Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

The Republic of Croatia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 17 August 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered entry into force on 1 August 2010.

In April 2012, Croatia reported that the working group established to prepare national implementing legislation, including penal sanctions to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, has produced a first draft of the proposed legislation.[1] In May 2012, Croatia informed the Monitor that the Armed Forces of Croatia had included the convention’s obligations in an expanded curriculum on agreements and treaties that Croatia has joined.[2]

Croatia submitted its second Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report on 10 April 2012, covering calendar year 2011.[3]

Croatia made many notable contributions throughout the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and, from its experience as an affected state, advocated for the strongest possible provisions on victim assistance.[4] Croatia enacted a moratorium on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions in 2007, prior to the conclusion of the process.[5]

Croatia has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. At the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, Croatia was made co-chair on stockpile destruction and retention together with Germany. It made a general statement and a statement on victim assistance. Croatia participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in April 2012, where it made statements on universalization, victim assistance, cooperation and assistance, and co-chaired the stockpile destruction and retention session.

For the fourth year in a row, Croatia held a regional workshop on implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Rakitje on 16-18 May 2012. The event was organized by Croatia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the RACVIAC-Centre for Security Cooperation and government representatives participated from seven States Parties (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Germany, Lebanon, FYR Macedonia, and Montenegro) as well as from non-signatory Serbia.[6] 

Interpretive issues

Croatia has expressed its views on a number of issues important to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. Croatia considers that transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of State Parties is prohibited by the convention. It also considers investment in the production of cluster munitions to be prohibited by the convention.[7]

Croatia has also stated, “As for the interoperability and use of cluster munitions by countries that are not signatories to the [convention], and are serving within joint military operations, Republic of Croatia will act in accordance with provisions stipulated in Article 21 of the Convention.”[8]

In April 2012, Croatia stated that it agrees with the concerns raised by CMC that it is not clear how the convention’s phrase “minimum number of cluster munitions absolutely necessary” for the retention of cluster munitions will be interpreted and said that it is “crucial that states comply fully with the detailed reporting requirement on cluster munitions retained for development and training.”[9] Croatia has not retained any live cluster munitions or submunitions for training and development purposes as permitted by Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (see Stockpiling section).

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Croatia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and it actively engaged in CCW work on cluster munitions in 2011.

At the outset of the CCW's Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, Croatia pledged to “work constructively” to reach consensus on the chair’s draft text of the proposed CCW protocol on cluster munitions and stated that despite the “challenging process, as long as there is an effort to prohibit or restrict the use of CM [Cluster Munitions] in all its aspects, Croatia will remain fully engaged.[10]

During the negotiations, Croatia sought to strengthen the chair’s draft text, including to achieve an immediate prohibition on transfers of cluster munitions.[11] On the final day of the conference, Croatia did not however join 50 states in a joint statement declaring that the chair’s draft text does not fully address the fundamental concerns and is unacceptable from a humanitarian standpoint, and therefore does not command consensus.[12]

The Review Conference ended without reaching agreement on the draft protocol and with no official proposals to continue negotiations in 2012, thus marking the end of the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.

Use, production, and transfer

Croatia has stated that it does not produce cluster munitions, did not import them, and that the Armed Forces of Croatia have not used them, including in missions under UN auspices.[13]

Previously Croatia informed the Monitor that “no Yugoslav production facilities for cluster munitions or their components were formerly located in Croatia,” but acknowledged that until 1999, the Croatian company SUIS d.o.o. in Kumrovec produced a cluster munition called the M-93 120mm mortar projectile.[14] In April 2012, Croatia reported that the production facilities were officially decommissioned when bankruptcy proceedings for the company were completed in 2006.[15]

On 2–3 May 1995, forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK) under the leadership of Milan Martić shelled Zagreb with M-87 Orkan rockets equipped with submunitions, killing at least seven civilians and injuring more than 200.[16] Additionally, the Croatian government has claimed that Serb forces dropped BL-755 cluster bombs in Sisak, Kutina, and along the Kupa River.[17]

Stockpiling

Croatia inherited approximately 170 tons of stockpiled cluster munitions during the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[18] In its April 2012 Article 7 report, Croatia declared a total of 7,235 cluster munitions containing 178,785 submunitions, comprised of the following types.

