Attack on U.S. man in Austria brings up racism

updated 7:43 p.m. ET June 21, 2009

VIENNA - Mike Brennan was getting off a Vienna subway when two undercover police officers pounced on him, mistaking him for a drug dealer. Months later, the 35-year-old black American is still recovering from his injuries — and waiting for a satisfactory apology.

Critics claim the incident has highlighted discrimination in a country where Amnesty International says migrants and people of color are more likely to be suspected of crimes than whites and are regularly denied their right to equal treatment by the police and judicial system.

Brennan, a soft-spoken physical education and English teacher who has lived in Austria for about four years, claims the officers who attacked him on Feb. 11 failed to identify themselves and simply left him lying on the platform once they realized their mistake.

The Vienna Police Department put out a statement saying it regretted the mix-up but never suspended those involved. Prosecutors soon expect to decide whether to indict the officers or drop the case.

The former American football player from Jacksonville, Fla., says he could not work for months because of injuries to his back, head, neck, hand and wrist. He wants police to acknowledge that what they did was wrong.

"They apologized for the mix-up — but not for the beating," he said.

Wilfried Embacher, Brennan's lawyer, argues the officers should go on trial for assault.

Racism fears widespread
Brennan, who teaches at the Vienna International School, a private institution for expatriates, said he's not just fighting for himself.

"I'm fighting for everyone," Brennan said. "If nothing changes now, I don't know about the future."

Minorities in other European countries share Brennan's fears.

A recent Europe-wide study by the Vienna-based EU Fundamental Rights Agency found 55 percent of minorities and immigrants think "discrimination based on ethnic origin is widespread in their country."

The survey, which questioned 23,500 people from ethnic and immigrant minorities across the 27-nation European Union, also found that Gypsies and Africans reported the most abuse and that many victims have a "lack of confidence" in government anti-racism policies. Groups surveyed included Africans, Central and East Europeans, Iraqis, Turks and Roma, or Gypsies.

Earlier this year, a video showed police officers in the Swedish city of Malmo using racial slurs to describe youth rioting in an immigrant neighborhood. Authorities said it was an isolated incident, but critics contend it highlighted an undercurrent of xenophobia in the force.

In the Czech city of Brno, a policeman was charged with misuse of power and causing bodily harm resulting in death after a January incident claimed the life of a 43-year-old Vietnamese man. Three policemen came to the man's apartment after a neighbor complained about noise. The other two were charged with misuse of power for not intervening. Police have apologized in a letter sent to the Vietnamese Embassy.

Still, Austria's police have a particularly spotty record when it comes to ethnic minorities.

In May 1999, 25-year-old Nigerian immigrant Marcus Omofuma died while being deported after police strapped him to his airplane seat and taped his mouth and nose shut. And in 2006, police officers assaulted a Gambian man, identified only as Bakary J., at a warehouse after he refused to be deported, seriously hurting him.

In both cases, the officers received suspended sentences. In the Omofuma case, the three officers were found guilty of negligent homicide but acquitted of torture leading to death. In the Bakary J. case, three of the officers had been charged with physically abusing the man. A fourth was charged with neglect of his duties by doing nothing to stop his colleagues.

Widespread profiling
In April, Amnesty International released a report saying it was concerned skin color was too often a factor in Austrian police interventions and found shortcomings in the country's recording and public availability of statistics on racist crimes.

It said there was considerable evidence Austrian police have engaged in widespread ethnic profiling over the past decade, particularly in efforts to counter drug-related crime. It also expressed concern that disciplinary proceedings against law enforcement officials are sometimes not initiated despite "strong evidence" pointing to serious misconduct.

MORE FROM EUROPE

Europe Section Front

Putin's rare Siberian tiger 'alive and well' French debate their identity Polanski could be out of jail in coming days   Rocket man fails to fly from Morocco to Spain Italy finds proposed lunch ban hard to digest Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ fetches $172,000 U.K. cops arrest people ‘just for the DNA’ Europe Section Front   Add Europe headlines to your news reader: