Annual Report 2020 on the activities of the Austrian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) 2020 Protection & Promotion of Human Rights Annual Report on the Activities of Austrian NPM Annual Report 2020 on the Activities of the Austrian National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) Protection & Promotion of Human Rights Preface The Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) was established as a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in 2012. In this function, it has the statutory mandate to protect and promote human rights. The core of the mandate is the monitoring of public and private institutions and facilities where the freedom of individuals is restricted. The six commissions of the AOB monitor these institutions on a regular basis regardless of whether there are specific incidents or complaints. The objective of the independent visits is to detect deficits in the system as soon as possible and thus protect persons from abuse and inhumane treatment. This report should not be merely seen as a summary of the activities of the NPM in 2020. It also clearly highlights where human rights are at risk or have already been violated, where improvement is urgently necessary and which measures need to be implemented. All of the problems and deficits mentioned here are alarm signals necessitating immediate reaction. This applies in times of crisis in particular. Considerable restrictions in private and public life that entail massive infringements of human rights were and still are required in order to keep the pandemic under control. These are not always proportionate. The basic rights and personal freedom of persons in retirement and nursing homes or institutions and facilities for persons with disabilities were more severely restricted than the rest of the population. Protection against infection resulted in the complete isolation of these particularly vulnerable groups of people in many places. The general conditions for the institutions and the staff in particular are without doubt very difficult, not least due to frequent changes in the law and short lead times. However, guaranteeing human rights must remain in focus even in difficult times. Thus, as in previous years, the recommendations of the NPM are a focal point in this report as well. They summarise the results of the visits by the commissions and should provide orientation to the institutions and staff working there as well as those with responsibility on the question of which human rights standards have to be guaranteed in the respective institutions. At the same time, these recommendations highlight the limits of the NPM’s work. The NPM can draft recommendations and drive improvement in dialogue with the competent parties. In many cases, this entails reforms that require a new legal basis or better financial resources. This can only be achieved through the government and legislative bodies. For this reason, this report is also an appeal to politicians, the parliament and regional governments to understand and to provide the necessary framework to guarantee that human rights are observed in Austria. We would like to thank the commissions for their dedication and the Human Rights Advisory Council for its advice and support. A word of thanks also to all the AOB staff who dedicate themselves to the protection of human rights in Austria as part of their everyday work. This report will also be sent to the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. Werner Amon Bernhard Achitz Walter Rosenkranz Vienna, June 2021 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................10 1 OVERVIEW OF THE NATIOAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM .......................................12 1.1 Mandate ...........................................................................................................12 1.2 Exercising the mandate during the pandemic .................................................13 1.3 Monitoring and control visits in numbers .......................................................15 1.4 Budget ...............................................................................................................18 1.5 Human Resources .............................................................................................18 1.5.1 Personnel ...........................................................................................18 1.5.2 The Commissions ...............................................................................19 1.5.3 Human Rights Advisory Council ........................................................19 1.6 International cooperation ...............................................................................19 1.7 Report of the Human Rights Advisory Council ...............................................22 2 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .....................................................................25 2.1 Retirement and nursing homes ........................................................................25 2.1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................25 2.1.2 Online contact and telephone interviews .........................................27 2.1.3 Requirements of COVID-19 prevention concepts from a human rights perspective ...................................................................30 2.1.4 Precautionary infection prevention through deprivation of liberty impermissible ......................................................................33 2.1.5 Strict visiting rules ..............................................................................36 2.1.6 „First lane“ test strategies for care facilities .......................................41 2.1.7 Positive observations .........................................................................43 2.2 Hospitals and psychiatric institutions and facilities ........................................44 2.2.1 Introcution ..........................................................................................44 2.2.2 Register for documenting measures that restrict freedom .................46 2.2.3 Dealing with COVID-19 measures .....................................................49 2.2.4 Child and adolescent psychiatric care ..............................................51 2.2.5 Therapeutic design of hospital areas .................................................55 2.2.6 Lack of qualified staff .........................................................................59 2.2.7 Long hospitalisation without medical need ......................................61 2.3 Child and youth welfare facilities ....................................................................63 2.3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................63 2.3.2 The facility as a protective shelter ......................................................67 2.3.3 Challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic .............................................70 2.3.4 Worsening instead of the planned improvements .............................74 2.3.5 No nationwide crisis placements when children‘s wellbeing is in acute danger ...............................................................................76 2.3.6 Different levels of education in care facilities ....................................78 2.3.7 Insufficient staffing .............................................................................80 2.3.8 Positive observations ..........................................................................82 2.4 Institutions for persons with disabilities...........................................................84 2.4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................84 2.4.2 No clear guidelines for institutions and facilities ..............................86 2.4.3 Massive curfew and visiting restrictions ............................................87 2.4.4 Closed day-care centres ......................................................................90 2.4.5 Round the clock in the shared accommodation ................................93 2.4.6 Lack of PPE and too little information ..............................................95 2.4.7 Access to medical care ........................................................................96 2.4.8 Prevention of violence ........................................................................97 2.4.9 Inappropriate use of public funds ......................................................99 2.5 Correctional institutions .................................................................................101 2.5.1 Introduction ......................................................................................101 2.5.2 COVID-19 in facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders .......................................102 2.5.3 Targeted operation in Garsten correctional institution ..................111 2.5.4 Body searches with disrobement ......................................................112 2.5.5 Health care .......................................................................................114 2.5.6 Women in prison ..............................................................................119 2.5.7 Adolescents ......................................................................................121 2.5.8 Evidence of torture, maltreatment, abuse, neglect and degrading treatment ........................................................................124