Croatia’s Cluster Munition Stockpile (as of 31 December 2011)[19]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia is required to destroy all its stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018. Croatia has stated its commitment to destroying the stockpiled munitions in advance of the convention’s eight-year deadline.[20]

The stockpile destruction program began in January 2011 with a research stage during which NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) produced a feasibility study for consideration by the Ministry of Defense.[21] From 26 June to 7 July 2011, Croatia’s Ministry of Defense and NPA personnel conducted undertook research and development period.[22] During this research, in July 2011, Croatia destroyed six cluster munitions: two 120mm mortar projectiles, one 262mm rocket and one each BL-755, RBK 250 PTAB and RBK 260/275 bombs.[23]

On 13 September 2011, a forest fire caused an explosion at the Pađane military storage site, which destroyed a portion of the stockpile. In April 2012, Croatia reported that the explosion resulted in the destruction of 68 BL-755 bombs, 77 RBK-250 PTAB-2.5M bombs, and eight RBK-250 ZAB 2.5M bombs as well as all their submunitions.[24] There were no casualties in this incident.[25]

Throughout 2012, Croatia’s stockpile of cluster munitions will be consolidated at three locations closer to the destruction site at Slunj military training ground. All cluster munitions will be disassembled and the explosive submunitions destroyed by open burning or detonation. Environmental contamination will be minimized through re-use, recycling and reprocessing of materials where possible. Croatia estimates that with financial support totaling approximately €300,000 it should be able to destroy the remaining 110 tons of cluster munitions within one to two years otherwise by 2018 if using only its own resources.[26]

In May 2012, Croatia informed the Monitor that the Ministry of Defense “is contemplating the best destruction options for the reduction of the remaining stockpiles. The selection of the best option depends on several factors including: safety of personnel involved in disassembly, number of munitions and submunitions, time required, risk of kick-out during demolition, explosive limits on destruction site and environment impact and recovery of materials.”[27]

Retention Croatia declared in January 2011 that it intends to retain 14 cluster munitions and a total of 1,737 submunitions for training and educational purposes and for display at a military museum. It stated that the cluster munitions will be disassembled and the submunitions disarmed and made free from explosives.[28] In its second Article 7 report (April 2012), Croatia again listed 14 cluster munitions as retained for training and stated that because the munitions are inert it was “not actual retention”.[29]

In April 2012, Croatia encouraged all State Parties to “consider this technique of retention” by retaining inert and not live cluster munitions.[30]

 

Contamination and Impact

Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, explosive remnants of war (ERW), a legacy of four years of armed conflict associated with the break-up of the former Yugoslavia during the early 1990s. The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) reported that on 1 January 2012 an area of 745km² was still contaminated by mines, cluster munition remnants, and other ERW. [1]

Mines

CROMAC estimated the total suspected mined area at 726.5km² as of the start of June 2012, down from 815km² at the end of 2010.[2] Suspected mined areas are still present in 12 out of 21 counties, affecting 102 towns and approximately 750,000 people who represent one-sixth of Croatia’s total population.[3] Croatia estimates suspect hazardous areas (SHAs) contain more than 87,000 mines (64,223 antipersonnel mines and 23,600 antivehicle mines).[4]

Contamination continues to pose an obstacle to social and economic development, particularly in former areas of conflict, affecting large areas of agricultural land and forest.[5] Of the total SHA, forest accounts for 62%, agricultural land 26%, and underbrush and karst (limestone) 12%. The percentage of SHA accounted for by forest increased in 2011, a trend that is expected to continue as more accessible areas are released.[6]

In April 2012, Croatia reported that 76 military facilities (one fewer than in 2011), covering 2.5km², are contaminated with a further 65,507 antipersonnel mines and 1,741 antivehicle mines (the same number of mines as reported in 2010 and 2011). All mined areas around military facilities are the result of the 1991–1995 armed conflict.[7]

Cluster munition remnants

Croatia has areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants left over from the conflict in the 1990s. CROMAC reported an area of 4.7km² affected solely by approximately 20,381 unexploded submunitions (20,052 KB-1 and 329 MK-1 submunitions). It said this contamination affected 20 towns and municipalities across seven counties but most (70%) is located in two counties, Zadarska (50%) and Licko-senjska (20%).[8] Another 2.6km² is contaminated with cluster munitions remnants mixed with other unexploded ordnance (UXO). All these are civilian areas and CROMAC is responsible for their clearance.[9] However, Croatia has also reported that Zadar air base is affected by cluster munitions remnants as well as landmines.[10] The extent of this additional contamination has not been reported.

