Communicated on 8 April 2014

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 80573/12 Svetko HRKALOVIĆ and Nada NARANCIC against Croatia lodged on 12 November 2012

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicants, Mr Svetko Hrkalović and Ms Nada Naran č i ć , are Croatian nationals, who were born in 1941 and 1945 respectively and live in Novi Beograd. They are represented before the Court by Mr F. Bobinac , a lawyer practising in Zagreb.

The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.

1. Background to the case

In 1991 the Homeland war escalated in Croatia. A part of Croatia was occupied by separatist Serbian forces. On a part of the occupied territories the so called “Serbian Independent Region Krajina” (hereinafter “the Krajina”) was formed. During the summer of 1995 Croatian authorities announced a military action “Storm” with aim to regain control of “Krajina”. The action started on 5 August.

2. Killing of the applicants ’ mother

During the military action “Storm” the applicants ’ mother Zorka Hrkalovi ć , then aged seventy-six, was killed in Doljani , a village on the territory of “Krajina”.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain that the criminal law mechanisms as applied in the cases concerning the killings of their mother have not met the standards of the procedural aspect of Article 2 of the Convention.

They complain that their mother was killed solely because of her Serbian origin and that, contrary to their procedural obligations under Article 14 of the Convention, the relevant authorities have failed to investigate the possibility of such a motive for her death.

They complain further under Article 13 of the Convention that they have no effective domestic remedy at their disposal by which to submit their Convention complaints.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Having regard to the procedural protection of the right to life, was the manner in which the criminal law mechanisms have been applied in the present case by the domestic authorities in breach of Article 2 of the Convention?

2. Have the relevant authorities complied with their procedural obligation under Article 14 of the Convention to investigate whether there was any motive behind killings of the applicants ’ mother that might be related to her Serbian origin (see, mutatis mutandis , Å ečić v. Croatia , no. 40116/02, § 66, ECHR 2007 ‑ VI)?

3. Do the applicants have at their disposal an effective domestic remedy for their Convention complaints, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?

The Government are invited to submit copies of all case files and other documents concerning the killing of the applicants ’ mother.