REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
Head of state Borut Pahor (replaced Danilo Türk)
Head of government Janez Janša (replaced Borut Pahor)
The authorities failed to restore the rights of people whose permanent residency status was unlawfully revoked in 1992. Discrimination against Roma continued.
Former permanent residents of Slovenia originating from other former Yugoslav republics, whose legal status was unlawfully revoked in 1992 (known as the “erased”), continued to be denied restoration of their rights. Past legislative initiatives failed to provide them with reparation for the violations of economic, social and cultural rights they suffered as a result, or to guarantee their access to these rights in future. The authorities also failed to present any new measures to fully restore their rights.
- On 26 June, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the pilot case Kuric v. Slovenia that the “erasure” and its consequences constituted a violation of the applicants' rights to family and private life and to effective legal remedy. The Grand Chamber also found that the applicants had suffered discrimination in relation to these rights, and set a one-year deadline for the creation of a domestic compensation scheme for victims. By the end of the year, there was no indication that the authorities had made efforts to set up such a scheme.
The government again failed to put in place adequate mechanisms to monitor discriminatory practices against Roma, or to establish a legal and institutional framework to ensure effective remedies for victims of discrimination.
The majority of Roma living in isolated and segregated informal settlements in rural areas continued to be denied access to adequate housing, security of tenure and protection against forced evictions. Many also remained without access to public services, including access to water for everyday needs, which often had to be sourced from polluted streams, and public taps at petrol stations and cemeteries.
- In July, the national Ombudsperson issued a special report on the situation of Roma in the south-east of the country. The Ombudsperson called on the authorities to immediately ensure access to water and sanitation for Roma by amending the relevant legislation. During the process to formally adopt the recommendations, the parliament rephrased and considerably weakened some of them.
- In September, the Governmental Commission for the Protection of the Roma Community concluded that the Roma Act should be amended. Initial discussions focused on the need to include measures to provide access to basic public services.