• A man is arrested by German federal police before a rally in the town of Remagen on November 19, 2011.
    © Reuters
    Germany: Police Training Key to Curbing Hate Violence
    German law enforcement authorities need better training to effectively identify, investigate, and prosecute racist, homophobic, and other hate violence.
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  • Human Rights in Germany

    The failure of German authorities for more than a decade to identify a neo-Nazi gang who murdered nine migrants highlighted the shortcomings of its response to hate violence.  Parliament adopted a law in September 2011 exempting school personnel from having to report undocumented migrants, but left the obligation in place for health care and labor court personnel. In August 2011, Rheinland-Pfalz became the sixth federal state to grant asylum seekers freedom of movement. The other ten states require asylum seekers to stay in a certain geographical area or face fines or prison. 

Reports

Germany

  • Kazakhstan/Germany: Make Rights Key to Good Relations
    Feb 6, 2012
    German Chancellor Angela Merkel should raise urgent human rights concerns with the Kazakhstan government during talks with President Nursultan Nazarbaev on February 8, 2012.
  • EU: Rights Abuse at Home Ignored
    Jan 22, 2012
    The European Union and member governments proved unwilling to tackle human rights abuse at home during 2011, even as they proclaimed the issue’s importance in inspiring the Arab Spring, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2012.
  • Letter to German Foreign Minister on Camp Ashraf in Iraq
    Dec 16, 2011
    We are writing to you before the December 31 announced closure of Camp Ashraf (also known as Camp New Iraq) to urge the government of Germany to take proactive steps to help prevent the stand-off between the Iraqi government and the leadership of the Mohjahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from deteriorating further at a critical moment in Iraq’s precarious transition to democratic rule.
  • Germany: Police Training Key to Curbing Hate Violence
    Dec 9, 2011
    German law enforcement authorities need better training to effectively identify, investigate, and prosecute racist, homophobic, and other hate violence.
  • The State Response to “Hate Crimes” in Germany
    Dec 9, 2011
    Racist and other hate violence is a problem in Germany—as it is in many European Union countries— with hundreds of violent attacks recorded by authorities and civil society groups each year.
  • Letter to the Editor Regarding German Foreign Minister Westerwelle's Visit to Turkmenistan
    Dec 1, 2011
    The Central Asian state has huge energy reserves that Germany would like to tap, and a strategic location neighbouring Afghanistan. It also has one of the worst human rights records in the world, with credible reports from the United Nations and elsewhere of widespread torture, forced disappearances and repression of all critical voices.
  • Germany: Human Rights Watch Submission to the United Nations Committee against Torture
    Oct 17, 2011
    We write in advance of the Committee against Torture’s upcoming review of Germany.
  • Germany/Saudi Arabia: Don’t Sell Out on Human Rights
    Jul 8, 2011
    Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany should consider the political signals her government is sending to Saudi Arabia before approving a deal to sell 200 German-made tanks to the kingdom. Saudi Arabia has a dismal human rights record and has deployed forces to Bahrain to help suppress pro-democracy protests there.
  • Germany: Use Visit to Press Uzbekistan on Rights
    May 20, 2011
    Germany should use the visit to Berlin by Uzbekistan’s deputy foreign minister on May 24 through 26, 2011, to press for concrete improvements in human rights.
  • Germany: Q&A on Trial of Two Rwandan Rebel Leaders
    May 2, 2011
    On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, judges in a local court in Stuttgart, Germany, will start hearing evidence against two Rwandan rebel leaders, Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni, for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out thousands of kilometers away, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
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