Publications

Human Rights in Croatia: Overview of 2020 is the annual report produced by the Human Rights House in cooperation with civil society organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in various aspects of social life. The report aims to provide insight into violations, issues, challenges and disputes in the sphere of protection and promotion of human rights in 2020. In addition to significant material damages caused by two devastating earthquakes that hit central Croatia, the past year has been challenging for human rights on account of restrictive measures adopted to protect public health in response to the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. The report covers social, economic and political context, international instruments, laws, public policies and institutions, right to participation, human rights defenders and civil society, religious rights and freedoms, media freedoms, security and human rights, human rights and the judiciary, transitional justice and dealing with the past, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, human rights and the environment, education and human rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, youth, rights of the elderly, rights of persons with disabilities, rights of LGBTIQ persons, rights of the homeless, rights of refugees and rights of national minorities.

This publication provides an analysis of the issue of cooperation between civil society and states in relation to membership in the UN Human Rights Council. The first part consists of a research methodology and findings about experiences in cooperation between civil society and government in three countries: Armenia, Croatia and Georgia. The second part of the publication is the toolbox for fostering meaningful cooperation between state and civil society. It builds on the experiences of various actors and is primarily targeted towards civil society organizations. It enables CSOs to assess their political context and define their HRC-related strategy.

Human Rights in Croatia: Overview of 2019 is a report by Human Rights House Zagreb, which provides insight into violations, problems and challenges in the field of protection and promotion of human rights in Croatia during 2019. The report is based on a systematic year-round monitoring and collecting of information from relevant civil society organisations and members of academia who deal with human rights. The research methodology is based on the United Nations’ Universal Human Rights Index. The report covers: social, economic and political context, international instruments, laws, public policies and institutions, right to participation, human rights defenders and civil society, religious rights and freedoms, media freedoms, security and human rights, human rights and the judiciary, transitional justice and dealing with the past, right to an adequate standard of living, labor and trade union rights, right to health, financial lending and right to protection of property, right to access to culture, human rights and the environment, education and human rights, vulnerable groups, women’s rights, children’s rights, rights of the elderly, rights of persons with disabilities, rights of LGBTIQ persons, rights of the homeless, rights of refugees and rights of national minorities.

Procedural rights observed by the camera – Audiovisual recording of interrogations in the EU (ProCam)” is a multijurisdictional research project on the audiovisual recording of police interrogations of suspects, including minors and vulnerable persons funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme. It aims at mapping the link between audiovisual recording of interrogations and the enforcement of the rights of defendants, with special regard to the so-called Roadmap directives, along with an EU-wide identification of good practices of recording interrogations of vulnerable persons and understanding concerns about audiovisual recording of interrogations.

This international project “Procedural rights observed by the camera – Audiovisual recording of interrogations in the EU (ProCam)”, supported by the European Commission, aims at mapping the link between audiovisual recording of interrogations and the enforcement of the rights of defendants, with special regard to the rights of vulnerable defendants and the rights enshrined in Directive 2013/48/EU on access to a lawyer, along with an EU-wide identification of good practice of recording interrogations of vulnerable persons and understanding concerns about audiovisual recording of interrogations. The project included an analysis of the legal framework and the statistical data, and an empirical research. Results are summarized in the present country report.

The main objective of the report is to contribute to the proper application of Directive 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings, reducing the number of instances in which suspected and accused persons are presented to the courts and the public, including as through the media, in ways that create a perception of guilt. This reports gives an overview of practice and legal framework in Croatia.

The principle of presumption of innocence is contained in the chapter on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, according to which everyone is presumed innocent and may not be held guilty of a criminal offense until such guilt is proven by a binding court judgment. The aim of this research report is to find are the media presentation of suspects and accused persons are in line with principles of presumption of innocence in Croatia. For purposes of this study, random sampling of articles was conducted in: 5 national daily newspapers with the largest circulation (Večernji list, Jutarnji list, 24 sata, Novi list, Slobodna Dalmacija), 3 weekly newspapers (7 dnevno, Globus, Nacional), 3 news portals not affiliated with print (Index.hr, Net.hr, T-portal) and in TV stories broadcast during the main news bulletins in the prime time on public-broadcasting channel (HRT1 Dnevnik) and on 2 private channels (NovaTV and RTL) with a primary focus on the news and with biggest viewership to the news. In the sampling period, a total of 245 news items were collected.

Human Rights in Croatia: Overview for 2018 is the annual report of the Human Rights House Zagreb and civil society organisations dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights in various spheres of social life. This extensive and systematic annual overview aims to provide an insight into the violations, problems, challenges and controversies in the field of protecting and promoting human rights in 2018 in Croatia.

The report “Examples of Good Practices in Combating Discrimination at the Local Level” was produced as part of the “Network of Cities and NGOs for Combating Racism and Discrimination” project carried out since November 2017 by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), the Human Rights House Zagreb (HRH) and the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM). The project aims to improve local-level protection mechanisms against discrimination and racism by encouraging cooperation between cities and local civil society organisations. It seeks to enhance inter-sectoral cooperation in Croatia and provide an insight into local and international standards and approaches to combating discrimination and racism in order to foster local stakeholders’ engagement around these issues.  Along with highlighting the importance of combating discrimination at the local level, this report collects and presents examples of good practice that might be useful to local communities in Croatia as guidelines in adopting concrete measures to combat discrimination and promote diversity within their community.