Very limited progress was made in the prosecution of cases of war crimes allegedly committed by members of the Croatian Army and police forces against Croatian Serbs and members of other minorities during the 1991-1995 war, reads the Amnesty International Report on the State of Human Rights in the World in 2010, published in London on Friday, noting that members of the Roma minority and Croatian Serbs continue to face discrimination.
The report, however, said that President Ivo Josipovic had made some political efforts to have the country face its war past.
"The authorities continued to fail to investigate war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 war by members of the Croatian Army and police forces against Croatian Serbs and members of other minorities. A lack of political will to deal with those cases remained one of the main obstacles," the report said.
The report, written on 432 pages, dedicated slightly less than three pages to Croatia. It covers the period from January to December 2010.
The report said that Croatian judiciary capacities for the prosecution of war criminals were small and that less than 18 cases were resolved per year on average.
The report said that war crimes cases were tried according to legislation from 1993 which has not been adjusted to international standards, as a result of which many crimes that are not included in the said legislation go unpunished.
The report stated that many crimes still had not been prosecuted due to a combination of factors, including intimidation of witnesses and reluctance of the police and prosecutors to prosecute such cases.
Measures designed by the government to address impunity for war crimes remained unimplemented. Only one case was under prosecution in 2009 in one of the special war crimes chambers established at the county courts in Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka and Split.
War victims cannot exercise their right to compensation, according to the report.
Amnesty International said that the Supreme Court in the cases against Branimir Glavas and Mirko Norac, contrary to international standards, took into account some mitigating circumstances and reduced the prison sentences, adding that in Glavas's case a mitigating circumstance was that he was a member of the Croatian Army.
The report also stated there there were still some controversies regarding Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY Chief Prosecutor's Office.
Commenting on freedom of assembly, Amnesty International pointed to the protests in Zagreb's Varsavska Street against the building of a shopping mall and a public garage, during which at least 140 were arrested.
The report also said that discrimination against Roma and Croatian Serbs, in access to economic and social rights among other things, continued.
It also mentioned an attack on two participants in last year's Zagreb Pride parade.
