Germany

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 386.

Four of the terrorists who hijacked the airplanes on September 11 had lived and studied in Germany. After 9/11, German government approved new anti-terrorist measures and spent $1.4 billion on security improvements. A new "paragraph on terrorism" was introduced into the criminal code. The rights of associations were curtailed. Before, authorities had been unable to ban religious organizations. Now police can react against groups which abuse their religious status to engage in criminal activity. To pay for these new expenditures the German government enforced a special tax on tobacco.

Additionally a series of new security measures for screening airport personnel was determined. These controls not only target airline employees but also baggage handlers and cleaners.

As in many other countries, data protection laws were eased to give authorities access to personal information from the federal intelligence service. The Federal Secretary of the State, Otto Schily succeeded in implementing a state-wide "computer search", in German called "Rasterfahndung". When Schily introduced his second anti-terror package in October 2001, criticism from the media, human rights organisations and from the Green Party and even parts of the governing SPD was heard. It was mainly directed towards tighter controls on the right of asylum. Also, biometric data were supposed to be integrated into identity cards.

On October 1, 2001, the pacifistic Greens indicated approval of German army participation in the impending war against terrorism. When the Afghanistan War started, Germany sent special operations forces to Afghanistan and three frigates to the Gulf of Aden area.

Germany leads the training of Afghan police officers and is helping Humanitarian Assistance missions with air transport flights. The Netherlands and Germany will together take over the lead over the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul from early 2003.