COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CONSIDERS INITIAL REPORT OF CROATIA

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities today concluded its consideration of the initial report of Croatia on its implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Iva Prpić, Assistant Minister, Directorate for the Implementation of Social Policy, Organization and Supervision of Institutions, Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, presenting the report, said that Croatia was the third State in the world to sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. The Commission for Persons with Disabilities had been established and civil society organizations had assumed the monitoring role with the financial support of the State. The National Strategy for Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities had been put in place, and the deinstitutionalization process had transformed institutions and aimed to develop new forms of care, particularly family reintegration and the development of various community services. Croatia was aware of the challenges and was aiming to implement its vision of life in the family and local community with accessible services and greater employability for persons with disabilities.

Branka Meić, Disability Ombudsman’s Office, said that the main concern expressed by parents of disabled children was the need for early intervention services and acknowledged the steps taken to address the lack of community-based services, which was one of the main obstacles to the realization of the right of persons with disabilities to live in the community. It was important to see the language of inclusion and reasonable accommodation in the legislation on education and to shift the perception of persons with disabilities as objects of care to holders of rights.

During the interactive dialogue Committee Experts congratulated Croatia for the early signing of the Convention and for the progress achieved in several areas such as employment, voting rights, and the long overdue deinstitutionalization process. Experts asked how Croatia was shifting from a medical-based approach to a human rights-based approach to disability, and raised concern about neglect of children with disabilities, particularly autistic children who suffered most serious human rights violations. Children with disabilities were abandoned, placed in institutions, and were at risk of violence, including sexual violence, while the support to natural families to care for their disabled children was lacking. There was a serious problem in the deinstitutionalization process and the enjoyment of the right to independent living: it was not enough to close large institutions without providing sufficient support to community-based services. Experts were also concerned about the abuse of persons with disabilities in institutions, including many cases of prolonged detention without consent, treatment without consent and the use of psychical and chemical restraints, and inquired about access to justice for persons with disabilities who were victims of abuse.

In concluding remarks Theresia Degener, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, thanked the delegation and noted that more needed to be done to ensure the right to independent living and living in the community, the right to exercise legal capacity, freedom from forced treatment, and the right to be protected from violence.

The delegation of Croatia included representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities, Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Labour and Pension System, Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, Office for Cooperation with Non-governmental Organizations, Croatian Employment Service, Ministry of Justice, Institute for Disability Expertise, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs, Croatian Health Insurance Fund, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, and the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Croatia at the end of the session, on Friday, 17 April 2015. The Committee next meets in public at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 31 March when it will begin its consideration of the initial report of the Czech Republic (CRPD/C/CZE/1).

Report of Croatia

The initial report of Croatia can be accessed here: CRPD/C/HRV/1.

Presentation of the Report

IVA PRPIĆ, Assistant Minister, Directorate for the Implementation of Social Policy, Organization and Supervision of Institutions, Ministry of Social Policy and Youth of Croatia, said that Croatia was the third State in the world to sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, thus showing its willingness to follow the path of progress by fully respecting the principles of the Convention and the rights of persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Social Policy and Youth was entrusted with coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the Convention; in addition, the Commission for Persons with Disabilities had been established and the Office of the Ombudsman for Persons with Disabilities also worked to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities. Civil society organizations had assumed the monitoring role, with the financial support of the State. The main goals of the National Strategy for Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 2007-2015 were respect for human rights, non-discrimination, creating equal opportunities, full civil inclusion, full participation in the life of the community, and inclusion in the European and world framework of policies for persons with disabilities. As of March 2015, a total of 508,350 persons with disabilities had been registered in Croatia; of those, over 36,000 were children. Persons with disabilities accounted for 12 per cent of the overall population.

Croatia had adopted several laws to ensure greater availability of material rights and social services to citizens, including: the new Social Welfare Act, which created the foundation for the transformation of institutions and deinstitutionalization, more effective control of the quality of the services provided, and faster development of the network of various services in the community; the Social Protection System Modernization Project, which aimed to improve the efficiency of the national system of social protection through uniform administration of social welfare, preventing corruption related to social welfare, reducing the number of children and adults in social welfare institutions, and support to the activation of working capacity; and the new Act on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which introduced the framework for professional rehabilitation, based on the features of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. The quota system for the employment of persons with disabilities was expanded and employers with at least 20 workers were obligated to employ a certain number of persons with disabilities. The Operative Plan of Deinstitutionalization and Transformation of Social Welfare Homes 2014-2016 had been adopted, and would stimulate new forms of care, particularly family reintegration and the development of various community services. Croatia was aware of all the risks arising from this process, particularly lack of financial resources, and was taking measures to reduce some of those risks. The new strategy for persons with disabilities would begin this year, which would address the gaps in the implementation of the Convention, ensure greater transposition of its articles into the national legislation and strategic documents, and would have more specific indicators on which to measure impact. The vision of the Government was life in the family and local community with accessible services and greater employability for persons with disabilities.

