By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany – The German government shut down a far-left anti-capitalist website on August 25th.

The crackdown on extremism comes several weeks after anti-capitalist groups stormed the G20 summit in Hamburg. In July, the groups clashed with police, ending in violence between the two parties.

At the summit, hundreds of anti-capitalist protestors descended on Hamburg. The protestors lit cars on fire and looted near where the world leaders were convening.

The police used water cannons and tear gas to disburse the protestors. The skirmish ended with 76 police officers injured. An unknown number of protestors were injured as well.

Germany decided to take down the websites they alleged had ties to the violence at the G20 summit. The main website, linksunten.indymedia.org, was said to have been used to organize the unauthorized protest in Hamburg.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters that the websites were taken offline because they were “sowing hate against different opinions and state officials.”

While there is a Constitutional right to freedom of expression and right to peaceably assemble in Germany, de Maiziere argues that the “alt-left” websites are outside the realm of constitutional protection.

Defining the online portal as an “association” rather than a media outlet is one way the websites are not protected.

As an association, Constitutional applications are less strict. A postwar statute criminalized inciting hatred against “segments of the population.” Since the websites are not considered media outlets, they run counter to the criminal codes.

According to authorities, officers searched the home of the websites operator. They seized laptops and minor weapons like knives and pipes.

Authorities have been grabbling with the rise of digital platforms for extremist views since the recent rise of the “alt-right” both in western Europe and elsewhere. Germany has already banned a far-right website, taking “Altermedia Deutschland” offline in January.

But this is one of the first reported aimed at “leftist” groups. One of the main reasons for such was the resonance of encouraging violence online. It was alleged that one of the websites shut down had instructions on building a Molotov cocktail, along with calling police officers “murderers” and “pigs.”

Spokesperson Ula Jelpke for German political party The Left, has called the decision an “illegitimate act of censorship.”

De Maiziere disagrees, saying that the websites “legitimize violence against police officers,” and that “this is absolutely unacceptable and incompatible with our liberal democratic order.”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Germany, in a First, Shuts Down Left-Wing Extremist Website – 25 August 2017

BBC News – Germany bans far-left protest website over G20 riots – 25 August 2017

Reuters – Germany Bans Far-Left Website After G20 Violence – 25 August 2017

The Washington Post – In clampdown on left-wing ‘hate’, Germany bars website tied to G-20 violence – 25 August 2017

Reuters – Dozens of police injured in G20 protests as Merkel seeks consensus – 6 July 2017

The Guardian – G20 protests: police fire water cannon into anti-capitalist rally – 6 July 2017

CNN – G20 protests: Police, demonstrators clash in Germany – 6 July 2017

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

BARCELONA, Spain – It was yet another day of terror in the world on August 17th as a van rammed into tourists in Barcelona.

It was the deadliest terror attack in Spain since 2004, when nearly 200 people were killed in an attack on commuter trains in Madrid.

A van plowed into crowds walking on one of Barcelona’s most popular tourist areas, Las Ramblas. 13 people were dead while over 100 were left wounded by the attack.

South of Barcelona, another victim was hit by a second attacker. The victim died from the injuries she sustained in the attack.

Five of the attackers have been shot dead by Barcelona police. Four other suspects have been detained across the Catalan region in Spain.

The attack on Las Ramblas was set into motion when a house in the Spanish countryside was destroyed by a bomb on the previous night. Police suspected the house was part of a terror ring, and that it was used to make bombs. One person died in the explosion. Another was critically wounded.

While terror group ISIS has stated that the attackers were “soldiers of the Islamic State”, they have offered no proof of such.

People from 34 different countries have been reported among the victims. Of those, one 7-year-old boy from Australia remains missing. Australia’s prime minister Malcom Turnbull told the Tasmanian State Liberal Conference that attacks by vehicles are becoming the “new approach to terrorism.”

Indeed, this attack settles in as the sixth of its kind in the past year. Similar terror attacks were carried out in Nice, Berlin, London, and Stockholm all within the past thirteen months.

Vehicles, once considered safe, have become a mode of weaponry unexpected by experts.

One reason for this may be the fact that it is difficult to protect against attacks by vehicles. Automobiles are on every street, and people trust that drivers will follow the rules of the road. Any accidents are considered random, not targeted as an attack.

Turning vehicles into weapons may increase fear and distrust among individuals. Terror groups seek to instill fear into victims, and cars may be seen as a way to increase that fear.

