In which universities are permanent research positions common?
None that I know. 

What differentiates a university from a research center is the presence of students. So teaching is part of working at a university. Moreover, universities are typically (to some extend) self-governed. The freedom we enjoy at a university can only exist if we are the ones that make the decisions. You cannot have one without the other. (That does not mean that there isn't any room for increasing the efficiency of that process, but that is another story.) 

If you earn a Nobel prize or a Fields medal, you can probably negotiate something. Alternatively, it is sometimes possible to get a position with a "normal" amount of other duties and then apply for funding to get these duties reduced for a couple of years.