Never Again? – Again! Obligatory Residency Law on Trial – Part II

Ahmed – 1 Obligatory Residency Law – 0

Second Protest Action in Erfurt in, in front of and around the Federal Court of Thueringen
Monday, 13 December 2004, 9am - Landesgericht Erfurt – Domplatz 37

The bus will be full (again)!!!
Departure: Ostbahnhof (go out of the front entrance and walk down to the right until you see the bus) – Sunday 6pm – Please bring sleeping bags

In the trial against the Obligatory Residency Law, brought to the Federal Court of Thueringen by the Palestinian human rights activist Ahmed Sameer, an important step was taken in the struggle against this racist and inhuman law.

The process, which began on Wednesday, was postponed until Monday, since the authority of the Foreigner Office in charge of denying permissions to travel (Urlaubscheine) will be called as a witness. Although we do not expect a positive decision to come out of the case, the trial itself turned out in favor of Ahmed; the judge gave quite a lot of room for the political discussion about the Obligatory Residency Law and the only witness invited to appear by the Attorney General of the State of Thueringen, a bureaucrat from the Foreigner Office, quickly and thoroughly discredited herself.

In total, more than 70 people joined in the trial for a collective condemnation of the Obligatory Residency Law. The judge, the police and the city of Erfurt were completely taken by surprise. Though at first the police tried to avoid the entrance into the court of all non-Germans, threatening to write down all of their names and to check if they are in violation of the foreigner laws, the demonstrators and supporters of Ahmed managed to convince the authorities that this was unacceptable. Following the trial, a demonstration was held with the participation of over one hundred Ahmeds.

Now it is important that we are even more people on Monday than we were on Wednesday. The postponement of the trial could be understood as an attempt to carry on with the process without so many observers, as the majority made a four hour trip from Berlin just to attend the trial. This cannot happen! Therefore we call on all groups and individuals to come out and support Ahmed in his fight against the Obligatory Residency Law. It is important that there is not one empty seat on the bus! We must show them that there are many, many Ahmeds, and not one of them accepts this racist law!

There are still seats available on the bus. If you would like to travel with us to Erfurt, please call Ahmed (0173-8463038) so that we can calculate the number of people who are coming and how many buses we need.

There are millions of Ahmed!!! I am Ahmed!!!



Press Release II

Berlin, 9 December 2004

OBLIGATORY RESIDENCY LAW ON TRIAL
Press Release: Palestinian Human Rights Activist Ahmed Sameer Again Before the Federal Court for Numerous Breaches of the Obligatory Residency Law

On Wednesday, the 8th of December, the appeal of the Palestinian human rights activist Ahmed Sameer was taken before the Federal Court of Thueringen. Mr. Sameer has charged for having been controlled three times by the police and deemed to be in violation of the Obligatory Residency Law. In June of this year the Admistrative Court of Gotha found him guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 150 euros or spend 50 days in jail. Together with his lawyer Ulrich von Klinggräff, Mr. Sameer appealed the decision to the Federal Court.

The Obligatory Residency Law existed in the same form under another name during the time of the Hitler regime, which issued a police decree in 1938 stating that all foreigners who left their district without first gaining the authorization of the foreigner police would be either punished with a fine or imprisoned. Like its predecesor, this law was re-introduced in 1982 as part of the Asylum Procedure Law and stipulates that refugees may not travel outside of their assigned districts without prior approval of the authorities. As the decision whether or not to give out permission to travel outside of the assigned districts is both restrictive and arbitrary, the Obligatory Residency Law, in violation of both the Geneva Convention and the German Constitution, represents a clear restraint of a refugees freedom of movement, assembly and religion.

Ahmed Sameer fled from Jenin city in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and arrived in Germany in 2002. Since that time he has been constantly active in the struggle for the rights of asylum seekers in Germany as well as working closely together with Israeli peace activists for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Palestine.

The case of Mr. Sameer has received much public attention. For the first part of the trial on Wednesday, around 70 people, among them journalists, were present. Asked by the judge if he is aware of the law and whether or not he was indeed in violation of the law, Mr. Sameer responded affirmatively. He made very clear from the beginning of the process that this special law for asylum seekers is an infringement of a refugee’s fundamental and constitutional right to freedom of movement and assembly.

Ahmed Sameer emphasized that, upon coming to Germany, he was very shocked to find such restrictive conditions in the very country where he had come to seek refuge from the violation of his rights in the Occupied Territories. He later went on to denounce how the social conditions under which refugees are forced to live in the housing blocks often convert the asylum seekers into criminals, adding that the complete process of soliciting asylum in Germany can only be understood as “a form of organized repression for refugees and migrants,” which only serve to deter and control refugees. Finally, Mr. Sameer denounced the arbitrary nature employed by the Foreigner Offce in the granting or denying of permission to leave the assigned district of Gotha.

Following Mr. Sameer’s intervention, Ms. Birgitt Seidl from the Foreigner Office in Gotha was called to the stand by the Attorney General as a witness in Ahmed Sameer’s process against the Obligatory Residency Law. In order to determine whether or not the law does in fact represent a restriction of the freedom of movement and assembly, she was questioned about the policies of granting or denying permission. By the questioning it came increasingly clear that the general practice of the Foreigner Office is to grant refugees permission to travel for only three days at a time over a one month period. Apparently, there is no decree or official policy which determines this but instead is determined on the spot and no official explanation is given. Since Ms. Seidl is not the main person responsible for granting or denying permission, the court process was postponed until Monday, the 13th of December, in order to invite the director of the Foreigner Office of Gotha to answer questions regarding the praxis of giving out permissions.

Following the trial, a demonstration, which left from the court and went through the center of Erfurt, took place against the Obligatory Residency Law and other special discriminatory practices. There were approximately 100 demonstrators from Berlin, Weimar and Erfurt.

The case of Ahmed Sameer is not an isolated case. On the 10th of December, the Nigerian activist Sonny Omwenyeke (The Voice – Refugee Forum) will go to prison for fifteen days for refusing to pay the fines related to the Obligatory Residency Law. Other judicial processes are currently underway against other activists from The Voice – Refugee Forum, such as the case of the Nepalese activist Janak Pathak, Camerooner Cornelius Yufanyi and the Nigerian Akubo Chukwudi, who is the most well-known activist for refugee rights in all of Germany.

The continuation of Mr. Sameer’s trial will be held on Monday, the 13th of December, at 9am in the Federal Court of Erfurt.

Für weitere Informationen:
The Voice – Refugee Forum
Ahmed Sameer (0173/8463038), Osaren Igbignoba (0176/24568988)
www.thevoiceforum.org