• Germany Alert: here can be found interesting texts about the latests developments in Germany.
  
  
• People are on trial because they're members of an _antifascist_ organisation!
  
  
• BORDER GUARDS DEPORT KURDISH CHILDREN
  This text shows how brutal the European police force is getting.
  More about Kurdistan can be found here.
  
  

from: aam@paxo.nadir.org

The AUTONOME ANTIFA (M)

The largest trial against autonomist antifascists in the history of the
Federal Republic of Germany is scheduled to begin on August 14, 1996.
17 antifascist activists from Goettingen, in southern Lower Saxony, will be
tried  for being  members of the Autonome Antifa (M), charged with being a
criminal organization according to | 129. This law is intended to fight
organized crime, similar to the RICO laws in the United States.
Looking at the the conditions of the trial, it is clear that a real defence
is impossible and that the defendants have received a sentence before the
trial has even begun. They will be financially ruined, regardless of the
outcome of the trial, and their lives interrupted for up to several years.
The state attorney's office has scheduled 131 trial dates in the first year of
the trial. Attendence at all dates is mandatory for each defendant and his or
her two (compulsory) lawyers. The trials will be held three days a week in a
town over 150 miles from Goettingen. The travel expenses and lawyers costs for
these 131 days are estimated at over 4 million DM - almost 3 million US-dollars!

The importance of this trial goes beyond the fate of 17 individuals. This
trial could mean the criminalization of the Autonome Antifa (M) and the end to
its politics. The successful prosecution of the group would have significant
meaning for the German left. The possibilities for legally organized political
work, including demonstrations  and other forms of grass-roots politics, would
be severely limited. A guilty verdict would set a   precidence, clearing the
path for an expanded use of the | 129. Other similarly organized groups, like
the groups in the Antifascist Action/Nationwide Organization (AA/BO), would
be potential targets for criminalization.

This trial could sharply confine antifascist resistance and make political
work outside the confines of electoral politics vulnerable to new forms of
repression!

Since the break-up of the USSR and the annexation of German Democratic
Republic by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1990, the FRG has
intensified its politics of international agression and domestic repression.
German economic and territorial interests are being fought for with military
means for the first time since the end of Nazi-fascism in 1945. Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union are the targets for the conquer of new markets
with favorable conditions for German business.
The flip side of the coin is domestic repression. The left is the object of a
wave of criminalization intended to wipe out opposition and raise the price of
resistance against the current system.

International aggression
For the first time since the end of World War II, German soldiers are engaged
in a war area. For the third time in this century, German forces have been
sent into the former Yugoslavia. The first two times ended in world wars and
were an intregal part of German expansionist plans in Eastern Europe.
In Bosnia, the path is being cleared for future German military presence in
the rest of the world.
Turkey, too, plays an important economic and military-strategic role for the
FRG. Germany is the largest weapons importer and second largest trade partner
for Turkey. Turkey's war against Kurdistan could not be continued much longer
without German weapons and military expertise. Weapons from the former East
German army and military and police training by German forces are just two
ways in which this war is supported by the FRG.

Domestic Repression
The support of the war against Kurdistan is carried out within the FRG as
well. The ban of the Kurdish Worker Party (PKK) in November, 1993 is used to
criminalize kurdish organizations across the board. Just speaking out for
freedom for Kurdistan is frequently enough to be charged with support of or
membership in the PKK and to banned as well.
The Geman left is also subject a wave of criminalization. In July, 1995, a
series of raids and arrests was carried out against the underground magazine
radikal, the Berlin group K.O.M.M.I.T.E.E. and the controversial group
Anti-Imperialist Cells (AIZ). The Autonome Antifa (M) has been the object of
investigations since 1991.

The Autonome Antifa (M)
The Autonome Antifa (M) grew out of the autonomist movement of the 1980's with
a new concept. Some of the original goals were to break out of the isolation
of the leftist movement, to go beyond single-issue politics and to bring
revolutionary antifascism into broad circles of society.
Coalition demonstrations, AgitProp theater, information and discussion plena,
historical and art exhibits, and other cultural events make up the praxis of
the Autonome Antifa (M).
The Autonome Antifa (M) is most often associated with the coalition
demonstrations against fascist training centers. The years 1992/1993 were
witness to fascist pogroms in Hoyerswerda, Solingen, Moelln, and Rostock.
During this time, the neo-fascists stepped up their activities in Lower
Saxony as well. Attacks on people of color and leftists - like the murder of
Alexander Selchow on New Year's Eve 1990/1991 and countless other everyday
terror acts - were not uncommon. Especially the fascist Free German Workers'
Party (FAP), banned in Spring 1995, was on the uprise.
One characteristic of these demonstrations is the so-called black block, a
part of demonstration where the participants mask themselves to protect
themselves from potential fascist and police observation and attack. The black
block became a symbol for the coalitions, for it showed the political
diversity of the action - from radical antifascists to youth groups to
political parties. The black block ensures that the media does not ignore the
participation from autonomist groups and makes it more likely that their
political contents be reported.
Using the mainstream media as one way to reach the public has always been a
part of the politics of the Autonome Antifa (M).It is a double-sided sword,
however. Whereas antifascist positions are made available to a wider audience
through the mainsteam press, the press often reduces these positions to
superficial slogans or reports only the sensational events.

