COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS DISCUSSION ON REPORT OF AUSTRIA

CERD
60th session
7 March 2002
Afternoon




Adopts Statement Demanding that Measures Taken in Fight
against Terrorism are Non-Discriminatory



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of a fourteenth periodic report from Austria by questioning a Government delegation on such issues as autochthonous minorities, exclusion of foreigners from taxi driving, police brutality and the situation of refugees, among other things.

Introducing his country's report, Harald Dossi, Director-General for International Affairs and Legal Affairs at the Federal Chancellery of Austria, said that on 20 February 2002, the Government of Austria had presented its declaration on article 14 of the Convention, which said that a State party might at any time declare that it recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals within its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of a violation by the State party of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.

Mr. Dossi also said the Reconciliation Fund of Austria for victims of national socialism had received and approved 50,000 applications for compensation from persons who had suffered from forced labour during the Nazi era. So far, 110 million Euros had been paid out to victims living in Austria and surrounding countries, he said.

Mario Jorge Yutzis, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report, asked if freedom was an absolute concept for one group, referring to paragraph 39 of the Austrian report that said that the Austrian Constitutional Court had repeatedly held in its ruling on the Federal Constitutional Law implementing the Convention that a difference in treatment among aliens was admissible only insofar as it was clearly based on reasonable grounds and the difference in treatment was not disproportionate. He wanted to have further information on the inclusion of "EU nationals" and "third-country nationals" in the Aliens' Act.

Mr. Yutzis also asked why taxi driving licences were issued only to Austrians; and why businesses owned by foreigners were subjected to repeated inspection by the police. He said foreigners, particularly blacks, were frequently stopped and searched by police in the streets.

The Austrian delegation was also made up of Christian Manquet, Director of the Department of Substantial Criminal Law at the Federal Ministry of Justice; Peter Andre, Counsellor at the Federal Ministry of the Interior; and Gabriela Kuehtreiber and Nikolaus Marschik from the Permanent Mission of Austria in Geneva.

Also participating in the discussion were Committee members Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Regis de Gouttes, Tang Chengyuan, Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, Nourredine Amir, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Morten Kjaerum and Ion Diaconu.

Austria is among the 161 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and as such it must provide the Committee with periodic reports on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.

Also this afternoon, the Committee adopted a statement unequivocally condemning the terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. It emphasized that measures to fight terrorism should be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and that they were to be considered legitimate if they respected the fundamental principles and the universally recognized standards of international law, in particular, human rights and humanitarian law.

The Committee demanded that States and international organizations ensured that measures taken in the struggle against terrorism would not discriminate in purpose or effect on grounds of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 8 March, it will continue its consideration of the report of Austria.


Report of Austria

The fourteenth periodic report (document CERD/C/362/Add.7) reviews the steps undertaken by Austria in order to implement the provisions of the Convention. It says that Austria considers it a priority to develop measures for combatting racism and xenophobia within the framework of international organizations. During the preparations for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Austria strongly supported the idea of a regional European anti-racism conference to be held within the framework of the Council of Europe. In order to strengthen the protection of human rights in Europe, Austria supported the creation of the position of Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe as adopted by the Council's Committee of Ministers on 2 May 1999.

Combatting anti-Semitism is a priority issue for Austria, the report notes. On 11 November 1997, the National Council unanimously agreed to declare 5 May a day against violence and racism in commemoration of Nazi victims. The National Fund of Austria for victims of national socialism, which started work in September 1995, had so far compensated 25,000 victims.

The report say that a major problem faced by most autochthonous minorities in Austria today is the strong pressure that, they feel, is exerted on them to assimilate. Somewhat different is the situation of the Roma minority. Many Roma want to improve their educational level as well as their economic and social situation.


Introduction of Austrian Report

HARALD DOSSI, Director-General for International Affairs and Legal Affairs at the Federal Chancellery of Austria, recalled that the constitutional law on national minorities -- autochthonous minorities -- had been amended last year committing the State and its administration to their cultural and linguistic development. The law also served as a guideline to the promotion and protection of minority rights.

