Summary: State Party Croatia was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It has participated in every meeting of the convention and hosted the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik in 2015. Croatia voted in favor of a United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2017. It has firmly condemned the use of cluster munitions and elaborated its views on certain important issues relating to the convention’s interpretation and implementation.

Croatia completed the destruction of its stockpile of 7,235 cluster munitions and 178,318 submunitions at the end of July 2018.

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 the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

In 2015, Croatia enacted comprehensive mine action legislation that it says “states that each failure in treatment of cluster munitions is subject to misdemeanor sanction.”[1] The law does not impose sanctions to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited under the convention on territory under its jurisdiction or control, however Croatia’s Penal Code does apply.[2]

Croatia’s armed forces include the convention’s obligations in an expanded curriculum on agreements and treaties that Croatia has joined.[3] The Office for Mine Action acts as a focal point for coordination and monitoring of mine action related activities in Croatia, including the operation of the Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC).[4]

Croatia provided its initial Article 7 report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 10 April 2011 and has submitted annual updated reports since then, most recently on 24 April 2018.[5]

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.[6] Croatia enacted a moratorium on the use, production, and transfer of cluster munitions in 2007, prior to the conclusion of the process.[7]

Croatia has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention and attended every intersessional meeting held in 2011–2015. It hosted the convention’s First Review Conference in Dubrovnik on 7–11 September 2015.[8] Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović served as president of the First Review Conference, which adopted an action plan and the “Dubrovnik Declaration” committing to “work towards a world free of the suffering, casualties and socio-economic impacts caused by cluster munitions.”[9] Croatia has also hosted and participated in regional workshops on the convention.

Croatia voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting implementation of the convention in December 2017.[10] As the convention’s president, Croatia successfully co-sponsored and introduced the first UNGA resolution on the convention in 2015 and voted in favor of the second one in 2016.

Croatia has condemned the use of cluster munitions in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.[11] In 2017, Croatia repeated its call to all states to refrain from the use of cluster munitions, particularly in Syria.[12]

Croatia voted in favor of recent UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[13] It also voted in favor of Human Rights Council (HRC) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in March 2018.[14]

Croatia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Interpretive issues

Croatia has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It considers transit of cluster munitions across, or foreign stockpiling of cluster munitions on, the national territory of States Parties to be prohibited by the convention and also views investment in the production of cluster munitions as prohibited by the convention’s prohibition on assistance.[15] Croatia has 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.”[16]

In 2012, Croatia stated that it agrees with concerns raised by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) about how the convention’s phrase “minimum number of cluster munitions absolutely necessary” for the retention of cluster munitions would be interpreted and said it is “crucial that states comply fully with the detailed reporting requirement on cluster munitions retained for development and training.”[17]

Use, production, and transfer

Croatia has stated that it does not produce cluster munitions, never imported them, and that the armed forces of Croatia have not used them, including in missions under UN auspices.[18]

Croatia informed the Monitor that “no Yugoslav production facilities for cluster munitions or their components were formerly located in Croatia,” but it has acknowledged that until 1999 a Croatian company named SUIS d.o.o. in Kumrovec produced a cluster munition called the M93 120mm mortar projectile.[19] Croatia has reported that the production facilities were officially decommissioned when bankruptcy proceedings for the company were completed in 2006.[20]

On 2–3 May 1995, forces of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina (Republika Srpska Krajina, RSK)under the leadership of Milan Martić attacked Zagreb with M87 Orkan cluster munition rockets, killing at least seven civilians and injuring more than 200.[21] Additionally, the Croatian government has claimed that Serb forces dropped BL755 cluster bombs in Sisak, Kutina, and along the Kupa river.[22]

Stockpiling

Following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia inherited a stockpile of 7,235 cluster munitions and 178,318 submunitions, as listed in the following table.[23]

Croatia’s cluster munition stockpile (as of 1 August 2017)[24]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia was required to destroy all its stockpiled cluster munitions as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018.

