Les médiateurs et les présidents des commissions des pétitions de toute l’UE ont appelé les citoyens de l’Union à utiliser leur vote lors des prochaines élections européennes, qui se tiendront du 6 au 9 juin 2024.

Dans une déclaration, ils ont noté qu’un mandat électoral fort était un élément essentiel de la responsabilité démocratique dans l’UE et que l'équilibre de nos institutions démocratiques reposait sur une amélioration continue basée sur un engagement civique important.

Les élections décideront quels membres du Parlement européen (députés) représenteront les citoyens lorsqu’il s’agira de préparer de nouvelles lois. Les nouveaux députés contribueront également à déterminer qui présidera la prochaine Commission européenne.

Lire la déclaration complète

On March 29th, Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter submitted a new annual report to the Croatian Parliament. The Ombudswoman’s report for 2023 provides an analysis and assessment of the human rights situation in Croatia, as well as 147 recommendations.

Citizens’ complaints pertaining to various areas of life reflect some similar problems in the actions of various public authorities, such as failing to inform citizens about their rights and how to exercise them and failing to sufficiently apply the principle of assisting the parties in the proceedings. Furthermore, their communication with citizens was not always timely and of good quality. All of these represent obstacles to the exercise of the right to good governance, contributing to distrust in the institutions.

Last year, citizens addressed the Ombudswoman most commonly due to problems with realizing the right to health, followed by discrimination in various areas of life and violations of the right to work.

Complaints related to the right to health showed that healthcare services were difficult to access, there was a lack of doctors and medical teams, and patients often did not receive complete information. Residents of remote areas and islands expressed fear of losing their only doctor, oncology patients faced waiting lists and malfunctioning diagnostic equipment, while palliative care patients often did not receive dignified end-of-life care. Complaints came from people with severe and/or chronic illnesses and in poor financial situations, mothers receiving maternity/parental support, and students studying outside Croatia who lost compulsory health insurance after the obligation of regular personal visits to Croatian Health Insurance Fund was introduced.

The largest number of discrimination complaints related to the area of work and employment, with the most frequent grounds cited being racial or ethnic/national origin, with Roma being the most exposed. A significant number of discrimination cases remain unreported, indicating the need to raise awareness of the prohibition of discrimination and to strengthen the protection mechanisms. One of the means to achieve this is performing analyses of judicial practice, which is also part of the Ombudswoman’s 2023 Report.

Complaints related to the right to work included, among other, illegal dismissals, undeclared work, non-payment of wages or partial payment “off the books,” and workplace harassment (bullying). Necessary changes to the Act on Foreigners have not been made to make it easier for foreign workers to decide to report violations of their rights, to enable language learning on a national level, and to regulate accommodation conditions.

Affordable housing was not sufficiently accessible to citizens, while social housing is underdeveloped, requiring the establishment of housing policies and provision of social housing to protect the right to adequate housing. Reconstruction after the earthquake has accelerated, but many citizens are still waiting for their homes to be renovated.

The social welfare system needs to be more efficient – well-organized, user-focused, with appropriate capacities, accessible to all, and benefits should ensure a significant reduction in poverty. Social workers have reported being overwhelmed by administration even after the system’s reorganization, stating they “see paperwork, not people.” Homeless individuals face numerous rights violations, are often ‘invisible’ and stigmatized, and are not covered by systematic measures and policies.

More and more elderly people are at risk of poverty (34.8%), especially those living alone (59.9%). New mechanisms have been introduced to protect against abuses of life-long care contracts, including those based on the Ombudswoman’s recommendations. However, there has not been enough progress in preventing and combating violence against older people. Complaints and inspections of nursing homes indicated inadequate accommodation conditions and treatment of residents, partly due to staff shortages, but also due to a lack of awareness of the dignity and rights of older people.

Regarding the freedom of expression, the level of political communication in 2023 was still subpar, which the Ombudswoman highlighted ahead of the parliamentary elections. This trend normalizes unacceptable communication among citizens, with particular issues being intolerance and hate speech online. Journalists faced SLAPP lawsuits, attacks, and threats. The announcement of amendments to the Criminal Code was also a cause for concern, and it is important to monitor whether and how the new criminal offense will affect media freedoms.

Unfortunately, the Croatian Parliament has still not discussed the Ombudswoman’s previous report, continuing the trend of tardiness in their deliberations, which also affects the implementation of the recommendations – although Croatian Constitution designates the Ombudswoman as the commissioner of the Croatian Parliament for the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms, independent and autonomous in her work.

According to the Ombudsman Act, the annual report is submitted by the end of March, which this year coincides with the dissolution of the Croatian Parliament and the calling of the parliamentary elections.

In line with her role of an independent, autonomous, and impartial institution, the Ombudswoman will not publicly address the matter until the end of the parliamentary elections. To emphasize the need for timely discussions on the report in the Croatian Parliament in the future, the Ombudswoman will present this Report to the public at a press conference after the new Parliament is constituted.

Additional information:

You can download the Ombudswoman’s 2023 Annual Report here
In addition to the issues listed above, the Report covers numerous other topics, areas, and rights – youth, energy poverty, the protection of whistleblowers, the right to public assembly, the right to water, the right to clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, the rights related to the police system, asylum seekers and irregular migrants, the prison system, artificial intelligence, as well as the field of justice, including digitization, enforcement, hate crimes, free legal aid, support to victims and witnesses, among many others.

