Federal Government Responds to Racism Allegations of UN

by Andrea Dernbach
Der Taggesspiegel
July 11, 2013

https://www.legal-project.org/4154/federal-government-responds-to-racism-allegations

[ Translated from German ]

The UN hold Thilo Sarrazin's statements on Arab and Turkish Berliners racist. The federal government is now discussing better laws to protect against discrimination.

The Federal Government changes the law against racism in prospect. In a note verbale to the Anti-Racism Committee of the United Nations in Geneva, who had Germany reprimanded in the event Sarrazin, states: "The Federal Government is currently reviewing the German legislation for the criminalization of racist remarks in the light of the views expressed." It will be the importance of right to freedom of expression have to be considered. The Berlin public prosecutor, who had closed the investigation against Sarrazin for libel and sedition, they've asked "to examine every opportunity to reconsider the decision not to proceed," it says in the text of 1 July of the present day levels.

The Committee had noted in early Aprilthat Sarrazin's remarks - then in his interview for the magazine "Lettre" - racist and had complained here that German authorities and legislation, the population did not protect adequately against such statements. The relevant German laws were interpreted too narrowly, that there had been no criminal proceedings against Sarrazin, was a violation of the Anti-Racism Convention. For a reply from Berlin, the Committee had a period of 90 days set.

Trigger of the opinion was a complaint from the Turkish Federation of Berlin-Brandenburg (TBB) in Geneva, after a preliminary investigation for sedition and libel, which he had brought against Sarrazin, was suspended in November 2009. The prosecutor saw the Sarrazin's remarks as covered by the right to free expression. The Attorney General stood behind this view of colleagues and held also noted that the TBB also have no right of action. The actions of two Berlin migrants were also rejected.

The Lettre interview from 2009, Sarrazin's book "Germany Abolishes Itself" preceded. In an interview with the magazine by former Berlin finance senator Sarrazin, at that time board member of the Bundesbank, said among other things that he had to "anyone recognize who lives by the State, that State refuses, does not provide reasonable for the education of his children and constantly new little headscarf girls produced. This applies to seventy percent of the Turkish and ninety percent of the Arab population of Berlin. " A year later put Sarrazin with his book "Germany Abolishes Itself" by enclosed by the now, the paperback edition, according to the publisher sold 1.35 million copies - more than any other political non-fiction book of the post-war German history. The attempt of the party chairman Sigmar Gabriel, to exclude the Social Sarrazin from the SPD ( "Who recommends us to tolerate this message in our ranks who asks us to give up all of what makes social democracy") failed. During Easter week 2011, the exclusion procedure was discontinued after Sarrazin had declared that he had neither the party nor damage to offend immigrants.

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