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Austria A demonstration against racism and xenophobia in front of the Austrian parliament, November 1999. © Sascha Osaka IHF FOCUS: Torture, ill-treatment and Parliamentary Committee on Human misconduct by law enforcement officials; Rights. Guidelines on deportation prac- right to privacy; protection of ethnic mi- tices were also established. Generally, norities; intolerance, xenophobia and public awareness of human rights prob- racial discrimination; homosexuals’ lems in Austria increased. Many cases of rights; protection of asylum seekers and police misconduct were publicly dis- immigrants; human rights institutions; cussed, and scrutinized by human rights human rights defenders. organizations and the media. A number of demonstrations were held in which thou- sands of Austrians protested against racism Austria’s human rights record for 1999 and xenophobia. Nevertheless, the out- was marked by the tragic death of an asy- come of the 1999 parliamentary elections, lum seeker during his deportation flight in which the Freedom Party (FPÖ, a party and the ensuing consequences, and im- known for its racist and xenophobic atti- provements in Austrian legislation. The tudes) won 27 percent of the vote, re- gaps between legislation and practice vealed that concerns about racist slogans were exposed. As a result, two new human and attitudes were not necessarily shared rights institutions were established: the by the entire population. Advisory Board for Human Rights and the 46 Austria Torture, Ill-Treatment and 1999, out of 211 alleged cases of ill-treat- Misconduct by Law Enforcement ment, only three officers were sentenced Officials and none were dismissed from office. Legal Provisions on Torture In a survey among policemen on the “ethics of police conduct”, half of the In its 1999 report1, the UN Human Rights 2000 policemen interviewed stated that Committee recommended that the crimi- they would not denounce their colleagues nal procedure code ought to be amended in cases of misconduct. The survey was to provide that confessions, if challenged, carried out by the Ministry of Interior.3 must be proved not to have been extracted through torture or ill-treatment. Thus far, ■ In the case of the Austrian citizen of such amendments have not been made. African origin, Dr. C., who was beaten so severely by police in the course of a traffic Inhuman Treatment in Prisons parole’s control at the end of 1998 that he had to be hospitalized for 12 days, the During a 12-day visit by a delegation of judge held their behavior to be “inhuman the Council of Europe Committee for the and degrading”. He sentenced the police- Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or De- men to six months imprisonment in April grading Treatment of Punishment (CPT) 1999. Dr. C. was sentenced to 4 months between 19–30 September 1999, the imprisonment for “resisting a public officer delegation found small latticed cots in a in the execution of his duties”. Viennese prison. The cots were used when prisoners became furious or endangered ■ In March 1999, a dramatic incident in- themselves or others. Prisoners were kept volving Mohammed S., a black-skinned there for several hours. The cots were de- French citizen, occurred. Five people stroyed after the delegation expressed the witnessed the incident in which he was in- view that they constituted the inhuman sulted in a racist manner (shouting, for treatment of prisoners. However, special example, “I will wear you out, you dirty beds confined with nets (“Netzbetten”) are nigger-pig”), and severely mistreated by still in use and raise similar concerns. police officers at an underground station. The eyewitnesses reported the case to the Ill-Treatment and Misconduct by police, the minister of the interior and the Law Enforcement Officials2 media. Despite this, charges against the police officers were dismissed. Mo- During the past few years, the police have hammed S. was sentenced for resisting the committed many acts of violence against police and carrying drugs, and was subse- aliens, particularly those of African origin. quently deported from Austria. The eye- The victims have, in most cases, ended up witnesses were not believed. accused of “resisting a public officer in the execution of his duties” and have sub- The minister of justice has since taken sequently been convicted. Conversely, the some initiative and ordered the review of prosecutor usually dismisses cases in about 900 dismissed cases. The public which police officers are charged with prosecutors are obliged to present their having engaged in police brutality. In records and journals to the reviser. In 1 A/54/40, point 186, 21 September 1999. 2 Falter, 51–52/99, p 14–16. 3 Falter, 49/99, page 9. 