Croatia informed the Monitor on 31 July 2018 that it has completed destruction of its stockpiled cluster munitions.[25] The convention’s president welcomed this development in a statement.[26]

In April 2018, Croatia reported that all active cluster munitions in the Croatian armed forces stockpile were decommissioned by a Chief of Defense order dated 25 October 2017 and would be destroyed during the first half of 2018.[27] On 9 July 2018, a government official told the Monitor thatdestruction process had been delayed by “unfavorable weather conditions at the beginning of the 2018, which cannot be controlled by human action.” He however affirmed that the destruction process was taking place and “on its way to meet the set deadline.”[28]

During 2017, Croatia destroyed 6,596 cluster munitions and separated the 154,118 submunitions they contained for subsequent destruction.[29] It essentially destroyed their capacity to function by decommissioning or disassembling each individual cluster munition, which included destroying or recycling the bomb bodies, tail units, burster charges, and the mechanical-time fuze for the nose. The submunitions were destroyed by 31 July 2018.

Previously, Croatia destroyed 639 cluster munitions and 24,200 submunitions in 2015, but none in 2016.

Croatia’s stockpile destruction could not commence until it completed the clearance of a former military ammunition depot at Pađene, where a September 2011 explosion caused by a forest fire destroyed at least 153 stockpiled cluster munitions and resulted in other unexploded ordnance.[30] Croatian armed forces destroyed the cluster munition stocks at the Eugen Kvaternik military training ground near the town of Slunj through a combination of disassembly, recycling, and open burning/detonation.[31]

Croatia has reported its aim to minimize contamination and environmental impact by maximizing the re-use, recycling, and reprocessing of materials wherever possible.[32] It has estimated the cost of destroying the stocks at approximately €200,000.[33]

Retention

Croatia is not retaining any live cluster munitions or submunitions for training and development purposes as permitted by Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Croatia has retained six inert cluster munitions and 813 inert submunitions for training, educational purposes, and for static displays at a military museum that have been disarmed and rendered free from explosives.[34] It has encouraged other States Parties to follow its example by retaining inert rather than live cluster munitions.[35]

Notes: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war.

Contamination

The Republic of Croatia is affected by mines and, to a much lesser extent, ERW, including cluster munition remnants, a legacy of four years of armed conflict associated with the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Mine contamination

At the end of 2017, Croatia had a total of 411km² of mined area (0.73% of the entire land mass of Croatia), excluding military areas.[3] Of this total, 269km² across 57 sites was CHA, while mines were suspected to cover a further 142km², across 47 SHAs (see table below).[4] This represents a decrease compared to the 281km² across 64 CHAs, and 162km² across 52 SHAs, as of the end of the previous year.[5] A further 32.7km² of confirmed mined area exists in areas under military control, said to contain 25,299 antipersonnel mines and 1,040 antivehicle mines. More than 90% of this mined area is across three military training sites, but a barracks and three storage sites are also believed to be contaminated.

Mined area by county (at end 2017)*[6]

Note: * A further 31.4km² of mined area exists in areas under military control.[7]

Eight of Croatia’s 21 counties are still mine-affected, containing an estimated 32,830 antipersonnel mines and 6,441 antivehicle mines.[8] This represents an increase in the estimated number of antivehicle mines, compared to the figure of 6,115 from the previous year. It is due to CROMAC having revised its estimate following a more detailed analysis of minefield records in preparation for its second Article 5 extension request.[9]

Clearance in the county of Brod-Posavina was completed at the end of 2017.[10] Sisak-Moslavina and Lika-Senj counties are the most heavily contaminated with antipersonnel mines, containing an estimated 12,741 and 11,390 antipersonnel mines, respectively, and accounting for 73.5% of the total number of antipersonnel mines emplaced.[11]

In July 2017, media erroneously reported that 34 landmine explosions had been triggered in southern Croatia, in an area thought to be mine-free, following the spread of a forest fire from neighboring Montenegro.[12] However, this information was incorrect, and the reported explosions were in fact caused by a local resident firing a gas-fueled sound cannon to deter wild boars.[13]

