Key Messages of the Amnesty report "Living in Insecurity"

In June 2016, Amnesty International published its report "Living in Insecurity: How Germany is failing Victims of Racist Violence". Below you find an overview of the key messages contained in the report:

• Almost five years after the NSU’s unmasked itself, the German authorities are still reluctant to acknowledge the issue that lies at the heart of the institutional failure in this case. The key question is: Did institutional racism play a role in the investigations into the NSU murders, and/or did it influence the way in which things were subsequently handled?

• Against the backdrop of the current situation and in light of what we know so far about the NSU, Amnesty International concluded that there is a clear indication of the existence of institutional racism within the German security agencies. Amnesty International welcomes the fact that on 1 June, the German Federal Parliament across all political parties voted in favour of instating a third NSU commission of inquiry. Unfortunately though, this new commission also has failed to raise the question of institutional racism and to which extent it might have been responsible for the authorities’ failure to investigate the murders effectively. Therefore, it is now the responsibility of the German government to scrutinize the work of the security agencies and to judge whether institutional racism is indeed widespread.

• Amnesty International condemns the high rate of racially motivated attacks in Germany. These figures are as high as never before since the inception of the Federal Republic of Germany. The government seems unable to adequately protect those affected, thus failing to fulfill its human rights obligations.

• A significant share of German civil society welcomed the arrival of refugees and asylum-seekers in the summer and autumn of 2015. Tens of thousands of people volunteered to help out, and are still doing so today. Thereby, they sent out a clear message against racism and discrimination which reverberated around the world. However, since then the number of protests against refugee shelters, asylum-seekers and refugees as well as the number of physical attacks on other people of colour have increased dramatically.

• Amnesty International is calling on policy-makers and authorities to put the issue of racism in Germany front and centre of the political agenda and to redouble their efforts to combat racism and racist violence. This includes an independent investigation to establish the extent to which institutional racism is indeed an issue within the German security agencies. It also requires an overarching strategy by all the different authorities to effectively combat racially motivated crime and especially to guarantee the protection of refugee shelters.

• Racism is a threat to social peace and cohesion and therefore needs to be combated as a matter of urgency.

• The system used to collect data on racially motivated crimes is flawed and not fully transparent, which essentially means that the true extent of racist violence in Germany is unknown. However, clear data is exactly what is needed in order to draw up targeted measures and strategies.

• Under international and European human rights standards regarding the prohibition of discrimination, authorities are obliged to implement an appropriate, thorough and transparent system for the collection of data on racially motivated crimes. Hence, the German authorities should overhaul the unified federal system for collecting data on politically motivated crimes (the "PMK system") and should in particular develop separate guidelines on the classification and investigation of racially motivated crimes as distinct from politically motivated crimes.