Distr.

GENERAL

E/C.12/Q/CRO/1
18 May 2001


Original: ENGLISH
List of Issues : Croatia. 18/05/2001.
E/C.12/Q/CRO/1. (List of Issues)
COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Pre-sessional Working Group
14-18 May 2001


IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS



List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the
initial report of Croatia concerning the rights covered by articles 1-15 of
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E/1990/5/Add.46)

I. GENERAL INFORMATION


A. Land and people



1. Please provide updated information on the population broken down by ethnic group, sex, and age. Please also provide social and economic indicators of the current situation in the country, including gross domestic product (GDP), per capita income, minimum subsistence income, rates of inflation, volumes of foreign and domestic debt.

B. General legal framework within which human rights are protected




2. Has the State party prepared a national action plan for human rights in keeping with the recommendation of the World Conference on Human Rights (Part I, para. 93 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action)?

3. Pursuant to the Constitution of the State party, the Covenant is part of the country's legislation. Please give examples of application of the Covenant in Croatian courts.

4. In paragraph 30 of the core document (HRI/CORE/1/Add.32/Rev.1), it is stated that the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and Rights of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities in the Republic of Croatia has been suspended. This was done temporarily "pending the results of the first population census… which should establish the actual demographic structure of the country". Please explain which specific limitations on human rights and freedoms are involved and why the State party has made the observance of human rights and freedoms dependent on "the demographic structure of the country".


II. ISSUES RELATING TO THE GENERAL PROVISIONS
OF THE COVENANT (arts. 1-5)


Article 2 - Non-discrimination

5. Please describe measures taken to prevent discrimination against minorities, in particular the Serbs, Roma, Muslims and Slovenes.

6. Paragraph 39 of the report states that everyone has an equal right to secondary education. However, there is a reference to a kind of enrolment roster compiled by the Ministry of Education and Sport for each school. Please explain what purpose these rosters serve, and whether their establishment may lead to discrimination.

Article 3 - Equal rights of men and women

7. What are the number and the proportion of women in high-level positions in the public service?


III. ISSUES RELATING TO SPECIFIC RIGHTS UNDER
THE COVENANT (arts. 6-15)

Article 6 - Right to work

8. Please provide detailed information about the labour market policy.

9. Provide updated information on unemployment in Croatia, and on unemployment trends among persons with disabilities.

10. Please discuss the implementation of the programmes and concrete measures regarding incentives on new employment discussed in paragraphs 76 to 80 of the report.

11. Please explain the impact of the public works programmes on reducing unemployment and solving social problems.

Article 7 - Right to just and favourable conditions of work

12. The report indicates that the Government considers any regulation of wages to constitute unacceptable interference in labour relations. How then are workers and their families guaranteed a minimum subsistence income, or what is referred to in paragraph 108 of the report as "social justice, equal opportunities and humaneness"?

13. Please clarify whether entrepreneurs in Croatia are bound by a legal framework when concluding collective and individual contracts.

14. How is the minimum wage that was settled in the Collective Agreement on the Amount of the Lowest Wage concluded in March 1999 correlated with the minimum subsistence income (para. 115)?

15. Provide updated figures for work-related injuries during the last five years.

Article 8 - Trade union rights

16. Please provide updated data on the number of trade unions, and explain the difference between the various types of workers' and employers' associations. Please indicate the percentage of women workers who belong to trade unions.

17. Please provide statistical data on the number of strikes over the past five years.

Article 9 - Right to social security

18. Please provide information on measures adopted in the area of social protection for the population.

Article 10 - Protection of the family, mothers and children

19. What is the legal status and social protection granted to a family not based on legal marriage?

20. What is the extent of the incidence of violence against women inside and outside of the home? What legal protection exists in this regard? Please provide information on the measures taken to assist women victims of violence, in particular with regard to provision of temporary shelters and the prosecution of perpetrators of violence.

21. Please provide information on the measures taken by the State party to prevent trafficking of women, and in particular to combat organized prostitution and sexual exploitation of women.

Article 11 - Right to an adequate standard of living

22. Please provide information on the results achieved in the reconstruction of houses destroyed during the war.

23. Please provide statistical information on the number of homeless persons and indicate what measures have been taken in this area.

24. Does the Government envisage setting up a water purification system in Zagreb and other major cities (para. 334)? What measures are being taken to supply the population with drinking water in regions where the situation is critical (para. 335)?

Article 12 - Right to physical and mental health

25. Please provide information on public health spending over the past five years. What percentage of the State party budget does this constitute?

26. Please provide updated data on child and maternal mortality.

27. Please discuss the practical results of cooperation with the World Health Organization and the World Bank in the field of public health.

28. According to paragraph 377 of the report, health-care insurance "is guaranteed to all citizens of Croatia". Please describe in detail how this guarantee is implemented.

Articles 13 and 14 - Right to education

29. Paragraph 15 of the core document contains data on education that were compiled in 1991. Please provide updated data showing trends over the past five years.

30. Please provide updated data on educational spending showing trends over the past five years.

31. With respect to paragraph 408 of the report, please provide data on trends over the past five years with regard to persons over the age of 15 who did not complete elementary schooling, and give the main reasons for this phenomenon.

32. Please provide data describing the economic situation of schoolteachers and teaching staff in institutes of higher education as compared with the economic situation of other civil servants.

Article 15 - Right to participate in cultural life

33. Paragraph 420 of the report states that Croatian legislation in the area of culture is consistent with international standards. Is this conclusion the result of a self-appraisal or does it reflect the view of independent experts?

34. Please clarify the statement made in paragraph 421 that "the opportunity to participate in culture, paying attention to the market economy, is open to both State and private funds".

35. Please provide more detailed information about the efforts mentioned in paragraph 427. How is the State's support for culture and science expressed in practical terms?


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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland