Disability, historic European ruling

by Letizia Orlandi - 2012.09.03

Landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which condemns Croatia for failing to protect a disabled person and his family. Despite repeated complaints to local authorities (police, social services, school and Ombudsman) by a mother and her son Dordevic, harassed for years, sometimes violently, by a group of young people, nothing was done to stop the persecution and protect victims from the attacks of bullies. The Republic of Croatia has been condemned for failing in its duty to protect the Dordevics from inhuman treatment, for failing to safeguard the right to privacy of the family, for failing to prevent a crime motivated by hostility based on the disability of the victim. The judgment has a significant legal impact and echoes in all countries of the Council of Europe: people with disabilities can now wield to ask their governments to protect against violence and harassment because disabled.