Other explosive remnants of war

Croatia had an estimated 7.3km² contaminated with UXO at the end of 2011, marked with 389 UXO hazard signs and located mostly around military storage facilities. The affected area is 0.4km² more than at the start of the year following clearance of 0.6km² and identification of 1km² of new suspected areas.[11] The public still occasionally reports finding items of abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO).[12]

On 13 September 2011, a fire at the military storage site Pađane (near Knin) triggered several explosions which destroyed a wide range of ordnance, including part of Croatia’s cluster munitions stocks. There were no casualties. Members of the Support Command assisted by the armed forces and army demining personnel, as well as the Engineering Regiment unit, are working on clearing a 5km radius round the site. Although this is a civilian area, military personnel are responsible for clearance activities. By April 2012, Croatia reported that the armed forces demining units had reduced the contaminated area to within a 2km radius. The Engineering Regiment’s demining battalion is responsible for clearance of all military facilities in Croatia.[13]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

 

CROMAC was established on 19 February 1998 as the umbrella organization for mine action, responsible directly to the Croatian government for coordinating mine action.[14] The CROMAC Council consists of a president, appointed by the prime minister, and 10 members, appointed from the concerned ministries. The Council meets at least every three months.[15]

In April 2012, the government created the Office for Demining to oversee mine action and in May 2012 appointed Dijana Pleština to be Director of the Office, which will report to the prime minister. The Office is intended to function as a focal point for mine action, strengthening coordination among stakeholders and funding agencies.[16]

The Law on Humanitarian Demining was adopted in 2005 and entered into force on 5 January 2006.[17] A 2007 amendment to the law elaborated on responsibilities and human resource requirements, and a second amendment in 2008 clarified responsibilities for quality control.[18] According to the law, the Croatian army is responsible for clearance of all military areas.[19]

Croatia conducts mine action in accordance with a 10-year National Strategy for 2009–2019, prepared as part of Croatia’s request for an extension of its Article 5 deadline, as well as with action plans prepared by CROMAC. The three-year plan for 2009–2011, which was approved by the government in July 2009, aimed to reduce the SHA by 219.5km² through demining and general survey.[20] In fact, during that period Croatia reduced the area by 202.9km², equivalent to 92% of what was planned. CROMAC attributes the shortfall to cuts in funding.[21]

The three-year plan was expected to cost about HRK1 billion (about US$182 million at 2010 exchange rates) and to be financed by the state budget, World Bank loans, public companies, and private donations.[22] State funding achieved targeted levels and funding by public companies has increased, but funding by international donors has fallen continuously.[23]

CROMAC has drafted a new three-year plan for 2012–2014 but as of June 2012 it was awaiting approval by CROMAC’s Council before it could be submitted to the government for final approval.[24]

CROMAC makes weekly updates of mine and explosive remnants of war situation maps, including data on the location of unexploded submunitions, and these maps are available to the public on CROMAC’s website. The maps include information ranging from the location of SHAs to the position of mine warning signs.[25]

Land Release

Croatia released a total of 70.35km² in 2011 through clearance and general survey, only 2% less than the target set by the annual plan. This included 27.66km² released by clearance and 42.69km² of SHAs that were canceled after the general survey found no evidence of contamination.[26] CROMAC had planned to release a total of 25.27km² through manual clearance and about 46.6km² through general survey.[27]

In 2011, Croatia reported it is preparing a joint partnership agreement with Hungary for a €3.5 million ($5 million) project to demine their common border. Croatia has identified contamination of 7.9km² on the border and expected to demine approximately 1.5km² of this under the agreement. It planned to complete clearance of the entire border within three years.[28] In March 2012, CROMAC reported the project had started and would clear an area 1km inside the border by 2013.[29]

The cost of clearance in 2011 averaged €1 per m², without value added tax (VAT). VAT is usually paid on domestic funding but not on international donations. However, the cost of release by technical survey averaged HRK1 (€0.13).[30]

Five-year summary of mine clearance[31]

Survey in 2011

CROMAC survey teams conduct general survey to update data on hazards and to define tasks for clearance. In 2011, survey teams canceled 42.69km² of suspected mined areas.[32] They also canceled 359,648m² suspected to be contaminated by submunitions in Bjelovar-Bilogora county.[33] CROMAC said they continue to use aerial survey to accelerate area reduction in mountainous areas.[34]

