MINELRES: ERRC Legal Action in Croatian School Segregation Case

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org> 


Legal Action at the European Court of Human Rights Challenges
Educational Discrimination of Romani Children in Croatian Primary
Schools

May 13, 2003

The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) announced at a press conference
today in Zagreb, Croatia, that it, together with Ms. Lovorka Kusan, a
local Croatian attorney-at-law, has lodged a pre-application letter
against Croatia with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The submission concerns the practice of continued racial
discrimination/segregation of Romani children in Croatian primary
schools, and was filed on behalf of 15 Romani pupils attending schools
in Macinec, Podturen and Orehovica (all villages located in the County
of Medjimurje). The ERRC and Ms Kusan have filed a pre-application
letter, rather than a full-scale application at this point, in order to
preserve the applicants� right to bring the case before the European
Court of Human Rights in a timely manner should the Croatian
Constitutional Court, which is yet to rule on the complaint filed by the
applicants, decline to provide a remedy.

All of the 15 Romani applicants whose case will be heard in Strasbourg
attend segregated Roma-only classes in what are otherwise �regular�
primary schools. Their placement stems from a blatant practice of
discrimination based on race/ethnicity carried out by the schools
concerned, the dominating and pervasive anti-Romani sentiment of the
local non-Romani community, and ultimately the unwillingness and/or
inability of the Croatian authorities, local and national alike, to
provide them with redress.

The teaching syllabus for the pupils attending separate Roma-only
classes is significantly reduced in scope and volume compared to the
officially prescribed teaching plan and program. As a result of this
practice, stretching back to the very beginning of their primary
education, the applicants have suffered severe educational,
psychological and emotional harm. In particular, by being subjected to a
curriculum far inferior to that in mainstream classes, they have
sustained damage to their opportunities to secure adequate employment in
the future, been stigmatized with the effects of diminished self-esteem
and feelings of humiliation, alienation and lack of self-worth, and been
forced to study in racially/ethnically segregated classrooms and hence
denied the benefits of a multi-cultural educational environment.
Official government statistics show that at the county level almost 60%
of all Romani pupils attend separate Roma-only classes. Moreover, at
least in one of the schools concerned, more than 88% of all Romani
students are schooled in segregated classes.

On 19 April 2002, as part of a larger group of Romani pupils, the 15
applicants, assisted by local counsel and the ERRC, filed a complaint
with the Municipal Court in Cakovec against the Republic of
Croatia/Ministry of Education, the County of Medjimurje, as well as the
four primary schools in Orehovica, Macinec, Kursanec and Podturen. The
complaint requested: i) a judicial finding of racial
discrimination/segregation; ii) an order that the defendants develop and
implement a monitoring system and a plan to end racial segregation and
discrimination and to achieve full integration, and iii) an order that
the plaintiffs be placed in racially integrated classrooms and provided
with the compensatory education necessary for them to overcome the
adverse effects of past discrimination/segregation.

On 26 September 2002 the Municipal Court in Cakovec issued a ruling
rejecting the complaint filed by the plaintiffs. This decision was
appealed on 17 October 2002 with the Cakovec County Court. On 14
November 2002 the appeal was rejected and the decision of Cakovec
Municipal Court confirmed.

Although the defendants failed to produce any meaningful evidence to
justify their practices, and notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence
in support of the pupils presented during the court proceedings, both
the first instance court and the second instance court failed to provide
redress for the violations suffered. On 19 December 2002 the applicants
filed a complaint with the Croatian Constitutional Court requesting that
both the first instance and the second instance judgements be quashed
and the case retried. At present, this complaint is still pending with
no indication as to when a ruling might be handed down.

As a result of the current status of domestic legal proceedings and in
the absence of any redress to date, the applicants have now turned to
the European Court of Human Rights for protection. The pre-application
letter filed on their behalf by the ERRC and Ms Kusan contends that: i)
the applicants� placement into the separate classes for the Roma only
constitutes �degrading treatment� in violation of Article 3 of the
European Convention of Human Rights, ii) the applicants have been denied
their right to education, in breach of Article 2 of Protocol 1 to the
Convention iii) the applicants have suffered racial discrimination in
the enjoyment of the right to education, in violation of Article 14, iv)
the applicants have been subjected to a determination of their civil
rights in a procedure that has proved fundamentally flawed and
consequently in clear violation of the fair trial guarantees contained
in Article 6, and v) the applicants have been denied an effective
domestic remedy, in violation of Article 13. In addition, in the
pre-application letter the applicants have reserved the right to assert
additional violations, as they become apparent, and submit a detailed
claim for just compensation in accordance with Article 41 of the
Convention.

The full-scale application will be filed if and when it becomes clear
that the applicants have been denied an effective and comprehensive
remedy in Croatia. The time has come for the Croatian authorities to
either finally provide redress to the Romani applicants domestically or
face international justice.

Further information on the situation of Roma in Croatia is available on:
http://www.errc.org/publications/indices/croatia.shtml
Further information on the plight of education of Romani children in
Europe is available on:
http://errc.org/publications/position/education.shtml



_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary


Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax:   +36 1 4132201

_____________________________________________

SUPPORT THE ERRC!

The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are welcome; bank
transfers are preferred. Please send your contribution to:

European Roma Rights Center
Account holder: European Roma Rights Center
Bank�s name:    Budapest Bank Rt.
Account number: 99P00402686
(IBAN:          HU21-10103173-40268600-00000998)
Bank�s address: B�thori utca 1, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary


For correspondence, to subscribe and unsubscribe from this list, please
use mailto:office@errc.org.