International Mechanism Submissions

The Advocates for Human Rights, together with Autonomous Women's House Zagreb (AZKZ), submitted a List of Issues on Croatia's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for the 127th Session of the Human Rights Committee.

Despite significant progress, Croatia fails to meet its obligations under the ICCPR. Ethnic minorities are routinely discriminated against in the public and private spheres and are subjected to threats and violence. The LGBTI community reports fear and widespread prejudice, especially following widespread misinformation campaigns regarding the term "gender" and so-called gender ideology. Gender-based violence remains widespread, and victims lack appropriate legal protections and redress. There has been a notable increase in violence on the border by state and non-state actors towards migrants. Journalists have been discouraged and prevented from exercising their freedom of expression.

This report offers questions to guide the Human Rights Committee's review of Croatia toward acknowledging the state's failure to uphold human rights in compliance with the ICCPR and identifying potential remedies including:

• How is the State addressing issues of racially-motivated crimes perpetrated against members of minority populations?
• Will the state consider repealing laws that hold victims responsible when children witness domestic violence and amend laws and policies to ensure that violence against one parent by another is identified and taken into account in custody decisions?
• What training do police and border patrol receive with respect to the treatment of migrants?
• What steps it the State taking to address the harassment of, and threats made against, civil society organizations and their members?