§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current human rights situation in Croatia. [75229]
§ Mr. Tony LloydWhile improvements have been made, much remains to be done. In particular, the most recent OSCE report on Croatia has underlined a continuing lack of progress in bringing domestic legislation, eg on protection for minorities and press freedom, into line with Council of Europe and UN human rights instruments.
Among the areas which still require government attention are:
Constitutional amendments to remove the restrictions of certain rights which are currently enjoyed by citizens rather than individuals;Restoration of certain suspended provisions contained in the 1991 Constitutional Law on Human Rights, providing for the protection of political representation and social and cultural rights of minorities (applying above all to the Serb minority following Operations Flash and Storm in 1995);Croatia is a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees but no domestic legislation has yet been introduced to implement its principles, leaving Albanian asylum-seekers from Kosovo, for example, with treatment inconsistent with these principles;Equal application of the Law on Citizenship;Adoption of democratic standards regarding freedom of the media, information and expression, and public service broadcasting;Reform of electoral legislation in order to comply with the OSCE Copenhagen Document (Articles 7 and 8) and other international standards.We and our European partners take every opportunity to remind the Croatians that fulfilment of its international obligations is a necessary precursor to a closer relationship with Europe.