Austria

Austria

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

March 31, 2003

Austria is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which constitutional power is shared between the popularly elected President and the 183-member Parliament. Citizens choose their President and representatives in periodic, free, and fair multiparty elections. In 1998 President Thomas Klestil of the Austrian People's Party (OVP) was elected to a 6-year term. In parliamentary elections in November, the OVP received a plurality and began negotiations with the other parties to form a government. The judiciary is independent.

The civilian authorities were subject to the effective control of the executive and judicial authorities. The national police maintain internal security, and the army was responsible for external security. The police were well trained and disciplined; however, there were reports that police committed some human rights abuses.

The country's highly developed, market-based economy, with its mix of technologically advanced industry, modern agriculture, and tourism, affords the approximately 8.1 million citizens a high standard of living. The per capita gross national product (GDP) was $23,328 in 2001. GDP grew by approximately 1 percent during the year; there were no serious inequalities in the distribution of income.

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. There were some reports of abuse by police, which involved occasional beatings but mainly involved verbal abuse, threats, and harassment. Foreign observers criticized the strict application of slander laws as detrimental to press reporting. There was some governmental and societal discrimination against members of some nonrecognized religious groups, particularly those considered to be sects. Violence against women was a problem, which the Gov ant. ernment took steps to address. Interior Ministry statistics for the year showed a similar number of neo-National Socialist, rightwing extremist, and xenophobic incidents as the previous year. Trafficking in women for prostitution remained a problem, which the Government took steps to combat. Austria was invited by the Community of Democracies'