Amnesty International Slovenia, Peace Institute and the Civil Initiative of Erased Activists welcome the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights

Ljubljana 12. 3. 2014 – Amnesty International Slovenia, Peace Institute and the Civil Initiative of Erased Activists welcome the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Kurić vs. Slovenia. The Grand Chamber of the ECHR has ruled in the second part of the judgment on the amount of material compensation for the six erased applicants, who already achieved an important victory in 2012. In the first part of the judgment, the court ruled that the erasure and its implications constitute a violation of human rights of the erased applicants.
This is a another victory for the erased, who are according to the judgment of the Court entitled to compensation significantly higher than the one the state of Slovenia offered in the law adopted in December. According to the first and second judgment of the European Court, the erased are entitled to compensation of at least 50,000 euros each, in comparison to their domestic legal system who offered only a bit more than 12,000 euros. According organizations listed above, the gap between European and domestic level is too high, and it does not even distinguish between compensation for material and non-material damage.
The director of Amnesty International Slovenia Nataša Posel said: “The Court has sent a clear message to the authorities that the legislation adopted in December on compensation of the erased is inadequate and that can neither in content nor amount guarantee the elimination of consequences of the erasure. We believe that the legislation must change again – as soon as possible and on the basis of cooperation with the victims of erasure. Otherwise our country will be ruled again by the ECHR in thousands of new cases by erased, which were already filed in Strasbourg last year. ”
Katarina Vučko from the Peace Institute added: “The judgment of the complainants also recognizes compensation on the basis of lost child care allowances, which were not received for minor children at the time of erasure. Ali Berisha, one of six winning complainants, is eligible for the damages for his five children according to today’s judgement. However, Ali Berisha is not allowed to bring four of his five children in Slovenia because they were not born here – according to extremely restrictive legislation from 2010, which anyhow expired in July 2013. This simply means that it will also be necessary to regulate the status of children, so that all children of the erased can obtain a permanent residence permit.”
Mirjana Učakar, who was erased, said on behalf of the CIIA that “the erasure is primarily a political problem, because despite legal clarity and rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights, policy, no matter which option, simply did not want to solve it.”
Amnesty International, Peace Institute and the Civil Initiative of Erased Activists are on the basis of today’s judgment asking the Slovenian authorities to re-open all the issues of the erasure, including the consequences of the erasure, issues of compensation for the erased and questions of their legal status.
For more information please contact the office of the AIF or the Peace Institute.