The impact of mines in Croatia is predominantly socio-economic and at local level, preventing safe use of land for livestock and forestry-related activities. At the end of 2017, 89% of mine contamination was on forested land; 10% on agricultural land; and 1% on other areas (e.g. water, marshland, and coastal areas).[14] Of the total 411.5km² of combined SHA and CHA, 59.7% is protected as national park or Natura 2000 area.[15] Much of the remaining mined area is in mountainous areas and has not been accessed for 20 years, so the terrain and conditions pose challenges to demining.[16]

Croatia calculates that approximately 485,537 inhabitants, in 59 towns and municipalities in the eight affected counties, are directly exposed to the threat of mines.[17] However, there is comprehensive hazard marking of mined areas.[18]

Cluster munition contamination

At the end of 2017, Croatia had 11 areas confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants, covering a total area of over 1.05km² (see table below).[19] This compares to reported contamination a year earlier of 10 CHAs over a total of 1.74km².[20]

While more than 1km² of cluster munition-contaminated land was cleared in 2017, some new areas of previously unknown contamination were also discovered, including a very small amount of land in Split-Dalmatia, a county that had been declared completed in 2016, as well as in three other counties.[21] The cluster munition remnants in Split-Dalmatia were discovered during the regular course of demining activity.[22]

Cluster munition contamination by county (at end 2017)[23]

Croatia was contaminated with unexploded KB-1 and Mk-1 submunitions by the conflicts in the 1990s that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia.[24] CROMAC reports that cluster munition remnants have more of a socio-economic than humanitarian impact,[25] and the last recorded cluster munition-related incident was more than 10 years ago.[26] As of September 2017, 25.7% of the remaining cluster munition-contaminated area was defined as agricultural; 72.1% as forested, and 2.2% as “other area” (e.g. water, marshland, landslides, coast).[27]

Program Management

CROMAC is responsible for the collection, processing, and recording of data on mine and ERW contamination, survey, and clearance; marking of contaminated areas; non-technical survey; quality control of clearance; technical survey, and the planning of demining and technical survey operations.[28] CROMAC is accountable to the government of Croatia through the Managing Board (formerly known as the CROMAC Council) whose members are representatives of the relevant ministries and other stakeholders, appointed by the government.[29]

The former members’ mandate expired in August 2016, and there was a period of almost one year when the council did not meet, until a new government decree re-established it as the Managing Board in July 2017. During this period, the lack of a government decree posed administrative challenges, such as delay in CROMAC’s annual workplan being sent for government approval as well as restrictions regarding recruitment.[30] A new Director of CROMAC, Zdravko Modrušan, was appointed at the end of September 2017.[31]

The Office for Mine Action (OMA) reports to the Prime Minister’s office, to function as a focal point for mine action, strengthen coordination among stakeholders and funding agencies, and raise public awareness about mine and ERW hazards.[32] The OMA does not sit above CROMAC; rather, it is the government institution dealing with the political aspects of mine action, whereas CROMAC deals with operations.[33] The OMA includes a Unit for European Union (EU) Funds, tasked with promoting access to a range of EU funds to support the mine action sector.[34]

Strategic planning

CROMAC has a National Mine Action Strategy 2009–2019, which includes the goal of all mine clearance by 2019.[35] Croatia subsequently submitted a request to extend its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline from 1 March 2019 to 1 March 2026.

Croatia’s initial 2008 Article 5 deadline extension requestset out annual demining targets and strategic goals, including elimination of the mine threat to housing and areas planned for the return of displaced people (by 2010); concerning infrastructure (by 2011); on agricultural land (by 2013); and in forest areas (by 2018).[36] While clearance of the mine threat to housing and infrastructure was completed, Croatia missed its targets on agricultural land and forested area.

