Germany
Germans have gradually lost their civil liberties, said Heribert Prantl in the Munich Suddeutsche Zeitung. It has happened bit by bit in the years since 9/11, as the police and intelligence services have gained one power after another. The appalling result became apparent last week, in the police response to the massive anti–G-8 demonstrations near Heiligendamm. Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were arrested and held for days, packed 20 at a time into 15- by 18-foot cells, under constant illumination. Given that Germany just “banned the confinement in cages of chickens,” such treatment of humans who have been convicted of no crime seems horribly excessive. What’s worse, the incident that prompted the arrests—rock-throwing at officers—now appears to “have been staged by undercover cops” seeking to round up the potentially violent. In this “end-justifies-the-means environment,” any kind of entrapment or sting is deemed defensible in the name of national security. Rounding up usual suspects for preventive detention, which would have been unthinkable a decade ago, is now not merely allowable but routine. Evidently, “the constitution has few political protectors.” It’s up to the citizens to demand it be upheld.
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