Berlin / Geneva-The call of the UN Special Representative Nils Melzer has led to more than a hundred references to police violence at the Berlin Corona demonstrations, which often refer to the same cases several times. The UN representative now has the task of examining any state violence and police attacks, informing the government of its conclusions and calling for clarification as well as punishment and reparation for violations of the rules.
Melzer told the Berliner Zeitung on request that his team had received a very large number of reports about police violence against protesters at the demonstration on Sunday in Berlin: "We will now review and evaluate the material. Every single message and every single video needs to be verified accurately and I will also talk to direct eyewitnesses. But my impression is that in several cases there is reason enough for an official intervention on my part with the federal government.“
To this end, the UN Representative addresses the Federal Foreign Minister through the German representation at the United Nations in Geneva. Through the Federal Foreign Office, the competent authority, in the specific case the Berlin Senator for the Interior, must then be dealt with the allegations and initiate the investigations required by the state treaty. Melzer is "very concerned about the development of police operations in demonstrations worldwide". This applies not only to countries such as Hong Kong, Belarus, Colombia and the USA with the violence against "Black lives matter"activists, but unfortunately also the corona demonstrations in Europe. Melzer: "Something very fundamental is going wrong. In all regions of the world, the authorities seem to increasingly regard their own population as an enemy.“
In all these contexts, Melzer now sees his primary task in dealing with the concrete incidents: "Every single case must be clarified, and thoroughly. And any clear violation of rules by policemen must have sharp consequences. Political leaders must not take the events lightly."Even violent actions against police officers are unacceptable, they are crimes for which the perpetrators must be punished. Melzer: "However, isolated violence by demonstrators must under no circumstances serve to justify police violence against other, non-violent demonstrators."Melzer on the demonstration in Berlin:" From the pictures and information we have so far, we have the impression that the majority of the protests were not violent rioters. It was women, children, cyclists, elderly people.“
It is absolutely unacceptable for the police to use sometimes life-threatening violence against defenseless demonstrators for mere administrative offences or civil disobedience.
Nils Melzer
The police are obliged"to apply proportionality in their use in any case". Violence is only justified if a police officer or a third person is directly attacked, for example "if the authorities have to defend themselves against a masked Molotov cocktail thrower". Melzer: "It is absolutely unacceptable for the police to use sometimes life-threatening violence against defenseless demonstrators for mere administrative offences or civil disobedience."Melzer sees another problem:" The images of the demonstrations, as they are now spreading virally, already have a violent effect on their own.“
Melzer: "If the police do not clearly communicate that they see themselves as friends and helpers, but treat their own population as an enemy, then a dangerous spiral is set in motion: Namely that next the population also considers the police as an enemy and in the end the government."It is the responsibility of every government to prevent such a development through clear, de-escalating communication. Melzer: "It is also absurd to break up a demonstration with the reference to health protection when demonstrators are driven together and injured with completely arbitrary brutality.“
Melzer believes that it is urgently necessary for the authorities and police to use proven de-escalation methods. He cites Stuttgart as an exemplary example, where Police Chief Carsten Höfler declared during corona protests in April that the police should never use violence against peaceful demonstrators. In spring 2021, Stuttgart had refrained from forcibly dissolving a demonstration against the corona measures.
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