Eveline F. hat sich vor etwa einem Jahr eine kleine Verletzung an der Ferse zugezogen. Weil die Wunde nicht und nicht verheilen wollte, ging sie erst zum Hausarzt, dann zu einer Hautärztin. Deren wochenlange Behandlungsversuche waren aber erfolglos. Als nächstes hat es F. bei Krankenhäusern versucht, auch das brachte nichts. Erst beim Wundmanagement Salzkammergut konnte man Eveline F. helfen. Dort ist sie seit Dezember in Behandlung und hat bisher mehr als 6.000 Euro bezahlt. Auf diesen Kosten bleibt sie sitzen, denn die Österreichische Gebietskrankenkasse (ÖGK) übernimmt davon gar nichts. Volksanwalt Bernhard Achitz: „Der ÖGK ist aber kein Vorwurf zu machen, sie darf nicht zahlen. Eine Gesetzesänderung ist notwendig, damit auch die Wundbehandlung durch Wundmanagerinnen und Wundmanager zur Kassenleistung wird.“ 

„Empört und entrüstet“

Eveline F. wandte sich an die Volksanwaltschaft. „Ich bin empört und entrüstet, dass die Kosten für eine professionelle Behandlung nicht von der Kasse übernommen werden“, sagte sie in der ORF-Sendung „Bürgeranwalt“. Das Problem: Die Kosten einer Krankenbehandlung werden nur dann von der Krankenkasse übernommen, wenn sie durch im ASVG aufgezählte Leistungserbringerinnen und Leistungserbringer erbracht werden: Ärztinnen und Ärzt, Krankenanstalten, Physiotherapeutinnen und Physiotherapeuten, Logopädinnen und Logopäden, Ergotherapeutinnen und Ergotherapeuten, klinische Psychologinnen und Psychologen, Psychotherapeutinnen und Psychotherapeuten sowie Heilmasseurinnen und Heilmasseure. Wundmanagerinnen und Wundmanager fehlen in der Aufzählung, also müssen die Patientinnen und Patienten selbst bezahlen. 

Paradox: Behandlung zuhause wäre teurer, aber Kasse würde zahlen

Für Volksanwalt Achitz ist besonders paradox, dass dieselben Leistungen sehr wohl übernommen werden, wenn sie etwa im Rahmen der medizinischen Hauskrankenpflege erbracht werden: „Frau F. ist in der Lage, selbst zum Wundmanagement zu fahren, und muss voll zahlen. Die mobile Leistung würde die Kasse übernehmen, obwohl die Kosten dafür viel höher sind.“ Auch bei Ärztinnen und Ärzten würden die Kosten übernommen, aber denen fehlt in vielen Regionen die Spezialausbildung, oder sie haben zu wenig Zeit für solch intensive Behandlungen.

Stichwort Wundmanagement

Wundbehandlung oder Wundmanagement ist die Beurteilung, Reinigung und Versorgung von Wunden. Dazu gehören etwa die Verabreichung von speziellen Injektionen oder Infusionen, Sonden-Ernährung, Wundversorgung (Dekubituspflege), Stoma-Fistel- und Katheterpflege. Das Wundmanagement wird sowohl in ambulanten wie auch in stationären Einrichtungen vorgenommen. Die Kenntnisse für professionelles Wundmanagement werden durch Weiterbildungen im Rahmen des § 64 Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegegesetz erworben. Angehörige des gehobenen Diensts für Gesundheits- und Krankenpflege sind berechtigt, diese Weiterbildungen zu absolvieren.

“The discrimination experienced by Roma and Travellers in Europe and the scale of human rights violations that they face is shocking and calls for firm action”, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty today ahead of International Roma Day on 8 April.

“There are some 10-12 million Roma and Travellers living on our continent. Many of them face discrimination in all fields of life, from segregation and exclusion in housing and education to multiple barriers when accessing work, healthcare and goods and services, leading to their marginalisation and to poverty. Roma continue to suffer from widespread antigypsyism. This specific racism takes several forms ranging from daily anti-Roma discourse by ordinary citizens, politicians and the media to the most heinous ones such as hate crimes targeting Roma.

The pervasive discrimination and embedded prejudice against Roma and Travellers in today’s Europe are the result of centuries of violence, stigmatisation and inequality, from the times of slavery to the Roma Holocaust and pogroms, forced sterilisations of Roma women, the removal of children, forced evictions from houses and halting sites and ethnic profiling. The scapegoating of Roma in times of crisis is a recurrent phenomenon that was highlighted again recently in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed a surge in hate speech targeting Roma communities across Europe. Roma fleeing Russia’s war against Ukraine have been discriminated against when trying to access shelters and other forms of assistance.

The protection of the human rights of Roma and Travellers must become a top priority in our member states.

Firstly, they should acknowledge the extent of antigypsyism in our societies and the level of human rights violations resulting from it. Politicians should adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards hate speech against Roma. Everywhere, Roma and Travellers should have full access to justice in practice to remedy the human rights violations they have faced. This includes full implementation of Roma and Travellers-related judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.

Secondly, we should design rights-based policies at local, regional and national levels and adequately implement them to combat antigypsyism, discrimination and the marginalisation of Roma. In this context, it is crucial to foster the empowerment and participation of Roma and Travellers, including young people and women. We should work “with” Roma and Travellers, not “for” them.

Thirdly, member states should address the persisting lack of data on the situation of Roma within the Council of Europe space as it makes it impossible to measure the full extent of the human rights violations affecting them. This also means addressing the under-reporting to the authorities by Roma of these violations, by distributing information about available mechanisms for human rights protection, reinforcing mutual trust and improving the response of the authorities.

Finally, we must recognise, promote and, above all, celebrate Roma culture in all its diversity and Roma contributions to our societies not only on International Roma Day, but every day. Tools for raising awareness among the general population and teaching in schools about Roma culture, history and language should be developed and effectively implemented.

Much remains to be done to achieve the full equality and inclusion of Roma and Travellers in European societies. While there is hope for progress, there is also no time to lose. I will stand by Roma and Travellers and use my mandate to its fullest to support them to reclaim and enjoy human rights.”