A/HRC/42/42/Add.2 D. Positive observations 27. Having ratified the majority of the international human rights conventions, and with its Constitution and legislation providing strong protection for fundamental human rights, Austria is often seen as a beacon of democracy and the rule of law. 28. With regard to the foreign fighter phenomenon, the Working Group notes that the Government has engaged in multiple strategies, engagements and forums – nationally, regionally and internationally – to address this challenge. At the time of the visit, the Government’s aims of deradicalization and of countering and preventing violent extremism had been credited with stemming the flow of fighters to conflict zones. 29. The Working Group notes that there has been collaboration among the security sectors of the State, with a network of civil society and non-governmental organizations addressing deradicalization and assisting in the prevention of violent extremism. Some of these actors were from local communities, and they included religious experts, social workers, counsellors, academics and representatives of non-government groups. 30. The delegation noted a number of positive initiatives, including public-private partnerships. For example, a programme was being run by DERAD, a national association working mainly with extremist prisoners, and the Radicalisation Awareness Network of the European Commission had brought together numerous practitioners from around Europe to work on the prevention of radicalization. 6 Other initiatives included sports and youth activity groups that dealt with radicalization and worked with persons at risk of violent extremism. The Government’s support of and engagement with these initiatives is crucial, as the sustainable solutions and actions that are needed to address the phenomenon of foreign fighters requires collaboration among multisectoral actors in the public, private and non-governmental spheres. 31. The efforts made by Austria to counter violent extremism have included cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Islamic faith community in conducting information campaigns in mosques, Islamic organizations and community centres. This initiative included education outreach to encourage Austrians to differentiate between Islam and what is understood as violent extremism. In an effort to counter radicalization and to improve the integration of newly arrived refugees, the Foreign Ministry’s Integration Office developed an educational programme focused on German language acquisition and education on gender equality and democratic principles. The Government of Austria has established and maintained a counselling centre 7 and a 24-hour helpline, which any member of the community may use to contact social workers and counsellors in order to ask questions or discuss issues related to violent extremism and radicalization. The Working Group noted the valuable work provided by the counselling centre, having visited it and met with some of the young people it served, including a young refugee from the Syrian Arab Republic. 32. With regard to private military and security companies, Austria provides a positive example in that it has not followed the trend of contracting private military and security companies – whether domestically or from abroad – for core government functions such as military services and the operation of prisons. The Working Group was pleased to note that there are constitutional prohibitions against such outsourcing, and that there were no specific concerns relating to such operations. Article 79 of the Constitution states that the military defence of the country is the exclusive responsibility of the Austrian Armed Forces, and that it is therefore inadmissible for other (potentially outsourced) institutions to act within the framework of national military defence. In Austria, private security companies primarily carry out functions such as the guarding of events and public and private institutions. 6 7 6 See ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network_en. See www.boja.at/english/.