Opferperspektive (The Victim’s Perspective) is a non-state, non-profit organization which works in Brandenburg to support the victims of racist violence and discrimination. It was founded in 1998 by anti-fascist activists to counteract the trivialization and concealment of right-wing extremism and racism in the society with practical solidarity action. Opferperspektive believes that each human being, regardless of his or her national, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and ideological background, has the right to move without fear and take part in the society with equal rights.

Information and Counselling for the Victims of Racist Violence and Discrimination

The organisation advises and supports people who have been victims of racist violence and discrimination, their relatives and friends, as well as witnesses about their rights and opportunities. The counselling is voluntary, free of charge and confidential. This takes place at a location of your choice in Brandenburg. A police report is not required to receive support.

Right-wing and racist Violence
Racist Discrimination

Monitoring

Opferperspektive (The Victims‘ Perspective) systematically records the cases of right wing and racist violence in the state of Brandenburg. It publishes regularly a chronology of the violent acts as well as statistics and analysis, and thus invites the broader society to critically deal with right-wing and racist violence.

Social Solidarity

Opferperspektive (The Victims‘ Perspective) engenders social solidarity with the victims of racist violence and discrimination and shape widespread public opinion against racism and violence. It encourages citizens as well as institutions and the media to send a clear message against racism and for human rights. This also implies strengthening and supporting social groups which experience discrimination and violence as minorities.

Contact to the Consulting Team of Opferperspektive (The Victim’s Perspective)

Perspectives after a right wing or racist attack – Your rights and opportunities as a victim, witness and relative

Addresses of other information and counselling centres and helpful organizations

The post Opferperspektive (The Victim’s Perspective) first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

Opferperspektive (The Victim’s Perspective) is a non-state, non-profit organization which works in Brandenburg to support the victims of racist violence and discrimination. It was founded in 1998 by anti-fascist activists to counteract the trivialization and concealment of right-wing extremism and racism in the society with practical solidarity action. Opferperspektive believes that each human being, regardless of his or her national, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and ideological background, has the right to move without fear and take part in the society with equal rights.

Information and Counselling for the Victims of Racist Violence and Discrimination

The organisation advises and supports people who have been victims of racist violence and discrimination, their relatives and friends, as well as witnesses about their rights and opportunities. The counselling is voluntary, free of charge and confidential. This takes place at a location of your choice in Brandenburg. A police report is not required to receive support.
Right-wing and racist Violence
Racist Discrimination

Monitoring

Opferperspektive (The Victims‘ Perspective) systematically records the cases of right wing and racist violence in the state of Brandenburg. It publishes regularly a chronology of the violent acts as well as statistics and analysis, and thus invites the broader society to critically deal with right-wing and racist violence.

Social Solidarity

Opferperspektive (The Victims‘ Perspective) engenders social solidarity with the victims of racist violence and discrimination and shape widespread public opinion against racism and violence. It encourages citizens as well as institutions and the media to send a clear message against racism and for human rights. This also implies strengthening and supporting social groups which experience discrimination and violence as minorities.
Contact to the Consulting Team of Opferperspektive (The Victim’s Perspective)
Perspectives after a right wing or racist attack – Your rights and opportunities as a victim, witness and relative
Addresses of other information and counselling centres and helpful organizations

The post Opferperspektive (The Victim's Perspective) first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

Opferperspektive

Address: Rudolf-Breitscheid-Straße 164
14482 Potsdam
Telephone: 0331 – 8170000
Fax: 0331 – 8170001
Email: info(at)opferperspektive.de

Consulting Team North

In the counties of Barnim, Frankfurt (Oder), Havelland, Märkisch-Oderland, Oberhavel, Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Prignitz, Uckermark

Ms. Anne Brügmann
Telephone: 0151 59100085
Email: a.bruegmann(at)opferperspektive.de

Mr. Hannes Püschel
Telephone: 0151 50768549
Email: h.pueschel(at)opferperspektive.de

Mr. Julian Muckel
Telephone: 0151 59100086
Email: j.muckel(at)opferperspektive.de

L.S.
Telephone: 0151 50768549

Consulting Team South

In the counties of Brandenburg/Havel, Cottbus, Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Oder-Spree, Potsdam, Potsdam-Mittelmark, Spree-Neiße, Teltow-Fläming

Mr. Joschka Fröschner
Telephone: 0151 50724851
Email: j.froeschner(at)opferperspektive.de

Mr. Martin Vesely
Telephone: 0171 1935669
Email: m.vesely(at)opferperspektive.de

Ms. Elisabeth Strauch
Telephone: 0159 01320560
Email: e.strauch(at)opferperspektive.de

Online counselling

Mr. Josef Borchardt
Telephone: 0176 56718438
Email: j.borchardt(at)opferperspektive.de

Local information and counselling centres in Brandenburg

The post Contact to the Consulting Team first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

We side with the victims of right-wing violence. Annually, 250 victims, their families and friends use our counseling services. Our mission is to support them and provide them with the best medical, psychological, legal and financial assistance available.

We raise awareness and stand up against right-extremism. On a daily basis, we research, analyse and publish right-wing hate crimes.

