extremism
Amnesty: Better set up the police against racist violence
“Hate crime is based on structural discrimination that is deeply rooted in societies.” Photo: Andreas Arnold/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The second anniversary of the Hanau attack is on Saturday. A German had murdered nine people for racist reasons. Amnesty International calls for a stronger stand against hate crime.
On the second anniversary of the racist attack in Hanau, the human rights organization Amnesty International Germany has called for more decisive action against racism.
We welcome the initiative by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) against extremism. The organization in Berlin explained that not only the federal police, but also the state police had to be more competent to combat racist violence.
“The murders in Hanau and Halle, the murder of Walter Lübcke, the murders of the NSU, previously undetected racist, anti-Semitic and misanthropic crimes: They are the tip of an iceberg called hate crime,” said Markus Beeko, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany. “Hate crime is based on structural discrimination that is deeply rooted in societies.” In order to understand this phenomenon affecting society as a whole and to develop concrete options for action, a society must listen to the people who are affected by exclusion, hate speech and violence on a daily basis. “And she must stop downplaying or even ignoring discrimination and racist violence.”
This Saturday (February 19) marks the second anniversary of the attack in Hanau. A 43-year-old German had murdered nine people for racist reasons in the city in the east of the Rhine-Main area. He then killed his mother and took his own life. The perpetrator was a mentally ill right-wing extremist.
Beeko said the handling of the Hanau crime was a “sad example of how trust and time have repeatedly been gambled away by security authorities and the police in the past”. It is good that Faeser has recognized the urgency of systematic action against racist and anti-Semitic violence. “She needs the support of everyone, and those affected and self-organization must also be closely involved.” The police and security authorities have a central role in combating racism and racist violence. “The police must be trained and made aware of how to recognize and combat racist violence.”