47 Austria 1999, he also issued a so-called “Anti-Tor- Right to Privacy ture Decree”,4 which recommended that public prosecutors should open a judicial On 25–26 May 1999, the newly permitted inquiry into cases of alleged misconduct method of electronic surveillance was by police officers, rather than having the used in the so-called “Operation Spring.”5 police investigate their own colleagues. An alleged circle of Nigerian drug dealers This also better fulfills the requirement of was screened in Vienna. During this oper- objective and independent investigations. ation, 850 police officers arrested more This “Anti-Torture Decree” was criticized than 70 people throughout Austria, mostly by the general inspector of the Viennese of African origin. Most persons were re- security agency (Sicherheitswache), who leased before long, for lack of evidence. A believed that the procedure would take complaint questioning the legality of the too long. He suggested, instead, the estab- use of electronic surveillance was lodged lishment of an independent body – a spe- because the decision to employ the cial investigation unit within the execu- method was not well-grounded. tive, under the direction of the minister of justice. Protection of Ethnic Minorities ■ On 6 November 1999, Mr. G. was taken Since November 1999, the Constitutional to the police station at Boltzmanngasse Court has been examining whether the de- and left badly wounded. He suffered a cree for official languages (Amtssprachen- cerebral hemorrhage, and the lesion of an verordnung) for the Slovene minority in optic nerve, and is now blind in one eye. Carinthia is in accordance with the law on He reported having been intentionally ethnic groups (Volksgruppengesetz6). This punched in the eyes, although the official law empowered the federal government to police report stated that, intoxicated, he issue decrees to determine in which mu- had first run into the duplex system, and nicipalities, and before which public au- then fallen from the chair. The following thorities, minorities are allowed to use day, he was charged with severely injuring their languages as official languages. A public officers. Three weeks later, the po- parallel regulation stated that in villages lice reported his injuries, which they with at least 25 percent minority represen- claimed had been inflicted by unknown tatives, signs showing the name of the vil- persons. At that time, preliminary investi- lage must also be in their language. This gations into the policemen’s conduct had 25 percent requirement also applied to the already begun, ex officio. As of this writ- decree for official languages. As a result, ing, legal proceedings are still under way. only a few villages in Carinthia were offi- cially allowed to use the Slovene lan- ■ On 10 December, Ms. M., who was in- guage. Consequently, many Slovenes liv- toxicated at the time, was arrested after a ing outside these villages were denied the quarrel with a taxi-driver. At the police sta- right to speak their own language before tion at Juchgasse, a female police officer public authorities. forced her to undress and kicked her. Ms. M. had bruises and abrasions. The police A similar regulation has been made for the officer was sentenced to 10 months im- Croat minority in Burgenland. In 1999, no prisonment for tormenting a detainee. other ethnic groups in Austria enjoyed the 4 Erlass vom 30. September 1999 zur Vorgangsweise bei Misshandlungvorwürfen gegen Organe der Sicherheitsbehörden, JMZ 880.014/37-II.3/1999. 5 Format, 28/99, page 39. 6 BGBl. 396/1976. 48 Austria right to use their language as an official ber of a secret right-wing organization language. called the Bavarian Liberation Army (Baju- warische Befreiungsarmee), which claimed The Constitutional Court is currently ex- responsibility for some of the attacks. No amining whether this 25 percent require- charges of racial motivation were brought ment is in accordance with the Austrian against Fuchs. In early 2000, he commit- constitution.7 ted suicide in his prison cell in Graz. Roma and Sinti Intolerance, Xenophobia, and Racial Discrimination According to UN press releases issued on 16 and 17 March, the Committee on the Discrimination on Ethnic Grounds Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) found the situation of Roma in In its report on Austria, the European Com- Austria to be unsatisfactory. In its review of mission against Racism and Intolerance Austria, the CERD welcomed measures (ECRI), stated that “Austria still faces prob- taken for the Croatian, Hungarian and lems in this area, including incidents of ex- Slovene minorities, but expressed concern treme violence against non-citizens, cer- “at the lack of corresponding measures for tain minority groups and even public fig- other ’national ethnic minorities’, in par- ures who are accused

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