German Institute for Human Rights: Requirements for the AfD ban are met

According to an analysis, the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) sees the conditions for a ban on the AfD as fulfilled. Nevertheless, the institute does not advocate an application for a ban.

A current analysis by the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) sees the prerequisites for a ban on AfD as fulfilled. The DIMR has a legal mandate to prevent human rights violations. The analysis states that the party is proceeding actively and systematically “to implement its racist and right-wing extremist goals”. For example, the AfD is working on “shifting the limits of what can be said and thus the discourse in such a way that people get used to their racist national-völkisch positions – also in public and political space”.

Overall, the party is trying to eliminate the guarantees enshrined in Article 1 of the Basic Law. There it says: “Human dignity is inviolable. It is the duty of all state power to respect and protect it.”

In the analysis entitled “Why the AfD could be banned, recommendations to state and politics” it goes on to say: “It is of elementary importance for the defense of the indispensable foundations of the human rights and thus the free democratic basic order that the awareness of the danger emanating from the AfD is increasing both in society as a whole and on the part of the state and state and political actors act accordingly.” This danger can only be countered effectively “if the others Distinguish parties at federal, state and local level unequivocally from the AfD”.

The DIMR is Germany’s independent national human rights institution

The author of the analysis, Hendrik Cremer, emphasized that the institute was not in favor of an application for a party ban. Rather, the DIMR is concerned with filling a “void” in the social and legal debate. “We recommend that those entitled to apply continuously prepare material in order to be able to act,” he added.

The DIMR is Germany’s independent national human rights institution. The institute is financed from the budget of the Bundestag.

Parties are considered unconstitutional if, based on their goals or the behavior of their supporters, they aim to impair or eliminate the free democratic basic order or to endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany. In addition, there must be an actively militant, aggressive attitude towards the free democratic basic order, which the party aims to abolish. Concrete evidence is also needed to show that achieving the anti-constitutional goals pursued by this party does not appear completely hopeless.

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