Documenta, Civic Committee for Human Rights (GOLJP) and Centre for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights from Osijek (CPNHR) urge the Croatian Parliament to consider issuing an apology to the public, and particularly to the families of the victims of the war crime against civilians in Osijek, for the consequences that have ensued from the decision on cancellation of detention reached in January 2008, and to instigate the procedure for amending Article 75, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, which regulates parliamentary immunity.

The Croatian Parliament must take responsibility for instigation of the procedure for amending of a part of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia which regulates parliamentary immunity.

Although this is its primary task and obligation, the Croatian Parliament as the highest legislative body has failed to do enough to affirm the rule of law. In January 2008, the Croatian Parliament directly intervened in the first-instance procedure against the parliamentary representative Branimir Glavaš, who was the first-accused for the war crime against civilians in Osijek, instead of allowing the judiciary to reach an independent decision on detention.

The purpose of the institution of immunity for members of the Croatian Parliament falls and has to stay within the frameworks of ensuring freedom for parliamentary representatives to perform their duties and preventing any limitations to the actions of parliamentary representatives who might, for any reason, be placed in a minority position and in this way wished to defend or promote certain interests. However, the parliamentary representative mandate should not offer immunity from prosecution for committing a criminal act. We believe that such interpretation of Article 75, Paragraph 3 of the Croatian Constitution is not in accordance with the intention of the legislator defining this constitutional norm, and in this specific case, has lead to consequences obvious to all.

Another solution is to transfer jurisdiction over instigation of criminal procedures against and issuance of detention orders for parliamentary representatives from the Croatian Parliament to the Croatian Constitutional Court, which would be more in line with authorities and jurisdictions granted to  the Constitutional Court by the Constitution and the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.

It is stated in the open letter that all members of the Croatian Parliament are to make a contribution to the establishment of the culture of solidarity towards all victims of war crimes, and to dedicate their next parliamentary session to the discussion on the ways in which the Croatian Parliament should support the victims’ rights to the truth and recompense, and guarantee the crimes do not repeat in the future.

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