On June 1st a women, who lives in a Lager* in Brandenburg sent us an alarming video-clip, recorded on the day before. The video depicts a police-operation in the Lager: In a small corridor several police officers are pinning down a woman on the floor, other officers are securing the site, many residents (including children) can be heard screaming.

In addition to this video our contact sent us an audio report (see transcript below) and we have had other conversations with her about this incident. She informed us that the police had been called by another resident making a “noise complaint” due to a small party the woman in the video and her friends were having in a private room. The security guards of the Lager seemed to be surprised by the police operation – they were not informed in advance.

The police entered the Lager with seven police officers and two dogs, they knocked on the woman’s door and asked her to identify herself. She inquired, why she had to give the identification.  As  this information was not given to her she didn’t show her ID card. According to witnesses she was immediately grabbed and pinned down on the floor in the corridor.

People started to film and stream live. It was only when someone screamed: “See! See what they are doing to us here, they want to kill us like the other man that was killed in America.” that the police officers released the women and then left the site quickly. No further measurements were taken.

This video and the facts revealed are deeply alarming. It raises several urgent questions:

The police officers pinned down an unarmed woman:

  • What amount of force is justifiable towards unarmed women?

The police entered the Lager with seven police officers and two dogs on account of a noise complaint:

  • Which measurements are justifiable on account of such a “crime”?
  • What measurements are taken to bridge potential language and communication barriers with Lager residents?

The police entered the building without notifying the security guards:

  • What is the role of security guards in the Lagers?

Like everywhere else, the Lager in question has health safety measurements in place due to Corona  – public access and social services are limited, social distancing and wearing of face masks are obligatory. In the video we see a clear violation of those measurements:

  • Why are the police not wearing face masks and why are they not obeying to the rule of social distancing?
  • What are the authorities and Lager management doing to protect their residents’ health and wellbeing in times of corona?

According to the witnesses of this incident the police left the site suddenly, after realizing that they were being filmed and live streamed. No further measurements were taken and they did not press any charges. This added to the confusion of the residents as to why the police felt this show of force was necessary and justified. In the end the message they received was nothing but violence.

  • Where should the women involved in this incident report their grievances with the police?

Lager residents are people who have fled war and persecution in order to find peace and protection in Germany. Here they encounter the systematic discrimination of the asylum seeking process and also police violence, this causes severe retraumatization:

  • To whom should Lager residents turn when they experience this kind of retraumatization?

It seems that, in this incident, calling the police was the result of a conflict that was dormant for a very long time. In Lagers people are put together in close quarters. This is a structural problem and is a breeding ground for tensions and conflict. We and fellow groups have been informing the state institutions for a long time about this problem.

  • What is being done to address these circumstances?
  • What do the authorities and Lager management do to prevent potential conflicts between Lager residents?

As the women are scared that publishing this incident might have severe consequences for their lives in Germany, we can’t publish either the names of the women involved or the name of the Lager where it took place.

 

Please share this statement! We want want answers to our questions!

#BlackLivesMatter #RefugeeLivesMatter

 

*(We are not revealing the name of the Lager here in order to protect the women’s anonymity and also because this event is a case of structural violence, which could have happened in any Lager; if you want to investigate further, please contact us for the name of the Lager)


Transcript of the audio report from our contact in the Lager

Ok, this is a complaint from [Lager in Brandenburg] and this is something that happened yesterday and it’s something that is very troubling so much. Today was a holiday and yesterday some of us decided to just be together and they were putting music and listening to music and one of the neighbours from our friend called the police to come and the police came and even the security didn’t know that the police were coming, they were just shocked to see the police around the compound. And they went up, they came to my friends place and they even didn’t want to know, what was going on, they went direct and they were shown the room of my friend and they knocked the door and the friend opened the door, they asked for the Ausweis and the lady resisted and said:”I don’t have the Ausweis.”

So the police took the lady by the hand, squeezed the ladies hand and the lady found herself down. And at that time people thought it was just something small and when the lady was down, we don’t know how the lady was outside, we don’t know how the commotion went on, but the lady was outside, she was put on the floor and the police was on top of her and people started going live on Facebook, because people saw it was bad and they were shouting: “No, no, no.” The lady was screaming, the children were crying, the lady’s boy was also crying, until now the boy is traumatized.

And one of the police was covering for the people not to see what was going on behind. And we were just wondering, if this is what the police are doing. Even us, who are here, our lives are in danger.One they didn’t even want to know what was going on. Then they were just calling [the police], they came and instead of at least asking the neighbour: “You, you called us, what is going on here?” They never wanted to know what was going on and the moment they saw people were going live and the lady was screaming… -because they didn’t know that people were live.

When they heard one of the boys saying: “See! See what they are doing to us here, they want to kill us like the other man that was killed in America.” So that is the time they released the lady. And they ran out and they were running, going out very fast. So the lady got up and the lady was following them and telling them that it was not good what they were doing, and for us we find it something very traumatising. Because if that is how the police are working on the refugees, they even don’t want to listen, they don’t want to hear the other side of the story, it is not fair for us. Because if anything happens, even the social [workers] themselves, if you go to tell them, if they call you, they side with the others, with the wrong person, instead of siding with you, instead of calling you together, telling you this and this: “This is not good, this is good, stop doing this here….” But for us the Blacks, which we are here, it is not fair, and not even just the Blacks, even the whites, they were angry, they were telling like: “Why are you doing this?

