CAT/C/AUT/CO/6
5.
The Committee also welcomes the following legislative measures taken by the State
party in areas of relevance to the Convention:
(a)
The inclusion in 2013 of a new provision in the Criminal Code (section 312a)
that prohibits torture, in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, as recommended by
the Committee in its previous concluding observations (see CAT/C/AUT/CO/4-5, para. 8);
(b)
The adoption in 2013 of the Sexual Criminal Law Amendment, which
increased penalties for several sexual-related offences;
(c)
The improved access of asylum seekers to a judicial review of negative
asylum decisions as a result of the reform of the administrative court system effective since
1 January 2014;
(d)
The adoption and entry into force on 1 October 2015 of the Constitutional
Law for the Accommodation and Distribution of Foreigners in Need of Support and
Protection;
(e)
The adoption in 2015 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, due to enter into
force on 1 January 2016, which, inter alia, enhances legal protection against involuntary
sexual acts and bans forced marriages.
6.
The Committee commends the State party’s initiatives to amend its policies and
procedures in order to afford greater protection of human rights and to apply the
Convention, in particular:
(a)
2012-2014;
The adoption of the National Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings
(b)
The entry into force on 1 July 2015 of the ban on the use of net beds and
other cage-type beds in psychiatric and social welfare institutions established by internal
instruction of the Federal Ministry of Health of 22 July 2014.
7.
The Committee appreciates that the State party maintains a standing invitation to the
special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council.
C.
Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Pending follow-up issues from the previous reporting cycle
8.
While noting with appreciation the information provided by the State party under the
follow-up procedure, the Committee regrets that:
(a)
The new internal instruction issued by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on
20 September 2012 does not address the concerns previously raised by this Committee with
respect to the fact that there is no obligation on the part of the police to delay questioning to
allow the suspect’s lawyer to arrive at the place of interrogation (arts. 2 and 11);
(b)
The State party has not yet established a fully independent body or
mechanism to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement
officials (arts. 12 and 13).
9.
The
Committee
reiterates
its
previous
recommendations
CAT/C/AUT/CO/4-5, paras. 9 and 19) urging the State party to:
(see
(a)
Amend the above-mentioned internal instruction to avoid situations that
would deprive detainees of the effective exercise of their right to defence at a critical
stage in the proceedings and expose them to the risk of torture or ill-treatment;
2