More than 8,200 people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities in Croatia remain in segregated institutions and psychiatric hospitals with little control over decisions that affect their lives, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.
The findings by HRW, based on interviews with 87 people in three regions in Croatia and research, were published ahead of this week's review by the United Nations of Croatia's efforts to put into effect the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
While the Croatian government has made some progress in protecting the rights of people with disabilities, the process of moving people out of institutions and into community-based living arrangements has been limited and slow, Human Rights Watch research found. People with certain disabilities are still legally deprived of their right to make decisions about their lives, according to the New York-based human rights watchdog.
"People with disabilities have spent their whole lives locked up, deprived of things so many of us take for granted, like going to school and work, or deciding what time to wake up in the morning," said Emina Cerimovic, Koenig Fellow at Human Rights Watch.
Eleven of 46 state institutions have begun the process of deinstitutionalization, and as of July 2014, 458 people with intellectual disabilities and 96 people with psychosocial disabilities have moved into the community.
However, more than 8,200 people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities in all types of institutions in Croatia are still denied their right to live in the community, HRW says.
The Croatian government should take steps to ensure that everyone with disabilities in state or private institutions, long-term care in psychiatric hospitals, family homes, and foster homes without their consent is part of the deinstitutionalization process, Human Rights Watch said.
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