Freedom in the World 1998 - Croatia

1998 Scores

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

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Croatia receives a downward trend arrow due to corruption, harassment of the press, and failure to repatriate refugees.

Overview

In 1998, President Franjo Tudjman faced financial, wiretapping, and corruption scandals amid continuing international pressure for the repatriation of Serb refugees, an end to support for Bosnian Croat separatists, and a decrease in government coercion of the media.

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. An independent state was proclaimed in 1941 by the pro-fascist Ustasa movement. In 1945, Croatia 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 militias, 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 statelet in loose confederation with Croatia. In 1995, Croatian forces recaptured Western Slavonia and Krajina from Serbian control. Late that year, Croatia became a signatory to the Dayton Accords, which ended the Bosnian war.

In 1995 elections to the 127-member House of Representatives, Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won 75 seats. International observers criticized the government for allowing 300,000 Bosnian Croats to vote. In the 1997 presidential elections, President Tudjman easily defeated Zdravko Tomac of the Social Democrats with 61 percent of the vote.

In October 1998, the opposition demanded an investigation after it was revealed that President Tudjman's wife, who was understood to have had no appreciable financial holdings of her own, had deposited $130,000 in a Croatian bank. In June, an independent publication had detailed the vast financial holdings acquired by President Tudjman's family after the HDZ came to power. In October, the government was rocked by the resignation of Defense Minister Andrija Hebrang, who had replaced the late hardliner Gojko Susak. Hebrang claimed that he no longer had the president's support to dismiss corrupt officials with links to organized crime and reform the defense ministry. The resignation followed allegations by two senior HDZ moderates that they had been subjected to security service wiretaps and surveillance.

In January, UN administrators withdrew from Eastern Slavonia and returned the region, which had been captured by Serbian forces and purged of ethnic Croats in 1991, to Croatian control. In February, approximately 5,000 ethnic Serbs left Eastern Slavonia, Baranya, and the West Srem region.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens can change their government democratically, but the strong presidency and the emergence of the HDZ as an entrenched, dominant party contribute to an authoritarian political environment. Parliamentary elections in 1995 were marked by irregularities. The 1997 presidential elections were "free, but not fair."

The constitution guarantees freedom of thought and expression and freedom of the press and other media. In an attempt to meet Council of Europe standards, parliament passed a law in 1996 to protect journalists from revealing their sources and from criminal charges for publishing false information unintentionally. Current provisions, however, still prescribe fines and imprisonment for reporters who insult top state officials. In April, the editor-in-chief and a journalist from the independent weekly Globus received suspended sentences for allegedly libeling the defense ministry. More than 130 libel cases are pending. The government retains controlling interest in two of four daily newspapers, several weeklies, and HINA, the country's only news agency. In October, the publisher of the independent weekly Nacional accused the authorities of trying to close his newspaper due to its reporting on splits within the HDZ. The three national television stations are part of the state-owned Croatian Radio and Television Enterprise (HRT). In October, parliament endorsed a bill to create a 23-member HRT Council that would include 10 members of the lower house, in proportion with party representation. Since all members would be appointed by parliament, the opposition protested that the HDZ would exercise political influence on the council. Six local television stations operate with varying degrees of independence. More than 50 local and independent radio stations operate throughout the country, but with limited reception. In June, three local radio stations were registered to broadcast to regional ethnic Serbian populations.

Freedom of religion is nominally assured. Approximately 150,000 ethnic Serbs remain from a pre-1991 population of 580,000, and many face intimidation and violence. Laws from Zagreb have threatened Italian schools and cultural institutions in Istria, which is home to 30,000 ethnic Italians. Roma (Gypsies), who constitute two percent of the population, face discrimination.

Ethnic Serbs who seek to return to Croatia face enormous bureaucratic obstacles. Government policy has been to permit only the return of Serbs who have relatives remaining in Croatia. The family member living in Croatia must apply on behalf of the returnee. Serbs are frequently rejected under a law that allows the government to deny citizenship to applicants who "pose a threat to national interests."

Freedom of assembly and demonstration are generally respected, although demonstrations must be approved by authorities. In February, tens of thousands rallied in Zagreb to protest poor living conditions. More than 60 political parties function legally in Croatia.

All workers except the armed forces, police, government administrators, and public services employees are guaranteed the right to strike. Croatia's labor movement includes five major labor confederations and several large unaffiliated unions. Trade unions have been very active in response to high unemployment, low average wages, and declining living standards. There were several labor actions in 1998.

A 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 the judiciary of judges and attorneys who were either non-Croats or whose political views were at odds with the government or HDZ.

Property rights are guaranteed under the constitution, but the law has effectively expropriated the property of many minority Serbs who fled Croatia in 1995. In 1997, the courts revised some of the more discriminatory parts of the law, but Serbs still encounter difficulty in regaining property that has already fallen under the administration of Croatian authorities. While citizens have the right to establishes businesses, the government's privatization program has been criticized for allotting shares in prime enterprises to HDZ loyalists. Government cronyism and corruption are endemic.

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