Police powers and presence for the G8 summit

What to expect and how to protect yourself

In 2006, the regional parliament of the German state of Mecklenburg
Vorpommern (hereafter M-V), where the G8 will take place, passed a new
Security and Public Order Act which increased the powers of the police
during protests. Officially, the Act was passed in the name of the fight
against terrorism and organised crime, but as the timing of this legislation as
well as Genoa, Gleneagles and the World Cup have shown, these legal and
executive powers are predominantly used to police demonstrations at
summits and football events. They include: red zones, restriction of
movement, huge police presence, police encircling of demonstration, mass
arrests and arbitrary banning order issued against individuals from public
places for the duration of the protests.

Given this proliferation of police instruments and strategies, it is important
that anyone planning to come to the G8 protests informs him/herself and
takes these into account when preparing actions, travel and communication
before, during and after the summit. Not all of the following police practices
will necessarily be applied (to you); exaggerated security laws are also
literally a power game, so please do not be intimidated by the list below.
Past summits, from Genoa to Gleneagles, have shown that successful
protest actions are always possible, even under martial-law-type police
presence.

At the end of this text you will find various guides on how to deal creatively
with police repression and what you should (not) do in case you get
arrested. Please use the links at the end of this page to the various self-help
and solidarity booklets in English. The symbol § following each heading in
the text below refers to the relevant Article of the Security and Public Order
Act from M-V, detailing the relevant measure.

1. Identity checks (§29)

... mean that you have to show your identity document (ID card, passport).
They can be carried out by the police "to prevent immanent danger in a
particular situation". As the police can decide what an "immanent danger" is,
identity checks have become a routine measure, particularly at police control
spots, "hot spots", areas around hospitals, official buildings and on public
transport systems. If you cannot show an identity card, you will be taken to
the police station.

2. Fingerprinting etc. (§31)

The verification of an alleged culprit's identity and collection of personal data
through photo and fingerprinting is called 'Erkennungsdienstliche
Behandlung' in Germany. According to existing law, this includes:
handprints, fingerprints, photos, measuring external features and making
voice recordings. However, the police usually only take photos and make
fingerprints.

3. Interrogations and the information you have to provide (§28)

As in the whole of Germany, persons have to give the following and NO
OTHER information to the police:
- first and last name,
- date of birth
- place of birth
- place of residency
- nationality.
If you refuse to give this information you'll be fined.

4. Police stop and search (§27a)

The police can stop persons and vehicles
- within 30 km of the external border (e.g. in Heiligendamm and Rostock)
- at international travel spots (e.g. train stations and airports)
- and "for the preventative fight against crime of considerable importance"
(e.g. breach of the police, bodily harm etc.)

5. Searching persons (§53-54)

The police can search you in order to confiscate objects, giving the reason
that the search is intended to protect yourself (!) or the police officer, the
definition of 'protection' is at the discretion of the police. They are allowed to
search on your body, through your clothes as well as all other objects worn
by you, such as rucksacks. Usually, the search can only be carried out by a
same-sex officer, unless there is an "immanent danger", in which case any
officer can carry out the search.

6. Searching objects (§57-58)

Pretty much all objects carried by you, near you or near official buildings can
be searched.

5. Banning orders (§52)

This is an annoying measures which the police can use widely. In M-V,
orders that ban people from certain places can be given with regard to a
place, for a region within a local authority or even for a whole district. They
can last up to 10 weeks. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT BANNING ORDERS WILL
BE PASSED FOR A WHOLE CITY SUCH AS BAD DOBERAN DURING
THE G8. The order does not have to be given in writing, the only restriction
is that the banning order cannot restrict access to your own home.
If you do not follow the order, you can be taken into police custody.

6. Police custody (§55-56)

Next to issuing banning orders, the police can take people into custody if
they "are in a condition that is visibly outside their own control" (e.g. drunk)
or if there is "an immanent danger for security or public order" (which can be
very widely defined indeed). So-called preventative arrests can be made to
"prevent" criminal offences, also if a person invites others to commit these in
form of BANNERS or FLYERS. They can also arrest you if you are carrying
weapons or OBJECTS that the police believe can be used as weapons or
for committing criminal offences.

