CAT/C/AUT/CO/4-5
The Committee recommends that the State party:
Take appropriate measures to ensure that all allegations of torture or cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment are promptly and impartially investigated, perpetrators duly
prosecuted and, if found guilty, convicted to penalties taking into account the grave
nature of their acts, and that the victims are adequately compensated, including their
full rehabilitation.
Strengthen and expand the mandate of the Austrian Ombudsperson Board, to include
protection and promotion of all human rights in accordance with the Paris Principles;
Ensure that clear and reliable data are complied on acts of torture and abuse in police
custody and in other places of detention;
The State party should provide the Committee with further information on the
mandate of the new Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption and the procedures
established to carry out independent investigation into all allegations of torture and
ill-treatment committed by law enforcement officials. The State party should also
provide the Committee with information on cases of torture and ill-treatment where
the aggravating circumstances as stated in section 33 of the Criminal Code, including
racism and xenophobia, have been invoked in the determination of sanctions for such
crimes.
20.
The Committee continues to be deeply concerned about the lenient sentences
imposed by Austrian courts in cases of torture or other ill-treatment by law enforcement
officials. The Committee is particularly concerned about the case of Cheibani Wague, a
Mauritanian national, who died on 16 July 2003 in Vienna while being restrained during his
arrest by police officers and a medical emergency team. In November 2009, the ambulance
doctor and one of the police officers received both a seven month suspended sentence,
which was reduced to four months on appeal in the case of the police officer. The
Committee expresses also its concern at the case of Mike B., a black American teacher who
was beaten up in February 2009 by undercover police officers in the Vienna underground
(arts. 11 and 16).
The State party should:
Ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of torture and
ill-treatment, prosecute and punish perpetrators and provide effective remedies and
rehabilitation to the victims;
Ensure that sentences for torture and ill-treatment are commensurate with the grave
nature of the offence.
Inform the Committee on the results of any investigation undertaken in respect of the
case of Mike B., as well as on prosecutions and convictions thereof.
Redress and compensation, including rehabilitation
21.
While noting the information provided by the State party that victims of torture or
ill-treatment have a legal right to obtain compensation, the Committee is nevertheless
concerned at the difficulties that certain victims face obtaining redress and adequate
compensation. The Committee is particularly concerned about the case of Mr. Bakary
Jassay, a Gambian national, who was abused and severely injured by policemen in Vienna
on 7 April 2006, and who has not yet received any compensation, not even the € 3,000
awarded by the court for the damages resulted from the pain and suffering. The Committee
also regrets the lack of statistical data or examples of cases in which individuals have
received such compensation (art. 14).
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