VIENNA, April 9 Austria`s police and criminal justice system turn a blind eye to the institutional racism which plagues them and its politicians are no better, human rights body Amnesty International said on Thursday.

Austrian authorities are guilty of racial profiling, in particular assuming people from ethnic minorities are the perpetrators rather than the victims of crime, Amnesty said.

“Austrian authorities should not discriminate and have a responsibility to actually fight against discrimination...and treat all people equally, irrespective of skin colour,” Amnesty researcher John Dalhuisen told a news conference. “We are concerned that the Austrian justice system, police, courts and prosecution service, do not carry out this mandate. This is the result of institutional racism.”

Amnesty also pointed to deeper issues within society.

Austrians are the least comfortable in the European Union with having a neighbour of a different ethnic origin, according to a separate Amnesty report also published on Thursday. Austrians appear sceptical that foreigners have enriched their country and are less likely to have friends from different ethnic backgrounds than other EU citizens, the report said.

Foreign nationals and naturalised Austrian citizens make up almost 15 percent of the Alpine republic`s total population, the highest of all western European countries after Luxembourg.

Austrian police chief Gerhard Puerstl said officers often had to work under extreme pressure and make snap decisions but that they were prepared to tackle racism when it occurred. “The police will follow up concrete accusations about racism or mishandling with full objectivity and report to independent authorities and courts,” he said in reaction to the study.

Amnesty said not all people working for the authorities were racist and that Austria was not alone. But Austria Amnesty head Heinz Patzelt said Austria was guilty of ignoring a problem that countries like Britain had tried to face up to.

“Without naming the problem, there will be no change,” Patzelt said. “Racism is a cancer, when you don`t fight against it, it gets worse and worse.”

Austria`s anti-immigrant far-right parties surged to almost a third of the vote in a parliamentary election last year, gaining a boost from worries about jobs and the economy.—Reuters