Croatia

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 21 July 2015

Summary action points based on findings

  • Complete the national survivor survey.
  • Maintain regular national coordination of victim assistance and complete the unified victim database in order to improve implementation of services according to needs.
  • Ensure that survivors’ representative organizations have adequate resources to be representative in all relevant fora and carry out victim assistance activities that fill gaps in government services, including peer support outreach and targeted psychological assistance.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Croatia is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Croatia has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and Convention on Conventional Weapons Protocol V and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

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

 

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2014

1,980 mine/ERW casualties (512 killed; 1,437 injured; and 31 unknown)

Casualties in 2014

2 (2013: 4)

2014 casualties by outcome

1 killed; 1 injured (2013: 1 killed; 3 injured)

2014 casualties by item type

2 ERW

 

Details and trends

In 2014, one civilian was killed and another seriously injured in an ERW incident in Karlovac county in Croatia. Both casualties were adult men.[1]

In 2013, one civilian was injured by a mine [2] and one clearance personnel was killed and two were injured by a cluster submunition explosion (see section on Cluster munition casualties below).[3]

The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) has reported at least 1,980 mine/ERW casualties between 1991 and the end of 2014 (512 killed; 1,437 injured; and 31 unknown).[4]

Cluster munition casualties

There were at least 241 cluster munition casualties in Croatia. In 2013, new submunition casualties were reported. In September 2013, three members of the Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment were involved in an accident (one deminer was killed and two injured) during clearance of scattering ordnance, including submunitions, at the site of an unplanned  ammunition storage explosion in Pađene.[5] Between 1993 and 2013, 35 casualties of unexploded submunitions were reported.[6] Between 1993 and 1995, at least 206 casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes in Croatia.

Victim Assistance

As of the end of 2014, the total number of mine/ERW survivors in Croatia was at least 1,437.

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. Although Croatia has a well-structured health and social welfare system, its services were not always equally available to all survivors.

While some areas of victim assistance improved since 1999, until 2010, when the first coordination group was established, a lack of political will hampered 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. For three years, from October 2007, the local NGO MineAid had been requesting support to undertake a survivor needs assessment as part of a larger victim assistance program.

High unemployment among survivors worsened as a result of the global economic slowdown. Psychosocial support remained inadequate because of the lack of public knowledge and professional training on about this issued, combined with a lack of community involvement. Peer support through NGOs increased from 2008.

Under the National Strategy of Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 2007–2015, a process was started to collect data and to define the category of “severe disability” in order to improve access to services for people with the greatest needs. In 2009, the needs of survivors in Croatia were not assessed, but basic mine/ERW casualty data continued to be collected by CROMAC. Other state institutions managed the information on mine/ERW survivors including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the National Institute of Public Health. However, this data could not be shared due to legal concerns related to strict privacy legislation. In 2009, CROMAC committed to the task of unifying casualty data from all relevant state bodies in one database for use in future needs assessments. In 2010, CROMAC began that process.

A survivor survey project “Twenty years later, Croatia – victims of landmines: where they are, what they are doing and what they need” was launched in November 2010 to define needs, influence existing regulations, and remove obstacles to employment of survivors.

MineAid conducted psychological support and socioeconomic reintegration, and advocacy projects for mine survivors, family members, and other civilian victims of war.

Victim assistance under the Vientiane Action Plan 2011–2015

Croatia has reported that it has a highly developed legal framework of laws and by-laws relating to the rights and status of persons with disabilities, including mine survivors.[8] However, it also noted that although survivors’ rights are regulated by numerous laws and regulations, the “on the ground reality” does not always follow the legislation.[9] The criteria for establishing entitlements for persons with disabilities in Croatia were not applied equally and “legislation regulating specific rights remained fragmented.”[10]

In 2012, the Model of Active Rehabilitation and Education (M.A.R.E) Center (previously known as the Duga Center), a specialized facility for psychological support and social reintegration for survivors and other people with trauma, began providing services after several years of struggling to raise funds for construction.

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. It later adapted its projects and targeted indirect victims as beneficiaries, including vulnerable and unemployed people (including women) living in mine/ERW affected areas.

Awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities, including survivors, slowly improved among survivors and the general public, but existing disability legislation was not consistently implemented and adequate services were not always available to survivors. A survivor survey in 2011 found that only 19% of survivors reported living in areas with facilities that provided them with adequate care.[11]

Through to the end of 2014, NGOs had to reduce the quantity of services from levels that had already been reduced since 2011, due to financial and capacity constraints. Activities at a new psychological assistance center increased, although overall there was no improvement in the psychological support network through the health system.

