COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS STARTS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF CROATIA

CESCR
27th session
19 November 2001
Morning




Delegation Queried on Privatization, Unemployment, Discrimination against
Minorities, Backlog of Court Cases, among other Issues



The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning started its consideration of an initial report from Croatia, querying a 12-member Government delegation, among other things, on privatization, unemployment, discrimination against minorities and the backlog of court cases, which had reportedly reached one million cases.

The report was introduced by Nino Zganec, Assistant Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Croatia, who noted that as part of its overall policy of developing democracy and society as a whole, Croatia had invested the greatest effort in solving the burning problems of unemployment, poverty and the subsequent social exclusion. He said the present economic circumstances needed determined action directed at numerous reforms.

Mr. Zganec said that it was necessary to work out new solutions in the areas of economic and social policies, with the aim of transforming Croatian society into a modern society, which would become the basis for sustainable development in today's globalization process.

Committee Experts asked, among other things, on how successful was the privatization process, which was marked by the sale of stocks by workers themselves as no capital was brought into the enterprises; the backlog of cases -- over one million according to a report -- still pending in courts; about the high unemployment figure; and the protection of minorities.

Committee Experts also said that Serbs and Muslims were discriminated against, particularly in housing, employment and movement; Muslims were excluded from parliament; the implementation of justice was impeded by local authorities concerning minorities; freedom of trade unions was restricted in anticipation that they might threaten State security; and the number of unemployed women was high.

Spomenka Cek, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introduced the members of the Croatian delegation.

The Croatian delegation is also made up of Sanja Crnkovic, Director of the Employment Bureau; Lidija Likina Karajkovic, Assistant Minister of Justice, Administration and Local Self-Government; Zlatko Ljubic, Assistant Minister of Education and Sports; Ksenija Zeman, Head of Department, Ministry of Health; Branko Socanac, Head of Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mira Lenardic, Secretary, Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction; Dejana Bouillet, Assistant Director, State Bureau for the Protection of the Family, Maternity and Youth; Anica Hunjet, Head of Department for High Education, Ministry of Science and Technology; Vesna Kos, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Croatia in Geneva; and Toni Luburic, Interpreter.Croatia is among the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and as such it must present periodic reports to the 18-member monitoring body on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue its consideration of the initial report of Croatia.


Report of Croatia

The initial report is contained in document E/1990/5/Add.46 and it enumerates the different administrative, legislative and juridical measures undertaken by the State to comply with the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It says that Croatia is traditionally a multi-ethnic society in which national minorities make up one-fifth of the society. Croatia has well arranged relations with minorities, and questions of cultural autonomy and neighbourhood rights are favourably settled in legislation and in practice. There are no restrictions to prohibit or restrict freedom of expression, creativity, or the exchange of cultural and scientific information.

The report notes that men and women are paid equal wages for equal work and work of equal value. The Labour Law and the Protection of Work Law regulate the particular protection of women at work. Legislative regulations, respecting women's biological characteristics and their reproductive function, and giving them through protection a privileged position in some cases, actually make it impossible for the specific nature of women to be made the subject of discrimination as compared with men. The Labour Law defines the jobs that a woman may not do.

It is noted that the state of the nourishment of the adult population based on the evaluation of the Body Mass Index (MBI) shows that in this group there are on average 8.3 per cent of extremely thin people, 35.5 per cent with a standard body mass, and 56.2 per cent with increased body mass, including those who are actually obese. The quality of the diet of all segments of the population shows that the composition of individual protective substance, such as vitamins, is lower than the recommended daily intake. However, the quality of food consumed is satisfactory.

The report says that in the urban areas of the Republic, 98 per cent of apartments have electricity, 72 per cent have running water and 25 per cent have central heating. In the rural areas the situation is worse, varying from area to area; 90 per cent of houses have electric power, slightly over 40 per cent have running water and slightly more than 10 per cent have central heating. Over 590 settlements in Croatia suffered damage during the war, with 217,900 housing units destroyed and damaged.

In 1998 in Croatia there were 52,311 deaths, with 11.6 per 1,000 inhabitants, the report says. At the top of the list of illnesses that contribute to mortality in the country is illness of the circulatory system, which contributes to more than 50 per cent of all deaths. Then come neoplasms which account for 20 per cent, and injuries and poisoning, about 6 per cent. The order of the causes of death has not changed fundamentally in recent years.


