Answer of the Federal Government to the Minor Interpellation tabled by the Members of the Bundestag Andrej Hunko, Jan Korte, Christine Buchholz, Annette Groth, Inge Höger, Ulla Jelpke, Niema Movassat, Frank Tempel, Katrin Werner and the Left Party parliamentary group - Bundestag Printed paper No. 17-13168 of 11 April 2013 - The policies of the European Union and the German Federal Government towards Libya and Tunisia in the justice and home affairs sectors Preliminary remarks of the questioners Previous interpellations have required the German Federal Government to provide information about projects to support and train the police forces of North African countries (Bundestag Printed papers 17/10107 and 17/11986). The European Union (EU) wishes to implement a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) with Libya that has been negotiated by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Commission. The aim is ‘capacity building for crisis response coordination and public security’. The ‘reintegration of Libyan militias following the fall of Muammar al-Gaddafi’ is to be facilitated. A ‘crisis response centre and early warning system’ is currently being built up, while ‘national crime data’ should ‘be deployed effectively to combat national and international criminal networks’ in future. At the same time, the EU’s FRONTEX agency is negotiating a working agreement with the government and has been invited by the European External Action Service (EEAS) to take part in a joint fact-finding mission for this purpose. For its part, the EEAS is planning the implementation of a ‘crisis response operation in the field of border management in Libya’. The Libyan regions where this would be relevant have been placed under emergency law as closed zones subject to military control. The German Federal Government is planning its own ‘bilateral capacity building project in the security sector’ in Libya. Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Mauretania have announced that they will establish their own border surveillance systems. The EU is driving ahead the integration of these capabilities: The countries are to be integrated into the Spanish-led ‘Seahorse Mediterraneo Project’, the reconnaissance data from which will be collated by the EUROSUR border surveillance platform. The partner countries targeted are Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Tunisia has refused up until now to take part in ‘Seahorse Mediterraneo’ (gefangenen info, 373, ‘International: EU-Migrationsabwehr auf Kosten des arabischen Frühlings’). The expectation is that Tunisia will be the first country in the Arab world to go through a ‘security sector reform’, which is being crucially supported by the German Federal Government (answer to oral question 36 put by Andrej Hunko, Member of the German Bundestag, during the German Bundestag question time on 20 March 2003, Minutes of Plenary Proceedings 17/250). The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Police are involved in this work. Although the German secret services have been criticised a great deal of late on account of their role in the scandal about the National Socialist Underground (NSU) far-right terror group, they are running ‘cooperation projects’ with titles like ‘Intelligence Services in a Rule-of-Law State’ and ‘Counterterrorism’. Just one Federal Police mission to prevent unwanted migration, described as a training measure, will cost €650,000 (answer to written question 11 tabled by Dr Diether Dehm, Member of the German Bundestag, Bundestag Printed paper 17/12949). The European Commission now wishes to provide its own support for the Tunisian ‘security sector reform’ by deploying 14 specialists in ‘information exchange and technical support’ to Tunisia in order to identify weak points in that country’s security apparatus. Although the EU and the German Federal Government have demanded the ‘orientation of their capabilities towards the combatting of organised crime and terrorism in line with rule-of-law norms and the protection of human rights’ (Bundestag Printed paper 17/11986), few efforts to achieve this on the part of Libya and Tunisia have come to light. The statement by an EU delegation dated 13 March 2013 (Local EU Statement on Religious Freedom and Fundamental Rights) notes that grave human rights infringements continue to be committed by state authorities in Libya. The barriers to freedom of movement and freedom of opinion in Tunisia were illustrated most recently by the police and military action against migrant participants at the World Social Forum (see http://ffm-online.org/category/mittelmeerraum/tunisien, 25 March 2013). Preliminary remarks of the German Federal Government The upheavals in the Arab world are a historic opportunity for the European Union to promote democratic structures and institutions, the rule of law and the protection of human rights in its southern neighbourhood. As an EU Member State, Germany has supported this from the very beginning. The German Federal Government has been contributing bilaterally to these processes since 2011 with its transformation partnerships programme. The German Bundestag has made a total of €100m available to support these transformation processes in the years 2012 and 2013. One element in the anchoring of democratic structures in Tunisia and Libya is the establishment of democratically shaped and controlled security structures. The governments of Tunisia and Libya have committed themselves to do this, and expressly desire cooperation with the European Union and Germany in the justice and home affairs sectors. We ask the German Federal Government: 1. To what extent are EU institutions (as far as the German Federal Government is aware, further to the account given in Bundestag Printed paper 17/10107 and including institutions of the EU Member States) involved in the establishment of border management systems, crime fighting, migration control or ‘security sector reform’ in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt? Tunisia At the beginning of March 2013, the European Commission reached agreement with the transitional government on a ‘peer review’ of the security sector in Tunisia, in which twelve experts are now expected to take part. This project has been set up as part of the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) programme, is intended to assist the reorganisation (reform) of the Tunisian security apparatus and will encompass all fields within the jurisdiction of the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior. The project’s terms of reference are attached as an annex. With regard to migration, reference is made to the answer to question 29. Egypt Apart from the EU, a number of EU Member States have offered support for the improvement of the security sector in Egypt or signalised their interest in cooperation. This is true, in particular, of training measures and technical support. Libya In Libya, the EU is planning a civilian CSDP mission on integrated border management that is due to take up its work in June 2013 (EU Integrated Border Management Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya)). The United Nations have taken over the coordination of international support for the reconstruction of the Libyan security sector, while the European External Action Service represents the EU in this field. With regard to the involvement of the EU’s FRONTEX agency, reference is made to the answer to question 8. With regard to EU support for crime fighting in Libya, reference is made to the answer to question 4. According to a list published by the United Nations Support Mission (UNSMIL), which is responsible for the coordination of police reconstruction aid in Libya, the EU is currently implementing three projects: • border management, • development of criminal investigations intelligence (RELINC – responsibility for implementation lies with INTERPOL), • support for national crisis anticipation and response capability. In addition to this, a Security and Justice Sectors Programme is being implemented by the EU. Meetings are held every month at the EU Delegation in Tripoli, with reports being made on topics that include irregular migration (above all by the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)). Algeria The German Federal Government does not possess any relevant information. 2. What is the concrete content of the ‘transformation partnerships in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region’ in terms of measures to promote democracy, the rule of law, and media and press freedom (Bundestag Printed paper 17/10107)? a) To what extent have the projects grown beyond their ‘start-up phase’, and what (initial) appraisals can the German Federal Government give for the purpose of their evaluation? b) To what extent does the German Federal Government feel the measures to ‘promote and implement human rights’ have proved successful? Since the beginning of 2012, a large number of measures have been implemented under the transformation partnerships programme. In the justice sector, for example, funding has been provided for activities undertaken by the German Foundation for international legal cooperation (IRZ) in Tunisia. The project partners include the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, the Higher Institute of the Judiciary and the Young Lawyers Association. A project implemented by the Hanns Seidel Foundation in this field (Legal, Judicial and Administrative Reform during the Democratic Transition Process in Tunisia) has also been supported with transformation