So we are wondering, if this is what is happening, if people are not screaming or the lady was not screaming, maybe the lady could have died. So I don’t know how you could help us, because actually until now, even the children, the children here are not safe. The children are crying, they are saying: “Polizei, Police are bad, Polizei nicht gut, nicht gut!” So I don’t know how you could help, please. I am going to send a video right now, you see for yourself, it is not a big clip. it is just a small one, people have taken more, if I find the rest, I can send back. But I don’t know how you are going to help us, still up to now people are traumatised, I don’t know what’s next.

Im Schatten von Corona: Polizeigewalt gegen Frauen und Kinder in Brandenburger Lager

Am 1. Juni schickte uns eine Frau, die in einem Lager* in Brandenburg lebt, ein verstörendes Video, das einen unverhältnismäßig gewalttätigen Polizeieinsatz in dem Lager zeigt: Auf einem schmalen Korridor drücken Polizeibeamt_innen eine Frau auf den Boden, andere Beamt_innen sichern den Hergang ab, wir hören Bewohner_innen (darunter auch einige Kinder) schreien.

Zusätzlich zu diesem Video schickte uns unsere Kontaktperson auch einen Audiobericht und wir tauschten uns mit ihr über den Vorfall aus. Sie informierte uns darüber, dass ein Bewohner der Unterkunft wegen Ruhestörung die Polizei gerufen hatte. Die Frau, die in dem Video von den Polizeibeamten auf den Boden gedrückt wurde, hatte zuvor in ihrem Zimmer mit ihren Freunden eine kleine Party veranstaltet.

Selbst die Security des Lagers sei über den brutalen Polizeieinsatz überrascht gewesen, meinte die Zeugin, man hatte sie offensichtlich vorher nicht über den beabsichtigten Einsatz informiert. Die Polizei rückte mit sieben Polizeibeamten und zwei Hunden im Lager an, sie klopften an die Zimmertür der Frau und forderten sie auf sich auszuweisen. Als die Frau sich nach dem Grund dieser Aufforderung erkundigte, verweigerten ihr die Beamten die Information, woraufhin sie ihnen ihren Ausweis nicht zeigte. Zeug_innenberichten zufolge hatte die Polizeibeamten daraufhin die Frau sofort am Arm gepackt und zu Boden gezerrt.

Dann hatten Mitbewohner_innen des Lagers angefangen den Vorfall zu filmen und zu streamen. Aber erst als eine Person gerufen habe: “Schaut, was sie mit uns machen. Sie werden uns töten, wie sie diesen anderen Mann in Amerika getötet haben.” hätten die Polizeibeamten die Frau losgelassen und hastig das Gebäude verlassen – ohne weitere Erklärung und ohne weitere Maßnahmen einzuleiten.

Das Video und die Fakten, die es aufzeigt, sind alarmierend. Folgende Fragen drängen sich auf:

Das Video zeigt, wie eine unbewaffnete Frau von mehreren Polizeibeamt_innen auf den Boden gedrückt wird.

  • Welche Gewaltmaßnahmen sind gegenüber einer unbewaffneten Person überhaupt zu rechtfertigen?
  • Wieviel Gewalt ist verhältnismäßig?

Die Polizei war mit sieben Beamten und zwei Hunden in der Unterkunft angerückt – aufgrund einer Ruhestörung.

  • Welches Aufgebot ist angesichts der Schwere dieses “Verbrechens” angemessen?
  • Auf welche Art und Weise wurden die in dem Einsatz vorhersehbaren Kommunikationsschwierigkeiten berücksichtigt?

Der Einsatz fand statt ohne dass das Sicherheitspersonal vorher informiert wurde.

  • Was ist die Funktion der Security in den Lagern überhaupt? Wen beschützt sie?

Wie in allen anderen Lagern gelten auch in dieser Unterkunft die Corona-Sicherheitsbestimmungen – öffentlicher Zugang und soziale Dienstleistungen sind eingeschränkt, Distanzbestimmungen und das Tragen von Gesichtsmasken sind obligatorisch. In dem Video sehen wir klare Verletzungen dieser Bestimmungen.

  • Warum tragen die Polizeibeamt_innen keine Schutzmasken und warum halten sie den Sicherheitsabstand nicht ein – weder untereinander noch gegenüber den Bewohner_innen der Unterkunft?

Zeug_innenberichten zufolge hat die Polizeieinheit die Unterkunft abrupt verlassen, als sie gemerkt hatten, dass sie gefilmt und gestreamt wurde. Keine weiteren Maßnahmen folgten, niemand wurde angezeigt, keine Erklärung abgegeben. Dies trug zusätzlich zur Verwirrung der Bewohner_innen bei und stellte die Notwendigkeit und Verhältnismäßigkeit der polizeilichen Gewaltdemonstration grundlegend in Frage. Schlussendlich wurde bei diesem Einsatz nichts außer sinnlose Gewalt vermittelt und ausgeübt.