Consolidated reporting of survey in 2011[35]

Mine clearance in 2011

Clearance operations in 2011 resulted in the release of a total of 27.66km², 9.4% more than planned for 2011, but less than in 2009 and 2010.[36] Clearance resulted in the destruction of 1,995 antipersonnel mines, 2,421 antivehicle mines, and 10,479 items of UXO (including 99 submunitions).[37]

Most of the area demined in 2011 (57%) was agricultural land which local and regional governments have identified as their priority in order to boost agricultural production. Forest accounted for 38% and underbrush and karst for 5%. Of the total contracted demining operations in 2011, 32% refers to the priorities related to safety, 65.7% related to socio-economic development, and 2.3% on environmental priorities.[38]

In 2011, 34 commercial companies with the total capacities of 636 deminers, 54 demining machines, and 20 mine detection dogs conducted demining operations.[39] Seven of these companies accounted for more than half (51%) of the area cleared, led by Mungos razminiranje Sisak, which accounted for 11.95%, followed by DOK-ING with 10.54%.[40]

Mine clearance in 2011[41]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension request granted in 2008), Croatia is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2019.

Croatia cleared and otherwise released or cancelled a total of 410km² of SHA between 1998, when CROMAC was set up, and the end of 2011. However, it has consistently failed to achieve the targets set out in its Article 5 deadline Extension Request in the four years since it was approved. In 2011, Croatia released 70.35km² compared with 119km² projected in the extension request. The gap between projected and actual land release has widened significantly in the last two years, leaving a 28% shortfall over the four years since the extension came into effect. As a result, Croatia still had 738.2km² to release at the start of 2012 compared with the 652km² projected in the extension request.[42]

Croatia’s Article 5 Extension: targets and achievements[43]

Croatia’s National Mine Action Plan (NMAP) sets targets that differ from those in the extension request, providing for slightly lower rates of clearance than those in the extension request up to 2012 and higher rates of clearance in subsequent years.[44] However, Croatia says meeting the targets of both the extension request and the NMAP has been frustrated by cuts in funding as a result of the financial crisis. These were expected to have resulted in even less funding for mine action in 2011 than the previous year, forcing CROMAC to review its operations and methodology and place greater emphasis on land release by non-technical and technical survey. [45]

Croatia has faced a fourfold drop in international donations from €9.4 million in 2005 to €2.6 million in 2011. Croatia concludes that donors think it will get new funding opportunities when it becomes a European Union (EU) member in 2013 and have focused their funds on other countries. Croatia is currently trying to obtain financing from EU accession funds.[46] By these measures and other fundraising initiatives, Croatia said it still hopes it would be able to achieve its extension request targets. [47]

Clearance of cluster munition contaminated areas in 2011

During 2011, Croatia reported clearance of 576,837m² of cluster-munition-contaminated area in four counties, finding and destroying total of 144 unexploded submunitions in addition to 99 unexploded submunitions found and destroyed during mine clearance tasks.[48] However, in its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 transparency report, Croatia reported 194 cluster munition remnants cleared on area of 459,695m² (187 KB-1 and seven MK-1).[49]

Cluster munition clearance in 2011[50]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2020.

Croatia has reported that, as of April 2012 it has 4.7km² contaminated solely by 5,505 unexploded submunitions. In addition, there are 2.6km² of areas contaminated by cluster munitions and other items of UXO.[51] Since the entry into force of the Convention, Croatia has destroyed 1,784 unexploded submunitions in clearance of 1.2km².

Battle area clearance and explosive ordnance disposal in 2011

CROMAC has not reported any battle area clearance (BAC). The Ministry of Interior remains responsible for clearing all explosive remnants of war (ERW) outside SHAs and police in every county have an EOD unit that clears any ERW reported.[52] The Croatian Police department is continuing its “Fewer arms, fewer tragedies” program in partnership with UNDP, educating and encouraging the public to turn in weapons and ordnance left over from the Homeland War. The police department also reacts to telephone calls from the public.[53]

In 2011, the police department collected 376 antipersonnel mines, 396 antivehicle mines, 1,228 hand-grenades, 618kg of different explosives, large amounts of various explosive materials (detonator capsules, fuses, tracer ordnance), and large quantities of small arms and pieces of munitions up to 14.5mm caliber. Police also recovered large numbers of improvised explosive devices.[54] Weapons and ordnance collected by police are destroyed at military facilities.[55]

