Prisoners in the penal system have rights that are often denied to them. These include the right to organize themselves.

Mission Statement

The “Union for Prisoners' Rights” was founded by prisoners and in prison. In the Union, prisoners represent their own interests and defend their rights. Membership of the Union is open to all prisoners - regardless of their gender, nationality/ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical condition or political views.

The Union supports joint activities and demands of prisoners and also helps with individual problems. It also strives to create public interest in the situation in prison and is happy to answer questions from the media and other interested parties. Members of the Union regularly publish in the magazine “Blickpunkte” and disseminate information for prisoners and their relatives via the radio program “Café LG - Grüße ins Gefängnis/ Pozdravi za zatvorenike”.

All full members of the Union are prisoners. They are supported in their work by natural and legal persons as extraordinary members outside prison. One of these extraordinary members is the “Solidarity Group for a Prisoners' Union Austria”. Among other things, the solidarity group handles membership and financial administration for the Union.

The “Solidarity Group for a Prisoners' Union Austria” is critical of state repression in general and prisons in particular. It sees itself as an anti-racist and anti-sexist initiative and rejects all forms of discrimination. The solidarity group advocates the abolition of prisons, but sees the need to improve conditions in prisons in the current situation.

Background Story

It took a whole seven years for the “Union for Prisoners' Rights” to be legally founded in Austria in 2022.

In 2014, a prisoners' union, the GG/BO (Gefangenen-Gewerkschaft/ nationwide organization), was founded in Germany by the political activist Oliver Rast in the Berlin-Tegel correctional facility (JVA). Following this example, three prisoners in the Austrian correctional facility (JA) Karlau - Herwig Baumgartner, Georg Huß and Oliver Riepan - wanted to found an Austrian prisoners' union as an association in the fall of 2015. This intention became known in the correctional facility and the three prisoners were transferred to different prisons; Georg Huß was conditionally released a short time later with a ten-year ban on staying in Austria.
Herwig Baumgartner and Oliver Riepan continued their efforts to found the association, which was prevented three times with different arguments; however, the main argument was always that work in prison is not voluntary and therefore there can be no trade union representation of prisoners.

One could now discuss at length whether there can only be trade unions for voluntary work and what work is voluntary at all. Instead, the pragmatic solution of founding an association under a different name “Union for Prisoners' Rights” was chosen. Whereupon the authorities found another reason for prohibition: prisoners in prison are prohibited from doing business with other prisoners - and an association constitutes a legal transaction.

Lawyer Stephan Vesco, representing Oliver Riepan, lodged an appeal against this decision, arguing that freedom of assembly and association is a fundamental right and that the ban on doing business must therefore be interpreted narrowly. “Prisoners lose their right to personal freedom, but not their other fundamental rights,” said Stephan Vesco.

After a brief interlude in which the authorities looked for further bureaucratic obstacles, the appeal was accepted and the founding of the association was permitted in an oral hearing, which then took place in November 2022.

And now...

Since then, it has been possible to become a member of the “Union for Prisoners' Rights”. The full members of the Union for Prisoners' Rights (URvG) are people in the prison system. They determine the basic direction of the URvG's work. Individuals and organizations who wish to support the work of the URvG from the outside can become associate members. They pay a small membership fee, while ordinary members naturally do not pay a fee. One of the extraordinary members is the “Solidarity Group for the Foundation of a Prisoners' Union Austria”, which manages the membership and financial administration for the Union.

The URvG pursues two basic objectives: supporting prisoners in joint actions and individual problems, and public relations work in order to achieve a broader interest in prison conditions.

The first major joint action by prisoners since the founding of the URvG is a lawsuit by almost two hundred prisoners against the monopolistic operator of stores in the prison. This lawsuit has been accepted; a trial has not yet taken place.

As part of WIENWOCHE 2024, the URvG also organized an exhibition entitled “We speak for ourselves”. Prisoners from all Austrian prisons - including members of the URvG - were able to take part in a competition and send in pictures and texts. Detailed information on the exhibition and the supporting program can be found here.

The members inside and outside the prison are in regular contact with each other by letter and - where possible - by telephone. Prisoners receive information from the URvG about their rights and are supported in drafting applications and complaints. Extraordinary URvG members and other interested parties meet once a month to write letters to the prison and discuss their activities (see Participation & Events).

The Union regularly publishes information for prisoners in the program “Café LG-Grüße ins Gefängnis/ Pozdravi za zatvorenike” on Radio Orange o94 and in the magazine “Blickpunkte. Unabhängiges Magazin zum Straf-und Maßnahmenvollzug”. We are also happy to take every opportunity to talk to other media and all interested parties about the prison system and our work.