Should the police reveal the nationality of suspects? The example of Germany

82% of Chileans believe that crime has increased in the last three months, as shown in the Cadem Public Square Survey of the third week of July. And, when asked why they think crime has increased, 44% responded that this was due to the increase in immigration .

This scenario seems to be repeating itself in other countries around the world. According to the Deutsche Welle , Germany is one of the countries that has seen a dramatic increase in violent crime, rape, assault and home burglaries. In addition, The crime rate increased by 13.5 percent among people without a German passport.

This latest information has triggered a deep debate between the community and politicians. AND, During the debate, the question arose whether police authorities should always publish the nationality of suspects in their reports to the press.

And one wonders whether revealing nationality could cause individual behaviors to fall into generality.

That’s what they discussed about it.

As he told the German newspaper Image from Sonntag The Secretary General of the liberal FPD party, Bijan Djir-Sarai, “Authorities should always mention the nationality of suspects when providing information on crimes in order to create the necessary transparency (…).”

“We must not give the impression that the problems are hidden.”

The statements of the German politician were controversial and widely discussed in the political sphere. The man received the support of his party and the conservative opposition: in the debate, this side of politics argued that Revealing the nationality of alleged perpetrators of crimes ensures “transparency and credibility”.

Furthermore, the right-wing populist party AfD assured that in addition to the above, Police reports must specify not only the nationality of the suspects, but also whether they are persons holding German passports but of foreign origin.

But, How does the current regulation work in Germany?

As explained by DW, The police and judicial authorities of the 16 states can decide autonomously in which specific cases they make the nationality of suspects known to the public and the press.

For this reason, the conservatives’ proposal is controversial and debatable, since they want to establish that the disclosure of this information is an obligation. However, other parties, such as the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, have rejected this possibility and assured that they prefer that the current regulation be maintained.

“Right-wing populist actors have long known that they can create a particularly fruitful atmosphere on this issue.” he told him Christian Walburg, lawyer and criminologist at the University of Münster At German Welle.

And, as he explained, crime is a much-discussed topic that “raises fears, concerns, anxieties and resentments.”

“Today, nationality is often mentioned in more serious incidents and crimes. AND Whether there is a connection with refugees, the whole of Germany is debating it “.

To better understand the German context, the media explained that Most press offices of the judicial and police authorities “base their public relations work on the code of the German Press Council.”

This document specifies that Nationality should not play a role in the publication of reports and the origin of suspects should only be revealed if there is “a justified public interest”. And mentioning nationality could lead to “a generalization of individual faults.”

It is the latter that most worries refugee protection teams, Amnesty International and other journalist associations, since The obligation to reveal the nationality of the alleged perpetrator of a crime may lead public opinion to reinforce prejudices and promote racism and xenophobia.

In 2019, a note from the same media outlet reported that the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany had established that police would begin providing the nationality of suspects in press releases “when it is determinable.”

At that time, the spokesman for the German Press Association Volker Stennei assured that it was a good decision but that Each media outlet would have the power to publish or not publish said information.

Today, five years later, Henrik Zörner of the same association said: DW that “It should be the authority (the police) who decides what can be mentioned and what cannot.”

“We do not believe in this proposal at all. There is a risk that the mention of the nation or ethnic origin of criminals will gain importance and that the protection of minorities, enshrined in the German press code, will be undermined.”

In the same 2019 note, the Rhineland Interior Minister, Herbert Reul, assured that mentioning the nationality of possible criminals was a great effort of transparency and that in addition to revealing the origin of foreign suspects, they would do the same with German suspects.

“I am convinced that this transparency is the best means against gross deception” he said at the time.

For lawyer and criminologist Walburg, This could have profound “discriminatory consequences” The above becomes all the more relevant given that Germany is a country that has taken in more than three million refugees and asylum seekers, more than any other country in the world. European Union .

Currently, some of the German states that publish the nationality of alleged perpetrators of crimes are Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony.