AUSTRIA: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM FOR POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 001616

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AU
SUBJECT: AUSTRIA: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM FOR POLICE
UNVEILED

Classified By: Acting Econ/Pol Counselor Phil Kaplan for reasons 1.4 (b
and d)


1. (U) Summary: The Ministry of Interior announced on
December 10 (Human Rights Day) a project designed to increase
the diversity of the Austrian police force and promote
respect for human rights. Law enforcement authorities,
facing rising crime, drew criticism during 2009 for their
handling of a number of issues relating to minority rights.
The human rights community has generally responded positively
to the new project. End summary.


2. (U) In a press event coinciding with Human Rights Day,
Minister of Interior Maria Fekter unveiled a plan to improve
human rights compliance by the police force. The project is
designed to promote awareness among law enforcement personnel
of the ethnic and cultural background of all groups, as well
as to develop a more ethnically diverse police force. The
plan includes an independent review of the human rights
performance of the police force. The project is a joint
effort involving the Interior Ministry, academic experts, and
human rights organizations such as the victim protection
group White Ring, the Catholic charity Caritas, and Amnesty
International (AI).


3. (U) The announcement came at the end of a year in which
the police had drawn criticism from human rights advocates.
In February, Vienna police arrested African-American Mike
Brennan, a teacher and Amcit, in a case of mistaken identity.
Authorities immediately released Brennan, but he has taken
his case to the courts, charging that the police injured him
in the arrest. The case is still pending. In August, police
shot and killed an unarmed 14-year old who was attempting to
burglarize a supermarket in Krems, though his accomplice
claimed they were trying to flee when the officers opened
fire.


4. (C) The Interior Ministry also drew criticism for keeping
data on criminal activity based on the country of origin of
the perpetrators, an idea that UN Special Rapporteur on
Torture and Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights Director
Manfred Nowak termed a trend toward "ethnic profiling." In a
meeting with Econpoloff, Vienna police spokesman Peter
Jedelsky rejected the charge, saying the Ministry was
compiling the data in an effort to address the rising crime
rate, with two-thirds of the perpetrators being foreigners.
Jedelsky stressed that police would not take any action
against suspects without concrete evidence.


5. (U) AI in a recent report sharply criticized the Austrian
justice system, asserting that it failed to provide equal
treatment for minorities. In the report, AI noted that the
GOA has a human rights ombudsman and stated that human rights
are generally respected. At the same time, however, AI
asserted that discriminatory attitudes persisted in the
police force, particularly toward the small number of African
immigrants but also toward other recent immigrants from
Eastern Europe. The Interior Ministry categorically rejected
the charges.


6. (C) Speaking at a human rights day roundtable on December
4 sponsored by the Embassy, Austria AI Director Heinz Patzelt
repeated the charge that there was a "two- or three-tiered
justice system" in Austria. Patzelt remarked that he could
see the surprise on the faces of law enforcement authorities
when he informed them that Brennan was an American citizen
and not an African. Other activists made similar remarks
regarding unequal treatment. However, the new human rights
project has impressed even some of the police's sharpest
critics. Patzelt praised the effort as "a way toward a human
rights milestone, which has honestly impressed me."

Comment
--------------


7. (C) This project is laudable, and with the participation
of human rights groups could indeed improve human rights
practices. As other observers have mentioned, the GOA by
undertaking this effort is acknowledging that the problems in
the law enforcement community extend beyond a few isolated
cases. The police force is clearly in the process of
adapting to an Austria society that is becoming more diverse.
EACHO