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COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORTS OF AUSTRIA
08 August 2008
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Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination 8 August 2008
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the fifteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Austria, submitted in one document, on how that State party is fulfilling its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Brigitte Ohms, Deputy Head of the Division for International Affairs and General Administrative Affairs in the Federal Chancellery of Austria, introducing the report, said that a tolerant social climate was highly influenced by public figures, including politicians in Austria. The Austrian Government was therefore trying to set a good example through their public commitment for tolerance in society, in particular by avoiding and denouncing verbal radicalism. Among anti-discrimination prevention measures taken by Austria were numerous initiatives to raise awareness of discrimination issues, such as the training of key personnel of the Ministries of the Economy and Labour, of Justice and of the Interior; comprehensive sensitization training on interaction with persons and groups from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds for the police force; and an intensification of activities in the field of tolerance and human rights education in schools. Most recently, the Government had developed tools to pursue and prosecute complaints against racist acts. Such tools included the amendments to the mandates of the Equal Treatment Commissions and of the Ombudsperson, which were now extended to cover discrimination based on grounds of ethnic origin or religion. Furthermore, the Austrian broadcasting law offered a legal control mechanism to everybody claiming that a massive violation of his specific personal interests had taken place.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Ion Diaconu, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted that persons from certain ethnic or racial groups had more extensive rights than other groups in Austria. Why had the rights granted to the Croats and Slovenes not been extended to others? There was a great need for specific data on measures taken to sanction racist or discriminatory acts in order to assess those measures. New legislation and institutional measures taken by Austria were welcomed, but there were still concerns about the political processes in relation to discrimination. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic that Austria had the will and the means to achieve the goal of eliminating racial discrimination, and that the non-governmental organizations would be very close partners in that process.
Questions and concerns were raised by Committee Experts on a number of issues, including xenophobic and racist attitudes apparent in the law enforcement sector; the status of the National Action Plan against Racism; the rise of xenophobic and racist manifestations in the country, specifically with the increase of neo-Nazi organizations; the inaccuracy of demographic data on persons belonging to minorities; the imposition of very long periods of detention on asylum-seekers waiting for deportation, and other forms of racial discrimination to which such detainees were subject. In that connection, serious concerns were raised on reports of deaths in detention or physical abuse by the police against persons from Gambia and Mauritania.
The Committee reviewed the report of Austria over two meetings and will issue its concluding observations and recommendations at the end of the session on 15 August.
Austria is one of the 173 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and is obligated to submit periodic reports on implementation of the provisions of the Convention. It is also one of the 53 States parties who have recognized the competence of the Committee under article 14 of the Convention to consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation by States parties of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.
Austria's delegation, which presented the report, included representatives from the Federal Chancellery; the Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Education; the Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office; and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. it will begin consideration of the fourth to sixth periodic reports of Switzerland (CERD/C/CHE/6).
Report of Austria
The combined fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth periodic reports of Austria (CERD/C/AUT/17), notes recent legislative measures Austria has taken in order to eradicate any incitement to racial discrimination as well as acts of racial discrimination, including the inclusion in the Austrian Penal Code of the criminal offence of incitement; the National Socialist Prohibition Act; the aggravating circumstance of committing a racist or xenophobic act; the administrative offence of discrimination on racial grounds; and the possibility to dissolve unlawful associations and gatherings according to the relevant provisions of the Association Act and the Assembly Act. Austria also enacted a law affording general protection against racial discrimination by adopting the new Equal Treatment Law, which entered into force on 1 July 2004. The new legislation on equal treatment serves primarily to transpose the two anti-discrimination directives that were adopted by the European Union, namely implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (Anti-Racism Directive), and establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (Equal Treatment Framework Directive), which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Moreover, Austria took several measures in recent years in connection with the Foreign Citizens Employment Act in order to further improve the integration of labour migrants and their family members into the labour market. Recent measures relate, for example, to the transposition of European Union Directives concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents; the right to family reunification; and Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the right of citizens of the Union, in which the Foreign Citizens Employment Act and Federal Law Gazettes were amended to incorporate the following legal titles under EU legislation into the existing system of access to the labour market, as contained in the Foreign Citizens Employment Act. In its international efforts regarding the elimination of racial discrimination, Austria actively supports the implementation of the decisions of the bodies of the Council of Europe and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the above-mentioned fields and, in particular, the activities of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, of the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights.
Presentation of Report
BRIGITTE OHMS, Deputy Head of the Division for International Affairs and General Administrative Affairs at the Legal Service in the Federal Chancellery of Austria, introducing the report, said that a tolerant social climate was highly influenced by public figures, including politicians in Austria. The Austrian Government was trying to set a good example through their public commitment for tolerance in society, in particular by avoiding and denouncing verbal radicalism. Furthermore, the Austrian Government was placing particular emphasis on finding solutions through dialogue. The Austrian model of "social partnership" (Sozialpartnerschaft) set a prominent and efficient example for working towards an equal distribution of wealth in society. In Austria's view, this idea of mutual support also promoted a social climate of tolerance and openness, since open and trustful dialogue with each other had been an effective recipe for promoting respect, knowledge, and sympathy.
Austria offered a high-quality education and health care system to all citizens, noted Ms. Ohms. In addition, the concept of social balance and dialogue had been seen as the guiding principle of all measures of Austrian anti-racism policy.
Ms. Ohms enumerated some examples of the Austrian preventative measures, inter alia, numerous initiatives taken to raise awareness of discrimination issues, such as the training of key personnel of the Ministries of the Economy and Labour, of Justice and of the Interior; comprehensive sensitization training on interaction with persons and groups from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds for the police force; and an intensification of activities in the field of tolerance and human rights education in schools.
Moreover, Austria gathered information on all forms of discrimination, including racist, xenophobic and related intolerance in the country in various ways. In that context, Ms. Ohms drew attention to the close cooperation of the Austrian Government with the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency. Since 2007, the statistics collected on right-wing xenophobia/racism, as well as anti-Semitism included acts motivated by Islamophobia on a separate basis as well as an analysis of the incidents recorded.