Further, MINORS (YOUNGER THAN 18) can be taken into custody if they
have "eluded the person in charge of the custody" and be "transferred to the
youth welfare office" (in German: 'Jugendamt').

7. Access to property and house searches (§59-60)

As a preventative public order measure, the police can enter your home.
Officially, they need a search warrant issued by a judge, but in case of
"immanent danger" this judicial sanction can be given retrospectively. During
searches, you have the right to
- be present (in every room, so they can only search one room at a time in
your presence)
- be told the reason for the search
- receive instructions by the police about your available legal remedies
- receive a signed notice by the police IF YOU ASK FOR IT, detailing the
responsible authority, reason, time and date of the search as well as all the
names of all persons present.
N.B. BY LAW, YOU DO NOT (AND SHOULD NOT) SIGN ANYTHING
YOURSELF

8. Informants, undercover officers, observation, secret surveillance (§33)

The use of informants (people who are not the police but are paid to pass on
information to them) and undercover officers (police who use a false identity
to find out about political scenes) is legal in M-V. The police can also put you
under observation, follow you around and use undercover observation
technology (microphones, cameras).

9. Equipment and weapons of the police (§102)

Police "equipment" includes in particular shackles, water cannons, technical
barriers, dogs, horses, vehicles, gas (CN, CS and pepperspray) and
explosives (which may not be used against persons). Weapons include
batons, pistols, revolvers, shotguns and machine guns. The typical weapons
used are batons, but Gothenburg and Genoa have shown that the state is
also prepared to use guns.

10. Police officers duty to identify themselves? (--)

Nope: in M-V there is no obligation for the police to identify themselves,
which makes it difficult to link criminal acts to specific police officers.

New police powers introduced for the G8 in June 2006:

11. CCTV (camera) surveillance of public places (§32)

...is legal if it is necessary for the police to fulfil its duties or at places where
at least 2 criminal acts (ANY offence) have taken place. Therefore, EXPECT
TO BE FILMED.

12. Automatic car number plate recognition (§43a)

Will take place, in particular at motorway exits and slip roads, access roads
etc. EXPECT YOUR CAR NUMBER PLATE TO BE RECORDED IF YOU
ENTER THE PROTEST REGION IN A CAR. The regional government has
announced that it wants to collect this information to COMPARE THE DATA
with existing databases, such as the "violent offenders" data bases which
are notoriously arbitrary, we should expect this data to be compared with the
Schengen Information System as well.

13. Preventative interception of telecommunications (§34a)

EVERYONE can be intercepted in the name of prevention. This includes
content (telephone conversations, SMS text messages, mailbox recordings,
e-mails, saved e-mails) and so-called traffic data (numbers of other people
you have been in contact with). This is not a simple log of who we've called
and when we called them, but police uses this data to CREATE A MAP OF
HUMAN ASSOCIATIONS and more importantly, a map of human ACTIVITY
AND INTENTION.

Further, the police in M-V now has the technological capability to use so-
called IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catcher, which
simulates a mobile base station and thereby puts itself in the path between
your phone and your real GSM network, recoding ALL MOBILE PHONE
COMMUNICATION. The police can therefore collect numbers you phone,
numbers that phone you, the number of the phone itself, the SIM card
number, the length of time of the call. Telecommunications Service
Providers in Germany ARE OBLIGED PASS ON TRAFFIC DATA OF THE
PAST 6 MONTHS TO THE POLICE. IMSI catchers can also INTERRUPT
PHONE COMMUNICATION. The police apparently applied this method
during the anti-nuclear Castor protests to stop people from communicating
with each other, when they encircled by police, for example.

The police can ascertain your location without IMSI catchers as well, by
using so-called "silent SMS text messages". The only safe way to
circumvent mobile phone surveillance therefore remains to SWITCH OFF
THE PHONE AND TAKE THE SIM CARD AND THE BATTERY OUT,
preferably before entering a new GSM area. This way the police can only
ascertain your last location at which your phone was switched on.

(Mobile) phone - yes or no?

