East - East Partnership Beyond Borders Program: Croatia Vision of the Human Rights Center for the year 2010 Program Coordinator: Maja Hasanbašić

Zagreb, December 29, 2009

After three years of successful implementation of the East East Partnership Beyond Borders Program in Croatia, the Human Rights Center proposes its vision for the fourth year, 2010. Up to now, seven projects have been implemented, one project in the year 2007 and three projects in 2008, as well as in 2009. Two projects were related to the right on healthy environment and sustainable development, two dealt with the EU accession process and its' impact on human rights, two of them introduced a new theme last year: dealing with the past, while one was related to cooperation of human rights libraries.

HRC's vision for the year 2009 continues the main idea from previous years; a human rights based approach to different themes, while having in mind actuality, continuity and universality of chosen themes at the national, regional and/or international level. Finaly, through the East East Program we want to further strenghten international cooperation with CSOs and other organizations over concrete human rights issues and processes in which our Center, but also Croatian CSOs have participated at the national level.

Following themes represent the HRC's vision for the year 2010:

1. Dealing with the Past / War Crime Processing and Transitional Justice

Dealing with the past will remain one of the core human rights issue on the HRC's agenda for 2010 due to several reasons. First of all, completion strategy of the ICTY estimates that all trials are expected to be completed by mid 2011 (with the exception of Radovan Karadžić's case and appeals). All together, this Tribunal has charged over 160 persons, which is relatively small number in regard to numerous war crimes that happened. An integrative aim of its' completion strategy is to assist national courts in war crime proceedings, which are taking place (such as Sačić case) in states of former Yugoslavia. National judiciray systems in war crime proceedings still need to be improved, specially institutionalisation of witness and victim support system and in that regard, monitoring of those trials by CSOs have to be continued and strenghtened as well.

Secondly, Initiative for REKOM (Regional Commission for Defining Facts about War Crimes and Other Serious Human Rights Violations in the Recent Past) will enter into its' final year, in which mandate will be jointly discussed and defined. International exchange of experiences about Truth Commissions (such as Cambodgian, Peruan, etc.) would be of great benefit in this stage of REKOM process. We foresee the East East Program as the best possible tool to achieve international exchange of experiences about such important regional issue.

Finaly, neither ICTY or national courts will prosecute all war crimes and because of late prosecutions of war crimes, a significant number of people who have experienced war crimes or other serious crimes (as victims or/and witnesses) are still waiting for investigations to be initiated, and often have not had the opportunity to testify about their suffering before the relevant judicial bodies. Coalition for REKOM is certainly a complementary process to local war crime trials and will significantly contribute to the notion of justice and reconciliation. Furthermore, the overall process of dealing with the past directly enforces implementaion of the principle of equality before the law and the fundamental human right to a fair trial.

Center will continue to strongly support work of the Coalition for REKOM, as well as the process of dealing with the past.

2) Education for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship

An education for human rights and democratic citizenship will remain as an important theme of the HRC's vision for 2010. Eventhough no significant improvements happened in Croatia at the policy level in 2009, our Center has conducted an expert research entitled: “Human Rights in Primary Schools: Theory and Practice”, which would serve as a solid base for exchange of experiences within the East East Program in 2010.

Our strategic focus would be on exchanging best practices in defining public policies about Education for Human Rights and Democratic Citizenship in the states of former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and Kosovo).

Croatia is not doing enough on the institutional/policy level, and this would be the case in which we would mostly learn from others (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro particularily). Besides, one of the experts who participated in our research, Mrs. Vedrana Spajić Vrkaš has parallely participated in a regional Pilot project on Education for Democratic Citizenship in South East Europe, in which the leader was Civitas-BiH from Sarajevo. Also, initial idea was already presented to Mr. Miljenko Dereta from Civic Initiatives in Serbia, who is knowledgable in this issue and positive for a potential cooperation.

Within this theme, follow up activities are possible in further developing of special library network, as concluded on the human rights librarians meeting which took place in March 2009 in the framework of project entitled: “Human Rights Libraries - cooperation and possibilities of establishing a special library network”.

3) Human Rights and Environment / Implications of Climate Change

Situation at the national level in 2009 became very concerning, specially in regard to relationship of the particular state ministry toward CSOs, which was nontransparent, non participative and too often offensive. Furthermore, national energetic strategies that were brought surreptitiously in 2009 are not in line with European energy policies and expected Copenhagen agreement, and as such do not contribute to the global fight against climate change. Concrete example of Croatia's politics in international community is a "Fossil of the Day" award, which Croatia was given at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, with which Croatia shares first place with Canada as countries that are doing the most to delay and disrupt negotiations on a global agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Projects that were carried out in 2007 and 2008 established a solid base for joint regional/international cooperation, which has been reinforced at the national level among Center and our partner – Heinrich Boll Foundation - Office in Zagreb, our associate NGO Eko Kvarner and our new associate, an NGO – Green Action at the strategic planning meeting that took place in October 2008, with the support of the East East Program.

Eventhough, a year 2009 did not result in joint projects within the East East Program due to several reasons (local elections moslty), a motivation and real needs for joint cooperation in 2010 have been recognized on an ad hoc meeting off all mentioned partners which took place on December 21, 2009, immediately after the Copenhagen conference.

Transport and energy on one hand, and SEA procedure on the other hand are possible issues on which our joint cooperation would be focused within the East East Program in the year 2010. Exchange of experiences and best practices beyond borders would be models through which we would try to influence on the improvement of the situation at the national level in regard to overall policy of the Republic of Croatia in environment protection.

4) Combating Discrimination

Combating discrimination is a kind of concrete follow up to the HRC's theme that was present in previous visions: EU and Human Rights. It is directly related to the EU negotiations, in which context year 2010 will be crucial for closing of the Chapter 23: “Judiciary and Fundamental Rights”.

To be able to close the Chapter, Croatia will have to prove effective implementation of Antidiscrimination law, which entered into force on January 1, 2009. In that regard, HRC will continue to monitor the whole process and primarily implementaion of the mentioned law. Experiences of countries from the region regarding particular laws in the context of the EU have already been discussed and exchanged within Center's East East projects “EU and Human Rights” that were carried out in the year 2008 (a pilot project focused on bilalteral exchange of experiences among Croatia and Macedonia, and a regional conference, which gathered CSOs and other relevant organizations/institutions from seven countries of the South East Europe). Both meetings resulted with joint conslusions which stated that participation of the CSOs in this processes is inevitable and needed, and that further exchange of experiences among countries in the South East Europe over following concrete human rights issues is needed: anitdiscirmination law, free legal aid, asylum policy and protection of environment.

This year we would focus on exchange of experiences in antidiscrimination policies and their implementation, which is very actual and in focus in Croatia, not just by CSOs, but also, by National Human Rights Institutions. Initial cooperation is already agreed with Ms. Sanja Elezović and Tamara Srzentić from the OSI Foundation in Podgorica, Montenegro, since Montenegro should get the Antidiscrimination Law in the beginning of 2010.

Maja Hasanbašić

Human Rights Center

Head of Programs and Activities Department