The Advisory Board for Human Rights, the independent body responsible for monitoring, from a human rights perspective, the activities of the security authorities, had issued recommendations on discriminatory use of language; large-scale police operations; hunger strikes by persons detained prior to deportation; border surveillance posts; and the holding of pre-deportation detainees in prisons. In response to the recommendation on avoiding racist expressions, the Federal Minister of the Interior had issued a decree in 2002 concerning the use of appropriate language by law enforcement officers, Ms. Ohms observed.
Ms. Ohms said in the military, officers and non-commissioned officers received training aimed at promoting the development of their cognitive and affective competencies, so as to promote a positive approach towards persons of diverse cultural backgrounds and to develop inter-cultural skills. In addition, all military personnel assigned to foreign deployment underwent specific training on the culture and religion of the population in the deployment area.
In October 2007, the Austrian Government had launched the process of the "Integration Platform", which was coordinated by the Ministry of Interior. As a starting point, a number of experts undertook studies assessing the status of integration in eight core fields (basic values and rights; education and language; employment and economics; security; housing; municipalities; participation; culture and media), which were published in January 2008. Public debate had been initiated by a series of consultations launched by the Minister of the Interior including representatives of civil society, religious communities, municipalities and social partners, Ms. Ohm said.
Ms. Ohm stressed that the Austrian education system aimed to promote values and principles of justice, equality and non-discrimination, democracy, fairness and friendship, tolerance and respect. The respective measures focused on citizenship and human rights education on the national and local level to encourage citizens to take a stand against racism, as illustrated in school curricula and in the education principle of "citizenship education".
Ms. Ohms drew attention to the fact that access to public services in Austria was provided in a non-discriminatory manner. Specific measures were taken to facilitate access to social services for people with migrant backgrounds, since they faced a particularly high risk of poverty and social exclusion. Such measures were not restricted to language courses to improve the migrant's language skills, but included specific guidance by job market services for persons whose mother tongue was not German; offering opportunities to complete lower level secondary education; specific training courses to enhance migrants' access to labour market segments requiring higher qualification; and programmes to assist in filing job applications.
Ms. Ohms noted that most recently the Austrian Government had developed tools to pursue and prosecute complaints against racist acts. Such tools included the amendments to the mandates of the Equal Treatment Commissions and of the Ombudsperson, which were now extended to cover discrimination based on grounds of, inter alia, ethnic origin or religion. They were also given additional resources. Furthermore, the Austrian broadcasting law offered a legal control mechanism to everybody claiming that a massive violation of his specific personal interests had taken place, for example when the moral development of juveniles was seriously impaired or that there had been a massive violation of the protection of human dignity by a TV or radio programme.
Moreover, Ms. Ohms noted that it was important to understand the Austrian twofold protection system for autochthonous minorities on the one hand, and migrant communities on the other. Like most European States, Austria distinguished between autochthonous national minorities, and migrant communities. Austria was striving to respond to the needs of both groups in an adequate way.
Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance
Responding to written questions submitted in advance by the Committee, the delegation said, with regard to missing statistics on minority data in the country, the Census conducted in 2001 needed to be referred to in order to get a sense of the ethnic make-up of the population in Austria. This summer, a subcommittee had been set-up to address minority issues in a more constructive way.
With regard to the application of Criminal Law in Austria and cases brought in this area, the delegation noted that the National Socialist Prohibition Act, 1947, prohibited various activities inspired by any form of neo-Nazism, and banned those organizations and activities, and also prohibited public denial, approval or justification of National Socialist crimes. The Act provided for Draconian punishments, reaching a maximum of a lifetime sentence. The number of convictions remained high compared to the past; however, there was a decreasing tendency. There had been 13 acquittals in 2006. From 1994 to 2000 the average conviction rate per year had been 3 convictions, which since then had increased to 10 per year.
The delegation said the Equal Treatment Act of 4 August 2008 provided protections against discrimination on different grounds and also included protections on racial discrimination inside and outside employment. Some changes that were included in the Act included: the increased time limit for filing a claim from six months to one year; an improvement in the protection against victimization; and the possibility to claim damages in the case of job loss. The Equal Treatment Commission focused on individual complaints in a non-binding situation. The Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office was responsible for giving advice on cases and submitting recommendations to the Austrian Government. Both entities presented a report on the implementation of the equal treatment law to the National Council every two years. That report contained information about the activities and observations of the Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office, the proceedings before the Commission and the other activities of the Commission. Every four years, contributions of the organizations representing the interests of employees and employers were attached to the report.
It was noted by the delegation that a very broad based approach was used in the aim of forming a general opinion on the concept of integration and pluralistic multicultural diversity. In 2005, a permanent process had been put in place for human rights training which had, inter alia, created a manual on human rights that was available for download on the Ministry of the Interior website. That handbook was used to train officials and law enforcement officers. Training programmes were required at the initial stages of a law enforcement officer's career, and were an ongoing requirement for an officer to move up in rank.
On the protections and rights granted to asylum-seekers, the delegation said that, since May 2004, a comprehensive agreement had come into force for asylum-seekers, where assistance was received in the same way across the country. All nine Federal states and the Federal Government had implemented those measures.
With regard to progress in the educational system with respect to ethnic groups, the delegation said that bilingual instruction was regarded as a priority and the Government provided training programmes to assist the teachers in preparation in that regard. Programmes had been established which introduced interactive teaching methods. The bilingual training programmes had been evaluated in German and Slovenian and the result was a high level of satisfaction from pupils and parents.
Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts
ION DIACONU, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted, on the positive side, the adoption of the amendment to the Austrian Law on Equal Treatment, which added discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin, religion or ideology, established new institutions and procedures to deal with complaints of violations (the Equal Treatment Commission and the Panels), and provided for the involvement of non-governmental organizations in such procedures to represent victims or as third parties.