As a result of advocacy, MineAid and partners initiated a multi-sectoral project to create a unified casualty database for needs assessment. The first coordination group was established in 2010. After having stalled in mid-2011, progress in victim assistance coordination and the development of a unified survivor database restarted in 2013, with a unified database completed and ready for use in needs assessment survey in 2014.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In 2014, the development of a unique, unified database on the casualties of mines/ERW and their families progressed due to the activities of CROMAC in coordination with the Croatian Data Protection Agency.[12] CROMAC hired a staff member specifically to coordinate data collection based in the Government Office for Mine Action as a first step to collecting victim assistance related disability data.[13] It also established a specific working group on data collection with the relevant bodies. The group held five meetings in 2014.[14]

During 2014, the “Regulation on keeping the data of mine and UXO [unexploded ordinance] victims and their family members”[15] entered into force. A questionnaire on mine/ERW survivors was addressed to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Veterans, the Croatian Institute of Public Health, and the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute, in accordance with the agreement[16] signed in June 2011. In order to complete missing information in the database, CROMAC also sent letters to all police departments requesting information related to mine accidents and incidents. By the end of 2014, responses were received from 16 police departments.[17]

Data from the ministries of the interior, health, and veteran’s affairs, the Croatian Institute of Public Health, and Croatian Pension Insurance Institute was compared, sorted, and recompiled to create a single database for the period from 1996 through 2014. CROMAC formed a working group for updating the database and created a questionnaire for data collection survey in the field. A pilot project to create a systematic data collection and management system on mine/ERW casualties and their families was launched. In early 2015, a lack of funding for survey delayed the data collection process. To overcome the economic barriers to the implementation of the survey, the Government Office for Mine Action in cooperation with CROMAC and the civil sector were developing a project that includes demining and risk education activities, while also undertaking needs assessment.[18]

In April 2014, the association Documenta–Center for Dealing with the Past held a needs-assessment focus group with mine survivors as a part of a research project on the right to reparations for civilian victims of war. Participants included mine survivors, representatives of the Association of Mine Victims of Karlovac County, MineAid, and CROMAC. Documenta has conducted needs assessment research through questionnaires since 2012—collected data are in the research report “Civilian victims of war in Croatia” (2012) and in the report entitled “The right of civil war victims in Croatia on reparations” (2013). The data obtained by the research were presented during 2012, 2013, and 2014 for the purpose of advocating the rights of civil war victims. Documenta also provides free legal advice, which in turn contributes to further study of the needs of war victims for legal representation through judicial and administrative bodies. Communication is established with individual war victims through coordination meetings and with the victims’ representative associations.[19]

Victim assistance coordination[20]

Government coordinating body/focal point

Government Office for Mine Action (to which CROMAC designates its legal role to coordinate victim assistance, which is included in the Law on Humanitarian Demining)

Coordinating mechanism

National Coordinating Body for Helping Mine and UXO Victims

Plan

Croatian Action Plan to Help Victims Of Mines and Unexploded Ordnance 2010–2014

 

The Government Office for Mine Action has had the role of co-coordinating the multisectoral group of government and NGO representatives, institutions, and individuals in the National Coordinating Body for Helping Mine and UXO Victims (National Coordinating Body) since 2013. There were two meetings of the National Coordinating Body in 2014, and five meetings of the data collection coordination group. The Government Office for Mine Action is the focal point for victim assistance coordination.

Established in 2010, the National Coordinating Body for Mine and UXO Victims was founded on recommendations from the Cartagena and Vientiane Action Plans, as well as due to obligations from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[21]

Documenta noted that victim assistance coordination meetings resulted in the creation of reports for a needs assessment, improved connections between victims’ organizations, and better planning of advocacy activities—positive developments in the cooperation of civil society organizations and the Ministry of Veterans, and the planning of joint activities.[22]

In January 2015, Documenta held a meeting with the associations of war victims, including mine survivors, to discuss draft legislation on civilian victims of war and proposed members of the working group as representatives of civil society organizations.[23]

There was no revision of the National Action Plan for Mine and UXO Victims 2010–2014 in 2014, and a new plan for the next period was not drafted or adopted.