Because of the high surveillance risks connected to (mobile) phones, you
should ask yourself how you will use the (mobile) phone in the run-up to the
summit. Although PGP might provide some privacy in e-mail contact, there
are only the two extremes of NO PHONE AT ALL or EXPECT TO BE
INTERCEPTED EVERYWHERE. Most people will choose a path inbetween,
but please abstain from using the phone to discuss political issues or to
make appointments.

14. 'Profiling': data comparisons with public institutions (§44)

Under Germany's anti-terrorist legislation, law enforcement can demand
from public and private authorities (e.g. universities, but also e-bay!) to
disclose all personal data relating to a 'profile' of suspects (e.g. above 24
years-old, male, of Arab origin). They can then compare this data with police
data banks.

15. Compulsory blood samples (§53, 4)

Under the name of HIV prevention, the M-V police can now take blood
samples, in case of "immanent danger", again, the danger is defined by
police, judge's orders given retrospectively. It is LIKELY THAT POLICE
WILL TAKE BLOOD SAMPLES IN CASE OF INJURIES involving bodily
fluid, that means also in cases of demonstrators being beaten up by the
police. We can expect that the DNA will be taken up in the German DNA
databank, IF YOU HAVE A BLOOD SAMPLE TAKEN AND YOU HAVE HIV
OR HEPATITIS, THIS INFORMATION WILL MOST LIKELY BE TAKEN UP
IN THE GERMAN FEDERAL POLICE DATABANK INPOL.

16. Video recording from within police vehicles (§32, 4)

The police can film you when stopping you or your vehicle, although they are
supposed to delete this film material after the event, this is not the case if it
can be used to 'solve crimes'.

17. Cross-border police cooperation (EU law)

During the last decade, we have seen the development of an informal
European police apparatus that has legalised the (almost) limitless
exchange of personal data between police forces and dubious judicial
cooperation methods that weaken the rights of the accused (applied, for
example, during the Genoa and Gothenburg trials). International protesters
will therefore face a particular arsenal of data collection and travel restriction
methods: from the Schengen Information System to the reinstitution of
internal border controls, travel bans and the Eurodac fingerprint database,
BEWARE of anyone planning to cross your travel plans. The measures that
can be expected to be applied (also) for this summit, can be summarised as
follows:

Before the summit
- Exit and entry bans
- personal visits or phone calls by the police to let you know they are
watching
- reporting obligations (at the police station) for potential suspects
- confiscation of passports
- observation activities
- preventative arrest
- internal border controls (the suspension of the Schengen agreement)
- data exchange between German and other EU or non-EU police forces

During the summit we can expect:
- Police controls long before the actual summit region
- mobile and stationary video surveillance with a zoom function
- telephone interception
- presence of foreign police forces at the summit to help German police to
identify foreign activists but foreign police will also observe and can even
arrest activists from their countries
- banning orders
- preventative arrests (for the duration of the relevant police regulations)
- speed trials, in particular in the case of international protesters
- the use of (stricter) foreigner regulations in case of international protestors
(deportations)

And what will actually happen?

Only the next few months will show how the new police arsenal will actually
be applied in practice. It remains important that even under this 'brave new
world' order, we should not refrain from protesting and resisting. Please do
not only read this section about methods of repression, but also read that on
creative protest, including the guidelines on how to deal with police
aggression.

The above is a summary and free translation of a legal advice booklet
written in August 2006 by:
Rote Hilfe Greifswald
c/o Klex
Lange Straße 14
17489 Greifswald
greifswald -AT- rote-hilfe.de
German full-text version:
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Repression/RH_Greifswald_Flyer_SOG.pdf

Other English language sources on (anti)-repression:

Pepperspray, CS & Other "Less-Lethal" Weapons Used by Rioting Police to
Suppress Dissent when Politricks & Television fail to do so:
http://gipfelsoli.org/Repression/autonomedical_collective.pdf

'Solidarity : A Rough Guide' by Starhawk
(Organiser la solidarité en cas de répression www.starhawk.org):
http://gipfelsoli.org/Repression/solidarity_starhawk.html

A small glossary of (criminal) legal terms for solidarity campaigns:
http://gipfelsoli.org/Repression/Uebersetzungen.html