Quality management

Croatia does not have national mine action standards, but adopted Rules and Regulations on Methods of Demining to guide demining.[56] CROMAC’s standing operating procedures (SOPs) are said to be in line with the International Mine Action Standards and cover survey and marking of mined areas and/or buildings, project planning, assessing the eligibility of demining operators, quality assurance (QA), and quality control (QC). In 2009, CROMAC updated its SOPs for area reduction of suspected mined areas and for marking suspected UXO contamination.[57]

CROMAC is responsible for quality management and in 2011 had 10 QA officers and 25 QC monitors. During 2011, QA staff conducted 778 checks on demining operations and 4,329 control samples on the area of 473,000m², representing 1.7% of the total area cleared.[58]

Safety of demining personnel

Three demining incidents in 2011 resulted in one deminer killed and three injured. The first incident, in May 2011, resulted in minor injuries from a PROM-1 mine. The second incident, in September 2011, occurred when a remote control machine activated a TMM-1 antivehicle mine, causing severe injuries to the driver who was standing too close to the machine. The third incident, on a DOK-ING clearance task, was caused by a PROM-1 mine and resulted in one person killed and another slightly injured.[59]

Between 1998 and the end of 2011, a total of 66 deminers were involved in mine incidents, of whom 26 were killed and 40 injured, 30 of them severely.[60]

Other risk reduction measures

By the end of 2011, mined areas were marked with a total of 15,861 mine danger signs; areas contaminated solely by UXO were marked with an additional 380 warning signs in order to create a clear boundary between safe and mine-suspected areas.[61] Markers were checked in the course of the general survey and demining operations, and additional markers were installed if necessary. The locations of mine danger signs are one of the basic elements of the Mine Information System (MIS) shown on maps issued to local authorities, to the police administration and on request to members of the public.[62]

Risk Education

CROMAC coordinated a number of activities related to mine/ERW risk education (RE) activities in 2010.[63] The Association of Croatian Civil Victims of War, the Croatian Red Cross, the Croatian Mine Action Centre (CROMAC), and the Ministry of Interior organized four panels named “'Children in Mine Environment'” in elementary schools all over the country. CROMAC organized 24 additional lectures with the same instructors. Employees of CROMAC participated throughout the year in a Radio Zagreb broadcast program—Cottage—presenting the most current content and information related to mine action. CROMAC also participated in 17 humanitarian actions in 15 cities providing information on the mine situation in Croatia, the work of deminers, and methods of detecting mines and UXO.[64]

CROMAC issued 448 maps showing mine-suspected areas in 2011 and has developed a web application, MIS portal, available to all internet users for checking the locations of mine-suspected areas. The portal attracted tens of thousands of visitors in 2011, mostly from abroad.[65]

The Croatian Red Cross has continued RE in collaboration with 14 county prefects and 49 local Red Cross branches, all located in the vicinity of mined areas. Daska Theatre played 10 performances of “No, no MI-NE” in the counties in which there are mined areas. Starting in 2010, there were 61 performances in total that were the completion of a project funded by the United States through the International Trust Fund (ITF).[66]

Casualties Overview

Details and trends

Croatia reported six mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties for 2011.[1] All casualties were male; there were four casualties among deminers. Seven antipersonnel mine casualties were reported for both 2010 and 2009, including three casualties among deminers in each year.[2] The annual casualty rate continuously decreased from 2004 to the end of 2011.[3]

The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) has reported at least 1,933 mine/ERW casualties between 1991 and the end of 2011 (504 people were killed and 1,429 injured).[4]

Cluster munition casualties

In 2011, there were no new casualties from cluster munitions remnants in Croatia.[5] Between 1993 and 1995, at least 206 casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes in Croatia. CROMAC recorded 32 casualties from incidents involving unexploded submunitions between 1993 and 2007.[6]

Victim Assistance

Croatia is responsible for mine survivors, cluster munition victims, and other ERW survivors.

As of the end of 2011, the total number of mine/ERW survivors in Croatia was at least 1,429.

Victim assistance since 1999[7]

Health and social services in Croatia function largely on national capacity and were considered sufficient, with relatively strong medical and rehabilitation infrastructure in the cities and social insurance covering most healthcare costs. However, quality, accessibility and affordability remained key issues, particularly for physical rehabilitation.