“This kind of attack, using one of the most ordinary objects of daily life, could heighten that effect,” writes Amanda Taub for the New York Times.

Yet these attacks have brought people together, especially in Barcelona. People united on Las Ramblas shortly after the attacks to honor the victims.

“No tinc por!” crowds chanted in Catalan after a moment of silence. Translated, the chant states, “I’m not afraid!”

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Van Hits Pedestrians in Deadly Barcelona Terror Attack – 17 August 2017

The New York Times – As Vehicle Attacks Rise, an Ordinary Object Becomes an Instrument of Fear – 17 August 2017

NBC News – Spain Terror: American Among 14 Killed in Van and Car Attacks – 18 August 2017

CNN – Deadly Barcelona attack is worst day of violence in Spain – 18 August 2017

BBC News – Barcelona and Cambrils attacks: ‘I’m not afraid’ – 18 August 2017

CNN – Spain attacks: Police hunt Barcelona driver, probe suspected bomb factory – 19 August 2017

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe

ROME, Italy – Nongovernmental aid group Doctors Without Borders has suspended work in Libya due to threats by the Libyan Coast Guard.

The Italian Coast Guard’s rescue coordination center told Doctors Without Borders on August 11th about the alleged threats by Libya, saying that the threat poses a “security risk”.

After the notice, Doctors Without Borders decided to temporarily discontinue use of its largest rescue boat in Libyan waters because of an “increasingly hostile environment for lifesaving rescue operations.”

Many migrants are smuggled from Libya by human traffickers in small, dangerous dinghies. The Italian Coast Guard has worked with its Libyan counterpart over the problem. In July, Italy sent naval ships to Libya to help curb human smuggling across the Mediterranean.

The Italian government has been searching for solutions to the crisis for some time. One of these solutions has been by imposing strict rules on nongovernmental aid groups. The government has urged groups like Doctors Without Borders to agree to allow Italian judicial authorities to board their ships.

Another rule involves forbidding nongovernmental aid groups from entering Libyan waters without explicit authorization by the government.

Any group that does not abide by the rules may not be permitted to dock in Italian ports.

To an extent, it appears that the rules may have curbed a small part of the crisis. In July, the amount of Libyan migrants arriving in Italy was reduced to half of what it was prior. About 11,459 migrants from Libya arrived on Italy’s shores in July 2017. In July 2016, that number was at 23,522.

Doctors Without Borders has refused to sign on to Italy’s rules on rescuing off the Libyan coast.

But it is not the only group that has heeded governmental warning over Libyan threats.

After the announcement by Doctors Without Borders, a German nongovernmental aid group, Sea Eye, also decided to suspend rescue operations in Libyan waters.

“A continuation of our rescue work is not currently possible,” founder of Sea Eye, Michael Buschheuer, said in a statement. “It would be irresponsible towards our crews.”

Doctors Without Borders will continue to have medical personnel present on other ships. But their largest rescue vessel, the Prudence, will be out of commission.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Rescue ship suspends work after ‘threats by Libyan coastguard’ – 13 August 2017

Al-Jazeera – German NGO halts refugee rescue operations off Libya – 13 August 2017

The New York Times – Doctors Without Borders Suspends Migrant Rescue Patrols Off Libyan Coast – 12 August 2017

Reuters – MSF suspends Mediterranean rescues as migrant dispute mounts – 12 August 2017

L.A. Times – Doctors Without Borders suspends rescue ships off Libya over security concerns – 12 August 2017

The Guardian – Number of migrants arriving in Italy from Libya falls in half by July – 11 August 2017

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe 

BERLIN, Germany – Two tourists from China were arrested in Berlin on August 5th for giving a Nazi salute.

The two men were outside of the Reichstag, the German parliament building.

In Germany, using symbols affiliated with the Nazis is illegal. Modern applications of these laws are often used to curb the rise of “alternative right” (alt-right) movements in the country.

The tourists were released when their bond was paid. They still will face criminal proceedings.

Though years have passed, Nazism has become popular among the alt-right crowd all across the European continent.

In April 2017, a Dutch drugstore chain stocked “color by number” coloring books, one page of which produced a caricature of Adolf Hitler. The drugstore immediately made a public apology and withdrew the coloring books from the store.

And in Austria in February 2017, a man was arrested while he was dressed as Hitler. The man was visiting Hitler’s birthplace of Braunau am Inn.  Glorifying Nazism is a crime in Austria as well.

