Slovenia: Violation of migrants' rights and violence against women to be addressed urgently
During its 78th session on 15-16 November 2023, the CAT examined Slovenia’s fourth periodic report. The country’s rapporteurs were Mr. Todd Buchwald and Ms. Ilvija Puce.
The delegation was led by Ms. Dominika Svarc Pipan, Minister of Justice.
The CAT experts commended Slovenia for having one the most effective national preventive mechanisms.
Main issues discussed:
The experts were concerned about the unclear definition of “complex crisis”, a term used in the Amendments of the Foreigners Act introduced in 2021, allowing restrictions of access to international protection and pushbacks of asylum seekers in violation of the prohibition of refoulement and the rules on special treatment of minors.
The experts also showed concern about the more than 25’000 so-called “erased persons”, from the former Yugoslavia who were removed in 1992 from the country’s permanent residence registry following Slovenia’s independence in 1991 and as a consequence lost their social rights. Most of the erased persons did not receive permanent residency status.
The experts regretted the lack of integration of the Roma community, especially the lack of access to education for Roma children, and expressed concern about the practice of forced marriages and human trafficking within the Roma community.
The experts also regretted the high rate of feminicides and violence against women, in particular domestic violence. The Committee further noted the low rate of prosecution of marital rapes and the low penalty for rape.
The Committee inquired about the poor conditions of detention in some facilities and the lack of access to all fundamental procedural guarantees from the outset of deprivation of liberty in police custody, in particular with regards to the right to a lawyer.
The CAT’s recommendations are available here.
Follow-up recommendations:
The State party should provide information by 24 November 2024 on the implementation of recommendations regarding:
- Rehabilitation programs for drug and alcohol addiction of children deprived of liberty in the correctional facility and the access of all minors facing criminal charges to a lawyer.
- The protection of migrant children.
- The investigation and the prosecution of all allegations of gender-based violence, including domestic violence.
- The measures taken to enhance living conditions in psychiatric institutions.
Watch here (part one and part two) the dialogue of the Slovenian Delegation with the CAT.
Read the alternative report from NGOs submitted to the CAT.