Austrian human rights watchdogs send open letter to government regarding raids that caused PTSD for Muslim children

Vienna (QNN)- A group of Austrian human rights watchdogs on Monday sent an open letter to the Minister of the Interior, Karl Nehammer, slamming violations committed during an operation against 70 Muslim families last year.

A joint open letter signed by ACT-P, Black Voices Volksbegehren, Dokustelle – Islamfeindlichkeit und Antimuslimischer Rassismus, BJV -Bundes Jugend Vertretung, and MJÖ – Muslimische Jugend Österreich, stated that legal violations, especially children’s rights violations, were committed during the raids.

“The families of the innocent people that have been violated during this operation and indeed the public at large, have a right to know the facts in relation to the conduct of the operation and its conformity to Austrian and International law”, the letter reads. “We demand accountability of those responsible for their neglect of obligations to protect children from criminalization and trauma.”

On 9 November 2020, the Ministry for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism conducted Operation Luxor, raiding 70 apartments and homes across four Austrian federal states at 5 am in a coordinated action mobilizing 930 people including police officers, special unit agents and constitutional protection officials.​

The letter stated that “to date, none of those raided have been formally charged nor arrested” and that “no weapons nor firearms were seized during the raids”.

However, it noted that very serious children’s rights violations took place in contravention of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

“Over 62 children, were traumatized and victimized through the first series of raids. Some were even as young as ten days old.”

The letter added that “93.8% of children reported suffering from ongoing psychological trauma as a result of the raids, with some even showing early signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)”, while “81.3% of parents reported that they could identify serious changes in their children, including issues such as depression and anxiety as a result of the raids.”

“Parents have reported that their children continue to have severe nightmare and suffer from insomnia and scream as well as crying at night.”

The letter added that the police raided the houses at 5 am, breaking down doors and windows and terrorizing innocent families, especially children. In one case, the letter showcases a young boy reported being woken up by a heavily armed police officer, wearing a balaclava, standing in front of his bed shouting, “target spotted”. The boy stressed that “he was wearing a mask too, so I only saw his eyes. My first thought was that he was a terrorist…my mother came and tried to calm me down, but I was shaking so badly that my teeth chattered. I couldn’t stop, I was afraid, panicked, shocked…everything. I woke up and someone was pointing a gun and screamed at me…”

In another case, a girl with heart disease reported that the stress and fear she experienced triggered breathing difficulties. The same girl reported that the police only allowed her to use the toilet with the door open. This humiliating act deeply invaded her privacy. Her older sister mentioned that the police allowed her to use the toilet with the door closed, proving the arbitrary abuse of power. Both girls added that the police confiscated their as well as their entire family’s computers and phones, hence ending their possibility to participate in distance learning. “I never felt so unsafe, especially in my own home”, the younger sisters reported.

The signing organizations stressed that the Minister has to open an investigation into the violations and bring those responsible to account.