While some areas of victim assistance improved since 1999, until 2010 a lack of political will interfered with progress on the government’s implementation of victim assistance plans. Since 2006, CROMAC has been responsible for coordinating victim assistance, in cooperation with other government ministries and NGOs. The first coordination group was established in 2010. Since October 2007, the local NGO MineAid had requested support to undertake a survivor needs assessment as part of a larger victim assistance program. Due to MineAid advocacy, a multi-sectoral project to create a unified casualty database for needs assessment was initiated in 2010 and continued into 2012.

High unemployment among survivors worsened as a result of the global economic slowdown. Psychosocial support remained inadequate because of the general public and professionals’ lack of knowledge about this issue and a lack of community involvement. Peer support through NGOs increased since 2008. Awareness of disability rights slowly improved among survivors and the general public, but existing disability legislation was not consistently implemented.

Victim Assistance in 2011

There were no major changes in the quality of victim assistance services in 2011. Work on a unified database of mine casualties continued. MineAid continued to provide victim assistance services including psychological support. A report from a survey of 400 mine/ERW survivors was released that revealed some grave problems with the state of victim assistance, but also showed some recent improvements in informing survivors of their rights.

Assessing victim assistance needs

The process of integrating existing data held by the National Institute of Public Health, the Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to create a unified database of mine survivors continued into 2012. In 2010, CROMAC had begun the process of integrating the existing collected data; the victim assistance coordination group prepared to share information for a unified database by creating an “Agreement on Cooperation in the development and exchange of data collection on ERW victims on mined, mine suspected and shelled areas in Croatia.”[8]

The database was being prepared by the Croatian National Institute of Public Health and was then to be maintained by CROMAC. It was to contain the following categories of data: personal data; mine incident; information on the status and degree of disability; rights obtained; and information about the education, occupation, employment and family members of landmine survivors. The database was expected to allow for improved monitoring of rehabilitation and reintegration of mine survivors into the society.[9]

The Croatian Registry of Persons with Disabilities maintains a database with 3,065 people living with disabilities who have been registered using an international classification; this database also indicates whether the injury was caused by war or explosives. Information through 2009 is included. The Ministry of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity maintains data on injured deminers.[10]

In December 2011, the Association for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities, together with the Center for Peace Studies and Karlovac County Mine Victims Association (Udruga Žrtava Mina Karlovačke Županije, KUZM), completed the survivor survey project “Twenty years later, Croatia – victims of landmines: where they are, what they are doing and what they need.” The survey, which started in October 2010, aimed to define the situation and needs of survivors. A market research agency conducted computer-assisted telephone interviews with 400 survivors and family members throughout Croatia. [11]

Victim assistance coordination[12]

The National Coordinating Body for Helping Mine and UXO Victims (Coordinating Body) was established in 2010 with 19 members including five NGOs. CROMAC is responsible for management of the Coordinating Body. Its main task is to make the victim assistance system in Croatia sustainable.[13] The Croatian Action Plan to Help Victims of Mine and UXO 2010-2014 was developed based on the Cartagena Action Plan and Vientiane Action Plan. Its main goal is to improve the quality of life of survivors, families of the survivors, and of people killed by mines and ERW. The Action Plan establishes objectives in six thematic areas: understanding the problem faced; emergency and further medical care; physical rehabilitation; psychosocial support; economic integration; laws and public policies. For each thematic area, the Action Plan presents the existing situation as a baseline along with goals and plans to achieve them by 2014, as well as sources of funding.[14]

Croatia provided detailed reporting on casualty data, as well as government and NGO victim assistance activities in Form J of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2011.[15] Some basic information on victim assistance was reported in Form H of Croatia’s Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2011.[16] Victim assistance was also mentioned in CCW Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and CCW Protocol V reporting.[17] Croatia gave updates on victim assistance at the Convention on Cluster Munitions intersessional meeting and the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee Meetings in April and May 2012, at the Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut in September 2011, and at the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh in December 2011.[18]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

Croatia reported that the extent to which survivors were included in drafting action plans or implementing victim assistance was “variable.”[19] Previously it reported that survivors “are participants of all government and non-government bodies but too often their participation is a tokenism.”[20] Survivors were involved in planning and implementation of peer-to-peer, psychological support, and economic inclusion services through national and local NGOs.[21]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[22]

Croatia has a well-structured health and social welfare system, but its services are not always equally available to all survivors.[23] The 2011 survivor survey found that only 19% of survivors reported living in areas with facilities which provided them with adequate care.[24]