Questions by the Committee Experts

THERESIA DEGENER, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, congratulated Croatia for its early signing of the Convention and for being a model country in its implementation. Croatia had achieved progress in several areas such as employment and voting rights, including in the deinstitutionalization process which was long overdue. It was important to understand why the number of children with disabilities in institutions was increasing; was it because care in institutions was the primary mode of care and because there was not enough support for children with disabilities and their families. This was particularly the case for children with autism, who might experience most serious human rights violations. Some legislative steps had been taken to improve access to education, but issues of concern were segregated education, the low rate of education among persons with disabilities, and how Croatia planned to ensure the right to education for persons with disabilities, particularly women and girls.

The Country Rapporteur commended Croatia for adopting the Operative Plan of Deinstitutionalization and Transformation of Social Welfare Homes 2014-2016, and added that based on the information received, Croatia had a serious problem in deinstitutionalization and the right to independent living. It was not enough to close large institutions without providing sufficient support to community-based services, or to support the so-called foster families for adults, where five to 20 persons with disabilities lived in exclusive and segregated settings in which they could not decide with whom, how, and where they wanted to live. Another issue was that psychiatric hospitals were not included in the deinstitutionalization plan. In terms of the protection of persons with disabilities against forced medical interventions, it was laudable that the Act on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders and the Patients’ Rights Protection Act demanded that any intervention required the consent of the person concerned, including persons with disabilities. Still, there were many exceptions to this rule allowed by the law and implemented in practice, and the Committee wished to discuss the documented cases of abuse of persons with disabilities in institutions and in Lopaca Psychiatric Hospital in 2010 and 2014, including many cases of prolonged detention without consent, treatment without consent and the use of psychical and chemical restraints. Another issue of concern was that the new – now suspended Family Act, still allowed for involuntary sterilization, which mostly affected disabled women and girls.

Other Experts asked about the involvement of persons with disabilities, the National Disability Council, and ethnic minorities in the design, implementation and monitoring of legislation. Could the delegation comment on the lack of community-based childhood intervention programmes and the lack of support for families with children with disabilities. Experts noted that the concept of reasonable accommodation was relatively new and wondered how it was provided in different sectors, such as health or education. The delegation was also asked to explain how it was shifting from a medical-based approach to a human rights-based approach to disability, the resources provided to organizations of persons with disabilities to be able to provide a guidance in how to develop the society, and the system in place to monitor accessibility, which was among most important elements guaranteeing inclusion in the society.

THERESIA DEGENER, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, asked about the plans to change the classification of disability between congenital and acquired, and the plan for empowerment of women with disability to help them address discrimination in education and employment, and violence against them. The concept of accessibility was rather narrowly construed and meant physical access.

A Committee Expert expressed grave concern about the great degree of neglect of children with disabilities; they were abandoned, placed in institutions – often in psychiatric hospitals, not cared for, without access to education, and were at risk of violence, including sexual violence. They could not be adopted because they were not in the appropriate institutions, and natural families did not receive adequate support to care for their disabled children. Croatia was not abiding by the relevant concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. What plan was in place to comply with those obligations?

Experts noted that some of the difficulties arose from the very definition of persons with disabilities and asked if Croatia was ready to adopt the full-fledged human rights-based definition instead, and to put in place a budget to ensure that disabled persons’ organizations were fully trained and able to discharge their functions as advocates. What was the current legal status of accessibility standards and did disabled persons’ organizations have a role in their development, implementation and monitoring?

Response by the Delegation

Croatia had been developing a single procedure and a body for the determination of disability, and had established a very comprehensive Working Group with some 80 experts from different fields of study, with active participation of persons with disabilities, with the aim of developing the Act on the Uniform Expertise Authority 2014. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health had been translated and was used to develop a single list of impairments, with four levels. At the completion, a person was given two numbers, on the level of impairment of body and on impairment of functioning.

