Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violation
A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views, but some groups were dissatisfied with the information supplied by authorities in response to specific complaints.
The Human Rights Advisory Council, composed of representatives from the justice and interior ministries and NGOs, operated to ensure that police respected human rights while carrying out their duties. However, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) characterized the council as ineffective and unable to obtain the cooperation of the security services, citing that the country's criminal code was lacking severity in certain instances. According to the IHF, shoplifters were likely to receive a longer sentence than sex offenders.
The 2004 equal treatment law expanded the responsibility of the ombudsman to ensure equal opportunity in the workplace regardless of ethnic origin, religion, age, or sexual orientation, and to address general discrimination because of ethnic origin. The law went into effect in 2004, and the ombudsman began its work addressing the new grounds in March 2005; 617 complaints on the new grounds were filed in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Austria
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