We truly know how important you are as a contributor. We were able to set up the first outreach center for victims of right-wing violence solely with donations and volunteer involvement.

With your donation, you will receive regular information about our work and how your donation is being used.

You can make either a one-time donation or regular contributions to help support victims of right-wing violence. If you want ensure that this work is sustainable, back Opferperspektive as a supporting member: this entails your political support and a contribution of 120 euros a year – or more.

 Please Make Your Contribution to

Opferperspektive

Bank Account 3813100

Bank Bank für Sozialwirtschaft

Bank Code 10020500

BIC BFSWDE33BER

IBAN DE34100205000003813100

The post Your Donation Helps first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

Generally, people who become victims of right-extremist crimes or violence are perceived within certain social spheres as ethnic, cultural, or social minorities. Responding to those affected by right-wing violence is top priority at the counsel center. The center takes the victim’s side. However it will only get involved if there are credible indications of a right-extremist motivation in addition to the injured party’s account of the incident.

The counseling process begins when right-extremists have committed acts of physical violence against an individual. Yet past cases have shown that injured parties also experience violence in the form of threats, libel, coercion, and property damages. Research in the social sciences reveals that facets of right-wing extremist ideology have pervaded socio-political discourses and socio-cultural settings to varying degrees. Consequently, these extremists consider their actions legitimated through their self-proclaimed role as enforcers of a presumed »people’s will.« An approach that considers the victims’ perspective must also factor these aspects into the greater social context of right-wing violence.

1. Research

In terms of right-wing motivated attacks, a high number of cases go unreported — especially in cases of coercion, insults, and threats. Often, those affected aren’t well-enough informed and believe such incidents are non-litigable. Their prior experiences lead them to believe that these incidents are normal to a certain extent, and the sustained attack becomes just one of many in the long list of negative experiences. For many victims of violent right-extremist crimes, language barriers and experiences with discrimination also contribute to the sentiment that the police investigation and the judicial apparatus are non-existent. These various reasons may be why many crimes committed by right-wing extremists go unreported and are never made public knowledge. Systematic and on-going research, therefore, form the first core area of focus for outreach centers dedicated to helping victims of right-extremist violence and crimes. The goal is to research all attacks with an established racist, right-extremist, or anti-Semitic motive, so that those affected can be identified and offered help. At the same time, research serves the purpose of compiling information about the aggressors and their presumed motivations, which is important for the outreach centers’ future work.

The centers’ research is based on regular analysis of local and regional newspapers, various internet sources, and special press releases, in addition to information received from cooperation partners (journalists, police stations, state prosecutors’ offices, local public authorities, etc.)

2. Establishing Contact

Hands-on experience has shown that it is extremely important to those affected by right-extremist violence that initial contact be established with an outreach center as soon as possible after the attack. To this end, it is essential to assess the facts of the case directly on site and in collaboration with cooperation partners. Outreach centers will, as a rule, contact victims by mail. This gives victims the chance to establish contact on their own accord.

Despite these efforts, very few victims come directly to the outreach centers. The situation of many people affected by right-extremist violence is very specific, characterized by lack of mobility, lack of knowledge about their rights, problems communicating in German, and a deep-rooted mistrust of public authorities and institutions. In practice, approaching the injured party directly has proven to be the most appropriate form of establishing contact. In light of wide-spread skepticism towards public authorities, especially the police, experience has shown that outreach centers have certain advantages as non-governmental organizations when establishing contact with victims — which can prove to be a most sensitive encounter.

Once the victims have been identified, the case is systematically researched and categorized. An extensive and well-maintained contact network to cooperation partners in the community plays an important role in this second core area of focus. These partners either put the outreach centers in direct contact with the victims or, if the victims agree, give the outreach centers the names of the victims. Through the increased presence of victims‘ outreach centers and their involvement in counseling, this network can be strengthened and systematically expanded to include not only more cooperation partners, but also former victims of right-extremist violence. The latter, most of whom have solid relationships of trust with the respective outreach center, have repeatedly put individuals affected by this type of violence in contact with the outreach centers on their own accord. Because privacy laws prevent public authorities from passing on the victims’ names, former victims and cooperation partners closely tied to the municipality are of particular importance to the outreach centers.

3. The Counseling Process

In accordance with the standards established by the German Association for Victim Support (»Arbeitskreis der Opferhilfen«, acronym: »ado«), the fundamental principles of counseling are that it is: voluntary, confidential, and anonymous. The counseling is free and can be adapted to the victim’s specific needs. As a general rule, this third core area of focus has proven to be the most time-intensive for victims of right-extremist violence and crimes. Frequently, a year to a year and a half elapses between the incident and the court trial. If the attack causes post-traumatic stress disorder, the aftereffects can take months, if not years, to work through in counseling.

In a normal case the first discussion takes the form of open counseling. This gives the victim a chance to talk in detail about the attack they experienced and its aftereffects. The outreach centers gain an overview of the incident and its repercussions for the victim, which provides a basis for determining the actual counseling needs of the victim.

Especially important in the initial evaluation of the incident and the client’s condition are: the injured party’s comprehensive, subjective description of the incident; an assessment of his/her living conditions and his/her social and local environment; an initial evaluation of the imminent threat of danger, and the injured party’s psycho-social situation.

