Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/germany.txt

Text File | 1996-01-04 | 29KB | 591 lines

TITLE:  GERMANY HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            GERMANY


The Federal Republic of Germany is a constitutional,
parliamentary democracy.  The head of the Federal Government,
the Chancellor, is elected by the lower house of Parliament.
The powers of the Chancellor and of the Parliament are set
forth in the Basic Law (Germany's Constitution).  The 16 states
enjoy significant autonomy, especially as concerns law
enforcement and the courts, education, the environment, and
social assistance.

Law enforcement is primarily a responsibility of state
governments, and the police are organized at the state level.
The jurisdiction of the Federal Criminal Office is limited to
international organized crime, especially narcotics
trafficking, weapons smuggling, and currency counterfeiting.
Police forces are well trained, disciplined, and mindful of
citizens' rights.  However, there were isolated instances of
police abuse of prisoners, particularly foreigners, in several
cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, and Leipzig.

Germany's highly advanced economy affords its residents a high
standard of living.  During 1994 the economic situation in
eastern Germany improved significantly as adjustment to the
market economy quickened.   While there continued to be
substantial numbers of workers in the east who were unemployed,
underemployed, temporarily employed or in training programs, or
retiring early, each of these categories decreased.
Unemployment in the east continued to affect women
disproportionately more than men.  Unemployment in the west
eased notably during the latter half of the year.

The Basic Law provides extensively for the free exercise of
individual rights, and various laws provide recourse against
racial and ethnic intolerance.  The Government enforces these
provisions.  However, violence or harassment directed at
foreigners continued to occur.  Official data show that the
number of violent offenses by rightwing extremists decreased by
over one-third in the first 11 months of 1994 compared with the
same period in 1993.  Rightwing extremist violence, having
risen sharply in 1991 after German unification, peaked in 1992
and has since been declining.  Still, attacks on property or
persons numbered about five times higher in 1994 than in 1989,
and foreigners were the victims somewhat more often than not.

Anti-Semitic incidents increased but remained low in absolute
number.  Most involved graffiti or distribution of anti-Semitic
materials.  Especially notorious was a firebombing which
significantly damaged the Luebeck Synagogue; this was the first
attack on a synagogue in Germany since the end of World War II.

The overwhelming majority of the perpetrators of attacks on
foreigners or anti-Semitic acts were frustrated, apolitical
youths and a small core of neo-Nazis.  All the major political
parties and all the highest officials of the Federal Republic
denounced violence against foreigners and anti-Semitic acts, as
did hundreds of thousands of citizens in public demonstrations.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or extrajudicial killing by
agents of the Government.  Police claimed that their shooting
and killing of a 16-year-old Kurd in Hannover, in the course of
arresting him for putting up posters of the banned Kurdish
Workers Party, was accidental; but the family's lawyer insisted
the police were negligent.  Some murders occurred among rival
factions of Iranians, Kurds, Turks, and other foreign
nationals; the federal and state authorities sought to find and
prosecute the perpetrators of such crimes, and pressed charges
in several trials.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of abductions or secret arrests by
governmental or police authorities.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

Police in Hamburg, Leipzig, Berlin, and several smaller cities
were accused of mistreating foreigners.  In Hamburg, the state
Interior Minister resigned, and 27 policemen were under
suspension pending further investigation of such charges.
During 1994 as many as 51 Berlin police were suspended; and
courts sentenced one policeman to a 3-year prison term, fined
another, and placed two on probation, for mistreating a
Vietnamese asylum-seeker.  Some foreign residents charged that
Berlin authorities are reluctant to investigate fully such
charges of abuse.

Generally, however, authorities throughout Germany responded
swiftly to accusations of police brutality, and punished
officers found guilty of it.  Berlin's Chief of Police
complained publicly about the overcrowding and other poor
conditions under which rejected asylum-seekers are being held
in detention awaiting deportation (see Section 2.d.).

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

To make an arrest, police must obtain a judicial warrant.  By
the day after arrest, police must bring the suspect before a
judge and lodge a charge.  The court must then either issue a
warrant stating the grounds for detention or order release.

There is no preventive detention.  If there is evidence that
the suspect might flee the country, police may detain the
suspect for up to 24 hours pending a formal charge   The right
of free access to legal counsel has been restricted only in the
cases of terrorists suspected of having used contacts with
lawyers to continue terrorist activity while in prison.  Only
judges may decide on the validity of any deprivation of
liberty.  Bail exists but is seldom employed; the usual
practice is to release detainees unless there is clear danger
of flight outside the country.  There is no exile.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Trials are public.  The Basic Law assures due process and
prohibits double jeopardy.  The judiciary is free of government
interference.  There are no political prisoners.

