MINELRES: ERRC: Croatian Deputy Ombudsman Under Pressure for Condemning Racial Segregation in Croatian Primary Schools

[MINELRES moderator]

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


Croatian Deputy Ombudsman Under Pressure for Condemning Racial
Segregation in Croatian Primary Schools

October 14, 2003

Over the past several years, Ms. Marta Vidakovic Mukic, Croatian Deputy
Ombudsman, has consistently and with a high degree of professional
integrity condemned the widespread practice of racial segregation of
Romani pupils within Croatian primary schools. Instead of prompting
appropriate government action to remedy the situation, her work has
placed her under increasing pressure, especially in recent months, from
both the Medjimurje County local government/parliament and other
"concerned" individuals/groups, which have suggested that her activities
are damaging to the "country's reputation abroad" and even requested her
removal from office. The European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) protests
such harassment/intimidation and appeals to the Croatian central
government and civil society alike to stand up in defense of the Deputy
Ombudsman's right and obligation to report the facts as they are, and
request redress for those whose rights have been violated.

Many Romani children in Croatia, primarily in Medjimurje County, attend
segregated Roma-only classes in what are otherwise "regular" primary
schools. Their placement in such schools is a result of racial
discrimination by officials at the schools concerned, expressing the
dominating and pervasive anti-Romani sentiment of the local non-Romani
community. The teaching syllabus for the pupils attending separate
Roma-only classes is significantly reduced in scope and volume compared
to the standard curriculum in Croatia. As a result of segregating
practices, the opportunities available to graduates of such classes to
secure adequate employment in the future are jeopardized. Additionally,
Romani children in such classes are stigmatized with the effects of
diminished self-esteem and feelings of humiliation as a result of being
forced to study in racially segregated classrooms denying them 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. In addition, in at
least one of the schools in Medjimurje County, more than 88% of all
Romani children in the school are victims of racial segregation.

The severity of issues related to the education of Romani children in
Croatia has been recognised by international review agencies. For
example, in its Concluding Observations of 21 May 2002 on Croatia's
compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination "expresse[d] concern at the continued practice of
segregation of Roma children within the educational system ... [and
recommended that Croatian authorities] pay particular attention to the
situation of the Roma and take effective measures to prevent [their]
segregation ....". Legal complaints on behalf of Romani children
segregated in Croatian schools are currently pending before the Croatian
Constitutional Court, and a pre-application letter on the issue has been
filed at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

As regards the role and status of the institution of Ombudsman when it
comes to investigating human rights abuse, Paragraph 7(ii) of
Recommendation No. 1615 (2003), adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe, provides that an Ombudsman must be "guaranteed
independence ... in particular as regards receipt of complaints,
decisions on whether or not to accept complaints as admissible or to
launch own-initiative investigations, decisions on when and how to
pursue investigations, consideration of evidence, drawing of
conclusions, preparation and presentation of recommendations and
reports, and publicity 
....".

In view of the violations suffered by numerous Romani children in
Croatian primary schools and the recent pressure on/intimidation of the
Deputy Ombudsman, the ERRC requests comprehensive redress for all Romani
victims of educational segregation, as well as protection of the
professional and personal integrity of Ms. Marta Vidakovic Mukic.

ERRC Senior Staff Attorney Branimir Plese said: "Despite some local
views to the contrary, a country's reputation abroad and domestically
must be earned by effective human rights implementation -- individual or
collective denial will not do."

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/positions/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

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