Mr. Diaconu also noted the activity of the Advisory Board for Human Rights, with the aim of reviewing the activity of some law enforcement agencies, detecting structural deficiencies and drafting reports and recommendations to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It was very important that Austria was the host country of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, which was considered as a monitoring body close to Austrian realities. Also on the positive side, were the Federal Basic Care and Maintenance Act regarding asylum-seekers, adopted as a reaction to the concerns expressed by the Committee, and the Agreement on that subject between the Federal and the regional authorities.
The application of the Convention had to be applied to each and every person, who included both national and foreigners in the country. However, while demographic data on persons belonging to minorities had been included in the Austrian written report, the accuracy of such data depended on how they were obtained and there were doubts about them, Mr. Diaconu observed. As for minorities, Austria referred to censuses. One question which arose was what were the criteria used, what were the questions asked in the census; it was noted further that if such questions or criteria did not lead to adequate data, they had to be modified. For instance, that any reference to the ethnic origin and any quantification of national minorities were rejected due to personal fears related to historic trauma, or due to fears that this would lead to a reduction of funding, or that the climate between the minority and the majority might become strained because of political controversial discussions. In a democratic society committed to diversity and to respect for identities, such an argument did not justify the absence of such data.
Asylum-seekers formed another category of persons who had been subject of various forms of racial discrimination noted Mr. Diaconu. In fact, many reports referred to the very long period of detention for asylum-seekers waiting for deportation. Serious concerns included reports of deaths in detention or physical abuse by the police against persons from Gambia and Mauritania.
The Convention was not directly applicable in Austria, along with other international treaties on human rights, except the 1950 European Convention on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. That made it necessary to adopt comprehensive national legislation and, in a federal state, regional legislation, inasmuch as regions were competent in some fields. Austria had to adopt adequate and comprehensive legislative provisions for the implementation of the Convention in its entirety, Mr. Diaconu insisted.
Many sources were reporting cases of people of African or Latin-American origin being denied entrance to bars and other locales intended for the general public, Mr. Diaconu noted. Further, it was a matter of concern that there had been a very weak reaction by the police and of the population to this issue. The Mayor of Graz had had to intervene, as reported, to see a sanction applied to a bar owner, being concerned for the image of his city as cultural capital of Europe. The Federal Government and the local authorities had to take resolute measures to put an end to such a discriminatory behaviour, including when necessary by suspending or withdrawing licences.
According to reports, in administration and in the courts the use of minority languages in the areas in which they were living needed an effort from persons belonging to such minorities to exercise their rights; in many cases, in municipalities where such minorities lived there was no public official speaking their language, Mr. Diaconu observed. Furthermore, the number of people speaking minority languages and the proficiency in these languages were dramatically decreasing. It was recommended that Austria take measures to help the Slovene and other minorities to preserve their identity, notably in the fields of the use of their mother tongues in education, in administration, judiciary, media, and through participation in public life.
Mr. Diaconu said that many reports noted that, in the political parties, mainly during electoral campaigns, and in the population in general, racist and xenophobic tendencies were manifested; racist and xenophobic articles were published, like in the magazine Tangente and in the newspaper Tips; people were not reacting to racist attacks committed in public. The persistence of the racist and xenophobic discourse against Muslims, Jews, Africans and persons belonging to ethnic minorities in political circles, in the media, on the internet, in some segments of the population was a matter of serious concern.
Mr. Diaconu recommended that Austria initiate resolute activities and measures targeting the entire society to combat such tendencies, to promote interculturalism and tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, respect for human dignity, for human rights and fundamental freedoms for everybody. A more extensive process of education for all seemed to be necessary, in order to overcome the trauma of the past and draw from it the positive lessons, and prevent and reject manifestations of extremism nationalism, of hostility against minorities in some parts of the country, of propagating racism and sometimes glorifying National-Socialist ideology.
Committee Experts noted concerns, among others, on the question of national minorities recognized in Austria, which meant that some minorities were not covered in the data presented in the written report; the distinctions between national minorities and naturalized persons with a migration background, as well as the differences between national and ethnic minorities; the xenophobic and racist manifestations in the country; xenophobic and racist attitudes in the law enforcement sector, and particularly, the ill-treatment and humiliation carried out by the police, and the language used by them. On the issue of migrants and minorities, and the difficulties these people encountered in trying to integrate into communities, it was noted that there were some 100,000 to 300,000 undocumented foreign nationals in Vienna and their rights needed to be protected and promoted to all levels in the State. Concern was raised about the postponement of the national action plan against racism and xenophobia which had been scheduled for adoption in 2008, due to the forthcoming national elections.
A number of Experts asked for more information about the roots of the recent re-emergence of neo-Nazi groups. In the report, Austria explained that it did not gather data on national minorities, and that the national minorities themselves rejected statistical surveys on such affiliations, arguing that that might be due to historical trauma. In that connection, was Austria considering the launch of a national campaign to address the problem in order to obtain more accurate data in future?
Response by Delegation to Oral Questions
In response to oral questions raised by Committee Experts with regard to the differences between national minorities and ethnic minorities, the delegation said that national minorities referred to Austrian nationals who had existed for over 100 hundred years in the country, lived in specific areas, and had a non-German mother-tongue. They received specific funding which had supported their mother-tongue language. Ethnic minorities referred to Austrian nationals who had recently entered the country and were not born in the State, but also enjoyed the same protections granted to all other citizens. It was also noted that data existed for these groups concerning income, main sources of income and unemployment data.
With regard to Austria's relationship with the Islamic community, the delegation noted that Islam was recognized as a corporation under Austrian Law. The Government maintained excellent relations with the Muslim community.
The delegation noted that maintaining pluralism within the media was very important to Austria. In 2007, 13 million euro was granted to ensure that pluralism was maintained throughout media outlets in Austria. These media were independent entities. A legal mechanism was also in force in Austria as a preventative and warning measure for media content.
With regard to concerns on legislative measures to combat racism and racial discrimination, the delegation said that any participation in neo-Nazi organizations or activities was punishable by law with a maximum punishment of 20 years of imprisonment. The National Socialist Prohibition Act and some provisions of the Criminal Code covered acts of racial discrimination. As for concerns raised on amendments to Criminal Code section 283, the term of office of the present Austrian Government had come to an end and as such it was up to the next Government to address those concerns and make the necessary changes.