Equality was one of the ultimate values enshrined in the Constitution of Croatia, and the Anti-Discrimination Act, in force since January 2009, prohibited discrimination based on ethnicity, race, language, sexual orientation and others. The Ombudsmen and other specific Ombudspersons, including on persons with disabilities, received complaints. Discrimination was defined as lack for persons with disabilities of publicly available resources, participation in public and social life, access to employment, and appropriate working conditions; this applied to both public and private employers. The new programme for promoting human rights would include the implementation of the principle of Universal Design through enabling accessibility to all public services and public transport. The Campaign “16 days of activism” had raised public awareness on violence against women with disabilities, and last year a seminar had been held on hate crimes against persons with disabilities.

In terms of participation of persons with disabilities in the design and implementation of laws and policies, the delegate said that a new mechanism for consultation with the public would be put in place, in the form of an internet portal. A new portal which ensured access to publicly produced data had been launched several weeks ago. Particular care was being given to ensure accessibility to those consultation mechanisms for persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups. In 2015, 20 per cent of the lottery funds would be allocated to the Association of Persons with Disabilities for advocacy and social services. New regulation for financing displaced persons’ organizations and civil society organizations acting for common good was in place, and this would see an increase in the funds allocated for the work of civil society.

The definition of reasonable accommodation had been taken from the Convention and had been placed in the context of employment and the right to work. It provided an obligation on all employers to ensure reasonable accommodation, and aimed to ensure physical and technological adjustment, as well as adjustment in working hours and provision of expertise. The State paid incentives to employers to ensure greater and faster accommodation.

Deinstitutionalization had started in 1997 and the drafting of the Operational Plan had ensured coordination between the many necessary activities. Each of the homes entering the process had a team of experts who prepared the users for life in the community, and discharged them from the institution; experts provided support for the life in the community as well. To date, 827 persons lived in more than a dozen communities and only two persons had gone back to an institution on their own willingness. As far as persons with intellectual difficulties are concerned, there was greater cooperation with their doctors and a decrease in the use of medication. The number of children with difficulties was decreasing in institutions; most such children received education, together with their peers but as per different curriculum. Croatia encouraged early childhood intervention and paid attention to include all children with disabilities in education as soon as possible. There was still regional disparity in the availability of services in different counties, and this was an issue that needed to be addressed, together with more equal distribution of trained professionals and service providers of the highest quality.

The Social Welfare Act had instituted a support benefit for parents of children with the gravest disabilities, to enable a parent to stay home and provide care. The parent-caregiver received about 300 Euro per month, in addition to some other benefits; at the moment, there are 3,208 persons with a status of care giver. Croatia should open the question of single mothers who took care of children with developmental disabilities, and it was possible that such amendments to the Social Welfare Act were forthcoming in the project of modernization of social protection.

A legislative framework had been adopted to secure accessibility of buildings for persons with mobility issues, and failure to comply with ordnances and with the provisions on accessibility carried fines. All buildings not constructed in line with the legislation would not receive usage permits. Significant financial investment had been made in adapting maritime, rail and road transport to the needs of persons with disabilities, including the acquiring of new buses accessible for persons with disabilities.

A person with disability could freely be admitted to and exit from a psychiatric institution. Forced admission and forced emergency treatment was based on the ruling of a court, and occurred when the person with disabilities’ own life or the lives of others were in jeopardy. A group of persons with disabilities which had special rights were war and civil veterans, who received larger disability benefits. Croatian education was inclusive, modern and integrated, and all children included in the system received adequate support to ensure their success. Some 17,000 primary school students had a certain type of disability or difficulty; of them 3,000 were in specialized institutions and the rest were in the mainstream schools. Salaries and training of educational specialists were supported by the European Social Fund, and school curriculum was being modified to respect the criteria of inclusion.

Questions by the Experts

An Expert noted that there was no systematic plan for the rescue of persons with disabilities from buildings in case of emergency, and asked about measures to include persons with disabilities in the national emergency protocol, especially the deaf. Some 18,000 persons with disabilities lacked legal capacity and the system of partial guardianship existed; how could the court ruling prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities and how could persons with limited legal capacity participate in all proceedings on that legal capacity?

