Mr. Šemso Šečić was subjected to a physical assault by two strangers carrying wooden planks. The men shouted racist abuse during the attack, indicating a motive based on ethnic hatred for Mr Šečić ‘s Roma origin. Despite the severity and racist movitvation of the attack, the police failed to properly investigate. The case highlighted a wider problem with the failure to investigate hate crimes in Croatia.
Read MoreSince 2002 the European Court of Human Rights has issued over 30 judgments finding abuse carried out by Bulgarian state officials - or a failure to investigate allegations of such abuse. The majority of the cases concern deaths, torture and other ill-treatment, excessive use of force and lack of medical assistance during arrest and in custody, as well as inadequate investigations.
Read MoreDecades ago in Serbia, over two thousand couples in Serbia lost their newborn babies in mysterious circumstances. They were informed by hospital authorities that the babies had died: but the families were not provided with the bodies and there was no administrative trace of them being buried. The lack of evidence of any deaths indicated the involvement of a criminal gang. Decades on, some of the parents won a case at the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that there had to be a proper investigation into the events. Seven years on from the judgment, no investigation has taken place.
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