  • An welcher Stelle können die Frauen, die von diesem Vorfall betroffen sind, sich über das Verhalten der Polizei beschweren?

In den Lagern leben Menschen, die vor Krieg und Verfolgung geflüchtet sind um in Deutschland Frieden, Schutz und lebenswerte Bedingungen zu finden. Hier treffen sie auf die systematischen Diskriminierungen des deutschen Asylverfahrens und -systems und auf rassistische Polizeigewalt, die gegen sie gerichtet ist. Das verursacht in vielen Fällen eine schwerwiegende Retraumatisierung.

  • An wen können sich die Lagerbewohner_innen wenden, wenn sie auf diese Art und Weise eine Retraumatisierung erfahren?

Anscheinend war in diesem Vorfall das Rufen der Polizei ein Resultat eines schon länger schwelenden Konfliktes. In Unterkünften werden Menschen auf engem Raum ohne Berücksichtigung ihrer Vorstellungen und Unterschiede zusammengepfercht. Dies ist ein Nährboden für Spannungen und Konflikte. Wir und andere Organisationen haben die Behörden immer wieder über diesen Missstand informiert.

  • Welche Maßnahmen werden getroffen um diesen Missständen zu begegnen und sie zu beseitigen?

Bitte verbreitet diese Stellungnahme! Wir fordern Antworten auf unsere Fragen!

Weil die Frauen befürchten, dass die Veröffentlichung dieses Vorfalls schwerwiegende Konsequenzen für ihr Leben in Deutschland nach sich zieht, können wir weder die Namen der Frauen nennen, noch die Unterkunft, in der sich der Polizeieinsatz abspielte. Bitte verbreitet diese Stellungnahme in euren Medien und recherchiert weiter! Wir wollen Antworten auf unsere Fragen!

#BlackLivesMatter #RefugeeLivesMatter

 

* Um die Frauen zu schützen, nennen wir hier weder die Namen der involvierten Frauen, noch die Unterkunft, in der sich dieser Einsatz abspielte. Wenn ihr weitere Informationen für eure Recherche benötigt, bitte kontaktiert uns!


Transcript of the audio report from our contact in the Lager

Ok, this is a complaint from [Lager in Brandenburg] and this is something that happened yesterday and it’s something that is very troubling so much. Today was a holiday and yesterday some of us decided to just be together and they were putting music and listening to music and one of the neighbours from our friend called the police to come and the police came and even the security didn’t know that the police were coming, they were just shocked to see the police around the compound. And they went up, they came to my friends place and they even didn’t want to know, what was going on, they went direct and they were shown the room of my friend and they knocked the door and the friend opened the door, they asked for the Ausweis and the lady resisted and said:”I don’t have the Ausweis.”

So the police took the lady by the hand, squeezed the ladies hand and the lady found herself down. And at that time people thought it was just something small and when the lady was down, we don’t know how the lady was outside, we don’t know how the commotion went on, but the lady was outside, she was put on the floor and the police was on top of her and people started going live on Facebook, because people saw it was bad and they were shouting: “No, no, no.” The lady was screaming, the children were crying, the lady’s boy was also crying, until now the boy is traumatized.

And one of the police was covering for the people not to see what was going on behind. And we were just wondering, if this is what the police are doing. Even us, who are here, our lives are in danger.One they didn’t even want to know what was going on. Then they were just calling [the police], they came and instead of at least asking the neighbour: “You, you called us, what is going on here?” They never wanted to know what was going on and the moment they saw people were going live and the lady was screaming… -because they didn’t know that people were live.

When they heard one of the boys saying: “See! See what they are doing to us here, they want to kill us like the other man that was killed in America.” So that is the time they released the lady. And they ran out and they were running, going out very fast. So the lady got up and the lady was following them and telling them that it was not good what they were doing, and for us we find it something very traumatising. Because if that is how the police are working on the refugees, they even don’t want to listen, they don’t want to hear the other side of the story, it is not fair for us. Because if anything happens, even the social [workers] themselves, if you go to tell them, if they call you, they side with the others, with the wrong person, instead of siding with you, instead of calling you together, telling you this and this: “This is not good, this is good, stop doing this here….” But for us the Blacks, which we are here, it is not fair, and not even just the Blacks, even the whites, they were angry, they were telling like: “Why are you doing this?”

So we are wondering, if this is what is happening, if people are not screaming or the lady was not screaming, maybe the lady could have died. So I don’t know how you could help us, because actually until now, even the children, the children here are not safe. The children are crying, they are saying: “Polizei, Police are bad, Polizei nicht gut, nicht gut!” So I don’t know how you could help, please. I am going to send a video right now, you see for yourself, it is not a big clip. it is just a small one, people have taken more, if I find the rest, I can send back. But I don’t know how you are going to help us, still up to now people are traumatised, I don’t know what’s next.