Each separate counseling process differs according to the injured party’s psycho-social situation, their individual resources and needs, the pre-established political climate in the municipality, as well as their identification with a social group.

Aside from those named above, counseling standards of the centers also routinely offer the following services:

• Psycho-social counseling following systemic approaches to therapy
• Psychological crisis intervention
• Arrangement of psychotherapeutic support
• Researching the extent of further threats
• Information on legal situation
• Arrangement of legal support
• Companionship and support during the criminal and civil trials
• Assistance with applying for (compensatory) damages

4. Providing Support to Groups Affected by Right-Wing Violence

In the vast majority of cases, right-wing violence and crimes target individual people. They often become the target of an assault, because the aggressor associates them with a specific group that s/he rejects. As a general rule, these groups consist of immigrants, refugees, people with dark skin, alternative youth or those who don’t identify with the right-wing, people of the Jewish faith, ethnic German resettlers from Central and Eastern Europe, and the homeless. Of course, the net of potential victims can be cast even wider. Individuals, for instance, who are politically and socially involved and who intervene in right-wing activities may also become victims of violence. Even in specific cases, where an act of right-wing violence affects one individual alone, the incident has a direct affect on a whole group of people. Thus, it must be assumed that victimization is not only personal, but often collective, as it may affect those who hear about the incident and possibly belong to the victims’ social circle. Experience has shown that the work with victims of right-extremist violence and crimes cannot stop at an individual level; collective effects of victimization need to be taken into account and dealt with instead.

As a general rule, counseling possible victims takes place in group discussions. Groups are formed according to the specific needs of those affected, where everyone is given the opportunity to discuss their experiences with discrimination, aggression and attacks.

Helping people help themselves: this is the final goal of the fourth core area of focus in counseling. It gives those affected a platform to share common experiences and to evaluate the level of danger in a municipality/district. They acquire the necessary skills to handle potential attacks (recognizing potential aggressors, their own behavior during an attack), and they learn about possible courses for action after an attack (conduct with the police, filing a report, promoting local solidarity).

5. Local Intervention as Prevention

Local intervention generally begins with a concrete case and is coordinated with one or more persons affected. Interventions are measures that aim to create community awareness for the victim’s or the victim group’s situation. The long-term goal of this fifth core area of focus is to achieve solidarity within the community for the victim and potential victim groups. This sends a clear sign to right-extremist groups that they cannot expect any local support for their actions.

With regard to the counseling of victims, local interventions require strategic planning. Courses of action and their possible outcomes must be directly coordinated with the victims in detail. The type of intervention strategy and its comprehensiveness depend on the specific groups that consider themselves affected (in the pre-established local context) and the team abilities of the victims’ outreach center responsible. An intervention usually comes into play when attacks begin to accumulate in a municipality/district.

It begins by creating an assessment of the local situation based on conversations with people affected, local cooperation partners, and the responsible Mobile Counseling Teams against Right-Wing Extremism (»Mobile Beratungsteams gegen Rechtsextremismus«). This assessment focuses on how the attacks are perceived locally, especially by the political functionaries. Consultation with the people affected helps shape just how these attacks are discussed in the community.

Local interventions span the following areas of activity:

• Conversations within the social environment of the people affected (friends, family, neighbors)
• Conversations with cooperation partners in the community (network centers, Mobile Counseling Teams, integration commissioners, alternative groups, church leaders, local political functionaries, etc.)
• Organization of informational events and campaigns for diverse target groups with various partners
• Publicity targeting local media
• Publicity targeting the nationwide context

6. Publicity and Documentation

Outreach centers specialize in the area of victims of right-wing crimes and violence. Media representatives have recognized the outreach centers as competent contacts because of their unremitting local involvement. Increasingly, this is also the case for representatives in other academic disciplines who want to study right-wing extremism and victims of right-wing violence.

Specifically in cases where the outreach centers cooperate with the media, the centers consult the individuals affected for each step closer to publication and discuss possible outcomes with them in detail.

The outreach centers publish up-to-date chronicles of right-wing extremist attacks on the internet. This serves the public as an additional non-governmental information resource concerning right-wing extremist violence from the victims’ point of view. In the course of developing qualitative standards in the area of publicity and documentation, the outreach centers now summarize individual chronicles for joint publication.

The post Core Areas of Counseling for Victims of Right-extremist Violence first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

Alte Synagoge Wuppertal

Many were killed, because the right-extremist mindset doesn’t allow them a place in society, some, because they had the courage to stand up to Nazi slogans. Some fates stirred public sympathies, many were barely even noticed, most forgotten. This exhibition calls on us to remember these individuals.

The exhibition is based on publicly accessible information, principally newspaper articles. Rebecca Forner initiated the work on the exhibition in autumn 2000, after a chronicle memorializing 93 victims of right-wing violence since 1990 was published by the daily papers »Frankfurter Rundschau« and »Tagesspiegel«. The chronicle ignited a political battle, because the State Interior Ministry had only registered 24 murdered from right-wing violence during the same timeframe.

