A/HRC/16/13 8. Croatia paid attention to promoting tolerance and combating all forms of discrimination. It had formulated and continued to implement three-year national programmes for the protection and promotion of human rights and had developed an institutional framework, with a major role played by the Ombudsman and other specialized ombudspersons. Much attention was focused on implementing that legal framework with the assistance of civil society. 9. In response to advance questions, the head of the delegation stated that Croatia was addressing the consequences of the war as a way to build confidence and promote reconciliation in the region. Closing the impunity gap was another crucial component, and Croatia remained deeply devoted to full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and strongly believed that it had fulfilled all requests received from the Tribunal’s Office of the Prosecutor. Concerning the one request that the Tribunal considered to have been only partially fulfilled, Croatia had made extensive investigative efforts, and the Trial Chamber concurred with Croatia that it was impossible to verify with certainty the existence of the documents concerned. 10. Croatia then turned its attention to domestic war crimes trials, which were being conducted in a transparent manner, with an increase in the number of proceedings over the past two years. Through its Action Plan, Croatia was ensuring that the proceedings were carried out impartially and professionally, regardless of the ethnic affiliation of the accused. A study conducted by the Ministry of Justice on the judgements rendered in the presence of the accused between 2005 and 2009 had shown that they had been unbiased and impartial. Concerning the convictions delivered in absentia, new provisions had been introduced in the Criminal Procedure Act, and the competent authorities had reviewed those cases. 11. With regard to refugee issues, the number of registered refugees and internally displaced persons had now declined to less than 1,000 from more than 1 million in the 1990s. As agreed by countries in the region at the 2005 Sarajevo Conference, return and local integration were the two equally legitimate alternatives offered to refugees in order to reach a durable solution. Croatia provided statistics on local integration and described a number of measures to encourage returns, notably through a major investment in the reconstruction of housing units. Private property had been almost entirely returned to its owners. As of October 2010, close to 8,000 housing requests by the ex-tenancy rights holders had been met with positive responses. Finally, adequate funds had been allocated for the implementation of a housing care programme provided for in the Revised Action Plan. Croatia also took part in the regional process aimed at the definitive resolution of the refugee issue, as had been the case at the 2010 Belgrade Conference. 12. Croatia guaranteed minority rights to all its national minorities, in accordance with international standards, its Constitution and the Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities. In June 2010, the Preamble of the Constitution had been amended to explicitly recognize 22 national minorities, including the Roma, instead of 10. Seats were guaranteed to national minorities in Parliament, and Croatia was committed to increasing minority participation. 13. The Roma were a recognized national minority and participated in the decision-making process at all levels. Croatia had adopted a National Programme for Roma and participated in the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015. 14. The principle of equality was enshrined in the Constitution and enjoyed special legal protection, and the Criminal Code recognized the concept of hate crimes. The 2008 Antidiscrimination Act and the National Plan for Combating Discrimination (2008-2013) were other instruments to counter discrimination. In 2010, Croatia had established a new Working Group to monitor hate crimes at the national level. Special efforts were devoted to combating discrimination against minorities, including the Serb and the Roma minorities 4