CRI(2015)34 ECRI REPORT ON AUSTRIA (fifth monitoring cycle) Adopted on 16 June 2015 Published on 13 October 2015 ECRI Secretariat Directorate General II - Democracy Council of Europe F-67075 STRASBOURG Cedex Tel.: + 33 (0) 3 90 21 46 62 Fax: + 33 (0) 3 88 41 39 87 E-mail: [email protected] www.coe.int/ecri ECRI REPORT ON AUSTRIA (fifth monitoring cycle) Adopted on 16 June 2015 Published on 13 October 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................ 7 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 9 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................... 11 I. COMMON TOPICS ......................................................................................... 11 1. LEGISLATION AGAINST RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ........................ 11 - PROTOCOL NO. 12 TO THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (ECHR) .................................................................................................... 11 - CRIMINAL LAW ........................................................................................... 11 - CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW ................................................................. 13 - SPECIALISED NATIONAL BODIES .................................................................. 16 2. HATE SPEECH ........................................................................................... 17 - EXTENT OF THE PHENOMENON ................................................................... 17 - RESPONSES TO HATE SPEECH .................................................................... 21 3. RACIST AND HOMO/TRANSPHOBIC VIOLENCE ............................................... 23 4. INTEGRATION POLICIES .............................................................................. 24 - PERSONS WITH MIGRATION BACKGROUNDS ................................................. 24 - EFFECTS OF INTEGRATION POLICIES FOR PERSONS WITH MIGRATION BACKGROUNDS ......................................................................................... 25 - ROMA ....................................................................................................... 29 II. TOPICS SPECIFIC TO AUSTRIA ................................................................... 30 1. INTERIM FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FOURTH CYCLE ................ 30 2. POLICIES TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION AND INTOLERANCE AGAINST LGBT PERSONS ........................................................................................ 30 - LEGISLATION ............................................................................................. 31 - POLICIES .................................................................................................. 32 INTERIM FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................... 35 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 37 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 41 5 FOREWORD The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), established by the Council of Europe, is an independent human rights monitoring body specialised in questions relating to racism and intolerance. It is composed of independent and impartial members appointed on the basis of their moral authority and recognised expertise in dealing with racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. In the framework of its statutory activities, ECRI conducts country-by-country monitoring work, which analyses the situation in each of the member States regarding racism and intolerance and draws up suggestions and proposals for dealing with the problems identified. ECRI’s country-by-country monitoring deals with all member States of the Council of Europe on an equal footing. The work takes place in 5-year cycles, covering 9-10 countries per year. The reports of the first round were completed at the end of 1998, those of the second round at the end of 2002 and those of the third round at the end of 2007, and those of the fourth round will be completed at the beginning of 2014. Work on the fifth round reports started in November 2012. The working methods for the preparation of the reports involve documentary analyses, a visit to the country concerned, and then a confidential dialogue with the national authorities. ECRI’s reports are not the result of inquiries or testimonial evidence. They are analyses based on a great deal of information gathered from a wide variety of sources. Documentary studies are based on a large number of national and international written sources. The in situ visit provides the opportunity to meet with the parties directly concerned (both governmental and non-governmental) with a view to gathering detailed information. The process of confidential dialogue with the national authorities allows the latter to provide, if they consider it necessary, comments on the draft report, with a view to correcting any possible factual errors which the report might contain. At the end of the dialogue, the national authorities may request, if they so wish, that their viewpoints be appended to the final ECRI report. The fifth round country-by-country reports focus on four topics common to all member States: (1) Legislative issues, (2) Hate speech, (3) Violence, (4) Integration policies and a number of topics specific to each one of them. The fourth-cycle interim recommendations not implemented or partially implemented during the fourth monitoring cycle will be followed up in this connection. In the framework of the fifth cycle, priority implementation is requested again for two specific recommendations chosen from those made in the report. A process of interim follow-up for these two recommendations will be conducted by ECRI no later than two years following the publication of this report. The following report was drawn up by ECRI under its own responsibility. It covers the situation at 20 March 2015; developments since that date are neither covered in the following analysis nor taken into account in the conclusions and proposals therein. 7 SUMMARY Since the adoption of ECRI’s fourth report on Austria on 15 December 2009, progress has been made in a number of fields. The authorities are in the process of improving the criminal law provisions against racism and intolerance. They also consider ratifying the Additional Protocol to the Convention against Cybercrime. According to the 2013 government platform, the enforcement of the right to equal treatment will be evaluated and a new legislative proposal aims at extending the protection against discrimination. Since 2012 the Austrian Ombudsman Board (AOB) has an explicit mandate, vested in the constitution, to examine complaints on violation of human rights on the part of public authorities. The police and prosecution services have invested considerable resources in investigating hate speech and intensified human rights training for their staff. In autumn 2014 an inter-ministerial summit on combating hate speech took place and the government has run several campaigns towards a balanced debate on migration and foreigners. In response to an ECRI recommendation, the Austrian Press Council was re-established in 2010. Some media have played an important role in combating hate speech and Google has introduced rules for removing online hate speech. In 2010, the first ever National Action Plan on Integration was adopted. The authorities have set up a system of 25 integration indicators to measure its impact. The annual surveys on attitudes towards integration show improvements. The Expert Council for Integration conducts regular evaluations and makes recommendations for improvement such as strengthening the concept of “Integration from the beginning”. A free compulsory pre-school year has been introduced and children with migration backgrounds benefit from language support in kindergartens. Also in 2010, Austria created a special regime of registered partnership for same sex couples. Since then, the courts have annulled several discriminatory provisions and lowered the preconditions for legal gender recognition of transsexual persons. The Vienna Antidiscrimination Office for Same-sex and Transgender Life-styles is tasked with eliminating discrimination and establishing a social climate where all persons can live as equals. The living conditions of LGB persons are improving. ECRI welcomes these positive developments in Austria. However, despite the progress achieved, some issues give rise to concern. Austria has not ratified Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights. Several criminal law provisions only cover national socialist motivated, but not all racist motivated acts. The high number of anti-discrimination acts and institutions undermines their effectiveness. The Equal Treatment Act of the Federation does not contain a clear prohibition of all discrimination; nor does it place public authorities under the duty to promote equality. Outside the field of employment, it only prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender and ethnicity. The Ombud for Equal Treatment (OET) is not fully independent and does not have the power to provide legal aid and represent victims in court proceedings. In recent times, antipathy towards migrants has considerably increased. Several political parties and other organisations