Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the racist attack in Hanau. The anti-discrimination commissioner Ataman criticizes the fact that Germany has not learned any lessons from this. Many felt “abandoned by the state and authorities.”
Four years after the racist attack in Hanau, the federal anti-discrimination commissioner massively criticized the German state for its treatment of survivors and those affected.
“The state and authorities in our country have a duty to draw conclusions after an attack like the one in Hanau so that such acts do not happen again,” Ferda Ataman told the daily newspapers of the Funke media group. “Unfortunately, one has to say: Germany has failed in this regard so far.”
No apology, no memorial
Even four years later, many of those affected and their relatives felt “abandoned by the state and authorities”. She pointed out that the Hessian Interior Minister has still not apologized for the “documented mistakes of the police” and that there is still no official memorial for the victims in Hanau’s central market square. Relatives are still being harassed by the perpetrator’s father.
On February 19, 2020, a 43-year-old German shot nine people with a migrant background and injured others. He then shot his mother and took his own life. The perpetrator’s father still lives in Hanau today. The victims will be remembered at a memorial hour in the city’s main cemetery on Monday.
Criticism of the FDP and political debates
With a view to the political consequences of the attack, Ataman sharply criticized the FDP parliamentary group in particular for, in his view, delaying the Democracy Promotion Act. “It is a disgrace that the FDP is blocking it and blaming it as a supposedly left-wing ideological project,” said Ataman. The delay is a “shameful signal to millions of people who are committed to fighting extremism in Germany.”
The Democracy Promotion Act is intended to provide clubs and organizations that work to strengthen democracy and prevent extremism with a better financial basis.
Ataman also warned against making refugees and Muslims scapegoats in political debates. This fuels racism. “You can have critical migration debates without making Muslims and migrants scapegoats for the problems in the country. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happens again and again.” People with a migration background were still being “publicly stigmatized” even after the Hanau attack, said Ataman.