The international community has developed several successful ways of monitoring the level of respect and enforcement of human rights and fundamental freedoms in countries which are members of these international intergovernmental human rights organisations. In particular, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), other supervisory mechanisms and the UN. The position of Slovenia at the very top of violators of human rights for its per capita share of judgements of convictions of the ECHR received a lot of attention in 2015. Upon the publication of the news, we confirmed that the data are, unfortunately, very revealing. However, it is not possible to simply claim that Slovenia is among the greatest violators of fundamental human rights and freedoms without an in-depth analysis or merely on the basis of the share of judgements of conviction, although Slovenia is undoubtedly a violator. Since 1994, when Slovenia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and until the end of 2015, our country was recognised a violator in as many as 317 cases, with at least one determined violation of a right from the above Convention. The most frequently determined violations were the violation of the right to an effective remedy (265 times) and the right to trial without undue delay (262 times). I emphasise that, since the beginning of its activities 21 years ago and in my first three years as Ombudsman, the Ombudsman’s annual reports have emphasised the need to respect everyone’s human rights, and the right and responsibility of the courts to decide in a reasonable time, without undue delay and highly professionally. If the National Assembly, the Government and competent ministries respected and ‘took seriously’ our numerous recommendations in this field, this situation would not have occurred. I thus appeal to the National Assembly, the Government and all competent authorities to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Ombudsman with all due seriousness and observe consistently the adopted recommendations when drafting amendments to legislation. This will be beneficial in the long term, since, if the Ombudsman’s recommendations had been considered accordingly, it would have been possible to avoid the payment of compensation for the erased, payment of unduly and discriminatingly reduced pensions and the re-payment of foreign-currency deposits with interest to savers of Ljubljanska Banka from the countries of former Yugoslavia, as decided by the ECHR. I repeat that a final resolution is also required with regard to the shameful and unwarranted post-war massacres, particularly with a decent burial for all victims. We have to do this because we are human, although we were not directly responsible for the atrocities committed by our forebears after the Second World War. By burying the victims, we must also ‘bury our hatchets’ and unify our visions for the further social and economic development of the society to the highest extent possible and strive for better welfare, with basic respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The violation of human rights is expensive, but the remedy for injustices is even more expensive, as I frequently emphasise. them or demand their realisation by state and local authorities. The Ombudsman believes that international documents, recommendations and the findings of international organisations on Slovenia must be translated into Slovenian and made publicly accessible, since they hold up a mirror to Slovenia and its provision of human rights protection. It is unacceptable that state authorities have no clear plans for their realisation, and thus the same recommendations are being repeated, some even since the establishment of the autonomous and independent state. I am certain that part of this duty, particularly informing the public and promotional and research tasks, will also be conducted by the Human Rights Centre, which will function within the institution of the Ombudsman following the amendment to the Human Rights Ombudsman Act. Namely, the Ombudsman has expressed readiness to assume full membership of a national institution for human rights with A status according to the Paris Principles on the condition that suitable staff and material are provided to enable the implementation of such extensive and new duties. We must eliminate all forms of discrimination We discussed several complaints referring to the constitutional right of equality before the law. I find that amendments to regulations which would eliminate discrimination in the arrangement of transport of higher education students with disabilities have not yet been drafted. The latest amendments to the Marriage and Family Relations Act were rejected at the referendum on 20 December 2015, so the rights of same-sex couples in the Republic of Slovenia, due to their sexual orientation, are not the same as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples, which will have to be regulated systemically (at the time of drafting this report, the Partnership Act (Zakon o partnerski zvezi) had not entered into force). I point to the systemic violation of the right to free transport of persons with mental disorders aged between 18 and 26 participating in a special education and training programme. According to the assessment prepared by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport at the Ombudsman’s proposal, 400 persons participating in this special programme have been affected due to unregulated transport. I am concerned that no improvement has been made regarding the living conditions in Roma settlements and their surroundings, which are not arranged legally and in terms of municipal infrastructure. Many Roma people have no access to drinking water, which is a human right, and also no access to electricity. The state and local self-government authorities do not respond, or their response is very slow, to the Ombudsman’s recommendations on this issue over the years. It is mandatory for the National Assembly to pass a new national programme on the Roma people. Systemic measures are needed to implement fundamental human rights, which was also pointed out by the international supervisory mechanisms of the UN and Council of Europe. I am pleased that the Ombudsman’s recommendations that such legislative solutions must be adopted, which, together with the legal arrangements of the EU, will enable impartial, independent and effective discussion of violations of the prohibition of discrimination, also by establishing an independent advocate of the principle of equality, are being realised with the new Protection against Discrimination Act, which is not in force yet at the time of writing this introduction. The state should respect the recommendations of the supervisory mechanisms of the Council of Europe and the UN Ethics of public discourse must be ensured The Ombudsman carefully monitors the functioning of the supervisory bodies of the United Nations Organisation and the Council of Europe. As a member of international organisations in the field of human rights, Slovenia is subject to periodical reporting on the realisation of conventions of both organisations. The state presents these reports before the committees which discuss Slovenian reports and then draft conclusions and recommendations about further measures for implementing obligations. I particularly wish to stress that the Ombudsman’s reports that are translated into English and available on our website are a source of many findings and recommendations which these international mechanisms submit to Slovenia. So this significant dimension of the Ombudsman’s work should not be overlooked. I am concerned that Slovenia is late with the submission of certain reports. A report with regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment should have been delivered in 2015, but the state has not submitted it yet. Slovenia has also not delivered the report on the realisation of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which should have been submitted in 2014. I believe there is no excuse for non-compliance with international commitments. I also find that the public are not familiar with the recommendations of international supervisory mechanisms, they seldom refer to As the Ombudsman, I point to the frequently low level of ethics of public discourse. We received several complaints which claimed unconstitutional incitement to intolerance and hate speech. I detect strong links with current social events and intolerant or even hate speech. More complaints were received with the second wave of the migrant crisis in 2015, when reports of hate speech on religious and national bases or speech directed against refugees increased severely. We also received complaints about hate speech due to sexual orientation, religious affiliation and hatred on the basis of nationality. The complainants are usually also referred to the prosecution service and the police; however, case law in this field is very limited. The European Court of Human Rights formed admissibility criteria on restricting the human right to freedom of speech and restrictions that are necessary in a democratic society. Nevertheless, I appeal to all holders of public office and politicians to abstain from all statements with discriminatory and hate content, not to use negative stereotypes or stigmatise, humiliate, frighten or harm minorities, groups or individuals in any other way. I am aware that forms of expressing positions and criticism of formal politics must be ensured in a democratic society, including the functioning of a political opposition; however, these rights must not be misused to marginalise or silence any minority or group. Even with stricter punitive policies in this field, unacceptable hate speech 14 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 15 1 INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION We must also respect international human rights standards