Croatia provided detailed reporting on casualty data and government and NGO victim assistance activities in Form J of its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2014.[24] Information on victim assistance was reported in Form H of Croatia’s Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2014.[25] Victim assistance activities were also reported in its Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Protocol V reporting.[26]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

Survivors and their representative organizations equally participated in the two meetings of the National Coordinating Body in 2014.

Persons with disabilities, including survivors and/or representatives of their organizations, were involved in consultation regarding the individual cases and through the networking of civilian victims and MineAid.[27]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[28]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2014

Model of Active Rehabilitation and Education (M.A.R.E) Center

National NGO

Specialized facility for psychological support and social reintegration for survivors and other people with trauma

Continued psychosocial rehabilitation activities for survivors and other people in need

MineAid

National NGO

Group therapy, individual psychological help for survivors and family members, information on employment and self-employment, professional education, visits to survivors, and social and financial support; awareness-raising and advocacy

Increased employment and social inclusion opportunities for marginalized women in mine affected areas

Documenta

National association

Assessment and legal support

Increased activities related to mine survivors

KUŽM

National NGO

Peer support, psychological assistance, information, and medical and employment referrals

Did not conduct significant activities due to a lack of financial and human resources

 

Emergency and continuing medical care

Basic assistance, from first aid to informing all survivors and their families about their rights, was generally provided through government institutions.[29] The Croatian Institute for Health Insurance is responsible for providing emergency medical aid and continuing medical care, physical and medical rehabilitation, orthopedics, and other assistive devices. Health services are equally available to all insured people regardless of gender, age, or religion. Every doctor in the primary healthcare system is required to provide emergency medical assistance and, if necessary, arrange transport to the hospital. In exceptional cases it is possible, in cooperation with state institutions, to provide a patient with transport by helicopter or ship.[30]

In 2014, the Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities reported some of the shortcomings of Croatian special hospitals for inpatient medical rehabilitation for persons with disabilities. These gaps included a lack of funding for investing in upgrading premises and equipment, a lack of personnel for conducting rehabilitation, long waiting lists, and a lack of accommodation capacities covered by insurance. Many institutions were physically inaccessible. Rehabilitation was incomplete due to a lack of rehabilitation interventions, understaffing, and focus on pure medical care, while the other elements of rehabilitation such as social, psychological, and peer support remained neglected.[31]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

Following emergency care, an injured survivor has the right to access various appropriate forms of medical care including inpatient rehabilitation, physical therapy in healthcare facilities and in community health centers, or physical therapy in the patient’s home. The Institute for Health Insurance maintains a detailed record of rehabilitation capacity and staff in the 10 most mine/ERW-affected counties, including the facilities and physiotherapists providing home-based assistance in each county.[32]

The Croatian Institute for Health Insurance also covers the costs of basic orthopedic and prosthetic devices and mobility for survivors and other persons with disabilities. Survivors often reported that the quality and/or frequency of orthopedic devices that they received were inadequate.[33]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

During 2014, MineAid implemented a project on empowerment and education for social inclusion of women in the mine/ERW-affected county of Sisak-Moslavina. The project included unemployed women aged 25–65 years, who are social welfare beneficiaries, living in underprivileged areas, and members of ethnic minorities and/or victims of domestic violence. The project provided psychosocial support while increasing the beneficiaries’ employment potential. The project involved local mobile teams, workshops, certified education opportunities, and volunteer activities in the community.[34]

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs continued to implement a national program of psychosocial and medical assistance to victims of war and persons affected by their participation in peacekeeping missions. It operated 21 interdisciplinary centers for psychosocial support, which also provided a mobile emergency service for crisis situations. There were also a central center in Zagreb and four regional centers for psychological support.[35] Despite the availability of these services, deminers also stressed the need for additional crisis intervention in cases of demining accidents, recognizing that all persons present at the time of the accident may require professional psychosocial support.[36]

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs initiated a pilot project, the House of Croatian Veterans in Lipik, Požega-Slavonia County, which is designed as accommodation and rehabilitation for war veterans, military personnel returning from peacekeeping missions, deminers, civilian victims of war, as well as other persons who have a need to use its services. The length of stay could be temporarily or permanent depending on the health needs and economic situation of the patient. The ministry was planning to open a series of similar fully staffed multi-disciplinary centers if European Union funding was available.[37]

