Zahtevamo takojšnjo zaustavitev vračanja ljudi na Hrvaško // We Demand an End of Pushbacks from Slovenia to Croatia

Ob objavi novih posnetkov policijskega nasilja na hrvaško-bosanski meji, ki jih je po večmesečni mednarodni novinarski preiskavi prejšnji teden (6. 10. 2021) javnosti posredovala nizozemska neprofitna organizacija Lighthouse Reports (povezava spodaj), 

ZAHTEVAMO TAKOJŠNJO ZAUSTAVITEV VRAČANJA LJUDI NA HRVAŠKO IN PREISKAVO VPLETENOSTI REPUBLIKE SLOVENIJE V VERIŽNA VRAČANJA ČEZ DRŽAVNE MEJE NA BALKANSKI MIGRACIJSKI POTI.

Hrvaški državni vrh je potrdil, da se na Hrvaškem, predvsem na meji med Hrvaško in BiH, vrši policijsko nasilje nad ljudmi na poti. Predsednik hrvaške vlade Andrej Plenković in minister za notranje zadeve Davor Božinović iz vrst HDZ sta se s priznanjem nasilja odzvala na posnetke, ki prikazujejo zamaskirane posebne enote hrvaške policije, ki v gozdu nonšalantno pretepajo hlipajoče ljudi in jih naganjajo čez reko.

Grozljivi prizori na posnetkih ne presenečajo. Sovpadajo s pričevanji ljudi na poti, ki jih od zaprtja napol formalnega balkanskega koridorja marca leta 2016 beležijo nevladne, humanitarne in druge organizacije. Posnetki prav tako ne predstavljajo izoliranega dogodka, ampak so novo poglavje v vrsti pričevanj, avdio in video posnetkov spornega dogajanja na hrvaško-bosanski meji.

Mreža Border Violence Monitoring Network, katere članica je tudi Infokolpa, je lani decembra izdala 1500 strani dolgo publikacijo The Black Book of Pushbacks (Črna knjiga nezakonitih vračanj), ki vsebuje več kot 1000 pričevanj in drugega gradiva, ki podrobno opisujejo sporne prakse evropskih mejnih policij, med njimi tudi slovenske in hrvaške. Številčnost in konsistentnost teh pričevanj kažeta, da so množične kršitve pravic in surovo nasilje sistemska praksa slovenskih, hrvaških in tudi drugih evropskih mejnih organov. Nasilje je neizbežna posledica militarizacije migrantske politike EU, ki na letni ravni vloži več v varovanje mej kot pa v integracijo migrantov.

Morda se s priznanjem hrvaške vlade, ki napoveduje tudi preiskavo kršitev in sankcije odgovornih, vsaj delno prekinja politika zatiskanja oči pred dogajanjem na balkanski begunski poti, kar je sicer predstavljalo dosedanji status quo. Navsezadnje je slovenski minister za notranje zadeve Aleš Hojs septembra letos na zasedanju Odbora za državljanske svoboščine, pravosodje in notranje zadeve EP zavrnil Črno knjigo nezakonitih vračanj in njeno vsebino označil za “laži”. Ministrovo prevzetno sprenevedanje bode toliko bolj, ker je aprila letos tudi slovensko vrhovno sodišče v prelomni sodbi razsodilo, da je slovenska policija v primeru tožnika A. M. že avgusta leta 2019 kršila načelo nevračanja, prepoved kolektivnih izgonov in onemogočila dostop do mednarodne zaščite.  

Slovenska policija je pomemben del v verigi nezakonitih vračanj ljudi čez državne meje na balkanski migracijski poti. Sodeč po številnih pričevanjih, slovenska policija ljudem redno krši pravico do mednarodne zaščite in jih po spornem meddržavnem sporazumu vrača hrvaški policiji, ki jih potem večinoma nasilno nažene čez zeleno mejo v Bosno, kjer pristanejo v enem izmed natrpanih taborišč ali na ulici. Pri tem policisti z ljudmi ravnajo surovo, jih ponižujejo in ustrahujejo, uničujejo in odtujujejo njihovo osebno lastnino ter z njimi tudi fizično obračunavajo. Po uradnih podatkih so na ta način od junija leta 2018 do avgusta letos vrnili več kot 28 tisoč migrantov, zato odgovornost vsekakor ne leži na posamičnih dejanjih zgolj nekaterih ali pa večine policistov, temveč na usmeritvi državnega in policijskega vodstva, ki sledita mehanizmom evropske migracijske politike.