In its 2018 Article 5 deadline extension reque4st, Croatia has prioritized the remaining mined areas according to those that affect safety; those that pose barriers to the socio-economic development; and those that impact ecology in other ways. While priorities at the operative level are elaborated in annual demining action plans, Croatia’s goal is to clear all areas intended for agriculture by the end of 2018 and to demine all known minefields by the end of 2024.[37] In addition, Croatia plans to complete clearance of all cluster munition remnants by the end of 2018.[38]

Based on the approved funding, CROMAC drafts annual workplans, which are submitted to the responsible ministries, the OMA, and other state bodies for comment and approval.[39]

According to its 2018 Annual Plan of Mine Action, CROMAC planned to release a total of 56.5km² in 2018: 39.8km² through clearance and 16.7km² through technical survey and supplementary general survey (during which control samples are taken to determine the absence of mines and UXO).[40] CROMAC’s priorities for demining in 2018 included completion of cluster munition clearance, under Croatia’s Article 4 obligation under the Convention on Cluster Munitions; completion of mine clearance operations in Brodsko-Posavska county; and completion of clearance of all mined agricultural land. In addition, Croatia planned to continue clearance of economically prioritzsed forests in Karlovac, Lika-Senj, Požega-Slavonia, and Sisak-Moslavina counties, and to begin clearance of approximately 25km² of protected and Natura 2000 protected areas of Osijek-Baranja county.[41]

Legislation and standards

A new Mine Action Law was adopted by the Croatian parliament on 21 October 2015, incorporating developments from the latest International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), and specifically those relating to the use of technical survey to confirm the presence of contamination or discredit it as an SHA.[42]

In March 2017, the amendments to the “By-law on the Method of Conducting Demining Operations, Quality Control, General and Technical Survey and Marking of Suspected Hazardous Area,” were published in the Official Gazette, after which they entered into force.[43] Amendments adopted through this by-law elaborate in more detail the provisions in the 2015 Law on Mine Action relating to the implementation of demining activities. Adoption of the amended by-law is said to require that demining activities be systematically monitored “in order to eliminate or correct possible deficiencies or improperness that slow down or hamper the demining process.”[44]

The new law has reduced CROMAC’s role in several respects. Under the 2015 Law, the Ministry of Interior assesses authorized legal entities for conducting demining; this was formerly CROMAC’s responsibility.[45] The law has limited CROMAC’s supervision of the commercial operators.[46] The responsibility for investigating demining accidents now lies with the state attorney, under the oversight of the Ministry of Interior.[47]

In the view of several CROMAC personnel, while the law has made an improvement in certain aspects (for example improving land release), it has also negatively affected the efficient and effective running of the mine action program.[48]

Quality management

With the adoption of the 2015 Law on Mine Action, CROMAC now undertakes only quality control of executed demining operations,[49] and quality assurance operations are performed by the Ministry of Interior.[50]

Operators

As of 1 January 2018, 40 commercial companies, with a total capacity of 676 deminers (121 deminers, 28 quality assurance (QA) deminers, and 11 QA officers), 45 machines, and 99 mine detection dogs (MDDs), were accredited to conduct mine and cluster munition clearance.[51] This represents roughly the same capacity as the previous year, but with an increase in use of MDDs.[52]

The Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment is responsible for clearance of all military facilities.[53] The Ministry of Defense submits its demining plan for military facilities to CROMAC annually.[54]

The state-owned enterprise, MUNGOS, which was previously directly assigned a sufficient number of tasks by CROMAC to keep it solvent while it slowly phased down clearance operations,[55] was finally dissolved and its assets auctioned during the first half of 2018.[56] In December 2017, the Croatian government decided to transfer MUNGOS employees to CROMAC, to enhance quality control activities and increase survey capacity.[57]

As a result of conditions for earlier World Bank funding, Croatia has an unusually commercialized mine action sector, with almost all civil clearance conducted by local companies competing for tenders. NGOs are barred from competing for commercial tenders as CROMAC views their subsidy by other funds as unfair.[58] As barriers to entry into the mine clearance market are relatively low there is considerable fragmentation. Of the 21 companies demining in 2017, 10 cleared less than one square kilometer (see table below).[59] In 2018, CROMAC reported that the average price of demining operations had increased compared to the previous year, which it believed is due to market stabilization activities in the mine action system.[60] (For further information about the tendering process, refer to the Croatia mine action profile for 2017.)

Land Release

In 2017, nearly 30.4km² of mined area was released by clearance (29.9km² by operators working under the direction of CROMAC and a further 0.48km²by the Croatian army).