The extent of systematic denial was relatively conspicuous when the Ministry did not even take note of Farid Guendoul’s death. Farid Guendoul, an Algerian asylum seeker, was chased through Guben, a small town near the Polish border, by eleven right-extremists in February 1999. He died from his injuries. The »Guben Hunt« made headlines throughout the country, but because the offenders were only charged with »bodily injury caused by negligence,« there was officially no victim. In May 2001 the Federal and State Interior Ministries changed their assessment system of right-wing crimes. The new assessment criteria should make it possible to correct past mistakes. Yet in 2007 the federal government still only registered 40 cases dating back to 1990 as motivated by right-wing ideology.

Many of those dead never made the headlines, and no statistics bear witness to their fate. The exhibition remembers these people and at the same time, addresses the issue of the ongoing denial of right-wing violence.

»If I Don’t Intervene, I Become an Accomplice« – A Conversation with Rebecca Forner

The politically active graphic artist was a member of anti-Fascist initiatives and studied Communications Design at the School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee. She worked on the exhibition »Victims of Right-Wing Violence« from 2000 to 2004. In 2002, her work was publically shown for the first time at the Berlin memorial site »Topography of Terror«, the former location of the Gestapo Headquarters. Rebecca Forner lives in Bilbao.

What gave you the idea of creating an exhibition about victims of right-wing violence?

The idea surfaced in autumn 2000 during my studies at the School of Art and Design Berlin-Weißensee. In a course by Professor Alex Jordan, we discussed possibilities for combating right-extremist violence through politically engaged graphic arts. The chronicle of victims, which was published around this time, gave me the idea of visually documenting the victims. Without using too many words, I wanted to depict the reality that must be faced in the struggle against the right-wing.

How did you research information about the victims?

The chronicle by Frankfurter Rundschau and Tagesspiegel was the basis for my research. In addition, I looked at newspaper articles from the past ten years in the Anti-Fascist Press Archive in Berlin. I found more lists online and in left-wing publications. I compared these sources and gradually compiled them together.

How did you gather the victims’ pictures?

I found most pictures in tabloids. What I didn’t do was contact the families of the deceased. I didn’t want to simply call and ask for a picture. Besides, I understood clearly from the beginning that I would not find all the pictures, and I would consequently need to find a way to express these voids.

Where pictures were missing, you used gray grids as a surface…

Yes, I wanted to find a visual shape that would express the absence of the pictures, and also the reaction to the experiences I had. One of many experiences was when I wrote to the German Press Agency dpa, requesting 115 pictures of individuals. They wrote me that they only had pictures of two people, because most of the pictures were what they referred to as temporary circulation pictures. That means they aren’t archived.

Why did you place mirrors and postcards between the victims’ pictures?

It is important to me that these murders don’t become viewed as detached from the social situation. We are all involved whether we want to be or not. I chose the postcards arbitrarily, because the murders happened everywhere.

So, it’s not just about giving the victims a face. You also want to challenge the social context in which they became victims?

For me, it was completely about giving the victims recognition. But I think that this form of remembrance is also problematic. I don’t know what people reflect on when they look at these dead people, or if they even reflect. I think it is legitimate to ask uncomfortable questions, they are uncomfortable for me too.

What do you mean by that?

I am absolutely convinced that I must help if someone is being attacked. I also know that I would be afraid if I were confronted with this kind of situation. If I
intervene, I am in danger of being attacked myself. If I don’t intervene, I make myself an accomplice. This contradiction troubles me and I want the visitors to reflect on it too.

The interview was held on 20 June 2004 in Berlin.

The post Exhibition »Victims of Right-Wing Violence in Germany 1990-2005« first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.

1. What is Right-Wing Violence? Two Case Studies
2. The Vilification of Groups by the Right and its Contexts
3. The Police Assessment of Right-Wing Violence
4. Discrepancies between the Police and Opferperspektive
5. Number of Unreported Cases
6. Political Backing
7. Summary: a Definition of Right-Wing Violence

What is Right-Wing Violence? Two Case Studies

On their way to William’s brother’s house, the three young refugees come across an area of a small plaza known locally as the »Doppelgänger,« situated on the steps heading towards the town hall. It is evening in Fürstenwalde on 24 July 2004. At the »Doppelgänger« they encounter a larger group of youth with right-wing tendencies, some of whom are skinheads. One of the Germans in the group points at William, a Kenyan. William asks the German if he means him. The German’s answer is curt and unfriendly: he can point his finger wherever he wants. In the background, a skinhead yells »nigger.« The skinheads continue their taunting, asking the three refugees if they even have passports, and what business they have being in Germany. Zakiullah, a 17 year old refugee from Afghanistan, responds that they don’t need passports. The skinhead from the background yells »white power« and punches William in the head. Zakiullah and his friend Farid are attacked as well. Several assailants jump on each of them, punching and kicking, ripping their clothes. Two girls also participate in the attack. Farid, who defends himself, gets his face cut with a broken beer bottle and begins to bleed heavily. Zakiullah gets punched in the nose, blood running all over his face. The three victims manage to break free and run away. The attackers follow them, but can’t catch up. Later, during the trial, a skinhead explains, »White power means we have the power.«

There is evidence that the attack was racially motivated. This kind of racist verbal abuse is all too common before an act of violence: the refugees encountered hatred; their right of residence in Germany was questioned; William was belittled with the swear word »nigger.« The assailants’ use of racist language denotes a racist mindset that vilifies minorities. Other possible motives, such as an everyday personal altercation or a material motivation, cannot be identified. The circumstances during the incident suggest a racist motive. Without it, the incident would appear to have been completely unwarranted.