On training measures for the judiciary, judges and prosecutors had been trained through a series of seminars on the role of courts in asylum procedures, the delegation said. In addition, at the 2007 Judges Week (a weeklong conference for all judges across Austria) a discussion was dedicated to human rights and racial discrimination; and six seminars dealing with raising awareness of discrimination within the judiciary had also been implemented.
Austria had also continued to improve the situation of victims of racism and racial discrimination. For instance, victims were granted free legal recourse, and compensation. Section 66 of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which had entered into force on 1 January of 2008, granted free legal aid and psycho-social support for such victims. Victims were made aware of those rights upon their first interaction with law enforcement officers. Moreover, significant funding for social counselling services and legal aid had been allocated by the Austrian Government and the amount increased steadily, with 17,000 euros having been allocated in 2000 growing to 4.5 million euros in 2008. The number of beneficiaries had also grown, with 52 people in 2000 and over 2,000 individuals in 2006 having made use of these services.
The critique by Committee Experts with regard to the law of Equal Treatment being quite scattered was welcomed by the delegation. It was noted that reasons for the many segments of the Equal Treatment law (divided into some 20 acts) was owing both to historical developments (when a series of different international standards transposed into national law), and also related to the make-up of governance in Austria, with its 9 provinces.
Measures had been taken to raise awareness of rights afforded to victims of discrimination, such measures included the publication of the Equal Rights in Daily Life brochure; and the establishment of pertinent bodies in the 9 provinces, the delegation observed.
In combating discrimination, administrative provisions were taken to fine providers of goods and services if an individual was found to have been discriminated against. There was one special Ombudsman responsible for access to goods and services, and who had the competence to file cases to the Equal Treatment Commission in this regard.
With regard to concerns on law enforcement officers use of discriminatory treatment, the delegation noted that a complaints unit had been established within the Ministry of the Interior and was centralized for all of Austria. A total of 357 appeals had been launched in 2006 and 447 in 2007. Those complaints mainly concerned verbal abuse and each one of the complaints had been examined by civil servants of different administrative units than the one in which the individual filing the complaint belonged, to ensure impartiality. As a result, there were disciplinary consequences for the law enforcement officer involved, and in a number of cases steep fines had been levied. The Ministry of the Interior issued a decree to all subsidiary bodies giving indications to how one would proceed in cases where discrimination was alleged. The decree outlined that in such a case the Public Prosecutor's Office had to be informed immediately, following which notification was issued to Internal Affairs Office (an investigative body within the Ministry of Interior).
The Internal Affairs Office, which had been set up in 2003, was an independent group which dealt with complaints outside the police administration. Those officers were trained and if they had obtained knowledge of possible punishable activities or had been asked to intervene in such a case by the Public Prosecutor's Office, they were competent to take action.
Furthermore, the delegation noted that each victim of discrimination committed by a law enforcement officer was entitled to receive compensation from the Austrian Government. However, it was noted that 90 per cent of complaints had not led to a condemnation. Not every complaint was justified where misbehaviour was established. If this type of behaviour was not covered under the law, it was not punishable by law; however, in such cases disciplinary measures had been taken.
Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts
In a second round of oral questions raised by Committee Experts, Experts asked questions regarding Government financial assistance for the press; whether Austria was in conformity with article 4 provisions regarding prohibition of propaganda and organizations that spread racial hatred; what conditions non-governmental organizations had to fulfil to be involved in court cases; whether the burden of proof for plaintiffs in discrimination cases was reversed in civil and criminal cases; and whether cultural and sporting events were used to encourage and support respect and understanding between individuals of different ethnic origins. A Committee Expert had serious concerns with regard to the definition and practice of inter-cultural bilingualism as a priority when xenophobia and neo-Nazi movements were on the rise in Austria.
Replies by the Delegation
In response to the second round of oral questions, with regard to the financing of the press, the delegation noted that one purpose of such financing was the to extend the scope of the publications and newspapers.
With regard to the use of cultural and sporting events for integration of migrants, the delegation said that a sporting event took place in 2008 with the European Championships hosted by Austria. Concerning the field of culture, such projects implemented included a trilingual theatre with actors speaking in the Romanian, German and Croatian languages; the "Cook Together" programme, where migrants took cooking classes together; a "Hungry for Arts and Culture" initiative, where migrants could go to museums together; and a "Dance for Tolerance" programme, which was held in five districts of Vienna.
In response to questions raised on the role of non-governmental organizations in the appeals made by individuals through the Equal Treatment Act, the delegation said that non-governmental organizations were granted the right to represent victims before the Equal Treatment Commission, and no prerequisites existed. However, before civil court proceedings a private lawyer was required to have a case brought before the courts. With regard to the question of the shifting of the burden of proof, it was noted that section 26 of the Equal Treatment Act provided a kind of shift of the burden of proof, but was not completely transposed as in accordance to the European Union directives on racism and discrimination.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
ION DIACONU, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted that the Committee had received responses to all the questions posed, and had gained insight into the political and historical context of Austria. It was not necessarily the fact that the Committee was satisfied with the answers, specifically concerning minorities. Persons from certain ethnic or racial groups had more extensive rights granted than other groups in the country. International instruments provided for equal rights for everyone and specific rights for persons belonging to minorities in language, culture and religion. Why had the rights granted to the Croats and Slovenes not been extended to others? With regard to the press, specific measures, i.e. subsidies for newspapers in the mother tongue of minorities no matter how small the group was, had been considered a special measure in the mind of the Committee. There was a great need for specific data on measures taken to sanction racist or discriminatory acts in order to assess those measures.