A further 6.6km² was released by technical survey and non-technical survey.[61]

Survey in 2017

CROMAC released 6.6km² through technical and non-technical survey in 2017.[62] This is double the 3.16km² released through survey in 2016.[63] A further 5.7km² of previously unknown contamination was confirmed as mined in 2017.[64]

Clearance in 2017

Commercial demining operators working under the direction of CROMAC cleared nearly 30km² across 73 mined areas in 2017, with the destruction of 1,271 antipersonnel mines, 18 antivehicle mines, and 519 items of UXO (see table below).[65] This is a 20% decrease on the 38km² cleared across 106 mined areas in 2016.[66] The main reason for this decrease is said to be a decree from the Ministry of Interior, which changed the rules regarding what land can be formally reported as clearance output (i.e. “only the areas for which an official CROMAC confirmation of exclusion has been published”). According to CROMAC, the actual clearance output for 2017 was 38.5km², but 8.6km² of this was not formally reported, because the “necessary administrative processes” had not yet been completed.[67] Of the 73 mined areas cleared in 2017, some 13 areas totaling some 3.17km², were found not to contain mines.[68] This equates to roughly 10% of the total area cleared, and is proportionally a significant increase on 2016, when only 1% of the total area cleared was found not to contain mines.[69]

In addition, the Croatian army cleared just over 0.48km² of military facilities in 2017. No antipersonnel mines or antivehicle mines were discovered during army clearance operations, but 279 items of UXO were found and destroyed.[70] This is a small decrease in clearance output on the 0.45km² cleared in 2016.[71]

Also, as part of the continued “less arms, fewer tragedies” program, the Croatian Police (under the Ministry of Interior), and in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), collected 122 antipersonnel mines and 22 antivehicle mines, in addition to explosives, hand grenades, and other weapons and explosive ordnance, which were subsequently transported to and destroyed at Croatian military facilities.[72]

Mine clearance in 2017[73]

In July 2016, Croatia signed a contract to demine its border with Hungary, as part of a cross-border cooperation project. The total area to be covered by the project was 1.46km², and 1.45m² was demined in 2016, with the destruction of 137 antipersonnel mines, 103 antivehicle mines, and 66 items of UXO. Of the total project, 3,400m² remained to be cleared as of the end of 2016, as it was underwater.[74] Demining of the remaining mined area was subsequently completed in the first half of 2017.[75]

As of April 2018, a further 1.2km² of suspected mine contamination remains on Croatia’s border with Hungary, at a distance of 1km from the border.[76]

According to its 2017 Annual Plan of Mines Action, CROMAC had planned to release 58.3km² through survey and clearance in 2017. Actual 2017 output fell short of this goal, with a total of 36.5km² released (29.9km² through clearance and 6.6km² through survey), in addition to the 0.49km² demined by the Croatian armed forces.[77]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia released 1.01km² of cluster munition-contaminated area by clearance in 2017.[78] Output was a slight decrease on 2016, when 1.2km² of area containing only cluster munition remnants was cleared, in addition to a further 0.1km² of mixed mine and cluster munition clearance.[79]

Four companies were engaged in cluster munition clearance operations in 2017, namely DIZ-EKO, MINA PLUS, RUMITAL, and TITAN.[80]

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

CROMAC identified and confirmed four cluster munition-contaminated areas totaling 158,750m² in 2017: 8,158m² in Lika-Senj county; 448m² in Split-Dalmatia county; 136,276m² in Sisak-Moslavina county; and 13,868m²in Šibenik-Knin county.[81]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

Croatia cleared six areas in three counties covering just over 1.01km² of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017, destroying a total of 123 KB-1 submunitions (see table below).[82]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017[83]

Clearance was in five demining projects areas that contained exclusively cluster munition contamination, and one additional contracted mine clearance project completed in Zadar county, which also resulted in destruction of cluster munition remnants.[84] All the areas cleared were found to have cluster munition remnants.[85]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension request granted by States Parties 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 will not meet the deadline and has requested a seven-year extension.

