“Stigmatised, criminalised, attacked”
Amnesty International accuses Germany and twenty other European countries of growing repression against peaceful protests, stigmatising those with dissenting opinions and fuelling racist resentment against Arabs.
BERLIN (own report) - Amnesty International has published a report that levels serious accusations at twenty-one European countries, not least Germany. The allegations concern restrictions being imposed on the right to protest. The report finds that peaceful protesters in Germany and other countries are increasingly being “stigmatised, criminalised and attacked”. Amnesty has documented cases of severe police violence. One example cited is the heavy-handed treatment of participants on a demonstration in Frankfurt am Main. Anyone who engages in civil disobedience in Germany can, according to the report, now expect to be defamed as a “terrorist” or even designated a “foreign agent”. It is often senior politicians who are quick to call for intolerance. Thus, Amnesty highlights the harsh repression to which anyone protesting against the Gaza war has been subjected. In creating an atmosphere of intimidaton, state authorities not only perpetuate “stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes” for ethnic and religious minorities but also show through their actions an “institutionalised racism” that “targets Arabs and Muslims”. The Amnesty report is being published at a time when dissenting opinions are increasingly forced to the margins of German society. Critics are warning of a dangerous turn to authoritarianism.
Excessive police violence
The accusations levelled by Amnesty International specifically against Germany relate to three areas in particular. The first is excessive police violence against demonstrators. As an example, Amnesty cites a demonstration on 1 May 2021 in Frankfurt am Main, where the police used water cannons, pepper spray and batons. Numerous demonstrators were injured, several suffering broken bones and two even a basilar skull fracture. According to Amnesty, paramedics reported that the police prevented them from treating the seriously injured for “several hours”.[1] The Amnesty report also documents cases of excessive police violence against children. There were cases that can be categorised as abuse or torture, for example demonstrators lying defencelessly on the ground being repeatedly beaten and kicked. Amnesty also noted that the designated demonstration observers were prevented by the police from documenting police actions against the demonstrators. They were given an ultimatum to leave the scene of the protests.
“Silencing dissent”
Amnesty International also raises accusations regarding the actions of German authorities against acts of civil disobedience. They refer not only, but also explicitly, to the repression of climate activists. Amnesty identifies “a worrying pattern”. People who protest peacefully are often “arrested, charged and prosecuted” even when their actions neither threaten a “public interest” nor result in harmful behaviour. Four countries in Europe, including Germany, are found to be using laws designed to combat organised crime and terrorist organisations to punish civil disobedience. Prison sentences also being imposed on people for protesting peacefully. Amnesty points to concerns that governments are instrumentalising the term “national security” as a weapon “to silence dissent”. In this context, the report states that in Germany, anyone protesting against perceived wrongs is increasingly being defamed as an “extremist”, a “terrorist”, a “criminal” or even a “foreign agent”. These are convenient means for political leaders to discredit unwanted views.
Preventive detention
Amnesty makes special mention of preventive detention. This enables people to be detained merely on a suspicion that they might take part in unwanted protests. In Bavaria, for example, this instrument can allow the authorities to lock someone up for a maximum of thirty days. Amnesty notes that this instrument fails to comply with current international human rights standards. The rights organisation has “repeatedly” called on the Länder in question to bring their laws into line with these standards – so far with no more success than its efforts to get Turkey to improve its record on arbitrary arrest and detention.
“Institutionalised racism”
Amnesty International makes some serious accusations regarding state repression of Palestinians and protests against the Gaza war. The report also covers repressive actions even before the Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023. German authorities imposed preventive bans on demonstrations around Nakba Remembrance Day in spring 2022 and spring 2023. These measures, says the report, are based on “stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes”. The expected participants, described by the Berlin police as coming “from the Arab diaspora, in particular with Palestinian background ... [and] other Muslim-influenced circles” whom the police characterised as having “a tendency towards violent acts”. This categorisation reveals, according to Amnesty, “institutionalised racism against an entire demographic”. After 7 October, public events organised to show solidarity with the Palestinians were frequently subject to blanket bans, or otherwise only permitted under disproportionate conditions. Amnesty noted that protest camps at universities were broken up by force on dubious legal grounds. According to the human rights organisation, this course of state action “entrenches racist prejudices and stereotypes” and exposes “institutionalised racism that targets Arabs and Moslems”.
Authoritarian turn
The Amnesty report comes at a time when criticism of an authoritarian turn in Germany is growing louder. Ever since the start of the war in Ukraine, and in more acute form since the Hamas massacre on 7 October, dissenting opinions, particularly on foreign policy issues, have been increasingly and forcibly pushed to the margins. A recent exposure revealed that the Federal Ministry of Education was seeking to punish academics who support students right to protest Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Lists were compiled of university staff whose project funding could be cut. Academics have hit back against the ministry’s suppression of free speech (german-foreign-policy.com reported [2]). Meanwhile a draft law currently put forward by Germany’s Interior Ministry, headed by Nancy Faeser, on preventive detention contains provisions under which people living in Germany without German ID can be deported if they condone alleged or actual acts of terrorism. The offence is, of course, based on vague and changing definitions – after all, there were times when ANC fighters were considered “terrorists”. Deportation could potentially result from “liking” an incriminating post on social media.[3]
[1] Quotations here and below taken from: Under protected and over restricted. The state of the right to protest in 21 European countries. Amnesty International. 09.07.2024.
[2] See also: Academia in world war format.
[3] Chris Köver: Ausweisung schon nach einem Like. netzpolitik.org 26.06.2024.