Fighting the roots of fascism
The politics of the Autonome Antifa (M) is not confined to fighting neo-
fascism. An effective antifascism has to attack the roots of fascism, roots
that are embedded in the capitalist system. Ongoing work groups and public
presentations on the history of antifascist resistance and internationalism,
for example, are also part of the politics of the Autonome Antifa (M).
October 2nd, the eve of "Reunification Day", is one example of the group's
broader politics. Every year since 1990, the Autonome Antifa (M) has organized
demonstrations, agit-prop theater, talks and published a brochure on different
topics. In 1995, the motto was "Against Fascism and Class Justice! The
Antifascist Action!". The city of Goettingen banned all activities planned from
the group - a reaction the ongoing investigations. The association of
antifascism with "criminal deeds" strengthens the conservative position within
the city and serves to intimidate potential coalition partners.
An integral part of leftist politics is also the struggle against patriarchy.
The Autonome Antia (M) works regularly on this issue, by organizing exhibits
on the history of (anti)-abortion laws and lectures, agit-prop theater on
March 8th - international women's day - and incorporating an anti-patriarchal
standpoint into the rest of its politics.

Organization
In 1991, shortly after its founding, the Autonome Antifa (M) set off a
nationwide discussion with its organizing paper. An effective antifascist
politics and the development of an alternative to the current system is only
possible within an organization. The Antifascist Action/Nationwide
Organization grew from this discussion in 1992 and the Autonome Antifa (M) has
been a member since then.

"Inner Security"
This political work is under attack and is part of a development towards more
observation, more control and repression of the left in the FRG. 1996 is
election year and one hotly debated issue is "inner security", in which | 129
plays a special role. | 129 allows basic rights like protection of privacy to
be abused through observations and tapping. With | 129 an individual defendant
does not have to be proven to have committed any particular crime, but rather
just has to be proven to be part of the group charged. It is a classic "guilty
by association" law.
Historically, | 129 has been most frequently used against leftist groups, not
agains the mafia or against fascists. It is used to build up political
pressure against leftist groups and to defame political actions as
unpolitical "criminal acts".

Now is the time for an international solidarity campaign!
The outcome of the trials against the Autonome Antifa (M) have a significant
meaning for the left in Germany. If the Autonome Antifa (M) is successfully
prosecuted, it means a strengthening of reactionary forces in the area of
"inner security" and reduction in possibilities for grass-roots political
organizing outside of electoral politics.

International publicity and activism is needed NOW to build up pressure to
stop the criminalization. A broad solidarity campaign is growing within the
FRG, independent of the specific politics of the Autonome Antifa (M).
Join this campaign and help defend antifascist resistance!

-       become an international trial watcher in Fall, 1996
-       publicize the trial in print and electronic media
-       organize an information plenum
-       raise funds for legal costs
-       take part in an ongoing solidarity campaign
-       contact us for more information

__________________________________________________________________________
AUTONOME ANTIFA (M)                  Phone : +49 551 549081
c/o Buchladen                        Fax   : +49 551 549081
Rote Strasse 10                      E-mail: aam@paxo.nadir.org
D-37073 Goettingen                   WWW   : http://www.nadir.org/Gruppen/aam/

Spendenkonto fuer die Prozesskosten:
Antifaschistische Liste
Kto-Nr.: 150497006, Sparkasse Goettingen, BLZ: 26050001
Stichwort: "Solidaritaet"
## CrossPoint v3.02 ##
## CrossPoint v3.02 ##

              ** Topic: germany update 2/96 **
            ** Written  6:17 PM  Mar  9, 1996 by
     MISCHA@VLBERLIN.comlink.apc.org in cdp:gen.racism **
           BERLIN ANTIRACIST INFORMATION NETWORK
 

               BORDER GUARDS DEPORT KURDISH CHILDREN 
 
Border Guards at Stuttgart Airport deported Muryat Soytut, aged
2, and his 6-year old sister Arzu, shortly after their
unaccompanied arrival at Stuttgart airport on January 2nd. The
children had arrived in order to visit their parents, Ali and
Elif Soytut, Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin who have applied
for asylum in Germany. 
 
The children had been invited for a visit by friends of the
Soytuts, in accordance with German law which forbids visits by
family members during the processing of asylum applications, but
which allows them for three months if the visiting family members
are invited by and stay with people who are legally registered
and entitled to live in Germany. This was the case for the Soytut
children, who had been officially invited by a Mr. Bilal Bilmec,
a friend of the family. 
 
Mr. Bilmec was however unable to pick the children up from the
airport, so their parents went to meet them instead. At this
point the Federal Border Guards (BGS) intervened to deport the
newly-arrived children. "In view of the overall circumstances it
had to be assumed that permanent residence of the children was
planned", according to a BGS spokesperson. 
 
More than 20 Border Guards then proceeded to separate parents and
children, an act which was "only possible by means of simple
physical violence", according to the spokesperson. The injuries
suffered by Mr. Soytut however had nothing to do with BGS boots
but were allegedly "wantonly self-inflicted". The BGS version of
events, which came to light some six weeks after the incident, 
seems to be the only one available at present. It goes on to say
that after being informed of the deportation decision, the
children's parents worked themselves up "into a state of shock",
so that it "was no longer possible to communicate with them". The
children were placed, via the  above mentioned "means of simple
physical violence" back on the plane which had brought them. The
parents were taken to the psychiatric ward of nearby N|rtingen
Hospital. Their reunion with their children had lasted some 30
minutes.    
                         (jw 10/11.2.96)