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Croatia: Homosexuality: its legal status and the public attitude towards it; whether homosexuals can complain about discrimination and, if so, to whom (January 1998 - May 1999)

A 13 July 1998 Scotsman article states that "in the deeply macho society of Croatia, the greatest insult to any man is to be labelled a homosexual."

The July-September 1998 issue of the ILGA Bulletin states that homosexuality is legal in Croatia (12).

A 1998 Action Alert of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission states:

In July, Aldin Petric, a recruit in the Croatian army, was dismissed from the armed forces because of his homosexuality. He pressed a lawsuit against the policies of the armed forces, claiming damages for discrimination and abuse. Now, in a reversal, the Croatian Ministry of Defense has called him to complete the remainder of his military service. However, Petric fears that, once returned to the hands of the military, he will face life-threatening reprisals, not only for his homosexuality but also for his attempt to call the armed forces to legal account.

Petric answered his draft summons in July 1998, reporting to the army barracks at Pula. Shortly after arriving, he informed his superior officer privately that he was gay. Despite the officer's promises to keep this information confidential, it quickly spread through the barracks. Petric was subjected to repeated physical abuse and attacks, as well as to isolation, by the other recruits. Although these attacks took place in the presence of officers, the latter reportedly refused to intervene. Instead, Petric himself was disciplined and removed from various details; finally he was forbidden to leave the barracks, "to avoid problems which might arise from meetings with other soldiers." Petric repeatedly requested a transfer to another barracks, but the commanding officer refused.

On July 22, Petric was summarily dismissed from the armed forces. Medical papers handed him on this occasion cited code F65.9 from the internationally accepted ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders, a diagnostic manual published in 1992 by the World Health Organization. This code stands for "Disturbance of Sexual Preference, Unspecified," and offers a rubric for cases where the presiding psychologist suspects a sexual disorder but cannot identify symptoms or offer a diagnosis. Both the ICD-10 and the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of the World Psychiatric Association have eliminated homosexuality from their rosters of psychological disorders. However, vague catch-all classifications such as the above still allow doctors wide powers to medicalize and stigmatize sexual behaviours on the basis of prejudice or (as appears to have occurred in this case) political exigency.

Petric's parents discovered his homosexuality as a result of the army's order, and he was expelled from his home. Petric sued the Ministry of Defence for damages, citing discriminatory policies, official impunity for the abuse he suffered, and resulting psychological trauma. He was supported in his lawsuit by Croatian human-rights organizations, including the Croatian Helsinki committee.

However, in October, the Ministry of Defense reversed the finding of Petric's  inability to serve, and summoned him to complete his military service. Such a summons represents neither redress nor compensation for the abuse Petric has already suffered. Rather, Petric fears, the summons is a form of intimidation: if honoured it will place him in a situation where further and worse abuse may follow, with equal impunity. His lawsuit, along with his homosexuality, has already been widely reported in the Croatian media. Petric fears this publicity will lead to punishment and reprisals during his time in the military, threatening not only his physical well-being but possibly his life.

A 1999 article downloaded from the Website of Gay Today, states:

Croatia's first gay and lesbian organization was founded February 5 in Rijeka, creating the first independent gay and lesbian organization in the nation. Rijeka is Croatia's third largest city. Previously, gay and lesbian groups had existed within other organizations but had remained nearly invisible.

Mainstream Croatian social prejudices erupted half an hour before the announced start of the meeting. Zoran  Dragicevic, a member of PGS (an influential Croatian political party) called activist Aldin Petric and told him bluntly that the meeting couldn't take place in Rijeka's political parties' building. Petric had come out publicly last year with a lawsuit against Croatia's Ministry of Defense following the army's firing of him for being gay.

Approximately 50 invited people (members of the initiative board, journalists, photographers and other organizations' representatives(moved to club Palach and held their founding meeting there. Petric, immediately elected as the new organization's president, introduced the Croatian organization's plans for 1999:

It will initiate a campaign against intolerance, organize an international gay and lesbian camp in August in Pula or Umag (towns on Istra's coast; Istra is a peninsula and "disobedient" Croatian province), and network with gay and lesbian organisations from other parts of the former Yugoslavia....

According to Petric, further complications over the organization's registration are possible, despite the fact that its charter was co-written by Vesna Alaburic, a well-known Croatian lawyer and Croatian journalists' association's advocate. The group's registration must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior. The ruling Croatian party, HDZ, also took time to exhibit traditional intolerance(an hour before the expected beginning of the founding meeting, HDZ organized a lecture about AIDS that failed to attract attendees. This, said Croatian gays and lesbians by way of ridicule, was "to let us know that they don't know that AIDS is not a 'gay' disease."

No additional information on the ability of homosexuals in Croatia to complain about discrimination could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Gay Today. 1999. Ales Pecnik. "Croatia: First Gay & Lesbian Group Founded." [Internet]. <http:www.gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/world.020899wo.htm> [Accessed 3 May 1999]

ILGA Bulletin [Brussels]. July 1998 - September 1998. Issue 3. "GLBT Human Rights Annual Report 1997 - 1998."

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Action Alert. 1998. Vol. 7, No. 4. Action Alert: "Croatia: Ex-Soldier Persecuted Because of Homosexuality."

The Scotsman [Edinburgh]. 13 July 1998. Paul Harris. "Life and Death and Those Men in Red Shirts." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Electronic sources: IRB databases, Internet, NEXIS/LEXIS, REFWORLD, WNC.

Resource Centre country file on Croatia. January 1998 - March 1999