SLOVENIA: HUMPHREY ALUM BECOMES TOP GOS HUMAN

UNCLAS LJUBLJANA 000184 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE EUR/NCE FOR SSADLE, EUR/PPD FOR CMUDGETT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM OEXC KWMN PINR PGOV SI SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: HUMPHREY ALUM BECOMES TOP GOS HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHDOG REF: LJUBLJANA 126 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Government of Slovenia's new Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek-Travnik told COM the 2006 Human Rights Report was spot on, the Roma situation (when put in context) is relatively positive, and estimated the number of "erased" without status as less than 1,000. She said her agenda will be slightly different than her predecessor, focusing on the protection of children, the elderly, and the disabled, and expressed frustration with weakness of civil society and the media in Slovenia, citing the country's small size as a critical challenge. Cebasek-Travnik, a proud Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship alumna, was a surprise choice for the position by President Drnovsek last fall and is clearly still getting smart on the issues and accustomed to her prominent position. She indicated that she will take a significantly less confrontational approach with the GOS than her firebrand predecessor, at least at the beginning of her term. For now, human rights advocates seem willing to give her time to prove her mettle for the position. End Summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Another Exchanges Success Story: Humphrey Fellow Makes Good - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) COM paid a courtesy call on the Government of Slovenia's new Human Rights Ombudsman Zdenka Cebasek-Travnik on March 26. Cebasek-Travnik was quick to mention her experience in the United States through the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship program, where she spent the 1993-1994 academic year studying and doing professional work related to substance abuse treatment at Johns Hopkins University. She recalled that a conference speaker told her group of Humphrey Fellows that some day they would take over very important positions in their governments, and, with a laugh and a smile, she told COM that now she understood what he was talking about. She noted that her Humphrey Fellowship year was "less about the educational knowledge gained" but about the experience, in particular seeing different points of view and perspectives. Cebasek-Travnik commented that it was "easy" for the group to make the U.S. "our second home country" and vividly remembered how accepting the U.S. was of foreigners. Cebasek-Travnik returned to the U.S. thanks to a 
Hubert H. Humphrey alumni program in 1997 to address that year's class of Humphrey Fellows at their Washington seminar and was featured in the 1997 Annual Report of the Institute for International Education. ¶3. (SBU) Cebasek-Travnik also briefly mentioned her family's background with the U.S., noting that her mother was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where her grandfather and grandmother were working in a mine and a tobacco factory, respectively. She said that she had the opportunity to visit her mother's birthplace during her Humphrey Fellowship and still has relatives in the U.S. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Human Rights Report: Ombudsman "Agrees With All Findings" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (SBU) In regards to the 2006 Human Rights Report (HRR), Cebasek-Travnik said that she read the report and, given that she had been in office for just two weeks when the report was released, asked her professional colleagues in the Ombudsman's office for their impression. She said her colleagues advised that they "agreed with all statements" in the HRR, and thus she released a brief statement to the press saying the Ombudsman's Office agreed with the findings of the report and urged political leaders to address questions it brought up. She said she would be pleased to work with the Embassy on future Human Rights Reports. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Apolitical Past. Apolitical Present. Apolitical Future? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (U) Cebasek-Travnik, a Ljubljana-based and Murska Sobota-born and raised psychiatrist, was a virtual unknown when she was nominated by President Janez Drnovsek on November 21, 2006 from a pool of 28 candidates. Her selection surprised political onlookers who predicted other, higher profile candidates from the Slovenian human rights advocacy community as favorites for the post. Her nomination was confirmed by the Parliament on December 20 receiving 64 of 90 votes (with others abstaining) and she began her six-year term February 21. In contrast to most high profile leaders in Slovenia, Cebasek-Travnik was not politically active or well known previous to her nomination and confirmation as Human Rights Ombudsman. ¶6. (U) COM asked Cebasek-Travnik about her priorities as Ombudsman, and, as she has previously indicated in brief statements to the press, she said that protecting children, the elderly, and those with disabilities would be her priority. She noted that she was "not politically active before her appointment (as Ombudsman)" and that her interests differ from those of her predecessor, whose agenda was often dominated by hot topics in the areas of political or racial discrimination. She was quick to say that she would be following these areas, but that at the moment, her priority would be focusing on those groups which she felt lacked advocacy in Slovenia and "suffered without recourse." ¶7. (SBU) She also mentioned protecting freedom of speech and helping people "living in Slovenia without papers" (such illegal aliens and those who have overstayed visas or residency permits). When COM asked if the later was a reference to the "erased" (see reftel for complete background),Cebasek-Travnik said no, that the "erased" are a "special category of people" whose problem "I won't be able to solve." She noted that the "Constitutional Court's ruling must be obeyed," but that she would not weigh in on what type of law was used and what the specific outcome should be. Cebasek-Travnik told COM that she had spent considerable time reading and being briefed on these issues, and when COM inquired as to how many of the "erased" her office believed are still without citizenship or permanent residency, she said that she too has been asking this question, and that best estimates are somewhere between 150 and 1,000 people. ¶8. (SBU) On the Roma, Cebasek-Travnik reminded COM that she is from the Prekmurje region (one of the regions with the largest number of Roma in Slovenia and the region that has traditionally had the most cooperation between local Slovenes and Roma) went to school with Roma, treated Roma during her time as a doctor in Murska Sobota, and knows Roma well. She said the problems this past fall with the Strojan family were unfortunate, but that this was the exception, not the rule in terms of Slovenian-Roma relations. She felt the media over-publicized the story, that the Strojan family was a "minority of a minority" with an unflattering history, and that the most important goal should be solving problems for the "majority of the minority" of Roma. ¶9. (SBU) Cebasek-Travnik also talked extensively about her work on alcoholism in Slovenia (the chief topic of her Humphrey studies) and told COM about her failed efforts to establish a branch of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), citing the lack of a "critical mass" as the top problem for activists and NGOs here. She said that strong civil society groups, like MADD, are critical for publicizing issues and pushing forward legislative changes, and expressed frustration at the difficulty of starting groups like this in Slovenia. Cebasek-Travnik also noted this problem in the media, saying that resources for the media are small, and offering that she felt an article she had written on alcoholism had not been published because of the influence of advertisers (specifically Slovenia's two breweries Lasko and Union) on editorial content. She noted that strengthening civil society, with MADD as an example, was one major opportunity for fruitful cooperation between the U.S. and Slovenia in the future. Keying off Cebasek-Travnik's comments on protecting older people, COM also noted the strength of American civil society groups for the retired, notably AARP. - - - - Comment - - - - ¶10. (SBU) Zdenka Cebasek-Travnik's appointment corresponds with President Drnovsek's streak of independence on high level nominees and is an interesting and surprising choice for the position given her lack of experience on the majority of human rights issues. Some pundits have said her lack of political affiliation and interest in less prominent human rights concerns helped ensure that she would receive parliamentary approval. Cebasek-Travnik, who apologized at the beginning of the meeting for her lack of protocol savvy and told COM that this was her first visit from an Ambassador, was clearly still getting used to her new position. While it is uncertain how strong an advocate she will be as Ombudsman, it is obvious that she will be significantly less confrontational with the GOS than her predecessor, at least at the beginning of her term. That said, human rights onlookers seem willing to give her a chance before condemning her lack of experience and assertiveness on the hot human rights issues in Slovenia. While Cebasek-Travnik seems less likely to be a spur in the GOS's side, she also seems genuinely interested in depoliticizing the work of the Ombudsman's Office and helping expand the work it does for the good of the Slovenian people. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman Background and Biographical Note - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶11. (U) The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman is an independent, constitutionally mandated office within the Government of Slovenia that serves as the source of final resort for Slovenian citizens seeking assistance in protecting their human rights or fundamental freedoms. Practically, the Slovenian Human Rights Ombudsman handles complaints in the areas of: constitutional rights, restrictions of personal liberty, access to social security, employment and legal rights, judicial procedures, environmental and space planning, commercial public services, housing, children's rights, and discrimination. Cebasek-Travnik is the third Ombudsman in the history of Slovenia. She replaces most recent Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek, who was noted for his criticism of the government, particularly in the last few months of his six-year term. He did not seek a second term. ¶12. (U) Zdenka Cebasek-Travnik was born February 13, 1955 in Murska Sobota, Slovenia. She earned a her M.D. from the University of Ljubljana in 1979, a Master of Medical Science at the University of Zagreb in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Medical Science at the University of Ljubljana in 1998. She also earned an undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1994 and has studied in the United Kingdom. Prior to taking office as Ombudsman, Cebasek-Travnik was the Acting Director of the Psychiatric Clinic in Ljubljana and the Education Assistant to the Expert Director of the Psychiatric Clinic in Ljubljana from 2004 to 2007. From 2000 to 2004 she was Head of the Clinical Department for Mental Health at the Psychiatric Clinic and from 1995 to 2000 she was Head of the Center for Medical Treatment of Alcoholics at the Psychiatric Clinic. Prior to that she worked as a medical doctor in Murska Sobota and as a Psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Clinic in Vojnik, Slovenia. She has authored numerous articles on alcoholism and domestic therapy, and is a court expert in the field of psychiatry. She is not a member of any political party. ROBERTSON