German parliament expresses deep shame over neo-Nazi attacks

Berlin: German parliamentarians have collectively expressed their “deep shame” over the killing of nine immigrants and a woman police officer by a neo-Nazi group between 2000-2007 and deplored the failure of the security agencies to uncover them or to prevent their crimes. In a rare show of unity, all parties represented in the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, unanimously passed a resolution yesterday demanding a speedy and thorough investigation into the string of murders reportedly committed by three members of a neo-Nazi cell in eastern Germany. The lawmakers also called for “necessary changes in the structures” of the federal and state security services to ensure that such crimes will not occur again. The resolution carried the names of eight Turkish and one Greek owners of small businesses in various German cities, who were killed between 2000 and 2006 as well as policewoman Michele Kiesewetter, who was shot dead in Heilbronn in 2007. [caption id=“attachment_138105” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“German Chancellor Angela Merkel (first row R) and members of the government observe a minute of silence during a session of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament in Berlin, commemorating the victims of a neo-Nazi group that had been on a nationwide ten-year killing spree. Reuters.”]  [/caption] It also shared the sorrow of the families of the victims and apologised to them for the uncertainty they had to live with for years about how and in which circumstances their dear ones died. “We are deeply ashamed that after the dreadful crimes of the Nazi regime, right extremist ideology leaves a bloody trail of unimaginable series of murders,” the parliamentarians said. They demanded that all possible links between the murders and with right-wing extremism must be completely cleared and all uncleared crimes of the past years must be reopened and included in the on-going investigations. A link between the murders and the neo-Nazi cell National Socialist Underground (NSU) came to light after two members Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt reportedly committed suicide in their caravan in Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia on November 4. Their woman accomplice Beate Zschaepe on the same day set on fire their house in Zwickau, in the state of Saxony and surrendered to the police a few days later. She and another terror suspect identified by police as Holger G are currently being investigated by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. In a DVD found by police from the ruins of their house, the neo-Nazi trio claimed responsibility for the murders of the immigrants and the policewoman. Police also found the gun they used to kill their victims. At the opening of yesterday’s special debate on the neo-Nazi terror, Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said Parliament is “ashamed” that the federal and state security authorities completely failed to uncover the neo-Nazi cell or to prevent the crimes. The Bundestag apologises to the family members of the victims for the suspicion they were subjected to during the investigation, he said. The parliament will do everything to clear up the murders in every detail and to ensure that the basic rights guaranteed in the constitution is applicable to everyone living in this country regardless of their country of origin, belief or way of life, he said. Participating in the debate, floor leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Bundestag Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticised the security authorities for playing down the threat from right-wing extremism and demanded that turning a blind eye to the right-wing terror must be stopped. Gregor Gysi, leader of the Left party faction charged that the domestic intelligence service was in some cases colluding with the right extremist groups. He also called for an end to the practice of deploying police “informers” in the neo-Nazi scene because the government was only financing right-wing extremism through such paid agents. Leader of the Green party Renate Kuenast said the security services have lost their credibility by focusing too much on the left-wing extremism while largely ignoring the threat from the right-wing groups. PTI