This wasn’t the first time that Rocco P. (18) was attacked by right-wing radicals. Ostensibly a punk, he was attacked in Uckermark four times in one year. The last time it happened was in his hometown of Flieth-Stegelitz on 12 June 2004, when he wanted to go to the annual town festival with nine friends — some of whom were also punks. Upon the punks’ arrival, two right-wing extremists called them »scum,« screaming »We are going to cut off your skirt.« A dozen like-minded followers backed them. After that, the rightists attacked several of the punks. A 16 year old was pushed on the floor and beaten in the face. Another was thrown to the floor, where three right-wing radicals kicked him. Rocco intervened and fended off the attackers. The punks managed to flee, amidst flying stones and bottles. As they were getting away, another youth was kicked in the kidneys, and another was hit in the back.

Another act of violence that begins as verbal harassment. The assailants demean the »punks« with pejorative terms like »scum«. Knowing the victims personally is not a prerequisite for the incident. These punks were not attacked because they had a personal disagreement with the other youths; they were attacked because the aggressors regarded them as representatives of the punk group as a whole.

Both examples above demonstrate that normal criminal motives play only a secondary role in right-wing violence. Had the offenders not vilified certain social groups — be them foreigners, punks or leftists — these attacks would probably not have happened. This construction of factitious enemy archetypes, defined and perpetuated by the offender group, degrades certain groups of individuals, denying them equal rights. This sets off the offenders’ aggression, which demands power over the victim.

This is right-wing violence: violence, where specific right-wing discourses provide the necessary calculus for a crime.

The Vilification of Groups by the Right and its Contexts

There is an interrelationship between the enemy archetypes of the right-wing. Not only are the perpetrators who attack refugees, leftists, punks, gays, and the homeless often the same perpetrators, but the discourses of organized right extremism also make clear that an interrelationship exists between their enemy archetypes. Cast against the imagined community of a »Volksgemeinschaft,« segments of the population that deviate from this norm are challenged. Whether the differences between the ideal »us« and the aberrant »them« are actual or contrived, right-wing discourses call for the elimination of all deviations from the norm. This is achieved through marginalization, expulsion, or murder.

This makes discourses that challenge human equality the precondition to violent attacks. For this reason, the offenders’ violence cannot be separated from their right-wing ideology.

»Group-Focused Enmity«

This interrelation between the enemy archetypes of the right-wing is described by social scientists like Wilhelm Heitmeyer as »group-focused enmity.« In his research concerning attitude archetypes in the German population, Heitmeyer discusses a syndrome comprising of:

• Racism (there is a reason why whites are ahead in the world; ethnic German immigrants should have a better social position than foreigners because they have German ancestry)
• Xenophobia (too many foreigners live in Germany; foreigners should be sent back, when there are job shortages)
• Anti-Semitism (Jews have too much influence in Germany; the Jews’ behavior make them partially to blame for their persecution)
• Fear of difference (fear of the »otherness« of homosexuals, the homeless, and the handicapped)
• Islamophobia (the general rejection of Muslim individuals and Islamic practices)
• Privileges based on established residence (long standing inhabitants should have more rights than the recently arrived)
• Classic sexism (women should be submissive and concentrate on their »original role« as wife and mother)

This means that people who highly value one attitude archetype (e.g. racism) are inclined to highly value the other attitudes as well. Common to all archetypes is the assumption that inequality exists among various segments of the population.

The Police Assessment of Right-Wing Violence

Judging whether a crime is motivated by right-wing ideology is always a matter of interpretation. Peremptory motives are assigned to the incident based on obvious clues like unambiguous comments made by the offenders before, during, or after the incident. Other possible reasons for assigning motives are: the particular circumstances surrounding the incident suggest no other plausible motive; the attack appears unwarranted; the offender and the victim (or the specific selection of victims) do not know each other. This interpretation may be incorrect or uncertain.

This is one of the reasons why conflicts of interpretation frequently arise between the police and certain victim interest groups like Opferperspetive. This conflict is particularly evident when no obvious clues are available, and the offenders’ lives prior to the incident help fill in the gaps.

Right-Wing Extremism

The police radically reorganized its assessment system for right-wing violence in 2001. Before this date the term right-wing extremism was the central definition for extremism. However, according to the newly fashioned concept of extremism, right-wing extremism is now derived from the term extremism, which is understood to be a fight against the free democratic constitutional structure. The Federal Constitutional Court decision banning the German Communist Party (KPD) in 1956 was crucial for this definition. At that time the court defined seven paramount values in a democratic constitutional state:

• Respect for human rights as outlined in the constitution, especially an individual’s right to life and right to develop his/her personality,
• Sovereignty of the people,
• Separation of powers,
• Governmental accountability,
• Legitimacy of state authority,
• Independence of the courts,
• Multi-party principle (a principle that guarantees the potential of several parties to concurrently head the state) and an equal opportunity for all political parties with the right to a constitutional education and the exercising of political opposition.