The delegation was also asked to share the experience on disability inclusive emergency preparedness in the light of last year’s floods that had hit the country, inform on when the right to personal assistance would be adopted, how the removal of architectural barriers from existing buildings was being tackled, and steps taken to repeal the article in the Family Act to completely ban forced sterilization and forced abortion on persons with disabilities, including those sanctioned by legal guardians,

THERESIA DEGENER, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, asked whether Croatia would consider replacing all substituted decision-making with supported decision-making in line with the Committee’s General Comment No. 1.

Other issues Experts raised included the existence of an independent mechanism to prevent torture, protection of parents from institutionalization of children with disabilities and to ensuring community-based care for the child, the right of children with disabilities to be heard in all matters affecting them directly, access to justice for persons with disabilities who were victims of abuse, especially those under guardianship or in closed institutions, and access to emergency telephone numbers for deaf or deaf-blind persons.

MARIA SOLEDAD CISTERNAS REYES, Committee Chairperson, raised the issue of persons with disabilities accused of committing a crime and whether the procedure for taking a statement went hand in hand with a security measure for a person who stood trial. The Chairperson also asked whether the strategy to protect persons with disabilities from family violence had specific indicators to define that violence, and wondered about the impact of measures to protect persons with disabilities from violence.

Statement by the Disability Ombudsperson

BRANKA MEIĆ, Disability Ombudsman’s Office, said that the Office received complaints from persons with disabilities and the main concern expressed by parents of disabled children was the need for early intervention services, particularly for autistic children. Some steps were being taken to address the lack of community-based services, which was one of the main obstacles to the realization of the right of persons with disabilities to live in the community. It was important to see the language of inclusion and reasonable accommodation in the legislation on education. The Ombudswoman for persons with disabilities attempted to define reasonable accommodation in the area of work, but insufficient attention was being paid to introducing flexible ways of working. There were almost no outpatient support and community-based services for persons with severe psychological disabilities. Ms. Meić said that focal persons in Ministries needed to be reinforced and resourced to ensure mainstreaming of disability issues and shared the knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with their colleagues, and that a shift from seeing persons with disabilities as objects of care to seeing them as holders of rights was required.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to the questions concerning the inclusion of persons with disabilities in emergency and rescue plans, the delegate said that the Act on Protection and Rescue put special emphasis on the most threatened parts of the population and guaranteed non-discrimination. The emergency phone number 112 existed and could be used for persons with hearing disability. A mobile phone application “safety at your hand” was adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities and enabled them to get advice on what to do in an emergency. Sterilization of persons with disabilities happened only on the basis of their own request, or in case of medical indication. Persons with disabilities without legal capacity could apply for sterilization though their guardians. The approval based on medical indication was made by a hospital commission composed of a physician, a nurse and a social worker.

Persons with disabilities in criminal proceedings had the right to a counsellor and to an interpreter, who ensured communication with the persons with disabilities in accordance with the disorder. Crimes committed by persons with disabilities were processed under the emergency procedure defined by the Criminal Code and initiated by the State Attorney. Persons with disabilities who were victims of crimes received assistance from the Department for Support to Victims. The national preventive mechanism for the prevention of torture, cruel and degrading treatment had been set up in 2011, and recent amendments to the law would enable a greater number of inspections to places of deprivation of liberty and greater participation of human rights non-governmental organizations.

Concerning support to families who did not wish to place their children with disabilities in institutions, the delegation said that certain benefits were paid out to the families and the children, who also had the right to access social and support services. The families had the right to all kinds of professional help in overcoming difficulties, including an educational rehabilitator who provided help to parents while educating the child. Early interventions were not available on the entire territory of Croatia, but efforts were being made to extend this service. Children with disabilities had the right to inclusive education and support was being provided to this end, most often by mobile teams which visited schools and provided support to teachers. Croatia was aware of the difficulties in the provision of early intervention services for children with autism and in April 2014 had signed an agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund to improve the system of early screening and diagnosis of children on the autistic spectrum and to ensure access to early interventions and inclusive education.

The Family Law had been drafted in 2014 and included substitute decision making. Currently, 18,000 persons in Croatia did not have legal capacity, but what had not been taken into consideration during this determination were personal circumstances or best interests of the persons with disabilities. The draft Family Law had started the alignment of the legislation with the provisions of the Convention in this regard. The Act on Family Violence recognized persons with disabilities as a vulnerable group and prescribed harsher sanctions for offenders. Police officers responding to crime or abuse against persons with disabilities took measures to assist and protect them and to inform them about their rights. The police officers assigned to cases involving vulnerable individuals or groups received six weeks specialized training.

