«New» ideas in the German counter-terrorism debate

In an interview with Der Spiegel news magazine Germany’s Minister of Interior Wolfgang Schäuble posed questions and shared his thoughts on appropriate counter-terrorism measures which resulted in a heated debate at the beginning of this week (9 July 2007).

His main line is that terrorism cannot be overcome by classical means of police. He contends that answers must be found to deal with (alleged) dangerous persons who cannot be deported. «One could introduce for example, the criminal act of ‘conspiracy’, like in America.» In addition one must think «if there are possibilities to treat such dangerous persons like combatants and to detain them.» He also raised the idea of imposing a communications ban for the internet and mobile phones.

In addition, Schäuble identifies legal problems with - what he calls - ‘targetted killings’ and provides the following scenario: What happens if Osama bin Laden would be detected and killed by an American Cruise Missile with German special forces providing the crucial information on the whereabouts. Would German public prosecutors have to start investigations against military personnel? The minister urges that such questions must be addressed and solved in a constitutional way.

On Monday, 9 July 2007, his ministry declares that his remarks don’t reflect no ready-made concepts but thoughts and ideas instead, formulated as questions in a newspaper interview. Yet, Schäuble’s ideas have found widespread criticism among German politicians and the public. One intervention has raised particular interest: that of Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the policemen’s labour union. He stated that the Minister is applying a preventive justification strategy in order to conceal own omissions and mistakes. Should something happen, he may always claim that he had incessantly warned, asserts Freiberg. In addition, Freiberg criticizes that while Germany faces a serious situation, those who call every day for tougher measures are also responsible for the fact that Germany employs 10.000 policemen less since 11.9.2001.

Documents:

« Schäuble fordert Handy- und Internetverbot für Terrorverdächtige», Spiegel-online, 7.7.2007.

« Schäuble will das US-Prinzip einführen», sueddeutsche.de, 9.7.2007.

« Die Freiheiten, die er meint», sueddeutsche.de, 9.7.2007.

« Merkel: Schäubles ‚Denkanstösse’ sind keine konkrete Politik », faz.net, 9.7.2007.