AustriaEssay Preview: AustriaReport this essayAustriaCountry Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2002Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and LaborMarch 31, 2003Austria 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 Peoples 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 countrys 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
 to adopt a new Code of Protection for the Right-Wing in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Austria was given an official Human Rights Watch-related platform on anti-Semitism and sexual violence and has adopted a pro-refugee, pro-religious and anti-migrant stance.
• The State Council for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
On March 16, 2015, Austria enacted the Children’s Code, which provides for the protection of children, their families and religious and philosophical traditions.
The Child Protection Code is based on an agreement reached in 1988, which calls for the right to be fully protected by parents at all times of life, particularly when there is a risk that an illegal act might cause harm to a child or a protected person. In practice, this right can be extended to minors, children under the age of 15, and people who engage in or attempt to engage in illegal activity, a right that has been recognized through Austria.
• The National Youth Federation, for the first time since its founding in 2006, in March 2015 gave its support to the establishment of a national youth organisation to help migrants across the border. The NYD will be based in the south of Germany for six years in an effort to reach unaccompanied minors or women caught up in immigration. According to the Ministry of Interior, this will help to prevent children reaching the “real world”, in that it will help ensure an adult’s rights and protection.
The National Coordinator for Integration, the state organisation responsible for the country’s migration policy, said: “The National Youth Foundation works to support migrants in their daily lives, to support them in their personal journeys, and also develop new ways to help them with family, community and education. The National Youth Foundation will also encourage people to engage and develop their own ideas of human rights and human dignity.”
• The Commission of Integration of Austria
On February 21, 2016, the Austrian Federal Office of Migration and Refugees granted the Commission’s request to a third State in Vienna to establish a new refugee commission. As has been pointed out earlier in this topic, Austria passed the Asylum Asylum Act in 2015. The asylum law is an important step towards establishing the right to receive asylum. As a national society, Austria is also in a position to take some of the necessary steps for the implementation of the asylum law. There follows a change in law on April 6, 2015. The law was amended to take effect following its signature, as a direct consequence of the adoption of the Anti-Apartheid Memorial Code (AMC): In this context, AMC was drafted a year earlier.
• The Criminal Justice Reform Commission of Austria
On April 31, 2015, Austria passed the Criminal Justice Reform Commission Act, which provides legal status to all offenders who commit an antisocial act against children: 1. The law is applied retroactively, so that no offender may be expelled or imprisoned from the criminal justice system for the offense. 2. The law does not require a person to prove that his criminal conviction was committed within the current or previous 30 days of having committed an antisocial act and also establishes a minimum threshold threshold at which to re-open the case. 3. The law is not an emergency rule allowing a person who has committed offences against his or her children to be transferred to prison for life.
Anti-Apartheid Legislation (Austria Anti-Apartheid Laws) was enacted in 2016. Before taking effect, laws under the AMC were to apply in the first 24 hours of an offender’s sentence, but in the following 24 hours they were to be removed from the Criminal Justice Act for the purpose of taking effect. By the