Mr. Diaconu welcomed the new legislation and institutional measures taken by Austria in this area. There were still concerns about the political processes in relation to discrimination, but he remained optimistic that Austria had the will and the means to achieve the goal of eliminating racial discrimination, and that the non-governmental organizations would be very close partners in that process. He thanked the delegation for a fruitful and constructive dialogue.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
of Racial Discrimination 8 August 2008
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the fifteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Austria, submitted in one document, on how that State party is fulfilling its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Brigitte Ohms, Deputy Head of the Division for International Affairs and General Administrative Affairs in the Federal Chancellery of Austria, introducing the report, said that a tolerant social climate was highly influenced by public figures, including politicians in Austria. The Austrian Government was therefore trying to set a good example through their public commitment for tolerance in society, in particular by avoiding and denouncing verbal radicalism. Among anti-discrimination prevention measures taken by Austria were numerous initiatives to raise awareness of discrimination issues, such as the training of key personnel of the Ministries of the Economy and Labour, of Justice and of the Interior; comprehensive sensitization training on interaction with persons and groups from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds for the police force; and an intensification of activities in the field of tolerance and human rights education in schools. Most recently, the Government had developed tools to pursue and prosecute complaints against racist acts. Such tools included the amendments to the mandates of the Equal Treatment Commissions and of the Ombudsperson, which were now extended to cover discrimination based on grounds of ethnic origin or religion. Furthermore, the Austrian broadcasting law offered a legal control mechanism to everybody claiming that a massive violation of his specific personal interests had taken place.
In preliminary concluding remarks, Ion Diaconu, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted that persons from certain ethnic or racial groups had more extensive rights than other groups in Austria. Why had the rights granted to the Croats and Slovenes not been extended to others? There was a great need for specific data on measures taken to sanction racist or discriminatory acts in order to assess those measures. New legislation and institutional measures taken by Austria were welcomed, but there were still concerns about the political processes in relation to discrimination. Nevertheless, he remained optimistic that Austria had the will and the means to achieve the goal of eliminating racial discrimination, and that the non-governmental organizations would be very close partners in that process.
Questions and concerns were raised by Committee Experts on a number of issues, including xenophobic and racist attitudes apparent in the law enforcement sector; the status of the National Action Plan against Racism; the rise of xenophobic and racist manifestations in the country, specifically with the increase of neo-Nazi organizations; the inaccuracy of demographic data on persons belonging to minorities; the imposition of very long periods of detention on asylum-seekers waiting for deportation, and other forms of racial discrimination to which such detainees were subject. In that connection, serious concerns were raised on reports of deaths in detention or physical abuse by the police against persons from Gambia and Mauritania.
The Committee reviewed the report of Austria over two meetings and will issue its concluding observations and recommendations at the end of the session on 15 August.
Austria is one of the 173 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and is obligated to submit periodic reports on implementation of the provisions of the Convention. It is also one of the 53 States parties who have recognized the competence of the Committee under article 14 of the Convention to consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation by States parties of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.
Austria's delegation, which presented the report, included representatives from the Federal Chancellery; the Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Education; the Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office; and the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. it will begin consideration of the fourth to sixth periodic reports of Switzerland (CERD/C/CHE/6).
Report of Austria
The combined fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth periodic reports of Austria (CERD/C/AUT/17), notes recent legislative measures Austria has taken in order to eradicate any incitement to racial discrimination as well as acts of racial discrimination, including the inclusion in the Austrian Penal Code of the criminal offence of incitement; the National Socialist Prohibition Act; the aggravating circumstance of committing a racist or xenophobic act; the administrative offence of discrimination on racial grounds; and the possibility to dissolve unlawful associations and gatherings according to the relevant provisions of the Association Act and the Assembly Act. Austria also enacted a law affording general protection against racial discrimination by adopting the new Equal Treatment Law, which entered into force on 1 July 2004. The new legislation on equal treatment serves primarily to transpose the two anti-discrimination directives that were adopted by the European Union, namely implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (Anti-Racism Directive), and establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (Equal Treatment Framework Directive), which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Moreover, Austria took several measures in recent years in connection with the Foreign Citizens Employment Act in order to further improve the integration of labour migrants and their family members into the labour market. Recent measures relate, for example, to the transposition of European Union Directives concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents; the right to family reunification; and Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the right of citizens of the Union, in which the Foreign Citizens Employment Act and Federal Law Gazettes were amended to incorporate the following legal titles under EU legislation into the existing system of access to the labour market, as contained in the Foreign Citizens Employment Act. In its international efforts regarding the elimination of racial discrimination, Austria actively supports the implementation of the decisions of the bodies of the Council of Europe and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the above-mentioned fields and, in particular, the activities of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, of the European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights.
Presentation of Report
BRIGITTE OHMS, Deputy Head of the Division for International Affairs and General Administrative Affairs at the Legal Service in the Federal Chancellery of Austria, introducing the report, said that a tolerant social climate was highly influenced by public figures, including politicians in Austria. The Austrian Government was trying to set a good example through their public commitment for tolerance in society, in particular by avoiding and denouncing verbal radicalism. Furthermore, the Austrian Government was placing particular emphasis on finding solutions through dialogue. The Austrian model of "social partnership" (Sozialpartnerschaft) set a prominent and efficient example for working towards an equal distribution of wealth in society. In Austria's view, this idea of mutual support also promoted a social climate of tolerance and openness, since open and trustful dialogue with each other had been an effective recipe for promoting respect, knowledge, and sympathy.
Austria offered a high-quality education and health care system to all citizens, noted Ms. Ohms. In addition, the concept of social balance and dialogue had been seen as the guiding principle of all measures of Austrian anti-racism policy.
Ms. Ohms enumerated some examples of the Austrian preventative measures, inter alia, numerous initiatives taken to raise awareness of discrimination issues, such as the training of key personnel of the Ministries of the Economy and Labour, of Justice and of the Interior; comprehensive sensitization training on interaction with persons and groups from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds for the police force; and an intensification of activities in the field of tolerance and human rights education in schools.
Moreover, Austria gathered information on all forms of discrimination, including racist, xenophobic and related intolerance in the country in various ways. In that context, Ms. Ohms drew attention to the close cooperation of the Austrian Government with the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency. Since 2007, the statistics collected on right-wing xenophobia/racism, as well as anti-Semitism included acts motivated by Islamophobia on a separate basis as well as an analysis of the incidents recorded.
