IRREGULARITIES IN THE ISSUANCE OF CROATIAN DOCUMENTS

Under the terms of the Croatian government's Letter of Intent, "members of the local Serb community, as well as all other Croatian citizens, are eligible for local elections if they were resident at the time of the 1991 census" in Eastern Slavonia. In addition, Croatian Serbs who settled in Eastern Slavonia prior to January 15, 1996 have the option of voting either in their present voting districts or in the voting districts where they resided in 1991. Those who arrived in the region after the cut-off will be able to receive documents and vote in their place of prior residence. By giving the right to vote to all such persons, the Croatian government gives full effect to the Basic Agreement's guarantee that displaced Croatian Serbs living in the region will enjoy the same rights as all other residents of theregion. The April 13 elections cannot be deemed free and fair unless all eligible voters who seek to exercise their right to vote are able to do so.

In order to be entered onto voter registers, one must first obtain the Croatian citizenship document (domovnica) as well as an identity card (osobna iskaznica). Twenty-one documentation centers throughout Eastern Slavonia process applications for these documents. To ensure that all eligible voters have the proper documents, the Croatian government has, among other things, agreed to respond to all applications for the citizenship and ID documents within seven days, an expedited processing period. However, in mid-March, mere weeks before the elections, irregularities in the issuance of these documents were raising concerns that not all eligible voters seeking the documents would receive them in time for the elections, if at all. Among problems noted by international organizations working in the region, including NGOs, are the following: the issuance of documents to all but a few members of a family, inconsistencies in requirements for documentation of identity and residence in the region, and unexplained delays in the issuance of documents. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki urges the Croatian government to undertake all measures to issue documents and correct previous inconsistencies in sufficient time so that those who are eligible may participate in the April 13 elections. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki also calls on the Croatian government to continue the expedited issuance of documents after the elections to all eligible persons. Such documents are fundamental to enjoying the full rights of citizenship in the Republic of Croatia as well as to receiving benefits as displaced persons, and are thus critical to the peaceful reintegration of Eastern Slavonia. An UNTAES election official also told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki of harassment by extremist Serbs in one town in Eastern Slavonia directed against other Serbs who seek Croatian documents, rendering it impossible for those Serbs to apply for documents at the relevant documentation center. UNTAES must be able to protect those who wish to apply for documents if the elections are to be deemed free and fair.