Report on the Performance of the Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2019
organisations were looked into, but that they did not contain enough information to initiate criminal
investigations.
In addition, it very often asserted that since they were prevented in their attempts to irregularly cross
state borders, and returned to BH and Serbia, migrants have falsely accused the police in the hope
that such accusations would help them in their new attempts to enter Croatia. Another claim by the
Ministry was that "activists posed as Croatian border police officers and submit migrants to violence
in order to make the Croatian police look like the bad guys."
On the other hand, the seriousness of the allegations made in the complaints and reports on
violations of migrants' rights, as well as those in the anonymous complaint by a police officer, as well
as by two others who went public,
likewise
anonymously,
with
similar
experiences, cast doubt on the notion
that instances of such conduct by police
officers guarding the border were
merely isolated cases, indicating instead
that they might point to systematic
illegal conduct.
Furthermore, in October 2019, when the
The seriousness of the allegations made in the
complaints and reports on violations of migrants'
rights, as well as those in the anonymous complaint by
a police officer, as well as by two others who went
public, likewise anonymously, with similar experiences,
cast doubt on the notion that instances of such
conduct by police officers guarding the border were
merely isolated cases, indicating instead that they
might point to systematic illegal conduct.
EC confirmed that Croatia has met the
conditions to join the Schengen area, it emphasised that protecting the human rights of seekers of
28
international protection and other migrants, as well as the allegations of preventing access to the
asylum system and use of means of coercion by the police at the border, remain a challenge. For
that reason, the Commission approved funding for a new mechanism for monitoring the compliance
of border control activities with EU law, international obligations and with the respect of fundamental
rights and the rights resulting from EU asylum acquis rights, including the principle of nonrefoulement. However, without the possibility of unannounced visits to institutions, inspections of
premises and free access to all data, as foreseen in the OPCAT and the ANPM, monitoring of police
treatment of irregular migrants cannot be considered effective. The EC also stated that towards the
end of the project, the MoI needs to discuss the results of the monitoring mechanism not only with
the EC, but also with the Ombudswoman's Office and with civil society organisations, which it has so
far failed to do.
In addition, in July, the Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland suspended the transfer of seekers
of international protection to Croatia, which under the Dublin system should be responsible for
considering their requests. Taking into consideration the increasing number of reports on the
Croatian authorities' denials of access to asylum procedures and about the large numbers of asylum
seekers being returned to the BH border where they are forced to leave the country, the Court held
that the lower courts failed to take into consideration the systematic shortcomings in the Croatian
asylum system, nor did they examine the risk of chain refoulement from the RC, as well as whether
the alleged misconduct by the Croatian authorities might have met the threshold of possible
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