Covering events from January-December 2001

Federal Republic of Germany
Head of state: Johannes Rau
Head of government: Gerhard Schröder
Capital: Berlin
Population: 82 million
Official language: German
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes

There were further allegations that police officers had ill-treated detainees. A man died after officials forcibly administered an emetic substance to him. It was not known whether criminal charges would ensue in relation to the death of the Sudanese asylum-seeker Aamir Ageeb in 1999. No criminal or disciplinary proceedings were taken against police officers who shot dead a mentally disabled man in 2000. Law enforcement officers in four federal areas (Länder) were reportedly conducting trials of electro-shock stun gun technology. There were concerns about the use of an abusive restraint technique in a Berlin prison. The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled in favour of Germany against the USA in connection with the execution of Karl and Walter LaGrand in the USA in 1999.

Intergovernmental organizations

In March the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewed Germany's 15th periodic report on steps the authorities had taken to implement the UN Convention against Racism. Among the Committee's main concerns were "... repeated reports of racist incidents in police stations as well as ill-treatment inflicted by law enforcement officials on foreigners, including asylum seekers, and German nationals of foreign origin". The Committee urged Germany to strengthen existing educational measures for officials who have contact with foreign nationals and German nationals of foreign origin.

Allegations of police ill-treatment

Allegations of ill-treatment of detainees by police officers persisted. Complainants stated that they were repeatedly kicked and punched, most commonly at the time of arrest.

  • Police officers of the Special Deployment Command were alleged to have ill-treated 49-year-old Josef Hoss while arresting him on 8 December 2000 in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of St.Augustin. Josef Hoss alleged that masked police officers dragged him from his van and proceeded to hit him with their batons and fists and to kick him after he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He suffered multiple injuries as a result of his alleged ill-treatment, including two fractured ribs and numerous abrasions and bruises to his face, head, body and limbs. Throughout 2001 his lawyer repeatedly called for an investigation into the incident and attempted to obtain compensation for the injuries Josef Hoss sustained.
  • In April, Rottweil District Court in Baden-Württemberg reportedly upheld the convictions of two police officers for ill-treating a 28-year-old man. They had detained the man as he was leaving his house in Rottweil in February 1999, after reportedly mistaking him for a criminal suspect they were pursuing. One of the police officers grabbed hold of the man while the other police officer repeatedly hit him with his torch; the two officers were given suspended prison sentences respectively of nine and 14 months. The victim required hospital treatment for his injuries.
Death in police custody

A 19-year-old Cameroonian asylum-seeker, referred to as Achidi J. in the German news media, reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and fell into a coma in a Hamburg hospital on 9 December after medical personnel and officials forcibly administered an emetic substance to him. He died in hospital four days later on 13 December. He had been arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs. An investigation into his death had not been completed by the end of the year.

Death during forced deportation

A significant development came to light in the investigation into the death of 30-year-old Aamir Ageeb, a Sudanese asylum-seeker who died in late May 1999 during his forced deportation from Frankfurt-am-Main airport to Khartoum via Cairo, Egypt. In late July the weekly current events magazine, Der Spiegel, reported that Aamir Ageeb died of asphyxia as a result of being restrained in his airplane seat, with his head and upper body forced forwards onto his knees by the three accompanying police officers. As a result of the pressure applied to his upper body, several of his ribs were reportedly broken. At the end of the year, it was not known whether the investigation into the death had been concluded.

Police shooting

It was reported that no criminal or disciplinary action would be taken against two police officers who shot at a man 21 times, hitting him eight times, on 20 September 2000. The fatal shooting took place in a wooded area near the town of Ulm. At the time of the shooting the 28-year-old victim, who had wandered off from a care home for the mentally disabled where he was a resident, was in possession of a plastic toy gun. There were concerns that the police officers appeared to have used little restraint in discharging their firearms in apprehending a suspect who had not returned fire.

Electro-shock stun technology

Police forces in the four German Länder of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia reportedly conducted trials of electro-shock stun gun technology in 2001. Among the devices being tested were M-26-type taser guns which shoot two wire-trailing darts with hooks through which a high-voltage electric shock can be delivered. AI was concerned at the possible future deployment of electro-shock stun gun technology by the authorities in the four Länder, in the absence of a full and independent investigation into the medical effects of such weaponry.

Abusive restraint technique

There was concern about a report that a 46-year-old Somalian prisoner in Tegel prison in Berlin had been chained by the ankle to a fixed point in his cell for several weeks at the start of the year. The Berlin authorities confirmed the report in late March, stating that the measure had been unavoidable because of the prisoner's disruptive behaviour. He had repeatedly struck the door of his cell and all attempts to dissuade him from doing so were said to have failed. The prisoner was transferred to a psychiatric clinic in Berlin in late February on the basis of expert medical opinion, which ruled that he was unfit to be held in prison.

International Court of Justice

On 27 June the International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled in favour of Germany against the USA in a case involving the execution of two men in 1999. The Court declared that the USA was in breach of its obligation under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to Germany and two German nationals because it failed to inform them of their right to seek consular assistance upon their arrest. The two German citizens, brothers Karl and Walter LaGrand, had been convicted of committing a murder during a robbery in Arizona in 1982 and were executed in Florence prison, Arizona, in February and March 1999. Germany was only informed of their conviction in 1992 by the brothers themselves.

AI country reports/visits

Report
  • Concerns in Europe, January-June 2001: Germany (AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001)

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