Human Rights Developments

Defending Human Rights

The Role of the International Community

Defending Human Rights

Croatian human rights organizations continued to play a crucial role in civil society, exposing abuses and providing practical guidance to Croatian citizens facing administrative and judicial discrimination. Monitoring and campaigning organizations such as the Croatian Helsinki Committee, the Committee for Human Rights, and BABE (Be Active, Be Emancipated) provided a counterpoint to the predominantly state-controlled media, while groups such as the Serb Democratic Forum and the Civil Rights Project provided legal advice. While most domestic human rights groups and international monitors were permitted to carry out their work unimpeded by the state, some domestic monitors faced harassment in the course of their field work. In November 1997, the premises of the Croatian Helsinki Committee in Vukovar were stoned and the nameplate was removed, and in April monitors from the committee were attacked and had film confiscated while investigating the arson and looting of Serb houses in Donja Bacuga, near Petrinja. Both incidents were reported to local police and the Ministry of the Interior but no serious investigations were ever carried out.