The Ombudsperson of the Republic of Croatia (Ured pučke pravobraniteljice) (2024), Annual report of the Ombudsperson's Office for 2023 (Izvješće pučke pravobraniteljice za 2023. godinu)

Country

Croatia

Title

The Ombudsperson of the Republic of Croatia (Ured pučke pravobraniteljice) (2024), Annual report of the Ombudsperson's Office for 2023 (Izvješće pučke pravobraniteljice za 2023. godinu)

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Year

2024

Publication type

Report - official data on incidents

Geographical coverage

National

Area/location of interest

Not applicable - national level

Type of Institution

National human rights body

Institution

Croatia, The Ombudsperson of the Republic of Croatia (Pučka pravobraniteljica)

Thematic focus

Discrimination

Groups

General population

Key findings

During 2023, the Ombuds Office handled 773 cases of discrimination, of which 552 cases were opened based on complaints from citizens or on Ombuds own initiative, and 221 cases related to general initiatives. As in previous years, the largest number of complaints was about discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, skin colour or national origin, which made up a quarter of all discrimination complaints received (90 complaints, i.e. 25%). 11 complaints (or 3%) related to religion. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, in 2023, 85 hate crimes were handled, of which 66 cases were resolved. This figure represents an increase of 54.55% compared to 2022, when, according to current data from the Office for HR and the Rights of the National Minorities, 55 hate crimes were handled. Following the pattern of previous years, in 2023, the Ministry of the Interior most often acted upon the criminal offenses of threats (35) and damage to another's property (17), and among the more numerous are the criminal offenses of violent behaviour (8), bodily injury (6) and violation of the rights of the child (5). The majority of these criminal offenses, as many as 58, were motivated by national origin, followed by sexual orientation (13), religion (9) and race or skin color (5). In 2022, the Ministry of the Interior acted upon 55 of these offenses, of which 7 related to public incitement to violence and hatred, and a total of 66 different motives for the commission of these criminal offenses were recorded, which indicates that multiple motives for the commission were recorded for some criminal offenses. As many as 50 perpetrators of criminal acts were motivated by the national origin of the victim, followed by sexual orientation (10), religion (3), gender identity (2) and race or skin colour (1). In cases of intolerance due to the national origin of the victim, the most common perpetrators are members of the Serbian national minority, against whom 27 criminal acts were recorded; then members of the Roma minority, against whom six criminal acts were committed; Croats and Bosniaks, against whom four criminal acts were committed each; Muslims, against whom three criminal acts were committed; and Jews, against whom two criminal acts were committed.

Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)

Report uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. It is based on analysis of cases the Ombudsperson's office worked on, field work data, research and data collected from several hundred actors, among them public bodies, civil society organisations, unions, employers, universities, churches, religious organisations and others. It is also an analysis and the report on the state of rights and freedoms in the Republic of Croatia.

Sample details and representativeness

N/A - not applicable/available

DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.