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INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 001333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID PHUM HR
SUBJECT: MINORITIES MAKE PROGRESS; MORE WORK TO BE DONE 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY AND COMMENT: A survey of minority legal and cultural 
rights conducted by a Croatian Serb NGO shows that Croatia has a 
good legal framework in place but that implementation, especially on 
the local level and in "war affected areas" lags behind the legal 
ideal.  Presenting the findings of its USAID-funded survey at an 
October 31 conference, the Serb Democratic Forum (SDF) cited 
significant progress made in the eleven years since hostilities 
ceased, but pointed to a number of problem areas in minority 
employment and political representation at local levels.  COMMENT: 
Croatia's Constitutional Law on National Minorities was hailed as a 
milestone when passed in 2002; unfortunately its unwieldy structures 
and lack of clarity result in poor implementation due to a lack of 
related laws at the local level. In addition, its suggested "quotas" 
for minority employment in the already bloated public sector are 
unlikely to be met when the EU and others are calling for reducing 
budget deficits and state structures. Finally, there is no legal 
obligation on the part of local governments to finance minority 
councils, reducing their operational capabilities. Despite the legal 
framework and high-level political commitment to tolerance, 
discrimination against ethnic minorities is likely to persist at 
local levels in poorer parts of the country. END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT 
 
GOOD LAW; SPOTTY IMPLEMENTATION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Although the Croatian parliament passed a model "Constitutional 
Law on National Minorities" (CLNM) guaranteeing political and 
cultural rights to ethnic groups in Croatia in 2002, anecdotal 
evidence suggested that implementation had lagged. (Ethnic 
minorities represent a small fraction of the heavily Croatian and 
Roman Catholic population: Serb 4.5%, Muslim 1%, and assorted 
Hungarians, Czechs, Roma and others, 5%.) With USAID financial 
assistance, the Serb Democratic Forum (SDF), a Croatian NGO 
representing ethnic Serbs, conducted a survey on the establishment 
of self-government and equal access to employment in the public 
sector.  The SDF presented the survey's finding at a well-attended 
conference held October 31. Participants included the President of 
the Government's Council for National Minorities, the President of 
the Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights and Rights of National 
Minorities, head of the Government Office for Human Rights, USAID 
Mission Director William Jeffers, and a number of MPs, NGO 
representatives and diplomats. 
 
¶3.  Many participants at the conference criticized the overall 
effectiveness of the CLNM due to a lack of sub-laws necessary for 
its successful implementation at the local level. Participants 
complained that ethnic Serb MPs had failed to advocate vigorously 
for the required sub laws. Participants expressed the belief that 
there is simply a general lack of political will at middle and lower 
political levels to fully implement the CLNM. 
 
INADEQUATE MINORITY REPRESENTATION IN PUBLIC SECTOR 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶4.  The SDF survey found that the CLNM's provision on proportional 
minority employment in the public sector in places where a minority 
comprises at least 15 percent of the population remains largely 
unimplemented.  In several central Croatian regions where a 
significant percentage of Serbs live, for example, the report found 
that Serbs comprised 22 percent of the population but made up only 
three percent of public administration employees. In the Dalmatian 
hinterlands, Serbs comprise 13 percent of the population but only 4 
percent of public employees. The situation was significantly better 
only in Eastern Slavonia where Serbs were adequately represented in 
the police and only slightly underrepresented in judiciary. However, 
even in eastern Slavonia overall employment in state administration 
remained low:  While Serbs represent 51 percent of the population in 
eastern Slavonia, they only comprised only 26 percent of state 
administration. 
 
MINORITY COUNCILS ONLY PARTIALLY FUNCTIONAL 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5.  Minority Councils under the CLNM serve only in an advisory role 
to articulate minority interests to local government and NGOs. Under 
the current framework, local governments have no legal obligation to 
finance them, resulting in varying levels of funding from county to 
county. One senior level advisor to a Serbian MP informed PolOff 
that the lack of adequate funding seriously hampers the ability of 
Minority Councils to effectively function. (COMMENT: However, the 
same staffer admitted that mandatory financing of the councils is 
not/not a legislative priority of the Serb party. END COMMENT) 
 
CULTURAL RIGHTS GENERALLY EXERCISED EASILY 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. While minority Serbs and Czechs occasionally encounter problems 
when attempting to use minority language and symbols, the general 
position of minorities today is far better than it was ten years 
ago. Hate speech by the media and politicians has significantly 
declined over the past decade. 
 
 
ZAGREB 00001333  002 OF 002 
 
 
BRADTKE