The Advisory Board for Human Rights, the independent body responsible for monitoring, from a human rights perspective, the activities of the security authorities, had issued recommendations on discriminatory use of language; large-scale police operations; hunger strikes by persons detained prior to deportation; border surveillance posts; and the holding of pre-deportation detainees in prisons. In response to the recommendation on avoiding racist expressions, the Federal Minister of the Interior had issued a decree in 2002 concerning the use of appropriate language by law enforcement officers, Ms. Ohms observed.
Ms. Ohms said in the military, officers and non-commissioned officers received training aimed at promoting the development of their cognitive and affective competencies, so as to promote a positive approach towards persons of diverse cultural backgrounds and to develop inter-cultural skills. In addition, all military personnel assigned to foreign deployment underwent specific training on the culture and religion of the population in the deployment area.
In October 2007, the Austrian Government had launched the process of the "Integration Platform", which was coordinated by the Ministry of Interior. As a starting point, a number of experts undertook studies assessing the status of integration in eight core fields (basic values and rights; education and language; employment and economics; security; housing; municipalities; participation; culture and media), which were published in January 2008. Public debate had been initiated by a series of consultations launched by the Minister of the Interior including representatives of civil society, religious communities, municipalities and social partners, Ms. Ohm said.
Ms. Ohm stressed that the Austrian education system aimed to promote values and principles of justice, equality and non-discrimination, democracy, fairness and friendship, tolerance and respect. The respective measures focused on citizenship and human rights education on the national and local level to encourage citizens to take a stand against racism, as illustrated in school curricula and in the education principle of "citizenship education".
Ms. Ohms drew attention to the fact that access to public services in Austria was provided in a non-discriminatory manner. Specific measures were taken to facilitate access to social services for people with migrant backgrounds, since they faced a particularly high risk of poverty and social exclusion. Such measures were not restricted to language courses to improve the migrant's language skills, but included specific guidance by job market services for persons whose mother tongue was not German; offering opportunities to complete lower level secondary education; specific training courses to enhance migrants' access to labour market segments requiring higher qualification; and programmes to assist in filing job applications.
Ms. Ohms noted that most recently the Austrian Government had developed tools to pursue and prosecute complaints against racist acts. Such tools included the amendments to the mandates of the Equal Treatment Commissions and of the Ombudsperson, which were now extended to cover discrimination based on grounds of, inter alia, ethnic origin or religion. They were also given additional resources. Furthermore, the Austrian broadcasting law offered a legal control mechanism to everybody claiming that a massive violation of his specific personal interests had taken place, for example when the moral development of juveniles was seriously impaired or that there had been a massive violation of the protection of human dignity by a TV or radio programme.
Moreover, Ms. Ohms noted that it was important to understand the Austrian twofold protection system for autochthonous minorities on the one hand, and migrant communities on the other. Like most European States, Austria distinguished between autochthonous national minorities, and migrant communities. Austria was striving to respond to the needs of both groups in an adequate way.
Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance
Responding to written questions submitted in advance by the Committee, the delegation said, with regard to missing statistics on minority data in the country, the Census conducted in 2001 needed to be referred to in order to get a sense of the ethnic make-up of the population in Austria. This summer, a subcommittee had been set-up to address minority issues in a more constructive way.
With regard to the application of Criminal Law in Austria and cases brought in this area, the delegation noted that the National Socialist Prohibition Act, 1947, prohibited various activities inspired by any form of neo-Nazism, and banned those organizations and activities, and also prohibited public denial, approval or justification of National Socialist crimes. The Act provided for Draconian punishments, reaching a maximum of a lifetime sentence. The number of convictions remained high compared to the past; however, there was a decreasing tendency. There had been 13 acquittals in 2006. From 1994 to 2000 the average conviction rate per year had been 3 convictions, which since then had increased to 10 per year.
The delegation said the Equal Treatment Act of 4 August 2008 provided protections against discrimination on different grounds and also included protections on racial discrimination inside and outside employment. Some changes that were included in the Act included: the increased time limit for filing a claim from six months to one year; an improvement in the protection against victimization; and the possibility to claim damages in the case of job loss. The Equal Treatment Commission focused on individual complaints in a non-binding situation. The Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office was responsible for giving advice on cases and submitting recommendations to the Austrian Government. Both entities presented a report on the implementation of the equal treatment law to the National Council every two years. That report contained information about the activities and observations of the Equal Treatment Ombudsman's Office, the proceedings before the Commission and the other activities of the Commission. Every four years, contributions of the organizations representing the interests of employees and employers were attached to the report.
It was noted by the delegation that a very broad based approach was used in the aim of forming a general opinion on the concept of integration and pluralistic multicultural diversity. In 2005, a permanent process had been put in place for human rights training which had, inter alia, created a manual on human rights that was available for download on the Ministry of the Interior website. That handbook was used to train officials and law enforcement officers. Training programmes were required at the initial stages of a law enforcement officer's career, and were an ongoing requirement for an officer to move up in rank.
On the protections and rights granted to asylum-seekers, the delegation said that, since May 2004, a comprehensive agreement had come into force for asylum-seekers, where assistance was received in the same way across the country. All nine Federal states and the Federal Government had implemented those measures.
With regard to progress in the educational system with respect to ethnic groups, the delegation said that bilingual instruction was regarded as a priority and the Government provided training programmes to assist the teachers in preparation in that regard. Programmes had been established which introduced interactive teaching methods. The bilingual training programmes had been evaluated in German and Slovenian and the result was a high level of satisfaction from pupils and parents.
Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts
ION DIACONU, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted, on the positive side, the adoption of the amendment to the Austrian Law on Equal Treatment, which added discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin, religion or ideology, established new institutions and procedures to deal with complaints of violations (the Equal Treatment Commission and the Panels), and provided for the involvement of non-governmental organizations in such procedures to represent victims or as third parties.