In the trial of a neo-Nazi leader charged with inciting
violence because of his denial of the Holocaust, the court's
decision provoked widespread criticism for its apparent
sympathy for the accused's ideology.  In explaining why it
handed down only a suspended sentence, the court extolled the
accused's integrity and showed understanding for his
motivations.  The presiding judge was temporarily removed from
his seat "for continuous health problems."

     f.   Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
          Correspondence

The Basic Law provides for inviolability of the home, and the
authorities respect these provisions.  Prior to forcibly
entering a home, police must obtain a warrant from a judge or,
in an emergency, a public prosecutor.  For electronic
surveillance of telephone lines or monitoring of mail, police
must obtain a court order.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Basic Law, an independent press, an effective judiciary,
and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure
freedom of speech and the press.  There is no official
censorship.  However, Nazi propaganda and that of other
proscribed organizations are illegal.  Statements endorsing
Nazism are also illegal.

Newspapers and magazines are privately owned, with some
companies controlling a significant part of the market.  The
major radio and television networks and stations function as
corporations under special public laws; they are governed by
independent boards made up of representatives of churches,
political parties, and other organizations.  Alongside this
system, commercial television and radio have become
increasingly important since the late 1980's.  The former East
German broadcasting outlets have been integrated into an
all-German system.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The law provides for free exercise of the rights of assembly
and association, and the authorities respect these provisions.
Organizers of demonstrations must first obtain police permits,
and may be asked to pay a deposit to cover repair of any damage
to public facilities.  Permits are routinely granted.  When
demonstrators have not obtained permits, police have exercised
restraint, showing concern primarily for the functioning of
public facilities and for public safety.

The Basic Law permits banning political parties found to be
"fundamentally antidemocratic."  A 1950's ruling by the Federal
Constitutional Court outlawed a neo-Nazi and a Communist
party.  State governments may outlaw only organizations that
are active solely within their state.  If a group's activities
cross state lines, the Federal Government assumes jurisdiction.

Four far-right political groups, not organized as political
parties, were banned in late 1992.  The Kurdish Workers Party
(PKK), along with 35 subsidiary organizations, was banned in
1993.  Also in 1993, the Federal Government asked the
Constitutional Court to ban the far-right Free German Workers'
Party; the Court's decision is still pending.  Several
extremist parties are currently under observation by the Office
for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV, the internal
security service), although such monitoring may not by law
interfere with the organizations' continued activities.  The
BFV reported that 42,000 people belonged to far-right
organizations in 1994, of whom some 5,600 were considered
violence-prone.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Government fully supports religious freedom.  Most of the
population belongs to the Catholic or Protestant Churches.
These denominations and the small Jewish community hold a
special legal status as corporate bodies under public law,
giving them, for instance, the right to participate in a
state-administered church tax system.  The Government
subsidizes church-affiliated schools and provides religious
instruction in schools and universities for those belonging to
the Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish faith.

Members of the Church of Scientology continue to complain of
harassment such as being fired from a job or expelled from (or
not permitted to join) a political party.  Scientologists
continued to take such grievances to court.  Musician Chick
Corea, a Scientologist, was permitted to appear in a
government-subsidized concert hall in the state of Hesse only
after an agreement with local officials that he would not
proselytize during his performance.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

German citizens are free to move anywhere within the country,
to travel abroad, to emigrate, and to repatriate, without
restrictions that violate human rights.

For ethnic Germans entering the country, the Basic Law provides
both for citizenship immediately upon application and for legal
residence without restrictions.  Persons not of German
ethnicity may acquire citizenship (and with it the right of
unrestricted residence) if they meet certain requirements,
including legal residence in Germany for at least 10 years (5
if married to a German), renunciation of all other
citizenships, and a basic command of the German language.
Long-term legal residents often opt not to apply; they receive
the same social benefits as do citizens, and after 10 years of
legal residency they are entitled to permanent residency.
Representatives of the Turkish and Roma communities in Germany
have criticized the citizenship policy as unjust and
discriminatory, and have opposed in particular Germany's policy
against dual nationality.