Financial support to the autochthonous minorities had not been reduced during the last two years despite budgetary constraints, Mr. Dossi said. In addition, an opportunity had been opened to represent minority languages in the mass media, particularly in the State television. State-owned broadcasting organizations were cooperating with minority radio stations which could not function on their own.

Mr. Dossi also said that on 20 February 2002, the Government of Austria had presented its declaration on article 14 of the Convention, which said that a State party might at any time declare that it recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals within its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of a violation by the State party of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.

Mr. Dossi said that Austria had prepared legislation in which it would implement the guidelines of the Council of Europe on the prevention of discrimination in employment on grounds of race or colour.

In conclusion, Mr. Dossi said the Reconciliation Fund for victims of national socialism had received and approved 50,000 applications for compensation from persons who had suffered from forced labour during the Nazi era. So far, 110 million Euros had been paid out to victims living in Austria and surrounding countries.


Discussion

MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Austria, said that the report was prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee. He asked about the proportion of university teachers coming from minorities; the number of minority students; and how the implementation of teaching the university curriculum was monitored.

Mr. Yutzis asked if freedom was an absolute concept for one group, referring to paragraph 39 of the Austrian report that said that the Austrian Constitutional Court had repeatedly held in its ruling on the Federal Constitutional Law implementing the Convention that a difference in treatment among aliens was admissible only insofar as it was clearly based on reasonable grounds and the difference in treatment was not disproportionate. He wanted to have further information on the inclusion of "EU national" and "third-country nationals" in the Aliens' Act.

Mr. Yutzis also asked why taxi driving licences were issued only to Austrians; and why businesses owned by foreigners were subjected to repeated inspection by the police. He said foreigners, particularly blacks, were frequently stopped and searched by police in the streets. Mr. Yutzis also recalled the statement made by an Austrian football team president in December 2000, who said, after playing with a British team, that his team played with Manchester United and not with a nigger team. His comments had been heard by a number of spectators.

With regard to refugees, Mr. Yutzis said that they were suspected by Austrian police of drug trafficking and they were searched. The refugees survived on charity received from private organizations.

Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions and at the same time commented on the contents of the report. An Expert said that Austria had responsibility for the functioning of the Vienna-based Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia. Austria had played an active role in the establishment of that Centre. Further information was requested on the effect of the Government bill amending the Maintenance Law and Order Act to respond to the concerns about reports of serious incidents of police brutality in dealing with persons of foreign and ethnic minorities.

Another Expert asked if penalties were imposed for racist literature that appeared in the newspapers or was broadcast on the radio. Statistical data on the ethnic make up of the population should be made available. With regard to the Roma, the Expert said that because Roma children were isolated from the rest of the population, their integration was slow.

The measures taken by Austria to compensate victims of Nazi repression and to deal with racist organizations was appreciated by an Expert; however, he said that other measures should be taken. While an Expert referred to excessive use of force and police brutality, another Expert asked if members of ethnic minorities had the opportunity to become police officers.

A number of Experts also asked if the concept of autochthonous minorities included new minorities, such as foreigners settling in the country. Many Experts commented on the use of "autochthonous minorities" in the Austrian text, which was not in conformity with international standards. An Expert asked if Arabs in Austria were subjected to investigations after the 11 September attacks.


Statement against Terrorism

The statement adopted by the Committee unequivocally condemned the terrorist attacks on the United States of 11 September 2001. It emphasized that measures to fight terrorism should be in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and that they were to be considered legitimate if they respected the fundamental principles and the universally recognized standards of international law, in particular, human rights and humanitarian law. It recalled that the prohibition of racial discrimination was a peremptory norm of international lawThe Committee demanded that States and international organizations ensured that measures taken in the struggle against terrorism would not discriminate in purpose or effect on grounds of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. It insisted in particular that the principle of non-discrimination should be observed in all areas including matters containing dignity, liberty and security of the person and due process of law, as well as international cooperation in judicial and police matters in those issues.

In that context, the Committee intended to monitor, in accordance with the Convention, the potentially discriminatory effect of legislation and practices in the framework of the fight against terrorism.




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