Attacks
Germany pays nearly $1.13M to relatives of Hanau terror attack victims
The systematic collection of data on hate crimes in Germany continues to be presented as part of statistics on politically motivated crimes, which hides the true extent of crimes motivated by race. As a consequence, racist incidents and instances of institutional discrimination become invisible in general statistics. Nevertheless, from the reports of the Ministry of the Interior of Germany, we can observe certain trends and get some important figures. Thus, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country, in 2015 there were approximately 8 981 politically motivated crimes, which is 19% more than in 2014. Of these, "xenophobic crimes" (hate crimes in the common sense) amounted to 8 518 cases (of which 8 209 crimes were committed by local right-wing radicals, 77 by foreign nationals and 232 by persons without certain political preferences).
This is a monstrous figure, considering that in 2014, 3 939 such crimes were reported. The growth was 116.25%! Of these, violent crimes amounted to 1 151 and 707 respectively. Out of 1 151 violent crimes, 20 attempts were made to kill. The number of attacks on centres for reception and accommodation of refugees increased by more than five times in 1 031 cases against 199 in 2014.
In 2015, 1 361 anti-Semitic crimes have been reported in Germany (1 589 in 2014). There were also 1 112 religiously motivated crimes (696 in 2014), which were directed primarily against Muslims. The growth of such crimes by almost 60% is most likely due to the rise of Islamophobia in the country, but the system of accounting adopted by the federal government does not allow this to be asserted with full confidence. In addition, 222 crimes were committed against members of sexual minorities (184 in 2014) and 19 crimes against persons with disabilities (26 in 2014).
As we can see, the positive dynamics in crime reduction is observed in Germany only with regard to crimes against disabled people. For all other positions, especially racially and religiously motivated, crime statistics in 2015 indicate an explosive growth. This was frankly stated at the presentation of the report on the state of crime in Germany in 2015, which was held in May 2016 in Berlin, the Minister of Internal Affairs Thomas de Mezier.
In September 2015, Kurds and Turkish minorities clashed on the streets of Frankfurt. A year earlier, on October 7, 2014, Yezidi Kurds and Muslims clashed in Hamburg and Celle. Both sides were armed with knives, brass knuckles and bats. Dozens of people were injured.
Of particular concern is the sharp positive dynamics of hate crimes, including with use of violence. It shows that the process of radicalisation is extremely quick, covering all new layers of society, and that people infected with xenophobia are increasingly ready to resort to physical violence. The overall growth rate of hate crimes was 116.25%, and the rate of violent crimes increased by 62.8%. This also shows that the government's policy towards refugees and national minorities is failing, and law enforcement agencies are not able to cope with the problem.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, published in late April 2017, in Germany in 2016 there were committed 41,500 offenses with political motivation. This is 6.6% more than in 2015. Of these, 23,555 cases revealed right-wing radical motivation (2.6%), 9.389 left-wing motivation (-2.2%), and 3.372 political motivation of foreign citizens +66.5%). [1]
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, published in May 2018, in Germany in 2017 there were 39.505 offenses with political motivation. This is 4.9% less than in 2016. However, this is still more than it was fixed from 2008 to 2014.
More than half of them are recognized as committed with right-wing radical motivation. There was a noticeable drop in cases of violence with right-wing radical motives: 20.520 (-12.9% compared to 2016). The number of attacks on dormitories and reception centers for asylum seekers has declined significantly: 312 (-68.6%). For the first time in statistics in a separate column, offenses committed by the so-called "Citizens of the Reich" ("Reichsbürger" [2]) are presented: 380 politically motivated cases.
Thanks to the report of 2017 on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there is information about individual motivations for committed offenses. Based on "prejudice against a certain group of people": 7.913 (fall in comparison with 2016), of them: motivated by hatred of foreigners: 6.434, against Sinti and Roma: 41, against Christians: 129, against Muslims: 1.075, against other groups: 31, messages on the Internet, content hate: 2.270 (including extreme extremist - 1.681, religious extremist - 198). a href="https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/downloads/DE/veroeffentlichungen/2018/pmk-2017.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4" target="_blank">[3]
The growth of violations was noted in two areas. First, there are offenses with anti-Semitic motives, against Jews and / or Jewish religious and cultural centers: 1.504 (+ 2.5%). Big part of them committed in 2017 by Islamists: 92 (+ 95%), which is most likely due to the correlation with the actions of the Israeli army in Syria in the Gaza Strip. Secondly, these are politically motivated offenses from the left radicals: 9.752 (+ 3.9%). The latest figures are explained by the large number of clashes with the police and damage to property of citizens by leftist demonstrators and "autonomists" during the G-20 meeting in Hamburg. [4]
The Federal Bureau of Statistics provided the following information on "politically motivated crimes and acts of violence" for 2018-19 : 2018: total number of crimes 19,409, including 1,088 acts of violence, 2019: 21.290 - 925. In 2019, 6,449 left-wing extremist crimes were reported.
In 2018-2019, a number of crimes were committed in Germany, such as attacks on citizens, damage to movable and immovable property, attributed to Islamist manifestations. For example, in July 2018, an offender placed a wire on the tracks of a speeding train. The detainee turned out to be a member of a jihadist group. There were no human casualties during this time period.
Statistics show that the number of crimes with right-wing extremist overtones is markedly higher than the number of crimes based on left-wing extremist ideology. Crimes committed by far-right extremists are more dangerous and cause direct harm to the person (murders, attempted murders, bodily injuries, threats). Left-wing extremists are more prone to arson, property damage and resistance to police. The German Interior Ministry, which records crimes according to a slightly different, broader principle, provided the following information on "politically motivated crimes" for 2019: right-wing radicals 22,342 (+9.4% compared to 2018 ), left-radical 9,849 (+23.7%), on the basis of foreign ideologies 1,897 (-23.7%), on the basis of religion 425 (-27.5%).In the field of direct violence there was a drop in reported cases in all four categories. Also, the Ministry of Interior in its report separately indicated the following statistics for 2019: propaganda and property damage against refugee hostels 126 (-27.2%), attacks on refugee hostels 14 (equal number compared to 2018). The following detection rates were noted: in the area of "politically motivated crime" overall 41.2% (2018: 45.3%), directly in violence against the person 59.7% (59.9%).
In 2018, the total number of attacks on mosques, houses of worship and Muslim cultural centers, as well as members of the country's Muslim population with anti-Islamic overtones was 813 episodes. In 2019, there were 871 anti-Muslim hate crimes.
Public organizations of the Federal Republic of Germany, which independently keep statistics on hatred and discrimination against minorities, traditionally provide different, higher figures. Xenophobic leaflets, stickers, graffiti and stickers, verbal abuse on public transport and in the street, discrimination in state institutions, etc. are recorded. For example, the Berlin registry for the documentation of right-wing extremism and discrimination cited 3,277 cases of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Gypsyism, far-right manifestations, hatred of Muslims, hatred of the LGBTI community, discrimination against the disabled, social chauvinism and the glorification of Nazism in its final report for 2019 in the capital alone. In 2018, 3,405 cases were recorded. NGOs are in a better position to record such manifestations, as victims show more trust in non-governmental organizations than in official law enforcement agencies. In addition, certain forms of discrimination, threats, disparaging attitudes and other facts of violation of citizens' rights are difficult to prove legally.
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