Freedom in the World 1999 - Croatia

1999 Scores

Status: Partly Free
Freedom Rating: 4.0
Civil Liberties: 4
Political Rights: 4

Overview

The death of President Franjo Tudjman on December 11, 1999 marked the end of years of heavy handed nationalist rule and the beginning of new opportunities for a popular opposition coalition to win January elections, mend Croatia's ailing economy and launch new efforts for domestic democratization and international integration. Tudjman, who died after a long bout with cancer, is seen by many as the leader who unified Croatia in 1991 and led the country to victory in the Balkan wars. By the end of the decade, however, many Croatians had grown weary with Tudjman's virulent nationalism, the rampant corruption under his regime, and his mismanagement of the economy.

Hungary ruled most of what is now Croatia from the 1100s until World War I. In 1918, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. However, in 1941, Croatia was proclaimed an independent state by the pro-fascist Ustasa movement. In 1945 Croatian joined the People's Republic of Yugoslavia under Communist leader Josip Broz (Tito).

After Croatia and Slovenia declared independence in 1991, the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, backed by Serbian militia, seized parts of Croatia and ultimately controlled one-third of the territory. Beginning in 1993, Croatia supported Bosnian Croat separatist forces, which had opened a separate front in the war in Bosnia. In 1994, President Tudjman endorsed a U.S. peace accord that ended the conflict and created a federated state in loose confederation with Croatia. In 1995, Croatian forces recaptured Western Slavonia and Krajina from Serbian control. Later that year, Croatia became a signatory to the Dayton Accords, which ended the Bosnian war.

In the 1995 elections to the 127-member house of representatives, Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 75 seats. In the 1997 presidential elections, Tudjman easily defeated Zdravko Tomac of the Social Democrats (SDP) with 61 percent of the vote.

Throughout 1998, opposition parties and the media focused on potential wrongdoing regarding Tudjman's family's vast financial holdings. Opposition parties also objected to the creation of an HDZ-dominated media council to oversee the state- owned Croatian Radio and Television Enterprise (HRT). Defense Minister Andrija Hebrang resigned in October, claiming he had lost the president's support to pursue corruption within the defense ministry. His resignation followed allegations of wiretapping and surveillance by two senior HDZ members. In January, United Nations administrators returned Eastern Slavonia to Croatian control. Approximately 5,000 ethnic Serbs left Eastern Slavonia and other nearby regions in February.

In June 1999, the government, faced with sagging popularity and elections looming in January, ignored International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic prescriptions and avoided budget cuts and salary caps for state workers. In July, Tudjman moved to quell turmoil at the intelligence service by appointing his son, Miroslav, as the agency's head. Parliamentary Speaker Vlatko Pavletic was given temporary presidential powers in October and November, as Tudjman became increasingly incapacitated.

Tudjman did not designate a successor and his death has left the HDZ split between two factions. The more moderate wing of the HDZ supports Foreign Minister Mate Granic, while more conservative HDZ members support Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Vladimic Seks. The opposition coalition, led by the SDP and the Social Liberals (HSLS), is likely to win the presidential and parliamentary elections by a 2 to 1 margin, according to December polls. Ivica Racan of the SDP and Drazen Budisa of the HSLS are likely opposition presidential candidates. The economy will be a central issue as the country's GDP fell by two percent in 1999, and many analysts were worried about Croatia's high current accounts deficit and its overall inability to attract anticipated levels of foreign investment.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Although citizens can change their government democratically, Croatia's strong presidency and the entrenchment of the HDZ as the country's dominant party contribute to an authoritarian political climate. Opposition candidates have made reform of the presidential system a key election issue. HDZ candidate Granic favors keeping the system as it is.

Parliamentary and presidential elections in 1995 and 1997 were deemed "free" but not fair by international observers, and were marked by irregularities. In October 1999, negotiations about laws for the upcoming parliamentary elections between the government and the opposition stalled. Leaders of the HSLS, the SDP, the Liberal Party (LS), Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), Croatian People's Party (HDNS), and Istrian Party (IDS) objected to HDZ members also serving as television editors. The opposition claimed that coverage would be biased and demanded the resignation of the editors as a precondition to continuation of talks on election legislation.

The constitution guarantees freedom of thought and expression and freedom of the press and other media. Despite these provisions, the media were controlled and journalists were harassed by the government throughout 1999. In January, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) and the World Association of Newspapers documented and objected to the government's interference with the funding and distribution of the weekly magazine Feral Tribune. In May, the government indicted a journalist from the daily Jutari List along with four bank employees for publishing details about President Tudjman's wife's finances, which contradicted her public disclosures. The journalist was formally charged in July and faced a five-year prison sentence. In June, the editor in chief and a journalist from the weekly paper Nacional had their offices and homes searched by government security agents. Nacional had recently published stories showing government complicity in intimidating soccer officials to fix matches. In October, the OSCE and Croatian journalists publicly complained about Croatian TV (HVT) being largely in the hands of pro-HDZ editors and called on the government to restrict their influence on parliamentary election coverage and allow all parties equal media access.

Freedom of religion is nominally assured. The return of Serb refugees to Croatia proceeded slowly in 1999 and ethnic Serbs who wish to return to Croatia face harassment and enormous bureaucratic obstacles. In May, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) officials said there was a lack of political will on the part of the Croatian government to help the Serbs return. Croatian officials reported that 58,000 of the 200,000 Serbs who fled in 1995 had returned.

Croatia continued to cooperate reluctantly with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The government extradited two alleged Croatian war criminals to The Hague. The government, however, gave up the second defendant, Mladin Natelilic, only after threat of sanctions by the United States and the United Nations.

In September, President Tudjman and Hungarian president Arpad Goncz met and reaffirmed each country's commitment to the protection and preservation of their respective ethnic minority populations. Historically, ethnic Italians in Istria and Roma (Gypsies) have faced legal and social discrimination.

Freedom of assembly is generally respected, although demonstrations must be approved by authorities. In May, right-wing counterprotesters attacked peaceful antifascist protesters at a rally in Zagreb.

All workers, except the armed forces, the police, government administrators, and public service employees, are guaranteed the right to strike. Croatia's labor movement includes five major labor confederations and several large unaffiliated unions. In May and June, railway and hotel employees struck for wage increases. Farmers protested in June against shrinking subsidies and import crops by blocking roads and highways for three days.

The high judicial council appoints judges and public prosecutors. Members are nominated and approved by parliament for eight-year terms. Through parliamentary nomination and election, the HDZ wields influence over the high judicial council and, thus, over the selection of judges. In recent years, the government has purged judges and attorneys who were either non-Croats or whose political views were at odds with those of the government or the HDZ.

Property rights are guaranteed under the constitution. In 1997, the courts revised discriminatory sections of property laws, but Serbs still encounter difficulty in regaining property that has fallen under the administration of Croatian authorities. In October 1999, Croatia made progress in resolving property rights and national ownership issues with Slovenia.

Women are guaranteed equal rights under the law and are involved in politics, government, and business.