Germany: Police
01 January 1991
Germany: Police
artdoc April=1995
Kurdish youth shot dead in Hamburg
A 16-year-old Turkish-Kurdish youth, Ayhan Esser, was killed by
police who shot him, apparently after a struggle when he resisted
questioning. Following his death, Kurds attacked police stations
in Hamburg, Hanover, Saarbrücken and Mainz, with firebombs and
stones. At least seven people were arrested (International Herald
Tribune 4.7.94).
Hamburg minister resigns to highlight police racism
The interior minister for Hamburg, Werner Hackman, has resigned
and a parliamentary inquiry set up after 27 police officers in
Hamburg were accused of abusing foreigners (the officers were
at first suspended but have since been allowed back to work).
This is the first time a prominent German politician has resigned
in protest against racism in his own department. Mr. Hackmann,
who says he can no longer control the city's force which has
developed a `corps-type mentality' resigned in order to draw
public attention to the situation.
Allegations against the officers include:
* involvement in a neo-nazi paramilitary group said to hold
exercises in woods on the outskirts of the city. A former officer
of the force said police distributed order forms for recordings
of Hitler's speeches and music from a popular right-wing rock
band.
* 130 allegations of violence by police operating near the city's
`red light' district over the past six years.
* Regular violence against foreigners taken into custody.
* The use of unauthorised wooden clubs, which officers bought,
rather than the standard-issue rubber batons.
Some of the officers suspended are believed to have applied for
posts in police departments concerned with monitoring right-wing
activity. The police department investigating complaints against
the police are accused of sabotaging the investigation into the
officers accused of racism. One case cited to illustrate this
cover-up involves a Senegalese man, Dialle D, who was beaten up
by two off-duty officers for wearing an anti-nazi badge. The
investigating team, it is alleged, tried to hush up the case by
fining the officers while allowing them to stay in their jobs.
In the course of the investigation, Dialle D had his papers
confiscated and still awaits their return. The Roma National
Congress adds that for months Hamburg police have been refusing
to investigate cases of arson and threats against the Roma
(Romanews no. 16, 13.9.94, no. 19, 24.10.94Taz 14, 15, 16.9.94,
Daily Telegraph 14.9.94).
Berlin-Kreuzberg unit disbanded
A police unit in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin has been disbanded
following allegations of brutality during arrest and evidence
that the officers equipped themselves with special gloves and
sticks. Of 591 proceedings against police officers from this unit
in 1992, only 19 came to court and all were acquitted (Taz n.d).
Meanwhile, three Berlin policemen have been fined for abusing an
Iranian student and causing him actual bodily harm (Taz 14.9.94).
And a Berlin chief superintendent already under investigation for
violence has been suspended after nazi propaganda was found in
his home (Guardian 28.9.94).
Police officer suspended after neo-nazi rally
A senior police officer has been suspended in the eastern town
of Rüdersdorf after police officers refused to intervene when a
neo-nazi pop concert took place (International Herald Tribune
12.7.94).
Leipzig officers found guilty of maltreating Vietnamese
Four police officers have been found guilty of mistreating four
Vietnamese asylum-seekers and a German. The officers confiscated
cigarettes from the Vietnamese only to resell them (Taz 23,
24.8.94).
Leading Republikaners in criminal justice system
The Council in Bremen are investigating whether it is possible
to sack a police officer, Ralf Riedemann, who is a chair of the
regional Republikaner's and a party election candidate. In
Bochum, a senior public prosecutor has b