Right-wing violence | Warning of a "wildfire of right-wing violence"

There is still a huge discrepancy between the figures provided by victim support organizations and those of the Federal Criminal Police Office regarding right-wing violence. This year, the Association of Counseling Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist, and Antisemitic Violence presented its 2024 report on the same day as the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior presented their data on "politically motivated crime." According to their report published on Tuesday, the organizations organized within the association registered 3,453 racist, antisemitic, and homophobic violent crimes, affecting a total of 4,861 people. Nine of them died as a result. The number of attacks increased by a third compared to 2023 (2,589).

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) registered only 1,478 "right-wing motivated" violent crimes in 2024, despite having data from all 16 federal states, while counseling centers systematically recorded such incidents in only twelve states. There is currently no reliable data available from Lower Saxony, Saarland, Bremen, and Rhineland-Palatinate because counseling organizations do not have the resources to record data everywhere and not all are members of the federal association. However, the BKA data also corresponded to an increase of almost 50 percent.

Judith Porath, a member of the federal association's board, spoke of a "widespread outbreak of right-wing violence." The "considerable increase in right-wing, racist, and anti-Semitic acts of violence" can "only be understood in the context of increasing social acceptance and spread of extreme right-wing, anti-minority, anti-democratic attitudes and anti-immigration discourses." This is generating a growing prevalence of violence. Porath called on the new federal government to develop a "national action plan to combat right-wing extremism, racism, and anti-Semitism."

According to Porath, both perpetrators and victims are "overwhelmingly men." With almost 1,800 cases, racism was by far the most common motive. This was followed by attacks on individuals perceived as political opponents (542), acts motivated by antisemitism (354), and attacks on people because of their perceived gender identity (344). Most registered acts of violence were threats and coercion (1,212), simple bodily harm (1,143), and dangerous bodily harm (681).

"Many affected people feel abandoned by the rule of law – due to excessively long procedures, rapid termination of investigations, and uncertain funding of counseling centers."

Judith Porath Federal Association of Victim Advice Centers

There was a particularly sharp increase of more than 70 percent in attacks on perceived political opponents. The victims are often people who advocate for democracy and diversity, said Porath. The goal is to "silence" them. The number of attacks against queer people rose by more than 40 percent. "Many victims feel abandoned by the rule of law, due to excessively lengthy proceedings, the hasty dismissal of investigations, and the uncertain funding of counseling centers," Porath complained.

Beate Rudolf, director of the German Institute for Human Rights, demanded that the state ensure that racist and anti-Semitic crimes are identified and effectively punished. The trends recorded by counseling centers are sometimes not reflected in police statistics, "because those affected choose not to initiate criminal proceedings, which are emotionally very stressful for them." According to Rudolf, racist and anti-Semitic motivations in crimes are often "not recognized as such" by officials. Police and public prosecutors often have "doubts about the truth expressed by those affected."

Ferat Koçak, a member of the Left Party's Bundestag, emphasized that the number of unreported cases is very high, some of which is shed light on by data from counseling centers. "Police and authorities often fail to recognize right-wing violence or don't want to recognize it," Koçak said in Berlin on Tuesday. The handling of the racist arson attack in Solingen a year ago was "just the latest example of this systemic failure."

Clara Bünger, the Left Party's domestic policy spokesperson, criticized Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) for downplaying the threat from the right: "He speaks of political fringes and wants to strengthen a nebulous political center. The fact is: Most of the crimes are motivated by right-wing extremism." There is no problem with "fringes," but rather "with the extreme right, which violently represents precisely the racism that comes from the center of society." The statistics also show that "marginalized and vulnerable groups such as women, children, and queer people are particularly threatened," Bünger said. Protection plans are urgently needed.