Mr. Diaconu also noted the activity of the Advisory Board for Human Rights, with the aim of reviewing the activity of some law enforcement agencies, detecting structural deficiencies and drafting reports and recommendations to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It was very important that Austria was the host country of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, which was considered as a monitoring body close to Austrian realities. Also on the positive side, were the Federal Basic Care and Maintenance Act regarding asylum-seekers, adopted as a reaction to the concerns expressed by the Committee, and the Agreement on that subject between the Federal and the regional authorities.
The application of the Convention had to be applied to each and every person, who included both national and foreigners in the country. However, while demographic data on persons belonging to minorities had been included in the Austrian written report, the accuracy of such data depended on how they were obtained and there were doubts about them, Mr. Diaconu observed. As for minorities, Austria referred to censuses. One question which arose was what were the criteria used, what were the questions asked in the census; it was noted further that if such questions or criteria did not lead to adequate data, they had to be modified. For instance, that any reference to the ethnic origin and any quantification of national minorities were rejected due to personal fears related to historic trauma, or due to fears that this would lead to a reduction of funding, or that the climate between the minority and the majority might become strained because of political controversial discussions. In a democratic society committed to diversity and to respect for identities, such an argument did not justify the absence of such data.
Asylum-seekers formed another category of persons who had been subject of various forms of racial discrimination noted Mr. Diaconu. In fact, many reports referred to the very long period of detention for asylum-seekers waiting for deportation. Serious concerns included reports of deaths in detention or physical abuse by the police against persons from Gambia and Mauritania.
The Convention was not directly applicable in Austria, along with other international treaties on human rights, except the 1950 European Convention on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms. That made it necessary to adopt comprehensive national legislation and, in a federal state, regional legislation, inasmuch as regions were competent in some fields. Austria had to adopt adequate and comprehensive legislative provisions for the implementation of the Convention in its entirety, Mr. Diaconu insisted.
Many sources were reporting cases of people of African or Latin-American origin being denied entrance to bars and other locales intended for the general public, Mr. Diaconu noted. Further, it was a matter of concern that there had been a very weak reaction by the police and of the population to this issue. The Mayor of Graz had had to intervene, as reported, to see a sanction applied to a bar owner, being concerned for the image of his city as cultural capital of Europe. The Federal Government and the local authorities had to take resolute measures to put an end to such a discriminatory behaviour, including when necessary by suspending or withdrawing licences.
According to reports, in administration and in the courts the use of minority languages in the areas in which they were living needed an effort from persons belonging to such minorities to exercise their rights; in many cases, in municipalities where such minorities lived there was no public official speaking their language, Mr. Diaconu observed. Furthermore, the number of people speaking minority languages and the proficiency in these languages were dramatically decreasing. It was recommended that Austria take measures to help the Slovene and other minorities to preserve their identity, notably in the fields of the use of their mother tongues in education, in administration, judiciary, media, and through participation in public life.
Mr. Diaconu said that many reports noted that, in the political parties, mainly during electoral campaigns, and in the population in general, racist and xenophobic tendencies were manifested; racist and xenophobic articles were published, like in the magazine Tangente and in the newspaper Tips; people were not reacting to racist attacks committed in public. The persistence of the racist and xenophobic discourse against Muslims, Jews, Africans and persons belonging to ethnic minorities in political circles, in the media, on the internet, in some segments of the population was a matter of serious concern.
Mr. Diaconu recommended that Austria initiate resolute activities and measures targeting the entire society to combat such tendencies, to promote interculturalism and tolerance, respect for cultural diversity, respect for human dignity, for human rights and fundamental freedoms for everybody. A more extensive process of education for all seemed to be necessary, in order to overcome the trauma of the past and draw from it the positive lessons, and prevent and reject manifestations of extremism nationalism, of hostility against minorities in some parts of the country, of propagating racism and sometimes glorifying National-Socialist ideology.
Committee Experts noted concerns, among others, on the question of national minorities recognized in Austria, which meant that some minorities were not covered in the data presented in the written report; the distinctions between national minorities and naturalized persons with a migration background, as well as the differences between national and ethnic minorities; the xenophobic and racist manifestations in the country; xenophobic and racist attitudes in the law enforcement sector, and particularly, the ill-treatment and humiliation carried out by the police, and the language used by them. On the issue of migrants and minorities, and the difficulties these people encountered in trying to integrate into communities, it was noted that there were some 100,000 to 300,000 undocumented foreign nationals in Vienna and their rights needed to be protected and promoted to all levels in the State. Concern was raised about the postponement of the national action plan against racism and xenophobia which had been scheduled for adoption in 2008, due to the forthcoming national elections.
A number of Experts asked for more information about the roots of the recent re-emergence of neo-Nazi groups. In the report, Austria explained that it did not gather data on national minorities, and that the national minorities themselves rejected statistical surveys on such affiliations, arguing that that might be due to historical trauma. In that connection, was Austria considering the launch of a national campaign to address the problem in order to obtain more accurate data in future?
Response by Delegation to Oral Questions
In response to oral questions raised by Committee Experts with regard to the differences between national minorities and ethnic minorities, the delegation said that national minorities referred to Austrian nationals who had existed for over 100 hundred years in the country, lived in specific areas, and had a non-German mother-tongue. They received specific funding which had supported their mother-tongue language. Ethnic minorities referred to Austrian nationals who had recently entered the country and were not born in the State, but also enjoyed the same protections granted to all other citizens. It was also noted that data existed for these groups concerning income, main sources of income and unemployment data.
With regard to Austria's relationship with the Islamic community, the delegation noted that Islam was recognized as a corporation under Austrian Law. The Government maintained excellent relations with the Muslim community.
The delegation noted that maintaining pluralism within the media was very important to Austria. In 2007, 13 million euro was granted to ensure that pluralism was maintained throughout media outlets in Austria. These media were independent entities. A legal mechanism was also in force in Austria as a preventative and warning measure for media content.
With regard to concerns on legislative measures to combat racism and racial discrimination, the delegation said that any participation in neo-Nazi organizations or activities was punishable by law with a maximum punishment of 20 years of imprisonment. The National Socialist Prohibition Act and some provisions of the Criminal Code covered acts of racial discrimination. As for concerns raised on amendments to Criminal Code section 283, the term of office of the present Austrian Government had come to an end and as such it was up to the next Government to address those concerns and make the necessary changes.
