COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES REVIEW OF INITIAL REPORT OF CROATIA

CESCR
27th session
20 November 2001
Morning





The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning concluded its review of an initial report from Croatia on how that State party was implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Before concluding their consideration of the report, a number of Committee Experts continued to ask questions under the last cluster of main subjects -- the right to education and the right to participation in cultural life. They asked, among other things, if measures had been taken to achieve national reconciliation to help reconstruct the country; about the role of ethnic schools in building national affiliation and unity; about high school dropouts; about school textbooks that contained derogatory remarks on minorities; why the law on telecommunications was not amended to allow licensing in broadcasting; and how universities were funded.

The members of the Croatian delegation told the Committee, among other things, that a national committee on peace and reconciliation had been established in which national minorities were represented; at the same time, the Government had been exerting more efforts to bring peace among the various ethnic groups and to ease tensions; additional measures were taken to accommodate displaced persons and returnees; and through the stability pact, cross border cooperation had also been strengthened, they said.

The Committee will release its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Croatia towards the end of its three-week session to be concluded on 30 November.

Croatia, as one of the 145 States parties to the International Covenant, is obligated to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty. A 12-member delegation was on hand throughout three meetings to present Croatia's initial report and to respond to Experts' questions.

Before adjourning the morning meeting, the Committee met in private to discuss other business.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will be discuss the issue of reproductive and sexual health in the presence of representatives of a number of United Nations agencies and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.


Discussion

Responding to questions pending from yesterday, the members of the Croatian delegation said that the right to strike used to be a collective right. It was now an individual right. When the right to strike was a collective right, an employer had brought a case to the Supreme Court complaining that a strike had been carried on the basis of unpaid wages, which should have made it an individual case. The Supreme Court had decided that the strike was illegal and had ruled in favour of the employer. Since then the Government had changed the regime of the right to strike and a law had been enacted to make it an individual right instead of a collective one.

The number of labour inspectors for the whole country was 168 and they covered all the 26 counties, the delegation said, adding that 87 of them dealt with the implementation of provisions of the labour law.

The Committee Experts continued to ask questions under the last cluster of the main subjects -- the right to education and the right to participation in cultural life. They asked, among other things, if measures were taken to achieve national reconciliation to help reconstruct the country; about the role of ethnic schools in building national unity and affiliation; about high school dropouts; about the school textbooks that contained derogatory remarks on minorities; why the law on telecommunications was not amended to allow licensing in broadcasting; and how universities were funded.

A national committee on peace and reconciliation had been established in which national minorities were represented, the delegation said. At the same time, the Government had been exerting more efforts to bring peace among the various ethnic groups and to ease tensions. Additional measures were taken to accommodate displaced persons and returnees. Through the stability pact, cross border cooperation had also been strengthened.

During the war, 340 schools had been destroyed in the war-affected areas, and the Government was committed to repair them, the delegation said. Further, multi-cultural centres were made available to the various communities in the areas affected by the war. The World Bank had been helpful in financing a number of cultural and educational projects aimed at creating social cohesion among ethnic groups.

The use of ethnic scripts and languages was guaranteed in Croatia from kindergarten to higher educational institutions, the delegation said. The measure was in keeping with the provisions of the Constitution that provided the right to national minorities to practice their own languages, scripts and cultures. Cultural and educational funds had been decentralized and each community was able to receive its share to finance its projects.

The right to religious education was guaranteed by law and it was conducted in kindergarten and in schools, the delegation said. Religious education was funded from the budget of the Ministry of Education. A draft law would soon be before the parliament to regulate the legal status of religious groups, which were not Roman Catholic.

The Government had opted to withdraw some of the textbooks that carried contested references, the delegation said. With the change in the teaching curriculum, the textbooks would be revoked and until then teachers had the right to choose other textbooks which might help them in their teaching. In terms of educational expenditure, 2.65 per cent of the gross domestic product went to education.

The national programme on human rights had been adopted to enhance the teaching of the principles and practise of democracy, the delegation said. The programme had been integrated in the curriculum of primary schools from first to fourth grades. One of the prerequisites for the programme to be effectively implemented was the organization of seminars and workshops for teachers. The Government was making efforts in that direction.

The existing law on telecommunications did not enable the authorities to issue appropriate licences in broadcasting, the delegation said. The shortcomings of the law would be rectified through amendments, and a text would be submitted to parliament for that purpose. In conclusion, the delegation said that Croatia had made positive progress in many fields, including human rights, and it had reaffirmed its status of being a social state.




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