Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

110th session

7-31 August 2023

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention

List of themes in relation to the combined ninth to fourteenth periodic reports of Croatia

Note by the Country Rapporteur *

1.The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decided at its seventy-sixth session that the Country Rapporteur would send to the State party concerned a short list of themes with a view to guiding and focusing the dialogue between the State party’s delegation and the Committee during the consideration of the State party’s report. The present document contains a list of such themes. It is not an exhaustive list; other issues may also be raised in the course of the dialogue. No written replies are required.

Statistics

2.Updated statistics on the demographic composition of the population, disaggregated by ethnic origin, including Roma, as well as on migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons. Economic and social indicators on various groups living in its territory, disaggregated by national or ethnic origin, gender and age, particularly in respect of minority groups.

The Convention in domestic law and the institutional and policy framework for its implementation (arts. 1, 2, 4 and 6)

3.Information on the results achieved and assessment of the implementation of the national anti-discrimination plan (2017-2022) and its action plan (2019), and on measures to develop a new comprehensive national plan and action plan to combat racism, racial discrimination and intolerance.

4.Measures to ensure that the provisions of the Criminal Code and other relevant legislation on racist hate speech, incitement to racial hatred and racist hate crimes are fully in line with article 4 of the Convention. In relation to articles 125 (violation of equality) and 325 (public incitement to violence and hatred) of the Criminal Code, updated statistics and detailed information on complaints registered before the courts or any other national institution for acts of racial discrimination, racist hate speech and racist hate crimes, including over the Internet and through media outlets, and on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators, if any. Information concerning application of the Criminal Code in cases involving racist or xenophobic motivation or hate crime as aggravating circumstances.

5.Specific measures taken or envisaged to combat racist hate speech, including in political discourse, in the media and over the Internet. Information on the protocol for procedures in cases of hate crimes, adopted in 2011, and on the working group for monitoring hate crimes, including its mandate, activities and composition.

6.Information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure that police and other law enforcement officers do not engage in racial discrimination, including racially motivated violence and practices that amount to racial profiling.

7.Measures taken to strengthen legal aid services and ensure their availability, and to provide legal assistance to facilitate litigation in racial discrimination cases, in accordance with the Free Legal Aid Act.

Situation of ethnic minority groups (arts. 2, 5 and 6)

8.Information on the National Roma Inclusion Plan (2021–2027) and on other measures taken to combat stereotypes and structural discrimination against Roma and to guarantee their full and equal enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly access to education and adequate housing, while ensuring consultation and participation of Roma in the design and implementation of such measures.

9.Measures taken to ensure that Roma children have equal access to quality education, including through teaching in the Romani language, and to prevent de facto segregation of Roma pupils. Information on measures to combat early and forced marriage among the Roma minority group.

10.Measures to ensure the effective participation and representation of members of ethnic minorities, particularly Serb and Roma minorities, in public and political life, particularly in State institutions, law enforcement and the judiciary, and to ensure their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including through the adoption and implementation of special measures.

11.Information on the Council for National Minorities, the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities and other national instruments for consultation and dialogue with ethnic minority groups to ensure that the views and concerns of those groups are taken into consideration in debates on issues affecting them.

12.Information on measures taken to ensure sustainable development of “areas of special State concern”, inhabited mainly by Serb and Roma minorities, and to eliminate social and economic disparities among regions.

13.Information on the war crimes trials and on measures to ensure that such trials are conducted in a non-discriminatory manner and that all cases of war crimes are effectively investigated and prosecuted, irrespective of the ethnicity of the victims and the perpetrators involved.

14.Information on measures to facilitate the return and reintegration of war refugees, particularly in relation to housing issues faced by property owners and former tenancy rights-holders.

Situation of migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons (arts. 2 and 5)

15.Information on the legislative and policy frameworks on asylum-seekers and refugees and on measures to ensure access to education, employment and health-care services without discrimination to all persons under the State party’s jurisdiction. Measures to combat acts of racial discrimination targeting migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons.

16.Measures to prevent and protect people from statelessness, including updated statistics on stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness.

Human rights education to combat prejudice and intolerance (art. 7)

17.Information on the citizenship education programme and other measures to promote human rights education, including on racial discrimination, in all school curricula, university programmes and teacher training programmes. Measures taken to raise awareness among the general public, civil servants, members of law enforcement and judicial authorities on the importance of cultural diversity, tolerance and inter-ethnic understanding.