On training measures for the judiciary, judges and prosecutors had been trained through a series of seminars on the role of courts in asylum procedures, the delegation said. In addition, at the 2007 Judges Week (a weeklong conference for all judges across Austria) a discussion was dedicated to human rights and racial discrimination; and six seminars dealing with raising awareness of discrimination within the judiciary had also been implemented.
Austria had also continued to improve the situation of victims of racism and racial discrimination. For instance, victims were granted free legal recourse, and compensation. Section 66 of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which had entered into force on 1 January of 2008, granted free legal aid and psycho-social support for such victims. Victims were made aware of those rights upon their first interaction with law enforcement officers. Moreover, significant funding for social counselling services and legal aid had been allocated by the Austrian Government and the amount increased steadily, with 17,000 euros having been allocated in 2000 growing to 4.5 million euros in 2008. The number of beneficiaries had also grown, with 52 people in 2000 and over 2,000 individuals in 2006 having made use of these services.
The critique by Committee Experts with regard to the law of Equal Treatment being quite scattered was welcomed by the delegation. It was noted that reasons for the many segments of the Equal Treatment law (divided into some 20 acts) was owing both to historical developments (when a series of different international standards transposed into national law), and also related to the make-up of governance in Austria, with its 9 provinces.
Measures had been taken to raise awareness of rights afforded to victims of discrimination, such measures included the publication of the Equal Rights in Daily Life brochure; and the establishment of pertinent bodies in the 9 provinces, the delegation observed.
In combating discrimination, administrative provisions were taken to fine providers of goods and services if an individual was found to have been discriminated against. There was one special Ombudsman responsible for access to goods and services, and who had the competence to file cases to the Equal Treatment Commission in this regard.
With regard to concerns on law enforcement officers use of discriminatory treatment, the delegation noted that a complaints unit had been established within the Ministry of the Interior and was centralized for all of Austria. A total of 357 appeals had been launched in 2006 and 447 in 2007. Those complaints mainly concerned verbal abuse and each one of the complaints had been examined by civil servants of different administrative units than the one in which the individual filing the complaint belonged, to ensure impartiality. As a result, there were disciplinary consequences for the law enforcement officer involved, and in a number of cases steep fines had been levied. The Ministry of the Interior issued a decree to all subsidiary bodies giving indications to how one would proceed in cases where discrimination was alleged. The decree outlined that in such a case the Public Prosecutor's Office had to be informed immediately, following which notification was issued to Internal Affairs Office (an investigative body within the Ministry of Interior).
The Internal Affairs Office, which had been set up in 2003, was an independent group which dealt with complaints outside the police administration. Those officers were trained and if they had obtained knowledge of possible punishable activities or had been asked to intervene in such a case by the Public Prosecutor's Office, they were competent to take action.
Furthermore, the delegation noted that each victim of discrimination committed by a law enforcement officer was entitled to receive compensation from the Austrian Government. However, it was noted that 90 per cent of complaints had not led to a condemnation. Not every complaint was justified where misbehaviour was established. If this type of behaviour was not covered under the law, it was not punishable by law; however, in such cases disciplinary measures had been taken.
Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts
In a second round of oral questions raised by Committee Experts, Experts asked questions regarding Government financial assistance for the press; whether Austria was in conformity with article 4 provisions regarding prohibition of propaganda and organizations that spread racial hatred; what conditions non-governmental organizations had to fulfil to be involved in court cases; whether the burden of proof for plaintiffs in discrimination cases was reversed in civil and criminal cases; and whether cultural and sporting events were used to encourage and support respect and understanding between individuals of different ethnic origins. A Committee Expert had serious concerns with regard to the definition and practice of inter-cultural bilingualism as a priority when xenophobia and neo-Nazi movements were on the rise in Austria.
Replies by the Delegation
In response to the second round of oral questions, with regard to the financing of the press, the delegation noted that one purpose of such financing was the to extend the scope of the publications and newspapers.
With regard to the use of cultural and sporting events for integration of migrants, the delegation said that a sporting event took place in 2008 with the European Championships hosted by Austria. Concerning the field of culture, such projects implemented included a trilingual theatre with actors speaking in the Romanian, German and Croatian languages; the "Cook Together" programme, where migrants took cooking classes together; a "Hungry for Arts and Culture" initiative, where migrants could go to museums together; and a "Dance for Tolerance" programme, which was held in five districts of Vienna.
In response to questions raised on the role of non-governmental organizations in the appeals made by individuals through the Equal Treatment Act, the delegation said that non-governmental organizations were granted the right to represent victims before the Equal Treatment Commission, and no prerequisites existed. However, before civil court proceedings a private lawyer was required to have a case brought before the courts. With regard to the question of the shifting of the burden of proof, it was noted that section 26 of the Equal Treatment Act provided a kind of shift of the burden of proof, but was not completely transposed as in accordance to the European Union directives on racism and discrimination.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
ION DIACONU, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Austria, noted that the Committee had received responses to all the questions posed, and had gained insight into the political and historical context of Austria. It was not necessarily the fact that the Committee was satisfied with the answers, specifically concerning minorities. Persons from certain ethnic or racial groups had more extensive rights granted than other groups in the country. International instruments provided for equal rights for everyone and specific rights for persons belonging to minorities in language, culture and religion. Why had the rights granted to the Croats and Slovenes not been extended to others? With regard to the press, specific measures, i.e. subsidies for newspapers in the mother tongue of minorities no matter how small the group was, had been considered a special measure in the mind of the Committee. There was a great need for specific data on measures taken to sanction racist or discriminatory acts in order to assess those measures.
Mr. Diaconu welcomed the new legislation and institutional measures taken by Austria in this area. There were still concerns about the political processes in relation to discrimination, but he remained optimistic that Austria had the will and the means to achieve the goal of eliminating racial discrimination, and that the non-governmental organizations would be very close partners in that process. He thanked the delegation for a fruitful and constructive dialogue.
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