It is striking that six of the seven principles relate to the structure of the state. This shifts the concept of extremism to a primary focus on state security. The state seeks to fend off, actively fight, and overpower those parties and groups that reject the political system. It goes without saying that this kind of endeavor can only be implemented in an organized fashion.

In terms of right-wing violence, a large number of crimes against refugees, immigrants, alternative youth, and the homeless did not fit the criteria for extremism until 2001. According to such criteria, these crimes did not demonstrate any calculated will to overthrow the democratic system nor did they implicate the offenders as acting on behalf of an organization with such goals in mind. Human rights violations — as crimes stemming from »group-focused enmity« undoubtedly are — make defining right-wing extremism conspicuously difficult. For a while the police and »Verfassungsschutz« (the German equivalent to the FBI or MI5) benefited from euphemistic terms such as »violence motivated by xenophobia.« Only after dedicated journalists discovered the »forgotten« victims, who had been murdered by right-wing violence after 1990, was the »Bundeskriminalamt (BKA)« (Federal Criminal Police Office) forced to act.

»Politically Motivated Crime«

On 1 January 2001 the new assessment system of »politically motivated crime« was instituted. »Politically motivated crime« (PMK) was the central definition with three sub-categories: crime motivated by the politically right (PMK-rechts), crime motivated by the politically left (PMK-links) and politically motivated crimes by foreigners. An incident is deemed motivated by the politically right:

»When the circumstances surrounding the incident or the offender’s attitude leads to the conclusion that the offender acted against an individual because of their political views, nationality, ethnicity, race, skin color, religion, ideology, origin, sexual orientation, handicap, physical appearance, or social status.« (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz — Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution)

It is not difficult to recognize that the constitutional ban on discrimination serves as the basis for this list, and it has been extended to include sexual orientation, physical appearance, and social status. Article 3, Paragraph 3 of the constitution reads:

»No person shall be discriminated against or privileged because of sex, ancestry, language, homeland or origin, faith, religious or political views. No person shall be discriminated against because of a handicap.«

There are two different categories of crimes motivated by the politically right (PMK-rechts), namely, violent crimes and other crimes; the latter category includes crimes such as propaganda, damaging property, and inciting the people. The following offenses fall under the category »politically motivated violent crimes«:

• Homocide
• Assault and battery
• Arson
• Use of explosives
• Rioting
• Hazardous interference in rail, air, ship, or street traffic
• Deprivation of personal freedom
• Robbery
• Extortion
• Resisting law enforcement
• Sexual assault

The novelty of the PMK assessment system lies not only in the inclusion of incidents motivated by extremism, but also in the inclusion of crimes that do not inherently threaten the system. For these crimes the concept of »hate crimes« was created. This encompasses crimes motivated by xenophobia and anti-Semitism, as well as those that target physical appearance or the victims’ social status, especially crimes against the homeless and handicap.

Hate Crime

The German concept of hate crime is based on the United States’ concept of »hate crime« or »bias crime.« In 1990 the US Congress defined this concept as such:

»A hate crime, also known as a bias crime, is a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.« (Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI)

The word »bias« is important here, because some assaults involve the offender’s misperception that the victim is a foreigner, Jewish, etc. Since the Congress passed the Hate Crime Statistic Act, almost all states in the USA have passed hate crime laws that guarantee threatened minorities special protection. An important improvement to the PMK assessment system is that all incidents henceforth can be recorded as politically or non-politically motivated under the same category. In the 2001 »State Security Report of the 1st Period« (Erster Periodischen Sicherheitsbericht der Bundesregierung), it reads:

»Allowances should be made for the fact that even by an apparently non-politically motivated crime (relationship conflict, conflicts about finances, or other issues), a right-wing extremist offense should be assumed if the homicide or the escalation of violence can be partially attributed to legitimation of violence by the right-wing, enemy archetypes, or hatred motivated by racism or by social-Darwinism.« (Bundesministerium des Innern, Bundesministerium der Justiz, 2001, pg. 275 f.)

In the text above, it is important to note the escalating effect of an incident in terms of right-wing motivation. If such a motivation is identifiable, then an apparently »non-politically« motivated incident is considered motivated by right-wing ideology.

Discrepancies between the Police and Opferperspektive

The police system for assessing politically motivated crime corresponds to the same fundamental criteria used by Opferperspektive to determine whether or not the attack can be attributed to group-focused enemy archetypes. However, Opferperspektive’s definition differs from the police’s in that it includes serious threats and coercion as violence. This takes into accounts the considerable impact that such incidents sometimes have on the victim. In addition, it is difficult to understand why arson counts as violence, but property damage does not on any account. In individual cases this leads to the erroneous conclusion that when fast food stands (which are frequently owned by non-Germans and therefore a target) are burned because of racial motives, it counts as violence, yet when they are vandalized by the same perpetrators with the same motives, it does not. Consequentially, Opferperspektive counts property damage as violence when it indirectly targets certain groups of people like immigrants who own fast food joints or politically active individuals. Opferperspektive does not include assaults during demonstrations, for example rioting and resisting law enforcement, which are directed at law enforcement’s actions. Politically motivated insults do not fall under the narrow definition of »material« violence, which requires bodily damage to be attempted or incurred.

