Goekce v. Austria (Goekce gg. Österreich) [C/39/D/5/2005]

The decedent’s husband shot and killed her in front of their two daughters in 2002. Before her death, the decedent had obtained three expulsion and prohibition-to-return orders against her husband in response to repeated episodes of domestic violence. The Vienna Public Prosecutor denied police requests to detain the decedent’s husband, and stopped the prosecution against him on the basis of insufficient grounds two days before the murder. Police reports show that the law enforcement failed to respond in a timely fashion to the dispute that resulted in the decedent’s murder. The decedent’s heirs brought this complaint to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on behalf of the decedent. The complaint argued that Austria’s Federal Act for the Protection against Violence within the Family provided ineffective protection for victims of repeated, severe spousal abuse, and that women are disproportionately affected by the State’s failure to prosecute and take seriously reports of domestic violence. The Committee found that although Austria has established a comprehensive model to address domestic violence, State actors must investigate reports of this crime with due diligence to effectively provide redress and protection. The Committee concluded that the police knew or should have known that the decedent was in serious danger, and were therefore responsible for failing to exercise due diligence in protecting her. By allowing the perpetrator’s rights to supersede the decedent’s human rights to life and to physical and mental integrity, Austrian law enforcement violated its obligations to end gender discrimination through the modification or enactment of appropriate legislation under Article 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”), and its Article 3 obligation to guarantee women’s exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom on a basis of equality with men. Particularly, the Committee recommended that Austria strengthen its implementation and monitoring of the Federal Act for the Protection against Violence within the Family, respond to complaints of domestic violence with due diligence, and provide adequate sanctions for failure to do so.

Der Ehemann erschoss die Verstorbene vor den Augen der beiden Töchter im Jahre 2002. Vor ihrem Tod hat die Verstorbene in Reaktion auf wiederholte Ausbrüche von häuslicher Gewalt bereits dreimal ein Hausverbot und ein Rückkehrverbot gegen ihren Ehemann erwirkt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Wien wies das Ersuchen der Polizei, den Ehemann festzunehmen, wiederholt zurück. Zwei Tage vor der Tötung hat die Staatsanwaltschaft die Strafverfolgung mangels ausreichender Beweislage eingestellt. Aus den Polizeiberichten ergibt sich, dass die Strafverfolgung versagt hat, zeitgemäß auf die Gefahrenlage, aus der sich die Tötung ergeben hat, zu reagieren. Die Beschwerde wurde von den Erben der Verstorbenen in ihrem Namen angestrengt und vor den Frauenrechtsausschuss der UNO gebracht. Hierin argumentieren die Erben, dass das Bundesgesetz zum Schutz vor Gewalt in der Familie keinen ausreichenden Schutz für Opfer von wiederholter, ernstzunehmender häuslicher Gewalt bietet und Frauen das Versagen der staatlichen Strafverfolgung dessen überproportional oft erfahren.