German gov't urged to act against far-right extremists

BERLIN

Human rights activists have criticized German authorities for ignoring the growing threat of violence from far-right extremists in the country.

Despite a more than 40 percent increase in "xenophobic hate crimes" in Germany in a year, the struggle against right-wing extremism is still not the main priority of the police, Timo Reinfrank, coordinator of the human rights organization Amadeu Antonio Foundation told Anadolu Agency.

Some 3,155 "xenophobic hate crimes" were committed by right-wing extremists in Germany in the first nine months of 2015, showing a dramatic increase in a year. German police recorded 2,207 such crimes for the whole of 2014.

Up to November this year, police arrested 151 suspects, and nine detention orders were issued, according to the officials statistics released this month.

Reinfrank said that the lack of effective and consequent investigation on far-right crimes was further encouraging right-wing extremists to protest violently.

“Today we are facing the danger of the emergence of new far-right terror structures like the National Socialist Underground,” he warned.

The neo-Nazi cell National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed eight Turks, one Greek immigrant and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007, all apparently without arousing the suspicions of the German police or the intelligence services.

Reinfrank urged authorities to take measures to address the growing threat posed by far-right extremists, and stressed that this should become their priority.

“There should be new units at the police specialized in investigating far-right crimes. We also need specialized prosecutors. By recruiting more personnel, by effective investigation and prosecution we can weaken the far right groups,” he said.

Katharina Konig, a Left Party lawmaker known for her staunch stance against the far right, has criticized federal authorities for not taking necessary steps against the growing threat of violence from far-right extremists.

“More than 800 attacks against asylum accommodations this year is a terror, this is far-right terror. Federal police and federal prosecutors should have stepped in,” Konig told Anadolu Agency.

“This can be a reflection of lack of political will. Maybe, they don’t want to acknowledge that we have a problem with racism, with the far right,” she added.

Konig warned that lack of clear stance against far-right may lead to deadly attacks in coming weeks.

“I am gravely worried about recent developments, I fear that soon we may face deadly attacks,” she said.

Konig urged for a more active stance against far-right, both by authorities and the civil society, stressing that lack of public protests against xenophobic attacks would further encourage right-wing extremists.

Germany is facing growing violence against refugees and migrants in recent months, as far-right and populist parties exploit the growing refugee influx to the country, and carry out widespread xenophobic propaganda in weekly rallies across the country.

Germany has received a record 1 million refugees this year, mostly from Syria and Iraq.