Information for
applicants needs
to be improved...
In all cases, it is important to ensure that the individuals involved are
provided with sufficient information to enable them to assert their
rights. The information sheet attached to the application form unfortunately does not contain any such information, and all one can find
on the website of the relevant department is a vague allusion to the
aforementioned practice.
...and wording of
legislation must
be amended
The AOB feels that wording which clearly contradicts EU law should
be eliminated, and has therefore proposed that the wording of the
legislation should be amended so as to include an explicit reference
to periods of gainful employment in EU or EEA countries.
POLICE DISCRIMINATION WHEN CHECKING DRIVING LICENCE
Mr. N. is an Austrian citizen of Nigerian background. At Linz central railway station, he was asked to show his driving licence as
part of a police check. The driving licence showed his birthplace
as a city in Nigeria. The policewoman thereupon asked Mr. N.
what his citizenship was. The grounds she cited for doing so
were that Mr. N. did not look "typically Austrian". This approach
gave Mr. N. the impression that only those with skin of a particular colour are viewed as and accepted as Austrians. He construed the policewoman’s remarks as a racist insult.
Remarks deemed
inappropriate by
Ministry of the Interior
In its statement to the AOB, the Ministry of the Interior made it very
clear that this remark was inappropriate, and that remarks of this
kind undermine confidence in the police. According to the Ministry,
the policewoman’s superior has firmly instructed her to in future refrain from remarks which could be construed as discriminatory or
racist.
Awareness-raising
and further training
The AOB then gathered information about awareness campaigns
and further training measures. The Ministry of the Interior pointed
out that "Human Rights, Ethics & Policing" is one of the topics in basic
training and further training courses, and that seminars entitled
"A World Of Difference" held in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation
League are designed to raise consciousness among all law enforcement officers. In addition, a project called "Police. Power. Individuals.
Rights" aims to further raise levels of professionalism among police
officers, and the new project "Strategic Complaint Management" is
geared to increasing the accountability of immediate and indirect
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