Basic social rights include, for example, the right to participate in society, to an apartment and health care, explained league president Barbara Helige. Calls for an adjustment of fundamental rights are a “very gigantic misunderstanding,” said Helige.
In any case, the human rights finding that has now been presented gave Helige little reason to be happy. “It’s a sad conclusion, practically nothing has progressed in terms of anti-corruption measures,” said the President of the League for Human Rights. She also mentioned negatively the handling of the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine and the World Cup in Qatar.
Schenk: “Don’t be silent regarding child poverty”
In the coming year, however, there should be a focus on basic social rights and children. “You have to make sure that some topics are not neglected,” says Heilige. Martin Schenk, social expert at Diakonie Austria, took this up and demanded: “Anyone who speaks of human rights must not remain silent regarding child poverty.” Schenk also criticized the “lack of care for children’s health” and the new social assistance.
The social scientist Petra Flieger drew attention to the situation of children with disabilities. Many would live in “institutions” rather than with their families. “That always means segregation and is not compatible with inclusive education,” says Flieger. If possible, all children should be able to live with families, “avoiding separation would be the goal”.
Florian Horn also wanted fundamental social rights to be anchored in constitutional law. Things are “bad” regarding them, said the lawyer: “In Austria, good achievements can be wiped away with a simple majority.” Other countries might act as a role model here. Horn named the goal that everyone should be able to “participate in a society”.
The Ombudsman Board also identifies a need for action
The Poverty Conference Network and Amnesty International Austria also spoke out in favor of this. They, too, recalled the long-standing plan to recognize social human rights as constitutional rights. “Human rights are indivisible,” said Annemarie Schlack, executive director of Amnesty International. “That means that we all have to guarantee our human rights effectively, i.e. anchor them in the constitution.” Only then can restrictions on basic social rights, such as the right to housing or the right to education, also be sued.
The Ombudsman Board also sees a need for further action. Advocate Gabriela Schwarz (ÖVP) stated in a broadcast that there had already been numerous improvements in different areas. “There is an urgent need for improvement” in the penal system, for example. “It’s not just regarding the question of appropriate accommodation, but also, for example, regarding the question of suicide prevention.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
In an interview, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, talks regarding human rights violations that are currently preoccupying the UN and comments on the current debate on asylum policy in Europe. He also discusses the role of social networks in relation to human rights and responds to calls for an overhaul of the European Convention on Human Rights.
UN High Commissioner Türk recalls forgotten crises
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, recalled forgotten crises on Human Rights Day. On Friday in Geneva and in ZIB2, he mentioned, among other things, the situation in Haiti, Yemen, Afghanistan, Mozambique and Somalia. Türk had just been to Ukraine and got an idea of the devastating situation caused by Russian missile attacks on infrastructure. The suffering of the people is immense. While the situation there is being reported on, other crises have been forgotten.
Human rights violations from Haiti to Somalia
Violent gangs terrorized the population in Haiti, Türk said. The causes of the devastating situation are social injustice, corruption and impunity for the perpetrators. He hopes that the recently adopted arms embargo will have an effect. Fighting in Yemen has subsided since the ceasefire, but reports of torture, arbitrary arrests, human smuggling and sexual exploitation persist.
In Afghanistan, the ban on women and girls from public life is unprecedented. Türk also condemned the recent public floggings. In Mozambique, five years following the outbreak of the conflict in Cabo Delgado, fighting continues, people are kidnapped and villages destroyed. Almost a million people have been displaced. In Somalia, which is experiencing a devastating drought, the number of victims of attacks by the terrorist militia al-Shabaab rose by a good 50 percent year-on-year from January to November.
The Austrian expert recalled the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed in Paris on December 10, 1948. It states in the preamble that “the disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in acts of barbarism that fill the conscience of mankind with outrage”.
