Annual Report 2015 International Version Preface The year under review has once again shown how much people trust the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) to provide help, to explain unclear issues and to bring their matters to a positive end. A study which was commissioned in 2015 has impressively substantiated the high level of awareness of the AOB as such and the confidence in its work. Nevertheless, continuous efforts are being undertaken to make access to the AOB even simpler and to report about its activities more comprehensively. Complaints to the AOB comprised federal administration throughout all of Austria as well as regional and municipal administration in seven of the nine Laender. People from all over Austria approach the AOB and while achieving solutions is among our most important responsibilities, we also provide explanations about laws and administrative procedures that are connected to them. Knowing why authorities have acted in a certain way can result in better understanding and reduce the feeling of annoyance. Authorities are bound by the laws and the AOB can make the legislative bodies, to which it reports on a regular basis, aware of a lack of understanding of these laws. Since July 2012 the AOB fulfills the mandate to protect and promote human rights, granted to it under Austrian constitutional law. This mandate includes a mandate according to OPCAT, a mandate as independent monitoring authority according to Article 16.3 of the CRPD and a mandate to monitor and concomitantly examine the behavior of organs authorized to issue direct orders or carry out coercive measures. In the past three and a half years, the NPM commissions conducted 1,575 visits, of which 501 took place in 2015. We would like to thank Federal Ministries and other federal, regional and municipal bodies for their excellent cooperation in 2015. We also thank the NPM commissions for their ongoing commitment and the Human Righs Advisory Council for its continuous support. A special thank you is owed to our employees without whom the work of the AOB, which is highly appreciated by the entire population, would not be possible. Günther Kräuter Gertrude Brinek Peter Fichtenbauer Vienna, October 2016 I. THE AUSTRIAN OBMDUSMAN BOARD 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................7 1.1 Structure of the AOB ...................................................................................................... 7 2. The members of the AOB take stock ........................................................................................... 8 2.1 Ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer ...................................................................................8 2.2 Ombudsman Günther Kräuter ......................................................................................10 2.3 Ombudswoman Gertrude Brinek .................................................................................12 3. Public relations ..........................................................................................................................15 4. International activities ..............................................................................................................17 4.1 International Ombudsman Instititute (IOI) ...................................................................17 4.2 International cooperation ............................................................................................ 18 II. EX-POST CONTROL 1. Performance record ..................................................................................................................25 1.1 Monitoring public administration .................................................................................25 1.2 Budget and personnel .................................................................................................. 31 1.3 Projects ......................................................................................................................... 32 2. Anti-Discrimination ...................................................................................................................35 2.1 National Action Plan for Human Rights ........................................................................35 2.2 Austria-wide investigation regarding enforcement of ban on discrimination ..............39 2.3 Barrier-free accessibility ............................................................................................... 51 3. Investigating human rights .......................................................................................................53 3.1 Labour, social affairs and consumer protection ............................................................53 3.2 Education and women .................................................................................................. 56 3.3 Family and youth .......................................................................................................... 57 3.4 Finances ........................................................................................................................ 59 3.5 Interior.......................................................................................................................... 62 3.6 Judiciary ........................................................................................................................ 69 3.7 National defence and sports ........................................................................................78 III. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM (NPM) 1. Overview ...................................................................................................................................83 1.1 Mandate and understanding of the mandate ..............................................................83 1.2 Developments within the NPM reporting year ............................................................85 1.3 Personnel changes in the commissions .......................................................................87 1.4 Second shadow monitoring for NPM ...........................................................................88 1.5 Monitoring and control visits in numbers ....................................................................89 1.6 Budget .......................................................................................................................... 91 1.7 Human resources ......................................................................................................... 92 1.8 Reports of the commissions .........................................................................................96 1.9 Report of the Human Rights Advisory Council .............................................................98 2. Findings and recommendations ............................................................................................... 99 2.1 Retirement and nursing homes ....................................................................................99 2.2 Hospitals and psychiatric institutions and facilities ....................................................115 2.3 Child and youth welfare facilities ...............................................................................128 2.4 Institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities................................................140 2.5 Correctional institutions .............................................................................................156 2.6 Police institutions and barracks ..................................................................................187 2.7 Coercive acts .............................................................................................................. 208 IV. ANNEX Annex I - Monitoring framework, methodology and further action by NPM ..............................219 Annex II - List of recommendations by the AOB and its commissions ........................................223 The Austrian Ombudsman Board I. THE AUSTRIAN OBMDUSMAN BOARD 1. Introduction The AOB has the responsibility of helping citizens obtain justice if they feel they have Ex-post control not been treated fairly by the Austrian public administration. Complaints and their investigation not only point out deficiencies in individual cases, but also provide indications where there are weak points or adverse developments in public administration. The AOB’s outside view gives public administration the opportunity to take the necessary organisational measures, which can range from an improvement of workflows to more intensive employee training. Within the scope of its preventive activities, the AOB endeavours to prevent or reduce Preventive activities violations of human rights when and wherever possible, but especially in institutions and facilities where persons are being detained and/or their freedom is restricted. Within this mandate, the individual case is not so much in the AOB’s focus, but rather the system as such, should it be classified as needing improvement. The commissions of the AOB play an important part in this preventive work, as it is their responsibility to examine the circumstances directly on-site. Since 2009, the AOB is hosting the General Secretariat of the International Ombudsman International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). The IOI supports and promotes the exchange of experience with other Institute Ombudsman institutions worldwide in order to ensure the quality of the activities undertaken and to develop