Basic assistance, from first-aid to informing all survivors and their families about their rights, was generally provided through government institutions. [25] As a result of years of lobbying by MineAid, in 2011, CROMAC began visiting survivors in hospitals to inform them of rights and services, following the publication of a comprehensive service directory.[26] In 2010, an integrated medical team for immediate psychological support and referral was formed.[27]

A second edition of the brochure and service directory on rights and opportunities for people with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, produced in 2010, was reprinted in 2011 in cooperation with MineAid and with the support of the Ministry of Health and Sisak-Moslavina County. It was widely distributed locally and nationally.[28]

Availability of prosthetic and orthotic as well as rehabilitation facilities in Croatia has been reported to be adequate. The Croatian Institute for Health Insurance should cover the costs of “very basic” orthopedic aids for survivors. Survivors often reported that the quality and/or frequency of orthopedic devices that they received were inadequate.[29]

The Ministry of Family, Veterans and Intergenerational Solidarity operated centers for psychosocial assistance in all 20 counties of the Republic of Croatia and the city of Zagreb to assist all people with disabilities including mine/ERW survivors and members of casualties’ families.[30] Croatia continued to report that the centers for psychosocial assistance are often understaffed and underfinanced or without programs to ensure the provision of adequate and timely services.[31] It also was reported that the government centers for psychological support existed only on paper. The only regular, ongoing and adequate psychological support service was provided by MineAid in Sisak.[32]

MineAid continued to address the needs and lack of appropriate services identified by mine/ERW survivors in past years. It provided psychological support groups for adults and children; visits by social workers to implement tailored, individual plans for improving health, education or social inclusion; and financial assistance for living needs as well as support to the development of small business plans.[33]

In 2011, it was reported that civilian victims were mostly not able to access their rights through the existing system. Mine survivors had often been told immediately after the incident that they were to blame and that the area had been marked, even if no warning signs were visible. This made it extremely difficult for survivors to access compensation through the court system. In addition, the act of blaming the survivors while they were still in hospital recovering had continuing psychological consequences.[34]

As in the past, Croatia reported that it has a highly developed legal framework with over 200 laws and by-laws relating to the rights and status of persons with disabilities, including mine survivors.[35] However, Croatia also reported that although survivors’ rights are regulated by numerous laws and regulations, the “on the ground reality” does not always follow the legislation.[36] The 2011 survey found that lack of coordination between service providers was problematic for survivors. A third of survivors surveyed reported that state institutions were insufficiently engaged in the issues of mine survivors. Almost 90% of survivor respondents said they faced some level of discrimination due to their disability.[37]

In 2011, the European Commission (EC) found that the criteria for establishing entitlements for persons with disabilities in Croatia were not applied equally and that “legislation regulating specific rights remained fragmented.” Information was lacking on rights and entitlements in the areas of social welfare, health care and pension insurance.[38] Survivors reported that current legislation did not match reality and there was no legal option for increasing the status of a survivor’s disability legal status, even in the case that they became more disabled with other health problems or amputations, for example. It often took years for survivors to complete the bureaucratic procedures to access their legal rights and benefits and many did not know about their options. Only 20% of survivors surveyed in 2011 said that they were fully informed about their rights.[39]

The office of the Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities was further strengthened in 2011.[40] Employment quotas for persons with disabilities in the public sector, contained within the Professional Rehabilitation and Employment Act, were not met in 2011. However, marginalization of persons with disabilities was worse in the private sector, where employers lacked information on the incentives available to encourage the employment of persons with disabilities.[41] In 2011, it was reported that exemptions from transportation fees under the “Law on the Protection of Military and Civilian Homeland War Invalids” were no longer applied.[42]

Croatia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 15 August 2007.

 

Support for Mine Action

In 2011, the Government of Croatia contributed €33 million (some US$46 million) to its mine action program.[1] Since 2007, Croatia’s contribution to mine action from the state budget has totaled €167 million (more than $232 million) which represents 89% of the total mine action budget in 2007–2011.

 In 2011, Croatia also received US$2.28 million in international contributions toward clearance activities and victim assistance from Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States (US).[2] Included within this total amount, Japan contributed ¥4,111,404 ($51,586) towards victim assistance to the Model of Active Rehabilitation and Education Centre, which provides psychological support and social reintegration for survivors.[3]

National contributions in 2007–2011[4]

International contributions in 2011[5]

Summary of contributions: 2007–2011[6]