Amnesty International Annual Report 2012 - Slovenia
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Date:
24 May 2012
Head of state: Danilo Türk
Head of government: Borut Pahora
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
Population: 2.0 million
Life expectancy: 79.3 years
Under-5 mortality: 3.0 per 1,000
Adult literacy: 99.7 per cent
Despite some positive measures, the authorities failed to restore the rights of people (known as the "erased") whose permanent residency status was unlawfully revoked in 1992. Discrimination against Roma continued.
Discrimination
The "erased"
Despite some positive measures, the authorities failed to guarantee the rights of former permanent residents of Slovenia originating from other former Yugoslav republics, whose legal status was unlawfully revoked in 1992. It resulted in violations of their economic and social rights. Some of them were also forcibly removed from the country.
In March, the Parliament adopted a law which allowed for restoration of permanent residency status to the majority of the "erased". The introduction of the law was an important first step towards full restoration of their rights. However, it failed to provide them with reparation for the human rights violations they suffered. Access to economic, social and cultural rights was not guaranteed by the law. The authorities failed to present further plans for full restoration of the rights of the "erased", and a large number of people were excluded from provisions of the law.
The case Kuric v. Slovenia was referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in February 2011 at the request of the government. In July, the Grand Chamber held a hearing in the case. A decision was pending at the end of the year. In July 2010 the Court had ruled that the "erasure" of applicants' identity had violated their right to remedy, and their right to family and private life.
Roma
The government failed to put in place adequate monitoring mechanisms on discrimination against Roma. There were no effective remedies for acts of discrimination committed by private and public actors.
Rights to adequate housing, water and sanitation
Despite some positive steps taken by the authorities, the majority of Roma were still denied access to adequate housing.
Many Roma lived in isolated and segregated Roma-only settlements or slums in rural areas, where they lacked security of tenure. In the informal settlements, they were denied protection from forced evictions and had no access to public services, including sanitation. In some municipalities Roma had to fetch water – for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene – from polluted streams, and public taps at petrol stations and cemeteries.
In October, following pressure by civil society organizations, the authorities of Škocjan municipality took steps to provide the Roma settlement there with access to water.
In May, the Governmental Commission for Roma Protection recommended that all municipalities make water available to informal Roma settlements. However, government funding was not provided to implement the recommendation.
In September, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation called on the authorities to immediately ensure access to water and sanitation for the Roma and to provide them with security of tenure, including by regularizing the informal settlements.
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