Austrian state reports

Implementation of international human rights obligations of Austria

On a regular basis Austria has to submit state reports to the international human rights monitoring mechanisms of the United Nations and the Council of Europe on the measures taken to fulfil its obligations derived from the ratification of international human rights conventions and treaties. Austria cooperates with all monitoring mechanisms, whose recommendations constitute an important basis for Austria’s continuing efforts to improve its own system of human rights protection.

Under the following UN conventions Austria is regularly submitting reports:

  • UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR)

  • UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

  • UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

  • UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

  • UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

  • UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

  • UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

  • Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC-OP-AC)

  • Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography (CRC-OP-SC)

Upon recommendation of the monitoring mechanisms, Austria increasingly applies a shortened reporting procedure in which the respective monitoring mechanisms transmit a list of issues to Austria prior to the submission of the Austrian report.

Within the framework of the Council of Europe Austria reports regularly under the following conventions as well as receives country visits from the respective committees:

The Austrian state reports are being coordinated within a special coordinating body, the group of “human rights co-ordinators” of all Austrian Federal Ministries as well as from the nine federal regions. For each state report one Ministry is the main responsible authority and leads the process.

All Austrian state reports submitted to the United Nations can be found here. A very good overview about these reports, including the recommendations of the monitoring mechanisms as well as further information can also be found on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

More information on international conventions ratified by Austria within the framework of the UN human rights protection system can be found here.

The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs is responsible for the following country reports, in cooperations with other relevant ministries and agencies:

UN Committee against Torture (CAT)

Austria has been a State Party of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (adopted 10 December 1984) since 1987.

Article 17 of the Convention provides  for the establishment of a committee of ten independent experts to which the State Parties to the Convention shall submit reports every four years on the measures taken to fulfil their obligations under the Convention.

The last Austrian state examiniation took place in Geneva on 12 and 13 November 2015 on the basis of the 6th Austrian State Report (EN). Austria was represented by a 10-member delegation consisting of representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs under the leadership of a representative of the Foreign Ministry. The so-called "Concluding Observations" (EN) (DE)  were published on 9 December 2015.

With regard to Austria's 7th Periodic Review, answers to the List of Issues of the United Nations Anti-Torture Committee were agreed in Austria. The Austrian Response to the List of Issues is available at the following link (EN, Attachments to Questions 19, 21, 22 and 32) and was to be submitted to the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights as of 9 December 2019. 

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has been established through the correspondent European Convention of 1987. According to Art. 1 of the Convention:

"There shall be established a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"). The Committee shall, by means of visits, examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The CPT fulfils its preventive mandate mainly through two kind of country visits: periodic visits and ad-hoc visits. Periodic visits are being conducted on a regular basis in all member states of the Council of Europe. Ad-hoc visits are being conducted in those states that the Committee deems necessary and “as appear to it to be required in the circumstances”.

After each visit the CPT writes a report, presenting its findings and recommendations, based upon which a dialogue with the country concerned is being developed.

CPT visited Austria the last time – in the context of a periodic visit – from 22 September until 1 October 2014. After the drafting of the CPT report Austria submitted its response. The CPT-report (EN) as well as an Austrian response (EN) were published in November 2015.

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)

Die European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is another monitoring mechanism of the Council of Europe, whose task is the fight against racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance in the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe.

The Commission was created 1993 within the framework of the summit of the head of states of the members of the Council of Europe in Vienna and started its work in 1994. 2002 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe revised the statute of ECRI and confirmed its important role as an independent human rights monitoring mechanism.

Its mandate  includes country-specific monitoring, i.e. the monitoring of legislation, political strategies and other measures of member states in their fight against racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance. ECRI also reviews the concrete impact these measures have on the ground. ECRI can make recommendations to states on initiatives on the local, national and European level as well as general policy guidelines. The application of other international law instruments can also be monitored by the Commission.

The mandate further allows country-visits in cooperation with the state concerned. In the framework of these visits ECRI usually also meets with representatives of civil society and NGOs (without the presence of state representatives). After its visit the Commission enters into a confidential dialogue with the state, which has the opportunity to comment on the recommendations of ECRI.

In June 2019 the 6th visit by ECRI to Austria took place. The report based on this visit was published together with comments by Austria on 2 June 2020. Thematic focus areas were hate speech and hate crime, integration/inclusion of migrants and Roma, as well as inclusive education and LGBTI.