The Basic Law provides for the right of foreign victims of
political persecution to attain asylum in Germany.  However,
since an amendment of the asylum law took effect July 1, 1993,
tightening the criteria for granting asylum, applications have
dropped sharply.  Indications are that applications in 1994
were fewer than in any year since 1989.

Under the tightened criteria, persons coming directly from any
country that German officials designate as a "safe country of
origin" cannot normally claim political asylum, but can request
an administrative review of their applications while in
Germany.  Persons entering Germany via a "safe third
country"--any country in the European Union or adhering to the
Geneva Convention--are also ineligible for asylum.

The legislated changes also limited legal recourse against
denials of asylum applications.  Critics argued that few
countries can assuredly be designated as "safe third countries"
and that the law unjustly fails to allow applicants to rebut
such designations.  While the law permits appeals against
designations of "safe countries of origin," critics protested
that the 48-hour period allotted for hearings is too brief.

Asylum-seekers with applications under review enjoy virtually
the full range of civil rights except the right to vote.  While
less than 5 percent of applicants have attained political
asylum, denial does not automatically result in deportation;
most rejected applicants are allowed to remain in the country
for humanitarian reasons, especially those from the former
Yugoslavia.

However, applicants who have been conclusively denied asylum
are placed in detention pending deportation; and some police
lockups, particularly in Berlin, are overcrowded and/or
otherwise seriously substandard.  Seven asylum-seekers in the
capital were held for several months in cells intended only for
very brief detentions.  To improve conditions for detainees,
Berlin authorities began to use nonprison facilities vacated by
departing U.S. military units, and proceeded with construction
of a new detention center scheduled for completion in 1995.

Deportation became rather more common, however, due not only to
the amended asylum criteria but also to an agreement with
Romania in late 1992 on the return of rejected Romanian
asylum-seekers, primarily Roma.  Under the agreement, Germany
pays all transportation costs and provides financial assistance
to Romania to help reintegrate those returning.

Vietnamese asylum-seekers pose a special problem.  Since the
1993 amendments of the asylum criteria, only 2 percent of
Vietnamese applicants have been granted asylum; but the
Government has been unable to repatriate the rejected
Vietnamese, because Vietnam requires its returning citizens to
hold re-entry visas but has refused to issue such visas to
those in Germany.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Under the Basic Law, the Government is elected on the basis of
universal suffrage and secret balloting.  Members of the
Parliament's lower house, the Bundestag, are elected from a
mixture of direct-constituency and party-list candidates.  The
upper house, the Bundesrat, is composed of delegations from
state governments.  The Basic Law and the state constitutions
stipulate that parties must receive at least 5 percent of the
vote (or 3 directly elected seats in federal elections) in
order to be represented in the federal or state parliaments.

The law entitles women to participate fully in political life,
and a growing number are prominent in the Government and the
parties, but women are still substantially underrepresented in
those ranks.  Slightly over 26 percent of the Federal
Parliament is female, including its President.  Women occupy 3
of 16 cabinet positions.  One state minister president is a
woman.  On the Federal Constitutional Court, 4 of the 16 judges
are women, including the Chief Justice.  All of the parties
have undertaken to enlist more women.  The Greens require that
women comprise half of the party's elected officials.  The
Social Democrats have a 40-percent quota for women on all party
committees and governing bodies.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

Private nongovernmental human rights organizations operate
freely in all of Germany, as do international organizations.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The law prohibits denial of access to shelter, health care, or
education on the basis of race, religion, disability, sex,
ethnic background, political opinion, or citizenship.

     Women

The law generally treats women's rights as equal to men's,
including property and inheritance rights.  Women are beset by
institutional and attitudinal barriers in some traditionally
male fields, but recent court rulings and government programs
have helped break down some of the barriers.  On September 1
the "Second Law on the Implementation of Equal Rights for Women
and Men" took force, mandating that government agencies
establish promotion plans for women, appoint officials for
women's issues, and take various other such measures; it also
provides more stringent sanctions against sexual harassment in
the workplace.

Salaries for women in the private sector tend to be lower than
for men in similar jobs.  The Labor Ministry has acknowledged
that unequal, sex-differentiated pay scales in the private
sector violate the Basic Law's ban on gender-based
discrimination.  Several decisions by the National Labor Court
in recent years have been in favor of women who initiated
litigation to redress pay inequities.  Such inequities are also
thrashed out in collective bargaining between unions and firms.