V luči številnih poročil in nedavnih posnetkov Lighthouse Reports zahtevamo, da Republika Slovenija nemudoma preneha vračati ljudi na Hrvaško, kjer jim več kot očitno grozi nehumano ravnanje, zabeleženi pa so tudi številni primeri mučenja. Slovenska policija, kljub zavedanju o spornih praksah hrvaške policije, tja še vedno izganja ljudi, četudi z vsako predajo oseb na Hrvaško krši prepoved mučenja iz 18. člena Ustave RS.

Tako kot sta to storili Hrvaška in Grčija, mora tudi Slovenija nemudoma sprožiti neodvisno preiskavo o dogajanju na mejah, predvsem na schengenski meji med Slovenijo in Hrvaško. Ugotoviti je potrebno, kakšna je vloga in odgovornost slovenske policije in več zaporednih vlad pri izgonih ljudi. 

Infokolpa, 10. 10. 2021

https://www.lighthousereports.nl/investigation/unmasking-europes-shadow-armies/

Foto: Lighthouse Reports

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In light of new footage of police violence on the Croatian-Bosnian border that was released last week (October 6, 2021) by the Dutch non-profit organisation Lighthouse Reports (link below) after several months of an international journalistic investigation:

WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE END OF PUSHBACKS OF PEOPLE TO CROATIA AND AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA IN CHAIN PUSHBACKS OF PEOPLE ACROSS STATE BORDERS ALONG THE BALKAN MIGRATION ROUTE.

The Croatian government confirmed that the Croatian police use violence against people on the move along the Croatian-Bosnian border. The Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, both from HDZ, responded to the footage showing masked special units of the police beating people and violently directing them across a river.

The gruesome scenes from the footage come as no surprise. They correspond with testimonies of people on the move recorded by non-governmental, humanitarian and others since the closure of the semi-formal Balkan migration corridor in March 2016. The scenes from the footage also do not represent an isolated event. They are another chapter in a vast series of testimonies, audio and video recordings of police brutality on the Croatian-Bosnian border.

Last December, Border Violence Monitoring Network, of which Infokolpa is a member, published the 1,500-page report The Black Book of Pushbacks, which contains more than 1000 testimonies and other material detailing brutal practices of police forces of European nations. These numerous and consistent reports show that violations of rights and police violence are a systemic practice of Slovenian, Croatian and other European border authorities. Violence is an inevitable consequence of the militarization of the EU's outer borders. Annually, the EU invests more in border security than in the integration of migrants.

Perhaps the admission of the Croatian government, which also announced an investigation and sanctions for those responsible, at least partially breaks the policy of turning a blind eye to what is happening on the Balkan migration route, which was otherwise the status quo. After all, in September this year, Aleš Hojs, the Slovenian Minister of the Interior, rejected the Black Book of Pushbacks at a meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the EP and called the contents of the book "lies". In April this year, in a groundbreaking judgment in favour of the plaintiff A. M., the Slovenian Supreme Court ruled that already in August 2019, the Slovenian police violated the principle of non-refoulment, the prohibition of collective expulsions, and denied the plaintiff access to the right to international protection. Therefore, the Minister's presumptuous disregard is all the more surprising.

The Slovenian police are an integral part of illegal chain pushbacks across state borders along the Balkan route. According to numerous testimonies, the Slovenian police regularly deny people the right to claim international protection. It then returns persons to Croatian police, which then forcibly pushes them across the green border into Bosnia and out of the EU, where they land in crowded camps or on the streets. In doing so, police officers are cruel to people: they humiliate and intimidate them, destroy and take away their personal property and are often physically violent. From June 2018 to August this year, more than 28,000 migrants have returned to Croatia in this way. So, the responsibility certainly does not lie on the individual actions of a few or many police officers but on the directions given by state and police leadership, which are following the European migration policy.

In light of numerous reports and recent footage from Lighthouse Reports, we demand that the Republic of Slovenia immediately stops returning people to Croatia, where they are obviously in danger of being tortured and treated inhumanely. Despite being aware of the controversial practices of the Croatian police, the Slovenian police still expel people to Croatia, even if they violate the prohibition of torture under Article 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia with every pushback of persons to Croatia.

Following Croatia and Greece, Slovenia must immediately start an independent investigation into practices at its borders, especially at the Schengen border between Slovenia and Croatia. It is necessary to determine the role and responsibility of the Slovenian police and several successive governments in the illegal practice of expelling persons across state borders on the Balkan Route.

Infokolpa, 10. 10. 2021

https://www.lighthousereports.nl/investigation/unmasking-europes-shadow-armies/

Photo: Lighthouse Reports