Dem Volke Dienen: The Planned “Intelligence Service Reform” Will Make the German Government Even More Reactionary
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by Dem Volke Dienen from Germany on the 19th of July.
On March 24th, 1999, German imperialism, as part of NATO, invaded the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in violation of international law. It was German imperialism’s first war of aggression since World War II. Since then, German weapons—also in German hands—have once again been officially killing people all over the world.
When the imperialists send their soldiers to wage wars of plunder in foreign countries, it is only a matter of time before this war, started by the imperialists, returns “home.” The imperialists, of course, know this as well, and there have been corresponding attacks in various oppressed countries. This is a situation that has applied to the Federal Republic of Germany for over a quarter of a century.
The statements by Alexander Dobrindt (the one behind the car toll) should be viewed in this context. The current Federal Minister of the Interior warns of “an escalating security situation” in Germany. “The increased intelligence and reconnaissance activity has led me to upgrade the previously defined abstract threat level to a high threat level,” Dobrindt told the Springer press over the weekend, adding: “This means that the risk of attacks must be expected in Germany at any time.”
The German interior minister went on to claim that plans for attacks against the country are clearly evident. These are allegedly directed not only against German infrastructure, but also against individuals and institutions.
First of all, this is a situation that German imperialism itself has brought about, and second, it has been the case for several decades. The German Ministry of the Interior is once again attempting to spread panic in order to enforce the interests of German finance capital against its “own” population and the peoples of the world.
Specifically, the government intends to initiate a comprehensive reform of intelligence service law on August 13th. The draft “Act on the Reform of Intelligence Service Law” spans 700 pages. Under this reform, German intelligence agents would, for the first time, be explicitly authorized to take active measures—that is, to exercise police powers—rather than merely collecting and analyzing information.
This is a clear violation of civil law, because—according to the interpretation of civil law scholars—the principle of separation between the police and intelligence services is to be understood as a fundamental principle of German law, under which the police and intelligence services should be kept separate from one another. This separation applies to their respective areas of responsibility, organizational structure, powers, and data exchange.
This restriction on German imperialism was imposed on Germany by the Western Allies. In their letter of approval for the Basic Law, they explicitly referred to a police memorandum dated April 14th, 1949, addressed to the Parliamentary Council, stating that the intelligence service to be established should have no police powers.
Although Dobrindt claims that the separation from the police should not be abolished, he simultaneously states: “My goal is for us to further develop the intelligence services into true secret services so that we can be competitive and capable of partnering with our friendly services abroad.” Accordingly, intelligence agents would be permitted, among other things, to enter and search residences; carry out active interventions in and attacks on IT systems (including hacking public and even private cameras in real time for facial recognition); and conduct disinformation campaigns—such as manipulating devices, redirecting or deleting data, or spreading fake information, known as “hackbacks.”
