Suchergebnisse

During the first phase of Croatia's transition to democracy, which started with the death of Franjo Tudjman in the end of 1999, the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the members of Croatian armed forces and paramilitary during the conflict between 1991 and 1995 was one of the most important issues on the political agenda. During this period SDP, which was the biggest partner of a coalition government, assumed a universalist approach to the issue, advocating impartial criminal prosecution regardless of ethnic background of perpetrators. While in line with the party's civic nationalist stance, this policy encountered serious challenges as the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal (the ICTY) issued indictments for officials that were considered as heroes of Croatian Homeland War. By examining the case of SDP, this paper aims to discuss whether civic nationalism's universalist theoretical premises are politically applicable during and/or in the aftermath of violent conflicts generated with extensive reference to ethnic identities.

This report provides an extensive mapping of the strategic litigation of minorities in Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the substance and implementation of the EctHR's judgments in these cases and the overall impact these judgments have had on human rights protection in Turkey. While the ECtHR case law played an indispensable role in bringing to light the egregious human rights record of the Turkish Government in late 1980s and early 1990s, the report demonstrates, the relative change in government policies came with the emergence of the EU as an actor in Turkish politics. On the other hand, while forcing the government to start cooperating with the ECtHR, the EU process has not resulted in structural changes in Turkey's legal regime and politics.