Questions by the Committee Experts

A Committee Expert asked about the ratification of the Marrakech Treaty, the use of easy-to-read-formats for communication, and about recognition of Croatian sign language as an official language. A comprehensive database about children with disabilities and their needs for early intervention services was important in order to determine the need for specialist and early intervention and rehabilitation services. Secondary education seemed extremely segregated and reasonable accommodation in the workplace and employment did not work in practice. What was the level of commitment to include persons with disabilities in the planning and design of the post-2015 development agenda?

THERESIA DEGENER, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, asked about the right of persons with disabilities to become parents, including by adoption, the right to choose a profession, and plans to address the segregated education system, which was a form of discrimination. What plans were in place to ensure accessibility of mainstream health services, to develop a national strategy to increase employment of persons with disabilities, and to ensure access to the electoral process?

The delegation was asked about adapting the tourist industry to the needs of persons with disabilities, scholarships for persons with disabilities, inclusion of persons with disabilities in poverty reduction measures, activation of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities in higher education, comparison between the adequate standard of living of persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities, legal status of ensuring inclusive education system, and the right of children abandoned by their parents to be adopted.

MARIA SOLEDAD CISTERNAS REYES, Committee Chairperson, asked about an action plan for raising awareness in the community about the inclusion of persons with disabilities.

Response by the Delegation

Concerning the right of children with disabilities to participate and be heard, the delegation said that children had rights in judicial, civil and administrative procedures, in front of the court and outside, and in their different roles. The Act on Social Welfare defined the right of the user to participate in the planning and using their services and the right to timely information. The user could not be provided with the service without their consent. The Family Act defined the right of the child to express opinion in relation to their age and maturity, and to know about the important circumstances of a case.

The right of each child to education was guaranteed, and the right of persons with disabilities to higher education was guaranteed in line with their abilities, possibilities, interests and needs under the same conditions and on an equal basis as other individuals. Reasonable accommodation was expressed through building adjustment, transport, pedagogical support and appropriate curriculum. The education system was based on the inclusion principle, meaning the acceptance of differences of each child, their active participation and inclusion in all educational activities together with their peers. Children with hearing difficulties were included equally from the earliest age, and children with disabilities received support from communication professionals. Of the 17,000 students with disability of primary and secondary school age, 14,300 were fully included up to fourth grade of primary school. At the moment, 474 persons with disabilities attended university, all of them with sensory or motor disability; 58 scholarships had been provided to students with disability.

Croatia had a positive attitude towards the Marrakech Treaty, but the delegation could not say when the ratification would happen. A quota system for the employment of persons with disabilities had been enacted in January 2015 and obliged public and private employers to ensure that three per cent of their workforce were persons with disabilities. There was also a wide array of alternatives to fulfil this obligation, including through hiring apprentices and trainees and students with disabilities, providing scholarships to students with disabilities, or by paying a part of minimum salary as a fine.

Concluding Remarks

IVA PRPIĆ, Assistant Minister, Directorate for the Implementation of Social Policy, Organization and Supervision of Institutions, Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, said that Croatia had been preparing for months for this meeting, and some members of the delegation had committed their whole carriers to the issues of disability. Persons with disabilities deserved support and equalizing opportunities, and Croatia was looking forward to the recommendations which would be a great impulse to achieve the goals of the Convention.

BRANKA MEIĆ, Disability Ombudsman’s Office, said that some positive impacts of the review were already obvious in the responses provided by the delegation and was confident that measures already under way would show impact soon. This dialogue would contribute to taking on board the recommendations by the Office of Disability Ombudswoman to more seriously enact the legislation, and to formulate further needs for training on technical aspects of the Convention.

THERESIA DEGENER, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur for Croatia, acknowledged the openness with which Croatia had taken part in this interactive dialogue, in which a great number of key elements had been addressed. There was still much to do with regard to fulfilling the provisions of the Convention, particularly in relation to the right to independent living and living in the community, the right to exercise legal capacity, freedom from forced treatment, and the right to be protected from violence. It was hoped that the dialogue and the concluding observations would prompt Croatia to reconsider its legislation, policy and practice and would be seen as useful guidance for better implementation of the Convention.

MARIA SOLEDAD CISTERNAS REYES, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for their committed and dedicated work and stressed the contribution that concluding observations could make towards the implementation of the Convention.


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