The Extent of the Deviations

Considering the close-to-identical assessment criteria used by the police and Opferperspektive, one would expect an overall congruous classification of right-extremist violence. Even so, the deviations are significant. In 2004 for example, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) registered 107 crimes motivated by the politically right (PMK-rechts), whereas 134 attacks were registered with Opferperspektive for the same time period. Were we to disregard those crimes omitted by the police as acts of violence — such as threats, coercion, and property damage — Opferperspektive still registered 15 more cases. Even greater deviations arise when a comparison is made between Opferperspektive’s chronology of right-wing violence and the LKA’s list. Opferperspektive did not know about 40 of the cases that the police listed as PMK-rechts. Furthermore, the police counts 55 of the attacks listed in Opferperspektive’s chronology as not motivated by the politically right. This also includes cases that even the Federal Prosecutor’s Office categorizes as being motivated by right-wing extremist ideology.

Justice and Motives for Right-Wing Crimes

No clear explanation can be given as to why these deviations exist. Each right-wing attack that the police do not include on their list would need to be investigated in detail. However, even the courts are not always the appropriate authorities. The court system is limited to the role of determining whether sufficient evidence has been submitted that finds the defendants guilty of the offenses under which they are charged. Explaining the motive, which would be relevant in determining the penalty, only plays a marginal role, if at all, due to the trial’s tight timeline. One exception is homicide, where it is necessary to clarify whether the murder was characterized by »aggravating circumstances.« (»Xenophobic motives« are now also considered to be an »aggravating circumstance.«) As a general rule, the constellation of prosecution, punishment, and defense is unfavorable for discovering the truth behind the crime motive. Even when the defendants do not dispute or distort (which happens frequently) the crimes they are accused of, they are generally careful not to admit to a political motive, which could result in a tougher sentence.

Mistakes during the Initial Police Assessment

Sometimes police make mistakes during the initial assessment. An example: on 20 June 2005 the Fürstenwalde police report, »The police were called to a fight in the Fürstenwalde city park around midnight on Sunday. According to initial information, the fight involved a conflict between two groups of teenagers, each composed of several people.« No mention was made that the offenders were right-wing youth and the victims punks; no mention was made that insults such as »Scum, we’re going to kill you« and »You red pigs« were used; and no mention was made that the attack was one-sided, with the rightists attacking the punks. Instead, the attack was depoliticized as a »fight between two groups of teenagers,« where both sides appeared to be equally responsible. This is a completely typical example of what alternative youth often experience. Even if the Fürstenwalde police later corrected the erroneous initial assessment during the course of the investigation, it cannot be assumed that this correction generally happens when the initial assessment is wrong.

Another case corrected after an incorrect initial assessment was a very serious racially motivated crime that occurred on 3 August 2002 in Ludwigsfelde. A 37 year old Mozambican was attacked by a 22 year old right extremist and tormented by several other youth for several hours — events which resulted in life threatening injuries. The main offender repeatedly called him a »black pig« and a »nigger swine.« The investigating officer initially categorized the incident as a nonpolitical robbery, because the injured man’s watch and wallet disappeared during the harassment. During the trial the officer admitted he could not imagine any other motive than robbery; it would have conflicted with his experience as a police officer. This case alludes to problems of perceiving and understanding racially motivated crimes that vanish behind the semblance of a normal crime.

In other states like Thuringia, a region with a high amount of right-wing violence, the police’s perception has become such an issue that in June and July of 2005 not a single crime motivated by right-wing politics was registered.

Other Explanations

The LKA (State Criminal Police Office) holds Opferperspektive responsible for the fact that some attacks registered with Opferperspektive are not reported to the police. In 2004 this did not hold true for one single case. On the other hand, it is true that Opferperspektive receives no information about how the investigations are proceeding if the organization cannot establish contact with the victim. In these circumstances, Opferperspektive would need to correct its chronology, but even that would not explain the extent of the deviations.

Unexplained Cases

It is difficult, nonetheless, to mutually agree upon how to interpret the motive for some attacks. One example of a grey area in interpretation: on 13 September 2002, 44-year-old asylum seeker Robert E. from Cameroon was assaulted by three young men at a bus stop in Schlaatz, a district in Potsdam. A man approached Robert E., asking for cigarettes, then »dollars,« and then he tried to grab the victim’s front pocket. Robert E. managed to push the perpetrator away and run. He was followed and beaten with a rubber club, but he still got away. The victim was convinced that the attempted robbery was just an excuse to attack an African for racial reasons. For him, the incident had the typical repercussions following any racially-motivated assault: long-lasting feelings of insecurity and fear. Despite the fact that several indications of the offenders’ social environment suggested a right-wing mentality, like the t-shirt worn by one of the offenders with a Celtic cross on it, the trial did not lead to any definitive clarifications. In the end, it was still inconclusive whether a material motive was the determining factor for the assault and whether the offenders would have robbed any »easy« victim. One fact suggesting a material motive is that the offenders, shortly before assaulting Robert E., tried to take cigarettes from another man at a gas station. Yet subjectively, from the victim’s perspective, the incident remains a racially motivated incident.