In 1994 the unemployment rate for women in the eastern states
continued to climb faster than the rate for men.  In that
region women now comprise over two-thirds of all unemployed
workers, and as of midyear (latest data) the rate of
unemployment in the female work force was over 21 percent while
the figure was 10 percent for the male work force.

In 1993 the Federal Constitutional Court declared that abortion
violates the Basic Law's provision regarding right to life.
The Court ruled that first-trimester abortions would not be
prosecutable, provided that the women received counseling
beforehand and that doctors performed the abortion.  It also
ruled that the Government could provide assistance for abortion
only in cases of rape, mortal danger to the mother, or grave
deformation of the fetus.  The ruling struck down 1992
legislation which attempted to reconcile the former East
Germany's liberal abortion laws with the Federal Government's
strict policies.  In 1994 the parties in the Parliament were
unable to agree on an amended law.

Neither the law nor the authorities condone wife beating or
other violence against women.  In recent years the Federal
Ministry for Women and Youth commissioned a number of studies
to gain information on violence against women, sexual
harassment, and other matters.  Police statistics on rape
showed a slight decrease to 5,527 cases in 1993 (latest data)
from 5,568 in the previous year.

     Children

There is no culturally based pattern of abuse of human rights
of children in Germany.  The Government nevertheless recognizes
that violence against children is a problem requiring its
attention.  The Ministry for Women and Youth released data in
August 1993 (latest available) citing 16,442 reported incidents
of sexual abuse and 1,732 reports of other physical abuse of
children in the previous year.  Officials believe that the
numbers of unreported cases may be 10 to 20 times higher.  They
estimate that in about three-fourths of the cases of sexual
abuse against children, the perpetrator is a family member--in
one-third, the child's biological father.

In light of these figures, the Ministry for Women and Youth
pledged to continue a campaign initiated in 1992 to foster
public awareness of the scale of the problem and of its
symptoms.  The Child and Youth Protection Law stresses the need
for preventive measures, and the Ministry has taken account of
this in stepping up its counseling and other assistance.

The German Criminal Code was amended in 1993 to further protect
children against pornography and sexual abuse.  For possession
of child pornography, the maximum sentence is 1 year's
imprisonment; for distribution, 5 years.  The amendment made
sexual abuse of children by German citizens abroad punishable
even if the action is not illegal in the child's own country.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Police data show the number of violent offenses by rightwing
extremists decreased by almost one-third in the first half of
1994 compared with the same period in 1993, continuing a
downtrend since 1992.  As in previous years, most of these
offenses (over 56 percent) were directed against foreign
residents, but since 1993 there has been a sharper decline in
xenophobic offenses (such as beatings of foreigners or arson
attacks on asylum homes) than in other kinds of manifestations
of rightwing extremist violence; the number decreased by 29
percent in 1993 and by 53 percent in the first half of 1994
compared with the first half of 1993.

Since late 1993 officials and courts have generally dealt with
extremist crimes more vigorously than previously.  In December
1993 a court convicted two arsonists for a fatal attack in
Moelln and gave them the maximum sentences--life imprisonment
for one, and 10 years for his juvenile accomplice.

After the most notorious incident in 1994, a rampage on May 12
in Magdeburg in which at least fifty youths chased five
Africans through downtown streets and beat them while
bystanders did little or nothing, the perpetrators were
arrested, tried, and sentenced to even longer prison terms than
the prosecution had requested.  Also in Magdeburg, a court gave
four youths 9- to 24-month jail terms for 1991 attacks on
foreigners and political activists.

A court sentenced two participants in the 1993 attack on U.S.
athletes in Oberhof to jail terms of 32 and 12 months,
respectively, without parole; for four others it ordered
probation or community service.

Three of the four suspects in a Berlin assault on a Ghanaian
national, who was stabbed and thrown from a moving streetcar,
were released; although the remaining detainee retracted a
confession, he remains jailed.

In another case, three young men accused of assaulting a
Ghanaian in a street car in Halle in March were given jail
terms of 2 to 4 years.

In Potsdam, in a case of abuse of an Angolan worker and denial
of his liberty, a court sentenced two of the three defendants
to 4 and 2 years, respectively, the latter with added community
service; the third, who was the apparent instigator of the
offense, hanged himself in jail.

At year's end, authorities were still investigating the
firebombings of two private Turkish organizations in
Baden-Wuerttemberg.  Also continuing was the court trial of the
alleged perpetrators of a fatal 1993 arson attack in Solingen.

