BERLIN -

The Director of the German Institute for Human Rights has been forced to resign because he has been rather too active in defence of human rights in Germany - instead of providing useful material for Berlin's "ethnically" based Foreign Policy. (see other papers on this site detailing the German State's use of "minority rights" to undermine other nations and establish cross border European power - NEWS 6/8/03, 26/6/03, 30/4/03 and GERMANY CALLING 12/7/03, 22/6/03, 16/4/03, 11/4/03, 30/1/03)

Other German human rights organisations meanwhile express ever sharper criticism of the abuse of basic human rights in Germany. The German Institute for Human Rights was founded in March 2001 on the recommendation of the German Parliament which was falling in line with a demand of the United Nations of its members to set up independent national organisations to promote and protect human rights.

According to Resolution 48/134 of the UN General Assembly of 1993 these organisations should concern themselves primarily with specific human rights situations in their own countries. The "independent German Institute is financed by the German Ministry of Justice, the Foreign Office ansd the Ministry for Economic Cooperation. Its management board includes apart from representatives of these Government departments, MPs from the ruling coalition, the Berlin Human Rights coordinator Claudia Roth and the Chairman of the Heinrich Boll Foundation (closely associated with the Green Party) Barbara Unmussig

"International Debate……"

After serious disagreements with members of the management board the Director of the Institute, MacLean was forced to resign in January this year. MacLean had put special emphasis on the observance of human rights in Germany itself and had criticised serious problems particularly in Asylum and Social policy. He had demanded that Berlin should give up its reservations about the UN's convention on children's rights. Unmussig had attacked MacLean for concentrating too much on the realisation of individual rights in Germany. The management board put more emphasis on the "observation and monitoring of the international debate" on human rights. MacLean has now demanded Unmussig's resignation.

…instead of ratifying Conventions"

While Berlin's Foreign Policy demands "the world wide realisation and securing of the full breadth of civicl, political, economic, social and cultural human rights" the Government comes under ever sharper criticism for the situation inside Germany. The German Government continues to refuse to put an EU directive on the prevention of racial discrimination into German Law and continues to have "reservations" about the UN convention on children's rights**. Prominent politicians and jurists have in recent months even called in certain cases for the use of torture. (see Folter on german-foreign-policy.com)

** For this an other examples of Germany exempting itself from conventions it imposes on others see the book Fascist Europe Rising.