Shortly before the Austrian national council elections, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights (LBI-GMR), the Austrian League for Human Rights, the University of Vienna and Amnesty International Austria hosted a debate with the human rights spokespersons of the current parliamentary parties at the Volkstheater in Vienna on September 17, 2024. The parties’ positions were examined and compared. How do they assess issues such as climate change, women’s rights, freedom of the press and migration, and what solutions do they propose? The discussion aimed to sketch a comprehensive picture of potential future paths for human rights policy in Austria.

Georg Bürstmayr, Member of Parliament and Green Party Spokesperson on Home Affairs, Security and Asylum Policy, emphasised the universality of human rights. ‘They apply to everyone, or are not human rights‘. Bürstmayr is extremely critical of calls for a revision of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): ‘The ECHR is the backbone of the Austrian human rights catalogue; you don’t operate on the backbone lightly.’ With a view to climate protection and the current flood disaster, Bürstmayr said: ‘If we allow conditions that make life impossible, we undermine the very basis of human rights. When you are fighting for survival, as people have been in Lower Austria in the last few days, you can forget about human rights.’

Gudrun Kugler, Member of Parliament and Spokesperson for Human Rights and Displaced Persons for the Parliamentary Group of the Austrian People’s Party, considers it a primary task for the next legislative period to identify systemic human rights failures. With regard to the so-called ‘ring of fire’ around Europe, she said, that one should keep bothering rogue states until they release their populations from captivity. With regard to freedom of expression, Kugler criticised the existence of a ‘cancel culture’: ‘As a conservative, I am often canceled and not given a chance to speak.’ Kugler also sees a need for political action with regard to social media filter bubbles, as the underlying algorithms divide society.

Nikolaus Scherak, Member of Parliament and Spokesperson on Constitution and Human Rights for the NEOS Parliamentary Group, sees the greatest challenge in embedding more respect for and understanding of human rights in politics and society. He also sees a lack of understanding among decision-makers. For example, the deportation of asylum seekers who have committed crimes is already possible under the current laws and regulations. Scherak considers the economic independence of women to be an important factor in preventing violence against women. ‘Appropriate childcare options and mandatory pension splitting are necessities. Currently, only about 1,000 couples do this voluntarily each year.’

According to Michael Schilchegger, top candidate of the Freedom Party of Austria for the 2024 national council elections in the greater Linz area constituency, freedom of expression works very well in Austria and is central to a living democracy. He considers it problematic to impose censorship on platform operators under the guise of avoiding hate speech online, as this jeopardises the freedom of expression. But in his view protection of honour is necessary and calls for hatred and violence must be prohibited. With regard to climate protection, the meaningfulness of individual measures must be discussed. ‘For example, I don’t see how a speed limit of 100 km/h in Austria should help save the world’s climate.’

For Harald Troch, Member of Parliament and Spokesperson for Human Rights, Minorities, Ethnic Groups and Displaced Persons for the Club of Social Democratic Members of the National Council, the fight against war and for peace has top priority because war suspends human rights. ‘The big conflict between the USA and China is yet to come,’ said Troch. With regard to women’s rights, the basics are at stake: education, personal empowerment and economic independence. Male cliques are also an issue in politics. “Important decisions are made by invisible male circles. However, it is mostly women who make politics for women. Where would we be today without Johanna Dohnal?” said Troch. He himself does not belong to any male circle.

Michael Lysander Fremuth, Scientific Director of the LBI-GMR and Professor of Fundamental and Human Rights at the University of Vienna, welcomed the audience on behalf of the organisers. Barbara Helige, president of the Austrian League for Human Rights, chaired the discussion. The event concluded with an audience Q&A and a get-together hosted by the organisers.

The Human Rights Talks see themselves as a platform for social discourse on current topics with human rights relevance. The events present top-class speakers to the interested public and analyse human rights challenges and socio-political trends in a differentiated manner and with professional expertise, but at the same time in an accessible way and with practical relevance. An important component of the format is the interactive audience discussion in addition to contentual contributions