Germany clamps down on race attacks

The Duesseldorf attack caused much soul-searching

The authorities in Germany have drafted plans to curb right-wing violence following a series of recent attacks on Jews and foreigners.

Public pressure for action has grown after a bomb blast last week at a railway station in Duesseldorf which injured 10 recent immigrants, six of them Jews.

Bad for business, bad for Germany's image

Politicians have warned that such attacks could damage Germany's international reputation and its attractiveness as an investment location at a time when German businesses are trying to attract skilled foreigners.

State and federal interior ministry officials say they agreed during a telephone conference to concentrate their efforts on known neo-Nazi organisations, as well as improving security at Jewish sites.

Internet

They said this would include, where possible, shutting down neo-Nazi sites on the internet, which is being used to link different extremist groups.

"The Internet is becoming - slowly but very noticeably - a platform for right-wing agitating, and one shouldn't just watch it and do nothing any more," said parliamentary president Wolfgang Thierse.

Violence is made too easy, violence remains practically unpunished or punished too little

Berlin's commissioner for foreigners

The officials said they would also set up a national database listing people convicted of racist offenses to help the police concentrate their efforts.

There have also been demands for tougher penalties for offenders.

Berlin's commissioner dealing with foreigners, Barbara John, said that robbers and thieves were often punished more severely than someone convicted of causing bodily harm.

"Violence is made too easy, violence remains practically unpunished or punished too little," she said.

Enforcement

However, the German Justice Minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, said that new laws were not needed, but existing ones must be more strictly enforced.

She said that anyone who committed an anti-foreigner crime must know that they would be severely punished.

Statistics released by the German Government on Monday show an increase in anti-Semitic offences in the past three months to 157, compared with 110 cases during the same period last year. Other offences by right-wing extremists, generally against foreigners, also rose.

The problem is particularly severe in eastern Germany, which is still suffering from high unemployment and the huge social changes that followed the collapse of communism.