The inadequate investigation of unlawful use of force by police officers is a structural problem and unacceptable from a civil rights perspective. The introduction of a general identification requirement for police officers, as implemented in Berlin, can only be a first step in addressing this problem. It does, at least, make it easier to identify the perpetrators of unlawful acts. In addition, there are numerous self-organized activities that play an important role in monitoring police actions. These include demonstration monitoring as well as investigative commissions established to clarify specific cases of police violence or deaths in police custody, such as after the killing of Dennis S. in Berlin at the end of 2008 or the violent police operation during a demonstration against the Stuttgart 21 project in the fall of 2010. These initiatives are necessary to ensure at least partial external oversight of police actions. However, they alone are insufficient. Oversight by state parliaments is also helpful, but not adequate, as it only addresses suspected unlawful police conduct on an ad hoc basis, rather than continuously and systematically.
As a further element of better oversight of police actions, independent investigative bodies are needed to receive complaints from those affected and to independently investigate cases of unlawful police violence. They must be adequately resourced and accessible to everyone. Such institutions are not new; they have existed in many (European) countries, some for years. Germany also had such a body for several years in the form of the Hamburg Police Commission, but it was inadequately equipped. To ensure that such commissions do not become mere window dressing and can actually fulfill their function, they must meet certain minimum requirements:
1. Jurisdiction
The Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction over cases of alleged unlawful violence and other serious human rights violations perpetrated by police or customs officials. Other unlawful state actions shall not fall within the Commission's remit.
2. Members and Resources
The commission should not be tied to the executive branch. Its members must come from civil society and should not themselves be involved in executive state action. The respective members should be elected at the state level by the respective state parliaments, at the federal level by the Bundestag (Federal Parliament), and by representatives of civil society organizations. The commission should be composed in a way that reflects the demographic makeup of the population (migration background, gender). Marginalized social groups, who are particularly frequently affected by unlawful police violence, should also be represented.
The Commission must have sufficient resources. Both its material and personnel resources must enable it to carry out the tasks described effectively.
3. Access to the Commission:
Complaints or reports can be filed by those affected and their (legal) representatives, as well as by third parties and via organizations. Police officers can also contact the Commission as those affected or as witnesses. The Commission is obligated to generally maintain the anonymity of the person making the call. Searches of the Commission's premises and the seizure of its documents are inadmissible. The members of the Commission and its staff have the right to refuse to testify regarding their work for the Commission. Furthermore, the Commission should also be able to act on its own initiative, for example, if it becomes aware of cases of unlawful police violence from other sources. The police and public prosecutor's office are obligated to inform the Commission about criminal complaints or the initiation of investigations in cases of police violence. The Commission should be required to act ex officio if someone has died as a result of police violence.
4. Powers
The commission must have its own investigative powers. These include, among other things, the immediate inspection of the crime scene, the questioning of witnesses and suspects, and access to files, in particular police records and prosecutorial investigation files. Members must be permitted to enter police stations unannounced.
Following the conclusion of the investigations, the commission will issue recommendations to the police or public prosecutor's office regarding further action in each individual case. The police or public prosecutor's office are accountable to the commission.
The authority of the police and public prosecutor's office to conduct their own investigations or disciplinary proceedings remains unaffected by the commission's actions.
5. Reporting and Accountability
The Commission is obliged to inform those affected by means of a summary report on the outcome of the investigations. The Commission is accountable to Parliament. The public should be informed by the Commission through the preparation of an annual activity report, which may also address structural issues. The Commission conducts statistical surveys on all cases of complaints and proceedings against police officers and makes these available to the public.
Contact addresses:
Amnesty International Section
of the Federal Republic of Germany e.V.
Greifswalder Straße 4
10405 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0)30 / 420248-0
www.amnesty-polizei.de
Humanist Union eV
united with Gustav Heinemann Initiative,
Greifswalder Straße 4,
10405 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0)30 204 502 56
Fax: +49 (0)30 502 57
Email: info@humanistische-union.de
www.humanistische-union.de
International League for Human Rights,
Greifswalder Straße 4,
10405 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0)30 39 62 122
Fax: +49 (0)30 39 62 147
Email: vorstand@ilmr.de
www.ilmr.de
Committee for Fundamental Rights and Democracy e.V.
Aquinostraße 7-11
50670 Cologne
Telephone: +49 (0)221 972 69-20 and -30
Fax: +49 (0)221 972 69-31
Email: info@grundrechtekomitee.de
www.grundrechtekomitee.de
Republican Lawyers' Association eV
Greifswalder Straße 4
10405 Berlin
Telephone: +49 (0)30 41 72 35 55
Fax: +49 (0)30 41 72 35 57
Email: kontakt@rav.de
www.rav.de
