"Racism Report 2004" is available for free - Zara

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Seite 14 Cases: Refusal of Service Rassismus Report 2004
During the electoral campaign for the mayor of Bad Gastein in Salzburg, a flyer by the ÖVP (Austrian
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Conservative Party) appears which in the opinion of the parish doctor attacks asylum seekers with its title: “Stop the
asylum seeker flood”. Upon our inquiry, Mr. Steinbauer, the ÖVP candidate, insists that he is not an “enemy of foreigners”
and that he merely wants to prevent a “ghetto threatening to evolve” in Böckstein where according to him
the population’s proportion of foreigners was already quite high due to the home for asylum seekers. In response to
an inquiry to the ÖVP Salzburg, ZARA receives a statement which again emphasises the problem of the “threatening
ghetto”. The flyer’s racist wording is justified with the “hectic times of the final days of the electoral campaign” and
a thus resulting “unfortunate hand” in the wording of the flyer. No-one held any negative feelings for the asylum
seekers already residing in Böckstein, they only wished to prevent the accommodation of additional people. ZARA
documented the incident along with the relevant reports in the media.
69 In March 2004, Ms. H. sends us an article published in the district journal of Vienna’s 4th district’s about
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dealers in which the term “dealer” is only referred to “black Africans” and in which the hard work of the police is
repeatedly highlighted. Ms. H. agrees to an intervention by ZARA but before this takes place the author of the article
contacts ZARA herself. She has received so many complaints about her article that she wants to find out more about
the subject. A very constructive meeting takes place in which all the problematic sections of the article are being
revised and discussed. The journalist promises a more sensitive approach to the subject in future.
70 Ms. S. reports to ZARA that a crossword-puzzle magazine contains the term “Bantu-Neger” (Bantu nigger).
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ZARA writes a letter of complaint to the board of editors who right away respond with a written apology which is
forwarded to Ms. S.
71 Mr. H. reports that he keeps coming across racist postings on the website www.websingles.at. Under the
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heading “profile” users for example state: “3 of my most positive characteristics: proud, intelligent, white” and under
“my life’s dream”: “An Austria free of scum.” Under “short description”: “Punks, gays, communists … are on our black
list, 3 of my most positive characteristics: Nice, helpful, racist”. ZARA contacts the operator of the platform who
promptly reacts and disables the profiles in question. He also assures us that he will continue to monitor the platform
for such contents.
72 On January 19, 2004, Ms. S. informs us that she keeps coming across racist postings in various Internet
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forums and asks for documentation. ZARA intervenes the same day by contacting the public broadcasting company
ORF and the daily Kurier: ORF reacts promptly, the contributions are deleted, the users disabled. Kurier responds the
same day and also deletes the racist postings from its forum.
73 On July 26, 2004, Mr. W. reports a user profile he discovered on the Internet site of E-Media which shows
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photos of Adolf Hitler, swastikas and SS symbols. ZARA reports the site to the Federal Office for the Protection of
the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism and calls their attention to a possible violation of the law banning
National Socialist agitation. Following the documentation of the profile’s content, the site’s operators are informed.
They react promptly by immediately deleting the profile in question.
74 ZARA is informed of a user profile on www.uboot.com; its content is aggressively hostile to Turkish people.
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ZARA forwards the complaint to the operators of the site and the user is immediately removed from the forum.
75 The Viennese agency “ideenmanufactur” which organises a fund-raising auction on behalf of a counsel-
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ling centre for foreigners receives the following, non-anonymous e-mail: “The native German speaking population
of Vienna is indeed very glad that you don’t receive any public funding—and that’s how it has to remain. Your hypocritical
dealings have nothing to do with social commitment—instead you’re accomplices of international refugee
traffickers seeking to gain political recognition. It is thanks to you that the indigenous population has to arm itself
with firearms to ward off gangs of thieves from the East and that hordes of drug niggers endanger our children—all
of them asylum seeker scams imported and supported by you.” ZARA documents the incident.
Refusal of Service in Pubs, Discos, Restaurants
76 In May 2004 Mr. W. is standing outside the Viennese Club “Bricks” and witnesses how the bouncer very
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politely informs an African man that he has orders from his boss not to allow Africans into the club. The African man
replies just as politely that he’d been inside the Bricks many times before, that there never had been any problems