The Open Letter on the Position and Status of Serbs in Croatia was sent to the addresses of prominent Croatians and Serbians in September 2008. The letter spoke about the adverse social and economic circumstances in which Croatian Serbs had lived.

Content of the letter

The letter was a result of extensive studies about respect for minority rights in Croatia, which were initiated by the Serb Democratic Forum and other partner NGOs of the Forum, like UNHCR, University of Zagreb and other Serbian NGOs. The study drew attention to problems such as long-term trials, verbal insults, physical attacks, and the devastation of buildings and religious objects belonging to the Serbian minority. Some media, such as '' Jutarnji list'', published criticisms of the implementation of the Erdut Agreement. The study found that Nova TV and '' Večernji list'' are at the forefront of hate speech in the media. The study also addressed the phenomenon of nationalist singer

Marko Perković Marko Perković (; born 27 October 1966) is a Croatian musician who has been the lead singer of the band Thompson since 1991. Perković was born in the village of Čavoglave, SR Croatia, within SFR Yugoslavia, today a part of Croatia. He parti ...

. According to the study, Serbs in Croatia are marginalized, their ethnic identity is stigmatized, and the blame is placed on them for the Independence War. It highlighted that the regions where Serbs have lived for centuries have been devastated and economically neglected. The letter said that there have been some developments in human and minority rights, but it warned of a lack of implementation of good legislation. The letter noted that Serbs in Croatia still do not have equal opportunities for socialization or the same level of human rights, ethnic or professional recognition, particularly in areas where they have returned to live recently. The letter stated that for positive change to occur it would be necessary for the majority population to perceive the minority population as having a richness of living environment and not as presenting a threat to society.

Reactions

The Serb Democratic Forum did not invite the

Independent Democratic Serb Party The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the interes ...

to sign the open letter, taking the view that, as part of the government, they hold some responsibility for the marginalization of the Serbian minority. This subsequently led to clashes between the Serb Democratic Forum, the Independent Democratic Serb Party and the

Party of Danube Serbs The Party of Danube Serbs ( hr, Partija podunavskih Srba, PPS, sr, Партија подунавских Срба) was a Serb minority political party in Croatia. It was formed as the Serbian Radical Party of the Republic of Serbian Krajina by R ...

Prominent signatories

Ivo Banac Ivo Banac (; 1 March 1947 – 30 June 2020) was a Croatian-American historian, a professor of European history at Yale University and a politician of the former Liberal Party in Croatia, known as the Great Bard of Croatian historiography. , Banac ...

(historian, professor, president of

Croatian Helsinki Committee The Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (CHC; hr, Hrvatski helsinški odbor, HHO) is an organisation founded to protect and promote human rights in Croatia. It was founded on 31 March 1993, initially as a branch of the International Hel ...

(2007–09) and member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) * Sead Berberović ( University of Zagreb professor) * Alen Budaj (director o
the Margelov Institut
* Slobodan Budak (lawyer) * Ivan Zvonimir Čičak (Croatian politician and first president of the

) * Silvije Degen (lawyer and politician from Zagreb) * Zora Dirnbach (member of the

Croatian Writers' Society Croatian Writers' Association ( hr, Društvo hrvatskih književnika; abbreviated DHK) is the official association of Croatian writers. It was founded in 1900 in Zagreb with the goal "to unite writers and help them support one another, and promot ...

) * Srđan Dvornik (writer, who was active in the work of the Open Society Institute and the Heinrich Böll Foundation) * Davor Gjenero (independent political consultant) *

Drago Hedl Drago Hedl (born 24 January 1950) is a Croatian investigative journalist. Drago Hedl was born in Osijek and became a professional journalist in 1980. He was an Editor-in-Chief of ''Glas Slavonije'', an Osijek-based daily, from 1986 to 1991, an ...

( investigative journalist, writer for the '' Feral Tribune'', ''

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

'', '' The Guardian'', and '' The Times''.) * Salomon Jazbec (member of the

Religions for Peace Religions for Peace is an international coalition of representatives from the world's religions dedicated to promoting peace founded in 1970. The International Secretariat headquarters is in New York City, with regional conferences in Europe, As ...

and secretary of The Margel Institute) * Boris Jurinić (member of the Council for Development of Civil Society of the Croatian Government in the Ministry of Culture * Petar Kuzmić (President of the Evangelical (Pentecostal) Church in the Republic of Croatia) *

Dražen Lalić Dražen Lalić, DSc (born 15 June 1960, Makarska) is a Croatian educator and academic at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Zagreb and one of the better known sociologists in the country. Lalić graduated from the Faculty of ...

(sociologist and professor at the University of Zagreb) * Svetozar Livada (President of the Union of Serbs in Croatia) * Predrag Matvejević (writer) * Jovan Mirić (professor at the University of Zagreb) * Aleksandar Novković (photographer) * Jaroslav Pecnik (political analyst) *

Drago Pilsel Drago Carlos Pilsel (born 21 September 1962) is an Argentine Croatian journalist and human rights activist. Early years Drago Pilsel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a politically engaged family. His parents were Croatian immigrants who came ...

(columnist and former member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

) *

Žarko Puhovski Žarko Puhovski (born 15 December 1946) is a Croatian professor, political analyst, philosopher and intellectual, former president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee. Biography Puhovski was born in Zagreb on 15 December 1946. He was born to a ...

(professor, political analyst and former president of the

) * Simo Rajić (lawyer and former MP of the Croatian Parliament) * Slobodan Šnajder (writer) * Lordan Zafranović ( Yugoslavian film director and a major figure of the

Yugoslav Black Wave Yugoslav Black Wave (also referred to as Black Wave; or sh-Latn-Cyrl, label=none, separator=" / ", Crni talas, Црни талас) is a blanket term for a Yugoslav film movement of the 1960s and early 1970s. Notable directors include Dušan M ...

) * Zdravko Zima (literary critic, essayist and columnist) * Daniel Žderić (owner of the largest publishing house in Croatia, Profil)

References

{{Serbian minority institutions and organizations in Croatia 2008 in Croatia 2008 documents Open letters History of the Serbs of Croatia Human rights in Croatia Croatia–Serbia relations Anti-Serbian sentiment