Report by the Commissioner for Human Rights Mr Thomas Hammarberg
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Strasbourg, 11 July 2007 CommDH(2007)14 Original version REPORT BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MR THOMAS HAMMARBERG ON HIS VISIT TO GERMANY 9 – 11 and 15 – 20 October 2006 For the attention of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly CommDH(2007)14 Table of contents Introduction..........................................................................................................................4 Outline and purpose of the visit.......................................................................................4 Note on methodology.......................................................................................................4 1. National system for human rights protection...............................................................5 1.1. Status of international human rights standards....................................................5 1.2. Complaints bodies and human rights structures ..................................................6 1.2.1. Parliamentary Petition Committees.............................................................6 1.2.2. Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the Bundestag......8 1.2.3. Commissioners.............................................................................................8 1.2.4. German Institute for Human Rights...........................................................10 1.3. Judicial system...................................................................................................11 1.4. Police .................................................................................................................12 1.5. Civil society .......................................................................................................13 1.6. Human rights education.....................................................................................14 1.7. National co-ordination of human rights issues ..................................................15 2. Prevention of discrimination......................................................................................16 2.1. General Equal Treatment Act ............................................................................16 2.1.1. Legal framework........................................................................................16 2.1.2. Anti-Discrimination Office ........................................................................18 2.2. Equal treatment of women and men ..................................................................18 2.2.1. Equal pay for work of equal value.............................................................18 2.2.2. Violence against women ............................................................................19 2.3. Inclusion of people with disabilities ..................................................................20 2.3.1. Employment ...............................................................................................20 2.3.2. Education...................................................................................................21 3. Measures against racism and xenophobia..................................................................23 3.1. General policy measures....................................................................................23 3.2. Legislative provisions against racially motivated crimes..................................25 3.3. Data collection on racism, xenophobia and other forms of group-based hatred .................................................................................................................25 3.4. Victims of racism, xenophobia and other forms of group-based hatred............26 4. Protection of national minorities................................................................................27 4.1. Personal scope....................................................................................................27 4.2. Duties of the federal and Länder authorities......................................................28 4.3. Data collection on the situation of national minorities......................................28 4.4. Situation of Roma and Sinti...............................................................................28 4.5. Situation of Sorbs...............................................................................................29 2 CommDH(2007)14 5. Poverty.......................................................................................................................30 5.1. Groups particularly affected by poverty ............................................................30 5.2. Access to health and social services for socially disadvantaged or otherwise vulnerable groups...............................................................................................32 6. Asylum and Immigration...........................................................................................33 6.1. Situation of refugees and asylum-seekers..........................................................33 6.1.1. Grounds for granting refugee status..........................................................34 6.1.2. Revocation of refugee status......................................................................35 6.1.3. Toleration (“Duldung”) permit.................................................................35 6.1.4. Asylum procedures.....................................................................................36 6.1.5. Reception conditions..................................................................................38 6.1.6. Pre-deportation detention..........................................................................40 6.2. Integration of resident foreigners and access to German citizenship ................42 6.3. Situation of undocumented migrants .................................................................43 6.4. Responses to trafficking in human beings .........................................................44 7. Counter-terrorism measures.......................................................................................45 7.1. Absolute prohibition of torture ..........................................................................45 7.2. Extraordinary renditions ....................................................................................47 7.3. Data protection and the right to privacy ............................................................48 7.4. Counter-terrorism legislation.............................................................................50 8. Penal system and detention........................................................................................52 8.1. Juvenile justice...................................................................................................52 8.2. Secured custody .................................................................................................53 8.3. Implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture ...54 9. Recommendations......................................................................................................55 Appendix I List of authorities, institutions and civil society organisations met or consulted..............61 Appendix II Comments by the Federal Government of Germany ........................................................67 3 CommDH(2007)14 Introduction Outline and purpose of the visit 1. The Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg visited the Federal Republic of Germany from 9 to 11 and from 15 to 20 October 2006 at the invitation of the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The visit was part of a series of the Commissioner’s regular country missions to all member states of the Council of Europe to assess their effective respect for human rights.1 The Commissioner was accompanied by Mr. Lauri Sivonen, Ms. Birgit Weyss and Ms. Irene Kitsou-Milonas, members of his Office.2 2. In the course of his visit, the Commissioner met with Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and Deputy Chancellor Franz Müntefering, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble, Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries and Federal Minister of Health Ulla Schmidt. He also met with members of the Governments of the Länder of Berlin, Bavaria and Saxony. The Commissioner visited Berlin, Munich, Karlsruhe and Dresden and met with representatives of federal, Länder and local authorities, members of the judiciary, federal and Länder parliamentarians, as well as civil society representatives. He also made several institutional visits to facilities and sites with human rights relevance.3 3. The Commissioner expresses his great appreciation for the generous co-operation of the German authorities at all levels and wishes to thank in particular the Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their shared commitment to the objectives of the mission. He extends his gratitude to all people he met during the visit for their open and constructive attitude and frank exchange of views. The Commissioner is especially pleased about the great number of civil society representatives who came to meet him to share their expertise and valuable information on the human rights challenges they have encountered. 4. The purpose of this report is to identify opportunities for improving the protection and promotion of human rights in Germany. The Commissioner considers that it should serve as a tool for future co-operation and follow-up.