Felix Ermacora (13 October 1923 – 24 February 1995) was a leading

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

expert of Austria and a member of the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

Biography

In his youth, Ermacora served in the army of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

at the rank of private. He was a professor of international law at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

from 1956, at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

from 1964, member of Parliament for the Austrian People's Party from 1971 to 1990, member of the

European Commission of Human Rights The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe. From 1954 to the 1998 entry into force of European Convention on Human Rights#Protocol 11, Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals d ...

and the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per yea ...

1959-1980 and 1984–1987. In 1974 he was President of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and from 1984 he was

UN Special Rapporteur Special rapporteur (or independent expert) is the title given to independent human rights experts whose expertise is called upon by the United Nations (UN) to report or advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. De ...

for Afghanistan. In 1992, he cofounded the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte, with his students and close collaborators Manfred Nowak and Hannes Tretter, and served as its first director. He was part of UN delegations investigating human rights abuses in Chile, South Africa, occupied Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan. On behalf of the Council of Europe, he investigated human rights abuses in Algeria, Greece, Ireland, Turkey and Cyprus. As an academic, a legislator and a UN official, he fought unconditionally against injustice and human rights abuses. In an expert opinion commissioned by the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n government in 1991, Ermacora concluded that the

Expulsion of Germans after World War II Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Pers ...

constituted a

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

and

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. As the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, he uncovered "gross violations of human rights" by Soviet forces in Afghanistan, made public in a 1985 report.Eric Pace
Felix Ermacora Is Dead at 71; Austrian Human Rights Expert
New York Times. February 27, 1995. He received the German Great Cross of Merit, Commander of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

of France, Commander 1st Class of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

of Sweden, the European Charlemagne Award of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education in 1983 and the European Human Rights Prize of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

in 1992 (jointly with

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), known in some English-speaking settings as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zo ...

) for "an exceptional contribution to the cause of human rights". He received honorary doctorates at the universities of Cologne and Strasbourg, and was a corresponding member of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

from 1971. He was also a board member of the International Society for Human Rights. In 1999, the Felix Ermacora Institut was founded, and in 2005, the Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award was established by the Faction of the Conservative Party in the Austrian Parliament. The first prize winners of Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award were the Jesuit priest Georg Sporschill and ORF journalist Friedrich Orter.Manfred Nowak: Speech on the award of the first Felix Ermacora Human Rights Prize. online: https://bim.lbg.ac.at/de/vortraege-und-lehrunterlagen/manfred-nowak-festrede-zur-verleihung-des-ersten-felix-ermacoramenschen, retrieved 22.05.21 The Felix Ermacora Society was founded in 2005, and is headed by

Wolfgang Schüssel Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is a retired Austrian politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary A ...

, the former Austrian Chancellor. His students include Andreas Khol, a former President of the Austrian parliament and, mosts prominently, Manfred Nowak. He died in 1995, of a disease he caught on a UN mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan in December 1994.

Selected works

* ''Handbuch der Grundfreiheiten und der Menschenrechte'', 1963 * ''Allgemeine Staatslehre'', 2 vol., 1970 * ''Österreichische Verfassungslehre'', 2 vol., 1970/80 * ''Grundriß der Menschenrechte in Österreich'', 1988 * ''Die Entstehung der Bundesverfassung'', 5 vol., 1986–93 * ''Menschenrechte in der sich wandelnden Welt'', 3 vol., 1974–94 * ''Menschenrechte ohne Wenn und Aber. Erlebnisse und Begegnungen'', 1993

Literature

* Manfred Nowak, Dorothea Steurer and Hannes Tretter (eds.), ''Festschrift für Felix Ermacora - Fortschritt im Bewußtsein der Grund- und Menschenrechte'', Kehl am Rhein, Engel, 1988

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ermacora, Felix Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck United Nations Human Rights Committee members Austrian officials of the United Nations United Nations special rapporteurs Politicians from Klagenfurt Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star Austrian People's Party politicians 1923 births 1995 deaths Austrian human rights activists Members of the European Commission of Human Rights Academic staff of the University of Vienna