Six-year-old Madina Hussiny was hit by a train and killed in November 2017. Croatian authorities had rejected her family's asylum claim and told them to walk along the train tracks until they reached Serbia.

This month, Madina's sister contacted Liberties member the Centre for Peace Studies and said that the family had returned to Croatia and been detained at a facilty in the town of Tovarnik.

They are held in three separate rooms and are only able to see each other during meals.

No rights

She said that the staff at the detention center doesn't give them any information regarding their case and how long will they be in detention.

The family asked to allow them to contact their attorney, who is representing them in the criminal proceedings against the Croatian Ministry of Interior regarding the liability the Madina's death. But their contact request was denied, under the argument that they had already signed a contract with their lawyer in Serbia.

Furthermore, the family was forced to sign documents that they did not understand. Madina's sister said that Croatian authorities threatened that they would be sent back to Serbia if they did not sign them, despite the fact that they had applied for asylum in Croatia.

They did not even have the possibility to make official contact with the Centre for Peace Studies, nor was the Centre for Peace Studies allowed to visit them or provide them the legally guaranteed legal aid.

Strasbourg claim

The Centre for Peace Studies emphasizes that Croatia must ensure the family's rights, allowing them free movement and legal aid. The organization emphasizes that there have been far too many attempts to manipulate and intimidate the family, which has already suffered to much.

The family's lawyer has filed a constitutional complaint and requested the European Court of Human Rights to take a temporary measure to release the family.

The court has issued a urgent provisional measure seeking more humane treatment for the family, but by the sixth day after that decision, neither the family lawyer nor the Centre for Peace Studies had gotten access to the family or to the information about their case and where they were located.