In May 2017, Croatia noted that meeting the 2019 Article 5 deadline “will be very challenging,” based on the overall pace of progress.[86]

In March 2018, Croatia submitted a seven-year extension request to its Article 5 deadline, until 1 March 2026, on “the basis that this is a realistic but not unambitious amount of time given the extent of the remaining problem and the human, material and financial resources available or expected, and the demining and survey capacities currently available.”[87] All relevant stakeholders in the Croatian mine action system are reported to have been involved in the analysis conducted as part of extension request process, and the request has also been “verified by the Croatian Government, which adopted the text of the 2nd Request thus giving it much needed political weight.”[88]

During Croatia’s first 2008 extension period (2009 to 2019), only half of its land release plan was achieved. Failure to meet the plan is attributed primarily to insufficient demining funds (especially for the period 2010–2014, due to the global economic crisis), but also to: overly ambitious targets with regards to planned release of forested area; insufficient CROMAC capacity preventing the planned release of mined area through non-technical and technical survey; restriction of certain demining methods in national parks or Natura 2000 areas for environmental protection reasons; insufficient capacity, especially in quality control following the 2015 Law on Mine Action; and the fact that 91.3km² of new mined area was identified in 2008–2017.[89]

While Croatia has requested an extended deadline of 1 March 2026, it foresees that survey and clearance operations will be completed by the end of 2025, leaving only administrative/paperwork issues to be settled in the beginning of 2026.[90]

The remaining mined area to be addressed during the period of Croatia’s second extension (1 March 2019 to 1 March 2026) covers 387.3 km². Implementing the extension request will require clearance of CHA (with minefield records), totaling 173.9 km² (including 32km² of mined area on Ministry of Defenseland); clearance of CHA (with no minefield records, but for which there is evidence of contamination), totaling 79.5 km²; and survey and release of SHA totaling 133.9 km² (see table below).[91] Survey will take place between 2019 and 2025, but any resulting clearance required, expected to be completed by the end of 2025.[92]

Planned demining output in km²(2019–2026)[93]

Considering the current capacity and the type of terrain and structure of remaining mined area, Croatia expects to be able to release roughly 56 km² per year over the next seven years, a total of 387.4km².[94] For comparison, in the seven-year period 2011–2017, a total of 440km² was released: 238km² through clearance and 202km² though survey, which included significant amounts of cancellation between 2011 and 2015.[95]

Operators are restricted in their use of demining machines on mountainous, rocky, or forested terrain.[96] Croatia’s 2018 extension request stresses that as the remaining areas to be cleared are mainly forested (89.7%), there will be a significant reduction in the use of demining machinery, especially medium and heavy machine.[97] Croatia foresees that use of demining machines will be limited to small, mobile machines that can be efficiently transported and used in such areas, and that the resulting increase in manual demining will reduce productivity and increase the cost of clearance and technical survey. Croatia therefore plans to research and develop methods and techniques for the use of MDDs, especially for technical survey operations, as a potentially more effective tool to address mined areas in mountainous terrain.[98]

Croatia reports that, unlike 10 years ago, it now has sufficient mine action capacity for release of remaining mined area on its territory by 2026.[99] Croatia intends to use state as well as EU funds, which it is confident it will secure as planned.[100]

Demining of military facilities/Ministry of Defensearea is conducted by the Demining Battalion of the Engineering Regiment, according to plan made by the Ministry of Defense.[101] The 5–6km² per year planned for in the 2018 extension request, is substantially more than 0.5km² per year cleared by the armed forces over the last two years.

Almost 180km² of mined area in Croatia has been cleared over the last five years (see table below). However, while annual clearance output exceeds the targets in Croatia’s 2009–2019 mine action strategy,[102] the amount of land released by survey each year has fallen well behind the yearly targets outlined in the strategy.In order to ensure Croatia meets its Article 5 obligation by 1 March 2026, CROMAC will need to increase its capacity and implementation of survey operations, including the use of non-technical and technical survey to more accurately determine the size and location of contamination, and to cancel and reduce areas in which no evidence of contamination is found.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[103]

* Includes 0.48km²cleared by the Ministry of Defense.
** Includes 0.45km²cleared by the Ministry of Defense.