The Zabok General Hospital and Hospital for Croatian Veterans exclusively provided medical services for Croatian war veterans, war disabled, and their family members.[38]

During the summer of 2014, the M.A.R.E. Center organized workshops for mine/ERW survivors and their family members. The workshops provided beneficiaries with psychosocial assistance through psychological support groups, creative work, and peer support.[39]

The Croatian Employment Service (CES) in cooperation with the town of Zagreb, the Institute for Disability Assessment and Professional Rehabilitation, and the Institution for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons through Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (URIHO[40]) implemented a new model of professional rehabilitation in line with the National Strategy of Equalization of Possibilities for Persons with Disabilities 2007–2015 to improve access to career management and develop new employment models for persons with disabilities.[41] The CES database of unemployed persons registered 37 unemployed mine/ERW survivors in 2014.[42]

A number of other organizations of persons with disabilities carried out activities that were relevant to people with similar needs as mine survivors in 2014. The Istrian Forum of Disabled Person’s Organizations and the Muscular Dystrophy Society of Istria produced a brochure in cooperation with the Police Office of Istria that informs police officers of which associations cover specific disability issues and where to find additional information to assist in the performance of their duties.[43] The Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities organized a Festival of Equal Opportunities in Zagreb to present the creative work of performers with disabilities and share the message that persons with disabilities should enjoy the same rights and responsibilities as others. Various sports groups for persons with disabilities also continued to provide social inclusion activities.[44]

Laws and policies

To better inform survivors of their rights and services, distribution continued in 2014 of the brochure “Options and rights for persons with disabilities—people affected by mines” (first issued in 2011).[45]

In reviewing Croatia’s initial reporting under the CRPD, the Committee of the CRPD recommended that the Croatia begins a comprehensive review of existing legislation and aligns legislation with the CRPD in accordance with the human rights model of disability. The CRPD Committee also noted the absence of a broad service providers’ network. In its absence, disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) have been forced to assume this role, at the expense of their advocacy role. The CRPD Committee recommended that Croatia provide funding to enable DPOs to fulfil their role in the development and implementation of legislation and policies to implement the CRPD, and in other decision-making processes.[46]

Croatia reported that civil society organization were involved in drafting a new Act for the Protection of Persons with Mental Disabilities, which came into effect on 1 January 2015.[47]

The CRPD Committee expressed concerned that the majority of persons with disabilities in Croatia were either unemployed or have low-income employment. The Committee recommended that Croatia develop and implement a plan of action, in cooperation with DPOs, to increase employment of persons with disabilities in the open labor market. It further recommended the introduction of incentives for employers to hire persons with disabilities to complement the quota system, while disincentives to employment for persons with disabilities should be addressed.[48]

In 2012, the European Commission found that persons with disabilities continued to face discrimination in the labor market in Croatia, and that employment quotas in the public sector were not being met.[49] A new Act on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities was adopted at the end of 2013.[50] The Act entered into force on 1 January 2014 and changes were made to employment policies in April. An Institute for Expert Examination, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Employment of Persons with Disabilities was established along with vocational rehabilitation centers. The employment quota system was extended to the private sector and registers on employees with disabilities, as well as changes in the area of disabled-person employment incentives.[51] Every employer, including those in the private sector, with at least 20 employees is required hire a proportional number of persons with disabilities in appropriate working conditions.[52] This specific quota is contingent on a ratio to the total number of employees and the type of work; with a standard overall quota of 3%. Employers who do not comply with the quota of employment are required to pay a penalty. Incentives for employers were also introduced.[53]

The association Women’s Room–Center for Sexual Rights from Zagreb, in cooperation with the Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities organized training on the topic “violence and discrimination against women with disabilities in the labor market” in May 2014. The training examined the cases of discrimination and violence against women with disabilities in the workplace, and mechanisms for their protection. The group also adopted a number of specific recommendations:[54]

  • Encourage women with disabilities to participate in the education system;
  • Insist on adapting all educational institutions;
  • Make all laws, relevant documents, and public policy available to women with disabilities in all accessible formats;
  • Empower and encourage women with disabilities to gain employment;
  • Implement continuous training of employers;
  • Educate and inform women with disabilities about the forms and consequences of discrimination and violence and about ways of protection;
  • Inform women with disabilities about the work and powers of the Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities and the Ombudsperson for Gender Equality;
  • Organize a network of civil society organizations that work with victims of violence and disability organizations;
  • Ensure accessibility and availability of healthcare and medical services for women with disabilities;
  • Work on systematic training and sensitization of doctors and health professionals;
  • Raise awareness in the general public about specific problems and needs of women, including women with disabilities and mothers of children with disabilities.

