Croatia violated his right to life, expelled him, and then issued an arrest warrant against him?

In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights found that the Republic of Croatia violated Abdeljalil Daraibou’s right to life. Instead of – as ordered by the ECtHR – investigating the institutional failings that nearly cost this young man his life in a police station, and which led to the deaths of three of his friends, we have now learned that an indictment and an international arrest warrant have been issued against him. And all of this - a full ten years after the incident. Rather than taking responsibility for the proven failings, Croatia is intimidating its own victim, sending a clear message to everyone else about how far it is willing to go if someone dares to challenge its actions before the ECtHR.

The severe injuries suffered by Abdeljalil Daraibou and the deaths of his three friends as a result of a fire that occurred in the Bajakovo Border Police Station in 2015, while they were held there, under the complete control of the Croatian police. In its judgment Daraibou v. Croatia, the ECtHR found that Croatia had substantively violated the right to life by failing to take sufficient and reasonable measures to protect him, and procedurally by failing to conduct an effective investigation – namely, by failing to identify the systemic shortcomings that led to the tragedy, remedy them, and prevent them from reoccurring. The state is obliged to protect the rights of all individuals on its territory. Yet Abdeljalil was placed in premises without an occupancy permit, an evacuation plan, or compliance with fire-safety regulations, which is why the ECtHR found Croatia responsible for violating his rights.

The Court also found that the Croatian authorities failed to assess the shortcomings that led to the incident, to remedy them, and to prevent similarly life-threatening conduct in the future.

From this judgment, as well as from the judgment in M.H. and Others v. Croatia, it follows that even after loss of life and serious injuries, after grave violations of the rights of people held in police custody, the police failed to provide subsequent protection and safety to those persons. On the contrary, these cases clearly show that the authorities' actions were aimed at deterring them from exercising their rights, placing them in situations where remaining in Croatia was impossible, and denying them access to the asylum system and to legal remedies through which they could protect their rights.

The treatment of this young Moroccan man, Abdeljalil, following the tragedy has been, and continues to be, a further disgrace for Croatia and its institutions. Not only did Croatia refuse to grant him international protection, but it also, without explanation, declared him a security threat to the country, deported him to Morocco in 2018, and banned him from entering Croatia for five years.

Today, instead of finally investigating the institutional failings and ensuring that such horrific deaths and violations in police detention never happen again, the state has decided to prosecute a man who, due to the failings of the Croatian authorities, nearly lost what is most precious – his life – and who continues to suffer lifelong consequences.

By persistently rejecting its established responsibility and by prosecuting a person whose right to life it seriously violated (as confirmed by the ECtHR’s final judgment), Croatia has placed itself alongside countries such as Russia and Turkey. This is an apparent attempt to silence victims and intimidate others who may consider taking similar legal steps to protect their human rights.

We cannot speak of systemic change as long as all those who order, sustain, cover up, and carry out such practices remain in their positions.