanović.
  • Letter to Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović
    Jun 28, 2013
    Croatia’s accession to the EU includes assuming the obligation to respect the principles of human dignity, democracy, and human rights as enshrined in the EU Treaty and further outlined in the legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights. The government should use the formal accession as an opportunity to further strengthen the protection of human rights in several areas of concern and implement necessary measures to improve legislation and practices.
  • Denying Genocide Won't Promote Reconciliation
    Apr 10, 2013

    A public debate at the UN on April 10 will serve up a revisionist denial of the worst killings in Europe since the end of World War II: the ethnic slaughter in the former Yugoslavia that horrified the world in the 1990s. While the session's ostensible purpose is to take "a closer look at the long-term impact of international criminal justice, in particular as it relates to reconciliation..." it is unlikely much thoughtful discussion will occur. 

  • Balkans: Rights Protections Lagging
    Jan 31, 2013
    Human rights protection in the Western Balkans fails to match the region’s aspirations for European integration, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013. Human Rights Watch documented human rights concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo during 2012.
  • Croatia: Don’t Force Change in Pride March Route
    May 31, 2012
    Authorities in the Croatian city of Split should permit the 2012 Gay Pride March on June 9, 2012, to end on the city’s waterfront as planned.
  • ICTY/Bosnia: Start of Mladic Trial Shows Persistence Pays
    May 14, 2012

    The opening of the trial of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, is a salient reminder that justice catches up with those accused of atrocity crimes. Mladic’s trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide is scheduled to begin on May 16, 2012, before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

  • Gotovina Ruling Reaction Shows Croatia Has Yet to Come to Terms with the Past
    May 5, 2011
    Negative reactions to rulings from the Hague are par for the course in the Balkans. But the strong response in Croatia to the Gotovina ruling suggests a country struggling to come to terms with its past.
  • The Balkans Must Broaden Approach to Human Rights
    Feb 28, 2011
    For many in Europe, the western Balkans still evoke images of the brutal conflicts that followed the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The legacy of those wars continues to shape European Union and US policy toward the region.
  • Balkans: Greater Commitment Needed on Rights
    Jan 24, 2011
    Efforts toward European integration for the Western Balkans are hampered by persistent human rights problems, Human Rights Watch said today. In its World Report 2011, Human Rights Watch documents human rights concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo during 2010.
  • Letter to Croatian Prime Minister Ms. Kosor Regarding a Master Plan for Deinstitutionalization of Persons with Disabilities
    Jan 20, 2011
    Human Rights Watch and the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) are writing to express concerns about Croatia’s rate of progress in implementing its commitments concerning the human rights of persons with disabilities. In particular, we are concerned about the delay in adopting a deinstitutionalization plan and providing people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities with options for housing and support in the community.
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