At the end of the school year 2013/14, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport proposed a policy document for enrollment in the first grade of secondary school that was not consistent with ensuring that the rights of students with disabilities were upheld, or recognizing their abilities. The document describes impairments that would prevent children with disabilities from studying or gaining academic recognition; these included visual impairments, hearing difficulties, and motor disabilities. The Ombudsperson for disability rights requested that the Ministry withdraw the document and include the advice of people who understand the concept of the social model of disability. It was subsequently announced the document will be amended.[55]

The Government Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities established a working group to prepare a National Anti-Discrimination Plan 2014–2018, to follow the National Anti-Discrimination Plan 2008–2013. The plan should place emphasis on discrimination against persons with disabilities and incorporate measures to safeguard against discrimination based on disability and prevent the failure to make adjustments for reasonable accommodation.[56] In 2015, the CRPD Committee recommended that reasonable accommodation and universal design be regulated beyond the context of the Anti-Discrimination Act (2009), in areas such as education, health, transportation, and building.[57]

The CRPD Committee noted that distinctions were made between different causes of impairments, such as through war or accidents, in the allocation of entitlements to social services and benefits. It recommended that disability-based services and benefits are made available to all persons with disabilities irrespective of the cause of their impairment.[58] MineAid, in conjunction with the Office for Demining and CROMAC, called upon the government to ensure equal opportunities for all persons with disabilities regardless of the way that their impairments were acquired.[59]

In 2013, the law on the protection of military and civilian victims of war was changed, removing the right to a pension for victims with low incomes.[60]

In 2014, regulations on orthopedic and other devices were amended and supplemented 11 times. Some changes negatively affected the quality of life of persons with disabilities, particularly the restriction of eligibility for hearing aid components to only children and students.[61]

Croatia’s Office of the Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities’ main role is to promote rights, propose measures, make recommendations, and request reports on the actions taken to enforce the rights of persons with disabilities.[62] The CRPD Committee expressed concern that the ombudsperson for persons with disabilities, as the independent monitoring body, is not designated as such by law and that it has no outreach possibilities to rural areas. It also raised concerns that DPOs and other civil society organizations are not sufficiently supported by the government to participate in national implementation and monitoring.[63]

Croatia has strong legislation on building construction that requires the accessible adaptation of buildings for persons with disabilities. However, implementation was problematic because the relevant supervisory bodies did not enforce penalties in cases of violations.[64]



[1] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form J.

[2] Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) casualty data in email from Hrvoje Debač, Office for Mine Action, 20 March 2014; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form J; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form H.

[3] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2013), Form H.

[4] Email from Hrvoje Debač, Office for Mine Action, 20 March 2014; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form J.

[5] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2013), Form H.

[6] Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), p. 65; and CROMAC casualty data provided by email from Goran Gros, CROMAC, 23 April 2008. CROMAC recorded 32 casualties from incidents involving unexploded submunitions between 1993 and 2007. All known unexploded submunition casualties were included in CROMAC casualty data.

[7] See previous country reports and country profiles available on the Monitor website; and HI, Voices from the Ground: Landmine and Explosive Remnants of War Survivors Speak Out on Victim Assistance, Brussels, September 2009, p. 65.

[8] Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Amended Protocol II, National Annual Report (for calendar year 2014), Form B, 3 April 2015; CCW Protocol V Article 10 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form C; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form H.

[9] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form H.

[10] EC, “Croatia 2011 Progress Report,” Commission Staff Working Document, Brussels, 12 October 2011, pp. 10 and 51.

[11] Association for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities, “Hrvatska dvadeset godina poslije – žrtve mina gdje su, što rade i što trebaju” (“Croatia Twenty years later – victims of landmines: where they are, what they are doing and what they need”), 2011, p. 37.

[12] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2014), Form H, paras.1–2.

[13] Email from Hrvoje Debač, Office for Mine Action, 23 March 2014.

[14] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2014), Form H, paras. 1–2.

[15] The Croatian title of the regulation is “Pravilnik o Načinu Vođenja Podataka Žrtava Mina i Eksplozivnih Ostataka Rata i Članova Njihove Obitelji.”

