[spectre] German Surveillance moves (new york times)

[Inke Arns]

[forwarded from Sarai's Reader-list ... greetings, inke]


From: Ravi Sundaram <ravis@sarai.net>
Subject: [Reader-list] German Surveillance moves (new york times)
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 16:42:38 +0530


October 1, 2001
Shocked Germany Weakens Cherished Protections
By STEVEN ERLANGER

BERLIN, Sept. 30 =97 Last week, Berlin's prestigious Humboldt University=20
reluctantly confirmed that it had given information on 23 Arab students to=
=20
the German government. While the university hastened to say that it had=20
told the students of the questions asked about them, the disclosure of what=
=20
would have been private information only a few weeks ago represents an=20
important change here.
Personal data is particularly well protected in Germany after the=20
experience of Nazism and the East German secret police. But these=20
safeguards are now being loosened as Germany becomes a locus of the=20
investigations into the strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,=
=20
which were carried out in part by Arab students who had lived quietly on=20
German soil.
The secrecy of telephone, banking, employment and university records is=20
being newly examined and the draft of a more liberal immigration law has=20
been scrapped. The government has also moved to centralize oversight of=20
intelligence agencies that had been largely run by the states and to=20
improve cooperation with the local police.
Germany, shocked and embarrassed by its use as a haven for Islamic=20
terrorists, has moved quickly to increase its surveillance of suspected=20
groups, even at the price of some of the privacy protections the country=20
has held so dear.
There are serious discussions about tightening laws that regulate freedom=20
of movement, requiring fingerprints in identity cards and passports and=20
removing some of the protection religious groups have had.
Already Parliament has approved legislation that allows German authorities=
=20
to prosecute people charged with terrorism in other countries, tightens=20
airport security and, most important, removes a constitutional provision=20
forbidding the government from banning any group, even one advocating=20
terrorism, that describes itself as religious or faith-based.
At Humboldt and other universities, the security services and the police=20
are seeking information for a new wave of what is known here as "profiling"=
=20
=97 looking for other potential terrorists by examining records for racial=
=20
and national origin, travel movements and financial transactions.
That effort will increase on Monday, with a police operation nationwide=20
aimed at cracking down on suspected criminals and terrorists, including=20
searches without warrants of homes and apartments.
In an interview published today, Chancellor Gerhard Schr=F6der said, "I=
 would=20
have nothing against the idea of introducing regular questioning" of=20
foreigners seeking to become naturalized German citizens by the Agency for=
=20
the Protection of the Constitution, a rough equivalent of the F.B.I.
Senior German intelligence officials say they have no real idea how many=20
terrorist sleeper cells could be planted on German soil, like the Arab men=
=20
in Hamburg who used the efficiency, easy travel, good communications and=20
multiethnic character of a large German city to plan their attacks. But=20
German laws that protect the individual from the state are another=20
important factor, the officials say.
For example, a senior German intelligence officer pointed out, the police=20
here cannot, as in the United States, detain a material witness to even a=20
terrorism inquiry without firm evidence connecting that person to a crime.
The new actions and proposals have prompted concern among civil liberties=20
groups and important members of the Green Party, which is in the governing=
=20
coalition. Cem Ozdemir, an ethnic Turk who is the Green's parliamentary=20
spokesman on domestic affairs, said any changes in privacy laws must be=20
examined carefully first to see if they will be effective in fighting=20
terrorism.
Mr. Schr=F6der was even forced this weekend to deny talk that the coalition=
=20
itself could collapse over the strains produced by the Sept. 11 attacks,=20
and that the Greens might be replaced by the always-flexible Free=20
Democratic Party.
The disagreements are so strong about a new immigration law, for instance,=
=20
that senior government officials say they may not be able to come up with a=
=20
satisfactory compromise before federal elections next year.
There is a new mood, however, reflected in a vote last week in the=20
city-state of Hamburg to get tough on crime. A local judge, Ronald Schill,=
=20
won more than 19 percent of the vote with a new party committed to cracking=
=20
down hard on criminals, foreigners and illegal immigrants. Mr. Schill's=20
performance was aided by the disclosures that Hamburg had harbored at least=
=20
five of the men accused of taking part in or plotting the terror attacks.
The government has already introduced $1.4 billion in new taxes on=20
cigarettes and insurance policies to pay for increased security screening=20
of airport employees and will propose tougher sentences for serious cases=20
of tax evasion if they are connected to the financing of terrorist=
 activities.
Interior Minister Otto Schily, who once was the defense lawyer for members=
=20
of the Red Army Faction terrorist group, said he was preparing a new=20
package of security measures, including a formal check with domestic=20
intelligence agencies before granting residence visas. Mr. Schily would=20
also like to limit the age at which minors can join their parents in=20
Germany to 12.
Fighting terrorism requires "the extremely serious, determined application=
=20
of aggressive measures," Mr. Schily said. "Data protection is fine, but it=
=20
must not handicap the prevention of crime or of terrorism."
Mr. Schily is also proposing European-wide changes, including centralized=20
registration centers in European Union countries, greater standardization=20
and more access to visa data and legal clarification in issues surrounding=
=20
profiling.
Profiling was used widely in Germany in the 1970's against the domestic=20
terrorists Mr. Schily sometimes defended. The Red Army Faction, sometimes=20
known as the Baader-Meinhof group, kidnapped and murdered bankers and=20
industrialists.
Mr. Schr=F6der also supports the urgent loosening of Germany's banking laws=
=20
in order to disrupt the financing of terrorism. "I understand that very=20
many people see bank secrecy as a sort of Magna Carta of internal security,=
=20
but that is not the case," he said.
Ernst Welteke, who heads the Bundesbank, said that he approved. "I find it=
=20
very difficult to understand when investigations of tax evasion, drug=20
trafficking or terrorism run up against a brick wall with the words `bank=20
secrecy begins here' written on it," he said.
Germany has a federal commissioner for data protection, whose agency=20
monitors the government. So far, says Peter B=FCttgen, the spokesman,=
 Germans=20
should not be unduly concerned.
"We're remaining watchful that some of the strident words used in the=20
aftermath of the attacks are not followed by deeds," he said. "We're in a=20
good position by international comparison," he added, noting that much of=20
the European Union's guidelines on data protection are based on Germany's
laws.

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