Perpetrators of rightwing violence were predominantly young,
male, and low in socioeconomic status, often committing such
acts while inebriated.  As in the past, most acts of violence
against minority groups were committed spontaneously.  Also as
in the past, there was evidence that neo-Nazi groups were
making efforts for greater coordination among themselves.

In addition to voicing condemnation of the violence, the
Government recommended tougher anticrime legislation and
law-enforcement measures, as well as measures aimed at the
societal roots of extremist violence and other crime.  In the
eastern states, governments introduced several model social and
educational programs designed to counteract the root causes of
xenophobia and intolerance, and they undertook efforts to
reinvigorate enforcement of laws against violence by
extremists.  For such projects, however, state governments have
thus far allocated only limited funds in their tight budgets.

Although police in the eastern states continued to become
better versed in the federal legal system, better trained, and
more experienced, by year's end they had not yet achieved the
standards of effectiveness characteristic of the police in the
rest of Germany.  However, they did score greater success in
combating rightwing violence, in part due to special task
forces created in many states.  For example, after neo-Nazis in
more than 30 cities were denied permission to hold gatherings
to commemorate the death of Rudolf Hess, there was concern that
some neo-Nazi groups might nevertheless stage such rallies, as
one had succeeded in doing in Fulda in 1993; but state and
federal authorities cooperated closely, deployed police in
force, and succeeded in completely preventing demonstrations.

Sinti and Roma leaders accused the Government of discriminatory
behavior in failing to designate Sinti and Roma as a national
minority (similar to the status accorded ethnic Danes and
Sorbs) and of a generally hostile attitude toward them.

     Religious Minorities

Anti-Semitic acts increased, with 937 incidents reported in the
first 9 months of 1994.  The worst was the firebombing of the
100-year-old synagogue in Luebeck on March 25.  Police
investigation led to quick arrest of the alleged perpetrators,
who at year's end were awaiting trial.

Over 90 percent of anti-Semitic incidents involved graffiti,
the distribution of anti-Semitic materials or the display of
symbols of banned organizations.  There were three cases of
bodily injury and 42 cases of monument desecration.  In July,
for example, 22 skinheads vandalized the former concentration
camp at Buchenwald, but police were able to apprehend all the
perpetrators before they left the scene.  A federal court
ordered retrial of two youths who had been acquitted in October
1993 of a charge of arson in the September 1992 burning of the
Jewish barracks at the former Sachsenhausen concentration
camp.  There were further incidents of vandalism at the
Sachsenhausen site in 1994.

     People with Disabilities

By law, anyone who is physically or mentally disabled is
entitled to assistance to avert, eliminate, or improve the
disability, prevent a deterioration of it, or alleviate its
consequences and secure a place in society (particularly in the
workplace) according to his or her abilities.  The authorities
respect the rights of the disabled.  The social system provides
medical and financial benefits for persons who are or become
disabled.  The Government offers them vocational training, and
it offers grants for employers who hire the handicapped.
Severely disabled persons may be granted special benefits, such
as tax breaks, free public transport, special parking
facilities, and exemption from radio and television fees.

The Federal Government has established guidelines for
attainment of "barrier-free" public buildings, and for
modifications of streets and pedestrian traffic walks to
accommodate disabled persons.  While it is up to the individual
states to incorporate these guidelines into building codes, all
16 states now have access facilities for the handicapped.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The right to associate freely, choose representatives,
determine programs and policies to represent workers'
interests, and publicize views is recognized and freely
exercised.  Some 39 percent of the total eligible labor force
belongs to unions.  The German Trade Union Federation (DGB)
represents 85 percent of organized workers, and participates in
various international and European trade union organizations.

The law provides for the right to strike, except for civil
servants (including teachers) and personnel in sensitive
positions such as members of the armed forces.  In the past the
International Labor Organization (ILO) has criticized the
Government's definition of "essential services" as overly
broad.  The ILO was responding to complaints about sanctions
imposed on teachers who struck in the state of Hesse in 1989
and, earlier, the replacement of striking postal workers by
civil servants.  A combination of privatization and decisions
by the Federal Labor Court may resolve at least some of the
specific issues in a manner acceptable to the ILO.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The Basic Law provides for the right to organize and bargain
collectively, and this right is widely exercised.  Due to a
well-developed system of autonomous contract negotiations,
resort to mediators is uncommon.  Basic wages and working
conditions are negotiated at the industry level and then are
adapted, through local collective bargaining, to particular
enterprises.