ZAGREB, 5 April 2022 - The office of Croatia's representative before the European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday that by dismissing Croatia's application for a re-examination of the judgment in the case of Afghan migrant girl Madina Hussiny, the ECHR did not find that Croatia was responsible for her death.

The ECHR clearly states in the judgment that Croatia breached the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms because it did not effectively investigate the death of the six-year-old, the office said, adding that if someone was responsible for her death and who will be established by national bodies while executing the judgment.

The actions and decisions of Croatian bodies can be examined by domestic courts, up to the Constitutional Court, the office said.

Furthermore, it added, the ECHR did not find that any pressure was exerted on anyone in civil society nor that their representatives were prevented from doing their job.

This judgment is individual and refers to one family, therefore the ECHR did not find that the problems established by the judgment are systemic, the office said.

Besides an ineffective investigation, the ECHR established a violation of the Convention due to the conditions in the accommodation of minors in the Tovarnik migrant centre, but not a violation of the Convention with regard to the adult asylum seekers staying there with the children.

The ECHR also established violations of the Convention due to the lengthy asylum procedures before administrative courts, the impossibility to effectively contest decisions which restricted applicants' free movement in Tovarnik, and the impossibility to establish undisturbed contact between applicants and their lawyer.

The ECHR found that the applicants, who tried to illegally enter Croatia on 21 November 2017, were expelled contrary to a collective expulsion ban.

Other EU member states such as Italy, Greece, Poland and France, faced with a big migrant influx, have similar cases before the ECHR, the Croatian representative's office said, adding that this is the final judgment and that it will be executed.

In the initial judgment of November 2021, the ECHR found that the investigation of Hussiny's death, who was hit by a train on the Croatia-Serbia border in November 2017, was ineffective, ordering Croatia to pay €40,000 in damages to her family and €16,700 in court costs.

ZAGREB, 5 April 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Tuesday, after the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of six-year-old Afghan migrant girl Madina Hussiny has become final, that his resignation was not on the table and that the purpose of such rulings was to improve the system.

"In cases like this the burden of responsibility is always on the system. We need to see what can and should be rectified," Božinović told the press on the sidelines of the second day of the US Croatia Forum in Zagreb when asked whether he considered himself responsible and whether he would step down.

He said that the point of such court rulings was to rectify the shortcomings of the system through rules or improvements of practice. "The purpose of courts is to draw attention to such shortcomings," he added.

Božinović said that the death of the little migrant girl was a tragedy that affected everyone. "It happened in the territory of another country. An investigation was conducted and the court reached its conclusion. Now we have to find solutions and adopt measures to improve the system," the minister said.

The judgment, which found that Croatia violated the girl's right to life, has become final after the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights rejected the Croatian application for re-examination of the case.

The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) said today that the government and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković could no longer look away but must urgently replace those responsible, including the minister of the interior, national chief of police Nikola Milina, head of the Directorate for Borders Zoran Ničeno, and state secretary Terezija Gras.

Croatian authorities will now have to take concrete steps to ensure that something like this never happens again, the CMS said. It urged the government to adopt measures to stop illegal and violent expulsions of illegal migrants from Croatia, ensure efficient investigations, punish perpetrators, and ensure full independence and efficiency of the police oversight mechanism.

Madina Hussiny was hit by a train at the Croatia-Serbia border in November 2017 after the Croatian authorities allegedly denied her family the opportunity to seek asylum and ordered them to return to Serbia along the tracks.

The Strasbourg-based court found Croatia responsible for a number of violations of rights under the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to life, the prohibition on inhuman and degrading treatment, the prohibition of collective expulsions of aliens, the right to security and liberty, and the right of individual petition.