ZAGREB, April 6, 2018 – The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) said on Friday the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had urgently forwarded to the lawyer of the family of an Afghan girl killed last year a decision on a temporary measure ordering the Croatian Interior Ministry to immediately place them in an environment in which they will not be exposed to inhumane or humiliating treatment.
The ECHR said it was confident Croatia would not deport the family to Serbia or Afghanistan before answering its questions.
Due to a possible violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR issued that measure for a three-week period, requesting additional information from the Interior Ministry and the lawyer of Madina Hosseini’s family, CMS said, adding that the measure meant the ministry must immediately ensure free movement for the family.
The six-year-old Madina was killed by a train on the Croatian-Serbian border last December.
In asking for a temporary measure against Croatia, the lawyer said the transit reception centre for aliens in Tovarnik, easternmost Croatia, was a closed institution with strong police presence and that Madina’s family, which includes 11 children, was placed in three rooms without the possibility to see each other outside of meal times, without explanation and with the deliberate prevention of any contact with legal aid providers.
The urgent decision shows the ECHR sees possible irregularities in the police treatment of Madina’s family, something domestic and international civil society organisations, Croatia’s human rights ombudswoman and international media have been warning about for months, CMS said.
It called on the Interior Ministry to implement the ECHR decision already today, providing Madina’s family with accommodation in an open and safe place where, as asylum applicants, they can wait as free people for the resolution of their status and receive all the necessary assistance. CMS added that the family had been in “detention” for 17 days, since applying for asylum.
CMS called on the ministry to also release other persons in “detention” and, after the ECHR decision, to align its treatment of refugees with human rights protection standards.
A couple of days ago, the ministry responded to media criticism that Madina’s family was arrested, saying that under the international and temporary protection law, the movement of international protection seekers could be restricted by placing them in alien reception centres and that this was done only when necessary.
The ministry said a number of persons without any identification who applied for international protection in Croatia in March were placed in the Tovarnik transit and reception centre, and that the restriction of movement did not prevent but prioritise the international protection procedure.
