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HELSINKI MONITOR OF SLOVENIA
Human Rights problems in
Slovenia
STATEMENT NO. 6 Forced Evictions in Slovenia Under Way Since 1994 Helsinki Monitor has been fighting the Slovenian autorities in their endeavours to execute forced evictions of 1200 families residing in former federal military flats, as well as families of workers residing in former workers homes. Aside of these two groups many families residing in housekeepers flats, federal postmen and customs officers flats have also been victims of illegal and illegitimate forced evictions executed by the state, the Ministry of Defense, via the judiciary. An unidentified number of forced evictions has been carried out all over Slovenia, and are still pending, of families who legally obtained their flats in former Yugoslavia and lost them due to high unemployment of the transition period in the new state of Slovenia. For neither of the five groups residents any compensations or rehousing plans have been made, literally thrown on the street they become homless and destitute. This is of course a gross violation of the UN Charter on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 11, as well as the European Social Charter, both of which Slovenia has ratified. Practically no legal remedy is available to to revert the court decisions and only a few cases have arrived to the European Court for Human Rights, which cannot save the residents from forced eviction. Helsinki Monitor activists have been witnessing a chain of court trials set to take place in five minutes intervals. In these de facto five minutes »martial court« trials the tenants have only been identified by the judge, neither the lawyer nor his client had a chance to say anything to defend their legally obtained flat. Helsinki Monitor has been giving legal assistence to individuals to be evicted, has on several occasions intervened with the authorities and has organised numerous press conferences, also in flats from which families were to be evicted. In March 1995 Helsinki Monitor supported by the media succeded to make the government stop forced evictions temporarily and to establish a commission for revision of final court cases. Helsinki Monitor demanded a revision because the courts decisions have been illegal: Slovenian authorities and their courts are enforcing forced evictions on the basis of the new Slovenian legislation retroactivelly for the time when Slovenia has not yet become an international legal subject, has not yet been an internationally recognized state. That is the period of three months following the declaration of independence on June 25, 1991, when the international community has explicitly bound the new Slovenian legislation by a moratorium of three months till the end of October 1991. (Slovenia was recognized as a state only four months later, in February 1992). In former Yugoslavia flats were obtained according to procedure defined by law. It gave individuals and their families permanent residential right, which could be inherited by family members who lived together. Blocks of flats have been built with funds pooled from monthly contributions of every employed citizen. Civilians had to deduct around 3% of their monthly income, while the army employees monthly contribution was 6-7%, thus becomening shareholders of the flats funds. In the process of privatisation in 1992 flats could be bought for favourable prices taking into account the former monthly contributions by their legal residents in general, except in cases of individuals belonging to the above mentioned five groups. This exception was ordered by the authorities. Residents of flats of the above mentioned five groups are thus stripped of their flats and contributions they payed to the funds for building flats on the basis of discrimination according to their profession (army people, federal employees like the postmen, customs officers) and ethnic origin - these people are mainly of non-Slovenian or mixed ethnic origin). Aside of administrative measures of ethnic cleansing executed in Slovenia through denial of citizenship and illegal erasure of 130,000 former citizens from registrars of permanent residents of Slovenia on the basis of non-Slovene ethnic origin, forced evictions serve as a phisical tool of silent ethnic clenasing of Slovenia. In the time of transition to democracy and to capitalist social order, in the time of denationalisation of property confiscated under the communist rule, we are witnessing in Slovenia, as elsewhere on the territory of former Yugoslavia, nationalisations of private property on the basis of discrimination according to ethnic origin. These newly confiscated flats through the process of forced evictions initiated by the state are then often illegally privatized to third persons, which has also been the case of former Minister of Defense Alojz Krapež, member of the Slovene People’s Party, a new democratic party, an ardent advocate and executor of forced evictions. The mentioned governmental commission for revision of final cases for evictions from former federal military fund of flats, has issued their final decision on December 17, 1998 (soon after signing act of accession to European Union) which Helsinki Monitor has rejected as a tool of new nationalisations. On January 8, 1999 the family of Milan Koren, refugees from Bosnia, has been evicted by the Ministry of Defense in Ljubljana. On April 13 eviction of Stanislava Boštele from Ljubljana has been announced by the court. According to reliable source of information, Ministry of Defense is now going to evict 450 families by June 1999. Helsinki Monitor appeals
to the international community for intervenion with the Slovene authorities
against forced evictions - which in case of further execution can deteriorate
the picture of Slovenia as the picture of Dorian Gray.
PRESIDENT
Enclosed:
cc.:
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