Yet despite the sparse reminders of Germany’s horrible past, many continue to fight the current Nazi, or Neo-Nazi, movement.

A 70 year-old woman in late July spoke with news outlet Al-Jazeera about her anti-Fascist fight. She detailed her work on painting over and defacing any pro-Nazi street art she sees. The woman, Irmela Mensah-Schramm, has been doing this for three decades now.

Mensah-Schramm has been caught vandalizing before, and told by a judge to admit her charges and to promise to stop defacing property. But she held her ground, refusing to promise anything, and instead promising to not pay her fines for vandalizing.

Support of Nazism and Nazi ideals remains a crime in much of Europe. Yet the continent continues to see a rise in alt-right political candidates, some of whose values appear to coincide with the ideology of Nazism.

Violent crime against refugees and non-Western Europeans has also risen with the alt-right movement. Nearly 3,533 attacks on refugees or pro-refugee accommodations have been documented in Germany alone, as of 2016.

Of those, about 560 people were injured, 43 of those children.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Chinese tourists arrested for Hitler salute in Germany – 6 August 2017

The Telegraph – Chinese tourists arrested for giving Hitler salute outside Reichstag building in Berlin – 6 August 2017

The Guardian – Chinese tourists arrested for making Hitler salutes outside Reichstag – 5 August 2017

ABC News – Berlin: 2 Chinese tourists detained for making Nazi salutes – 5 August 2017

Al-Jazeera – Germany: 70-year-old anti-fascist defaces neo-Nazi art – 28 July 2017

BBC News – Hitler coloring book removed by Dutch shop after outrage – 6 April 2017

BBC News – Hitler lookalike arrested in Austria – 13 February 2017

 

By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe 

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg – The European Court of Justice held against Asylum seekers from Syria and Afghanistan in a case on June 26.

The asylum seekers arrived in Croatia during the migrant crisis of 2015-2016. The families were then transported to Austria and Slovenia without proper visas. Many migrants seek to move north upon entry in places like Greece and Turkey. Countries in the north often have more resources to give refugees a better life.

Austria sought to deport the refugees back to Croatia under the Dublin rule.

Under the rule, individuals coming into Europe must seek asylum in the first country of entry. In this case, that country is Croatia.

While an exception to the rule does exist, the court held that it was not applicable in this case. Asylum seekers are only permitted to be transferred to another country under “exceptional circumstances.”

Despite the influx of migrants coming in to southern European countries, the court ruled that this did not constitute an “exceptional circumstance”.

Countries can also allow entry of an asylum seeker on humanitarian grounds. However, the court reasoned that the exception is not “tantamount to the issuing of a visa, even if [the admission] can be explained by exceptional circumstances characterized by a mass influx of displaced people into the EU”.

The asylum seekers will be deported to Croatia, where they can seek asylum there.

Austria is one of several northern European countries that has declined to take on refugees, despite the European Union’s quotas. The quotas were designed to offset the influx into poorer countries like Italy and Greece.

Hungary and Slovakia have also been against taking in refugees. The Court of Justice released an additional decision on July 26 that dismissed the two country’s claim against the mandatory relocation of asylum seekers.

The two nations sought to have the EU plan for relocation annulled. The arguments were rejected by the Advocate General of the court, Yves Bot.

“The contested decision automatically helps to relieve the considerable pressure on the asylum systems of Italy and Greece following the migration crisis of 2015,” he said. “[It is] thus appropriate for attaining the objective which it pursues.”

The relocation of migrants in the EU reached a “record level” in June, according to the European Commission. The EU continues to push forward against the countries that have failed to meet their obligations for accepting migrants.

The EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is calling on EU member states to “step up efforts” to re-locate migrants from Italy.

“Relocation works if the political will is there,” he says, adding, “Italy still needs our support.”

For more information, please see: 

CNN – Court: Responsibility remains with state of entry – 26 July 2017

CNN – Lawyer urges dismissal of Hungary, Slovakia case – 26 July 2017

Reuters – Top EU court adviser deals blow to easterner’s refugee battle – 26 July 2017

The Guardian – EU court backs migrant deportations by Austria, Slovenia – 26 July 2017

Politico – Top court clears Austria, Slovenia of turning back asylum seekers – 26 July 2017

Washington Post – The Latest: EU migrant relocation reached record in June – 26 July 2017

BBC News – EU migrant crisis: Austria can deport Asylum seekers, court says – 26 July 2017