The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has issued two rulings against Croatia, finding that the judiciary failed to conduct adequate investigations into two people who went missing during the Croatian War of Independence. Both cases date back to 1991.
The first case was initiated by Marta Jularić from Osijek, whose husband was taken away by JNA members in Vukovar on October 3, 1991. A few minutes later, she heard gunshots and then found his dead body. An investigation was launched, but was suspended in 1997, only to be re-opened in 2000.
The second process was initiated by Josipa Skendžić and her two children, because their husband and father, an ethnic Serb, was arrested by Croatian police in Otočac on 3 November. He was suspected of terrorism and transferred to Gospić, after which he disappeared without a trace. In March 1998, he was declared dead, and in May 2005, a court decision was issued confirming that the state was responsible for his disappearance, and the family received 230,000 kuna in compensation. Josipa Skendžić appealed this decision.
The European Court of Human Rights said that in both cases the investigations were conducted inexplicably slowly, and that significant shortcomings were found. "The investigations were ineffective, in violation of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights," the court said.
Text taken from the website of the House of Human Rights