Number of Unreported Cases

The discrepancies between the police and Opferperspektive’s registration of right-wing violence lead to one conclusion: both representations inadequately reflect the true extent of right-wing violence. The police registered forty right-wing attacks in 2004 that were unknown to Opferperspektive. This is due to the fact that a significant number of right-wing crimes go unpublished by the police, whereas almost every garden shed that is broken into is reported. This policy of silence can only be overcome in places where cooperation partners notify Opferperspektive or where the injured parties themselves call attention to the attacks. Once Opfeperspektive establishes contact with a victim, more and more attacks tend to come to light. Some of these attacks Opfersperspektive learns of are not reported and would have remained unreported had the organization not established contact with the victim by chance.

It would be difficult to provide estimates on the number of unreported cases of right-wing violence. Studies that deal with this question have not been published as of yet. The statement that »around three fourths of all right-wing radical assaults against foreigners in the new States go unreported,« published in »Anstiftung« (or »Incitement,« a project that took place in Dresden in 2000), rests on rough estimates by experts and does not replace the analysis of unreported cases. It can be assumed that crimes like threats or coercion, occurring on an almost daily basis for some victims, often go unreported, whereas the consequences for the victim of serious acts of violence don’t allow the crime to be so easily hidden.

Political Backing

Even now the police and the legal system do not sufficiently solve crimes with a right-wing motive. As a result, right-wing violence still gets confused with normal crimes. Various institutions have been calling for change for years. The »European Commission against Racism and Intolerance« (ECRI), a committee within the Council of Europe, has been urging Germany to create laws for harsher sentences for all crimes with a racist or xenophobic motive since the beginning of this decade. This way a mechanism would be created that obligates the police and the courts to resolve the motive for the crime. The State Ministry of the Interior for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which was still impressed by »Rise of the Decent« (a public appeal that former Chancellor Schröder made to stand up for democratic values and tolerance in Germany), introduced an initiative in the Bundesrat (Federal Council) in November 2000 to change paragraph 46 in the criminal code. Offenders with a xenophobic crime motive would be explicitly sentenced more harshly. As expected, this application was deferred to an advisory committee, where it has since remained.

Other European countries are further along than Germany in this respect. In Great Britain a series of scandals stemming from racially motivated assaults by police officers strengthened the position of those victimized by racism considerably in terms of dealing with police investigations. The central focus is the victim’s subjectivity. The police define a »racist incident« as »any incident that the victim or another person perceives as racist« (Stephen Lawrence Enquiry 1999). How the incident is perceived affects the further development of the investigation. If the victim indicates that they perceive the incident to be racist, the police are obligated to include this in their initial evaluation and to investigate the situation accordingly. On the European level, the »European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia« (EUMC) commends this practice as exemplary and requests that all EU states follow the example. As of yet, this has not provoked any resonance in Germany. Hence, it is clear that there is no lack of suggestions, but rather a lack of political will.

Summary: a Definition of Right-Wing Violence

A definition of right-wing violence should not be static, but rather understood and further elaborated on a case-by-case basis. It has become clear from issues raised up to this point that the police’s assessment criteria have not kept pace with the reality of the situation. The definitions that form the basis of Opferperspektive’s assessment of right-wing violence have used practical police experience as a reference point, but Opferperspektive was able to distance itself from the police definition and learn from it. At this point in time, Opferperspektive’s provisional definition of right-wing violence is:

• An incident is criminal when the offender intends and causes physical damage to individuals, or when material damage or arson targets certain groups of people. Coercion and threats that result in serious consequences for the victim also qualify as right-wing violence; insults alone do not.
• The victim, a third party, or the police believe the offender was motivated by right-wing ideology.
• Circumstances during the incident (for example, certain statements made by the offender, his/her attitude or connection to the right-wing scene) provide further indications that the offender was motivated by right-wing ideology.
• For crimes motivated by right-wing ideology, certain types of enemy archetypes come into play: racism, hatred towards leftists and punks, anti-Semitism, social Darwinism towards the homeless and handicapped, hatred towards gays and lesbians.
• The victim’s interpretation of the offender’s actions is relevant, not the actual physical characteristics of the victim or their legal status. For example, a racially motivated crime can be directed towards a person who mistakenly believes him/herself to be an immigrant.
• If other »nonpolitical« motives are identifiable besides a right-wing motive, the incident is still considered motivated by this ideology, provided that the right-wing motive contributed to the escalation of the incident.

Works cited:

Heitmeyer, Wilhelm and Georg Soeffner, eds. Gewalt. Entwicklungen, Strukturen, Analyseprobleme. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2003.

Heitmeyer, Wilhelm, ed. Deutsche Zustände. v3. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp, 2005.

The post Monitoring Right-Wing Violence – Definitions and Assessment Criteria first appeared on Opferperspektive e.V. Beratung für Betroffene rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt in Brandenburg.