[16] Called the “Agreement on Cooperation in the Development and Exchange of Data Collection on Victims of Explosive Devices on the Mined, Mine Suspected and Shelled Areas of Croatian Territory.”

[17] Emails from Maja Dundov Gali, CROMAC, 7 April 2015; and Marija Breber, Project Manager, MineAid, 10 April 2015.

[18] Emails from Maja Dundov Gali, CROMAC, 7 April 2015; and Marija Breber, Social Worker, MineAid, 10 April 2015.

[19] Interview with Milena Čalić Jelic, Nives Jozić, and Božica Ciboci, Documeta, 4 March 2015.

[20] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2013), Form H.

[21] Emails from Marija Breber, MineAid, 21 April 2014.

[22] Interview with Milena Čalić Jelic, Nives Jozić, and Božica Ciboci, Documeta, 4 March 2015.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form J.

[25] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2014), Form H.

[26] CCW Protocol V Article 10 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form C, 3 April 2015.

[27] Interview with Milena Čalić Jelic, Nives Jozić, and Božica Ciboci, Documeta, 4 March 2015.

[28] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 15 April 2015; Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2014), Form H; Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the calendar year 2014), Form J; interview with Mato Lukić, President, KUŽM, 13 April 2014; and interview with Dalibor Juric, Coordinator, M.A.R.E. Center, Zagreb, 10 April 2015.

[29] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2012), Form H.

[30] Information provided by the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance, received via email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 11 March 2014.

[32] Information provided by the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance, received via email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 15 April 2014.

[33] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2013), Form H; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2012), Form H.

[34] Email from Marija Berber, MineAid, 1 April 2015.

[35] Interview with Mladen Loncar, Psychiastist, Ministry of Veterans, 12 December 2014.

[36] Interview with Marija Herceg and Dijana Pleština, Office for Mine Action, 10 April 2015.

[37] Interview with Miroslav Loncar, Ministry of Veterans, 12 December 2014; and email from Maja Dundov Gali, CROMAC, 7 April 2015.

[38]General Hospital Zabok,” 11 February 2015

[39] Interview with Dalibor Juric, M.A.R.E, Zagreb, 10 April 2015.

[40] Called in Croatian “Ustanovaza profesionalnu rehabilitaciju i zapošljavanje osoba s invaliditetom.”

[41] Data from CES received via email from Hrvoje Debač, Office for Mine Action, 20 March 2014.

[43] Email from Marija Berber, MineAid, 10 April 2015.

[44] Ibid.

[45] CCW Amended Protocol II, National Annual Report (for calendar year 2014), Form B, 3 April 2015.

[46] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the initial report of Croatia,” (CRPD/C/HRV/CO/1), 17 April 2015, paras. 5–6.

[48] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the initial report of Croatia,” (CRPD/C/HRV/CO/1), 17 April 2015, paras. 41–42.

[49] EC, “Monitoring Report on Croatia’s accession preparations (Final),” Brussels, 26 March 2013.

[50] Data from CES received via email from Hrvoje Debač, Office for Mine Action, 20 March 2014.

[51] Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, “National Social Report 2014,” Zagreb, August 2014.

[52] Interview with Marijana Senjak, CES, 12 December 2014.

[53] Email from Maja Dundov Gali, CROMAC, 7 April 2015; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form H.

[54] Womens’ Room, “Training on ‘Violence and discrimination against women with disabilities in the labor market,’” (Ženska Soba—Centar Za Seksualna Prava Ženska Soba, “Održan trening ‘Nasilje i diskriminacija prema ženama s invaliditetom na tržištu rada’”), 28 May 2014.

[55] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 10 April 2015 (Source: Report on the work of the Ombudsperson for persons with disabilities).

[56] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 10 April 2015.

[57] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the initial report of Croatia,” (CRPD/C/HRV/CO/1), 17 April 2015, paras. 5–6.

[58] Ibid., paras. 7–8.

[59] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 1 March 2015.

[60] Information from the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, 19 March 2014, received via email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 15 April 2014.

[61] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 10 April 2015 (Source: Report on the work of the Ombudsperson for persons with disabilities).

[62] Statement of Croatia, CCW Protocol V, Geneva, 12 April 2013.

[63] Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, “Concluding observations on the initial report of Croatia,” (CRPD/C/HRV/CO/1), 17 April 2015.

[64] Email from Marija Breber, MineAid, 13 March 2014.