Presentation of Report

NINO ZGANEC, Assistant Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Croatia, noted that as part of its overall policy of developing democracy and society as a whole, Croatia had invested the greatest effort in solving the burning problems of unemployment, poverty and the subsequent social exclusion. The present economic circumstances in the country needed determined action directed at numerous reforms. It was necessary to work out new solutions in the areas of economic and social policies, with the aim of transforming Croatian society into a modern society, which would become the basis for sustainable development in today's globalization process.

Mr. Zganec said the right to education in his country was guaranteed to all. Education was regulated by separate laws, all of which had been amended, had had supplements added or had been passed in the period between 1997 and 2001. In 1997, a new 'pre-school child care and education act' was passed, bringing pre-school care for the first time completely into the school system. Primary education, which was obligatory and free for everyone, covered about 405,000 pupils. For pupils from poorer economic backgrounds, funds were supplied for the purchase of textbooks. In primary schools, there were about 20,000 pupils who needed social assistance. In 2001, the Government had spent 8 million kuna for textbooks for that category of pupils.

Mr. Zganec further said that education of members of national minorities was regulated by the Education in the Language and Script of National Minorities Act, and the right to education in their own language might be realized from pre-school education up to higher education. National minorities such as Hungarians, Italians, Serbians, Czechs, Slovakians, Ukrainians and Germans received education in their own languages. Other minorities such as Albanians, Jews and Bosnians had organized forms for safe-guarding their linguistic, religious and cultural identity, which were co-financed by their associations. The Roma, as a national minority with specific characteristics unlike any other national minority, were covered by the school system and many other additional programmes.


Discussion

Following the presentation of the report, the Committee Experts raised a number of questions, among other things, on how successful was the privatization process, which was marked by the sale of stocks by workers themselves as no capital was brought into the enterprises; the backlog of cases -- over one million according to a report -- still pending in courts; about the high unemployment figure; and the protection of minorities.

Responding to the questions, the delegation said the process of privatization in Croatia was different from other countries in the region. Workers had the opportunity to buy the enterprises in which they were working, and to run them. Former owners of enterprises, which were nationalized by the former Yugoslav socialist system, had also been given shares in the privatized enterprises. At present, although the country was open to direct foreign investments, there was not much of it. The Government had provided long-term loans to workers in order to allow them to buy the stocks.

There were acute problems concerning the backlog of cases in courts, the delegation said. Although there was no shortage of judges, the Government continued to solve the problem through the recruitment of additional personnel to work in the judiciary. Training programmes were also provided for judges to improve their knowledge and to assist them in executing their duties. An international technical assistance and cooperation agreement had also been signed in May 1999 between the Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the field of justice.

The unemployment figure was not as high as it was shown in some statistics, the delegation said. The mentality of dependency on the State for employment had yet to be changed. The destruction of some enterprises had also left many workers out of work. The high labour cost was among the factors that did not attract foreign investment; the pension and the contribution to the social security system by the employer were also considered costly.

Asked about the function of human rights commissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement, the delegation said that the Government was preparing plans to establish a national commission on human rights comprising of representatives of relevant ministries as well as members of non-governmental organizations.

The Committee continued to raise questions on issues relating to non-discrimination and equal rights of men and women. Committee Experts said that Serbs and Muslims were discriminated against, particularly in housing, employment and movement; Muslims were excluded from parliament; and the implementation of justice was impeded by local authorities concerning minorities. The Experts also asked why freedom of trade unions was restricted in anticipation that they might threaten State security; why the number of unemployed women was high; and about the effectiveness of the World Bank programmes on the Croatian economy.

Women were not proportionally represented in public affairs because of reasons yet to be solved, the delegation said. However, the trend had changed and more women were mounting the power ladder of decision-making, at both the local and national level. Non-governmental organizations working on gender equality were active in promoting equality among men and women. The Government had also decided to increase the number of women serving in the government administration beginning 2002. Ministries had been instructed to raise the number of women personnel in their sections and to rectify their recruitment methods to offer them more chances.




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