Amnesty International Report 2014/15 - Slovenia

Republic of Slovenia
Head of state: Borut Pahor
Head of government: Miro Cerar (replaced Alenka Bratušek in September)

The authorities failed to restore the status of people whose permanent residency was unlawfully revoked in 1992 or provide them with adequate compensation, perpetuating the longstanding violation of their rights. Discrimination against Roma remained widespread.

Discrimination – the "erased"

Despite some positive measures, the authorities failed to guarantee the rights of some former permanent residents of Slovenia originating from other former Yugoslav republics, known as the "erased", whose legal status was unlawfully revoked in 1992.

The 2010 Legal Status Act, which offered an avenue for the erased to restore their legal status, expired in July 2013. About 12,000 of the 25,671 "erased" had had their status restored by this date. In December 2013, legislation was adopted creating a compensation scheme for those whose status had been regulated. The scheme provided €50 for each month spent without legal status.

On 12 March 2014 the European Court of Human Rights, in Kurić and Others v. Slovenia, ordered Slovenia to pay the applicants between €30,000 and €70,000 for pecuniary damages. The judgment followed a ruling by the Grand Chamber in 2012, which established that the right to respect for private and family life, the right to effective legal remedy and the right to be free from discrimination had been violated, and ordered the payment of non-pecuniary damages also. These sums were far greater than the sums payable to recipients of compensation under the December 2013 scheme.

Discrimination – Roma

Despite a number of initiatives in recent years to improve the situation of the approximately 10,000 Roma in Slovenia, the majority continued to face discrimination and social exclusion. Most lived in isolated, segregated settlements, lacking security of tenure and access to basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation and public transport. Widespread discrimination prevented Roma families from buying or renting housing outside of mainly Roma-populated areas, and they continued to face obstacles, including prejudice, in accessing social housing. Discrimination against Roma in the labour market remained commonplace and unemployment levels among Roma were extremely high.

State institutions created to combat and consider complaints of discrimination, such as the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Advocate of the Principle of Equality, had weak mandates and remained poorly resourced. The office of the Advocate of the Principle of Equality had just one employee: the Advocate himself.

Throughout the year approximately 250 Roma living in the Škocjan-Dobruška vas settlement remained at risk of forced eviction. The settlement, part of which was designated for the development of an industrial zone in 2013, had been home to the Roma families for many years. Following public pressure and the intervention of the national authorities and Roma civil society, the municipality agreed in August 2014 to relocate two Roma families at imminent risk of forced eviction as development work commenced. However, no further plans were consulted with residents who remained at risk of losing their homes.

Freedom of expression

The trial of journalist Anuška Delić for publishing classified information began in October and was ongoing by the end of the year. The charges related to articles she published alleging links between members of the Slovenian Democratic Party and the far-right group Blood and Honour. The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency (SOVA) claimed subsequently that some of the information in her reports had been leaked from its files. The Slovenian criminal code does not provide for a public interest defence.