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 Compliance

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Croatia is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2020. It is on track to meet this deadline.

Croatia has cleared a total of 4.45km² of cluster munition-contaminated area over the past five years (see table below). Croatia plans to meet its Article 4 deadline by completing clearance of all known cluster munition contamination by the end of 2018, well in advance of its August 2020 deadline.[104] Challenges to cluster munition clearance are posed by rocky, forested, and mountainous areas, which prevent use of demining machines.[105]

Five-year summary of clearance[106]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2017, the Republic of Croatia contributed €18.8 million (US$21.2 million) to its mine action program.[1]

Croatia also received $12.9 million in international contributions toward clearance, risk education, and victim assistance activities from the European Union and Switzerland.[2]

Since 2013, international contributions to mine action activities in Croatia totaled some $74 million, most of which (68%) was provided in 2016. Croatia’s own contributions to its mine action program amounted to more than $122 million, representing the equivalent of $24 million per year and 62% of its total mine action budget.

Summary of contributions: 2013–2017[3]

Casualties in 2017—details

There were no mine/ERW casualties in the Republic of Croatia in 2017. Croatia reported that 2017 was the first year since it became contaminated by mines/ERW in the 1990s that there were no mine victims. Croatia has reported that the last child antipersonnel mine casualty was reported in 2004, and the last civilian antipersonnel mine casualty was in 2014.[3]

Since 2008, there have been 28 deminer casualties and 20 other civilian casualties mine/ERW casualties. In 2016, there were seven casualties from antipersonnel mines in Croatia, all of whom were deminers.[4] In 2015, there were three casualties from antipersonnel mines, and as in 2016, all were deminers.[5] In 2014, two casualties were recorded in one ERW incident.[6]

The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) reported at least 1,987 mine/ERW casualties between 1991 and the end of 2017 (515 killed; 1,441 injured; 31 unknown).[7]

Cluster munition casualties

There were at least 241 cluster munition casualties in Croatia. The last new submunition casualties were reported in 2013. 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.[8] Between 1993 and 2013, 35 casualties of unexploded submunitions were reported. Between 1993 and 1995, at least 206 casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes in Croatia.[9]

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 (CCW) 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.

Victim Assistance

As of the end of 2015, there were at least 1,437 mine/ERW survivors in Croatia.

Victim assistance since 2015

By 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. There was an increase in activities at a new psychological assistance center, but overall there was no improvement in the psychological support network provided through the health system.

In 2014, the “Regulation on keeping the data of mine and UXO [unexploded ordinance] victims and their family members” entered into force.

In 2015, Croatia stated that NGOs involved in victim assistance had reported that “due to the omnipresent lack of financial resources there had been a decrease overall in the number of people that they could assist. Some NGOs however were able to implement projects, including psychological support for adults and children and visits by social workers providing assistance and referrals.”[1] Croatia continued to report that although the rights of victims and persons with disabilities are regulated by numerous laws and regulations, the “on the ground reality does not always follow laws and regulations.”[2]

The Model of Active Rehabilitation and Education (MARE) Center (previously known as the Duga Center), a specialized facility for psychological support and social reintegrationestablished in 2012, addressed the needs of survivors and other people with trauma.

MineAid continued to provide assistance andaddress the lack of appropriate services identified by mine/ERW survivors in past years. It provided psychological support groups for adults and children, and 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.

