REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA

Head of State: Danilo Türk (replaced Janez Drnovšek in December)
Head of state and government: Janez Janša
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Population: 2 million
Life expectancy: 77.4 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f): 7/7 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 99.7 per cent


There was continued concern about the status of thousands of people who were removed from the registry of permanent residents in 1992 (known as the "erased"). Members of Romani communities faced discrimination, including in access to education.

The 'erased'

The Slovenian authorities failed to restore the status of permanent residents of a group of people known as the "erased" or to ensure that they have full access to economic and social rights. Moreover, those affected by the "erasure" continued to be denied access to full reparation, including compensation.

The "erased" included at least 18,305 individuals unlawfully removed from the Slovenian registry of permanent residents in 1992. They were mainly people from other former Yugoslav republics, many of them Roma, who had been living in Slovenia and had not acquired Slovenian citizenship after Slovenia became independent. While some were forcibly expelled, many lost their jobs and/or could no longer be legally employed. They had no, or limited, access to comprehensive healthcare after 1992, in some cases with serious consequences for their health. Of those "erased" in 1992, thousands remained without Slovenian citizenship or a permanent residence permit.

In October the government presented to parliament a draft constitutional law, which was intended to resolve the status of the "erased". Amnesty International called for the withdrawal of the draft law which, as it was presented to parliament, continued to violate the human rights of the "erased" and further aggravated their disadvantaged position. The draft law maintained discriminatory treatment of the "erased", provided new legal grounds for more discriminatory actions by the authorities, including the possibility of revising decisions on individual cases where permanent residency had been restored, and failed to retroactively restore the status of permanent residents of all the "erased". The draft also disclaimed responsibility by state bodies for the "erasure" and explicitly excluded the possibility of compensation for the human rights violations suffered by the "erased".

Discrimination against Roma

The authorities failed to fully integrate Romani children in education and tolerated in certain primary schools the creation of special groups for Romani children, where in some cases a reduced curriculum was taught.

The so-called "Bršljin model", used at the Bršljin elementary school in the city of Novo Mesto, provided tuition in separate groups for pupils who needed help in certain subjects. Teachers in Bršljin admitted that such groups were composed mostly, and sometimes exclusively, of Roma. The Slovenian authorities claimed that such a model did not result in the segregation of Romani children and that pupils were only temporarily placed in separate groups. Amnesty International was informed that the model was still being developed. Further details had not been received by the end of the year.

Amnesty International reports

  • Slovenia: Amnesty International condemns forcible return of 'erased' person to Germany (EUR 68/002/2007)
  • Slovenia: Draft Constitutional Law perpetuates discriminatory treatment suffered by the 'erased' (EUR 68/003/2007)
  • Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Amnesty International's concerns in the region: January-June 2007 (EUR 01/010/2007)

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