Assessing victim assistance needs

The Croatian Mine Action Center (CROMAC) continued to provide advisory support to mine victims and their families and collected data on mine victims and their needs during mine action non-technical survey.CROMAC continued to collect data on mine/ERW victims and their needs during the process of non-technical survey in continuation of the needs assessment survey of 2014. The project was conducted by the Government Office for Mine Action and CROMAC with a goal of establishing a unified Mine Victims Database.[3] No significant progress on the database was reported in 2016, although field research was scheduled to start as soon as the funds were available.[4]

A working group for the preparation of a registry of civil war victims with the Ministry of Veterans began meeting in September 2015. The working group included Documenta representative Slaven Rašković.[5]

Victim assistance coordination[6]

The Government Office for Mine Action has had the role of co-coordinating the multi-sectoral 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. The Government Office for Mine Action is the focal point for victim assistance coordination and is legally mandated to oversee data collection.[7] In 2015 and 2016, the National Coordinating Body met twiceper year. By 2017, the National Action Plan for Mine and UXO Victims 2010–2014 had not been revised and a new plan for the next period had not been drafted or adopted.[8] 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 2016.[9] Information on victim assistance was reported in Form H of Croatia’s Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report for 2016.[10] Victim assistance activities were also reported in its CCW Protocol V reporting.[11]

Participation and inclusion in victim assistance

Survivors and/or their representative organizations equally participated in the two National Coordinating Body meetings in 2015. Survivors participate in the work of government and non-government bodies. Persons with disabilities, including survivors and/or representatives of their organizations, were involved in consultations through the networking of civilian victims and MineAid.[12]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities

Emergency and continuing medical care

All mine/ERW survivors were entitled to healthcare and social protection measures. Basic assistance, from first aidto informing all survivors and their families about their rights, was generally provided through government institutions.[13]

The CroatianInstitute for HealthInsurance is responsible for providing emergencymedical aidandcontinuingmedicalcare, physical and medical rehabilitation,orthopedics,andother assistive devices. Health servicesare equallyavailable to allinsuredpeopleregardless ofgender,age, or religion.[14]

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 rehabilitationcapacity and staff in the 10 most mine/ERW-affected counties, including the facilities and physiotherapistsproviding home-based assistance in each county.[15]

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 of orthopedic devices and/or the frequency with which they received them were inadequate.[16]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

In 2014, MineAid implemented a project on empowerment and education for social inclusion of womenin 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.[17]

In 2015 and 2016, MineAid continued to implement the project “Knowledge-Opportunity-Synergy” in Sisak-Moslavina county. The project included unemployed women aged 30–65 and youth aged 15–29 from affected communities who were also social welfare beneficiaries living in deprived areas, are members of ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, or victims of domestic violence. The project provided some 300 counselling sessions, created 10 business plans, linked beneficiaries with potential employers in the local community, and provided training in farming and marketing produce.[18]

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs 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.[19] No significant changes were reported in 2016.

The Zabok General Hospital and Hospital for Croatian Veterans exclusively provided medical services for Croatian war veterans, war disabled, and their family members.[20]

MARE provided rehabilitation for three mine/ERW survivors and their family members in 2016, a decrease from 14 in 2015.[21]

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),[22] implemented a program to improve access to career management and develop new employment models for persons with disabilities.[23] In 2016, the CES had records on 47 mine/ERW survivors among some 7,000 persons with disabilities seeking employment, of which 2,853 persons with disabilities were employed in that year. CES employment support included 12 months of co-financing for newly employed persons for 75% of the annual cost of the gross salary.[24]

Laws and policies

In reviewing Croatia’s initial reporting under the CRPD, theCommittee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesrecommended that Croatia begin a comprehensive review of existing legislation and align legislation with the CRPD, in accordance with the human rights model of disability.[25]

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesexpressed concerned that the majority of persons with disabilities in Croatia are either unemployed or have low-income employment.[26]

Every employer, including those in the private sector, with at least 20 employees is required to hire a proportional number of persons with disabilities in appropriate working conditions.[27] 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.[28]

TheCommittee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesnoted that when allocating social services and benefits, the government made a distinction between different causes of impairment, such as through war or accidents. It recommended that disability-based services and benefits be made available to all persons with disabilities irrespective of the cause of their impairment.[29] 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.[30]

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesexpressed 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 disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) and other civil society organizations were not sufficiently supported by the government to participate in national implementation and monitoring.[31]

Croatia has strong legislation on building construction that requires buildings be adapted and made accessible for persons with disabilities. However, implementation in 2016 was problematic because the relevant supervisory bodies did not enforce penalties in cases of violations.[32]