Quote:
Originally posted by Greenhat
Yep, a war in the shadows, but war never the less.
Tell me this, RL. If this act is necessary to the defeat of terrorists such as Al Queda, how is it that it was not necessary to the defeat of Bader-Meinhof? Of the Red Brigades?
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Setting aside the fact that we didn't have laws dealing with Baader-Meinhof or the Red Brigades because they didn't operate in the US, your premise is in error.
In response to terrorist acts in Germany in the 1970s, both domestic (e.g., Baader-Meinhof/RAF) and international (e.g., Black September and the Munich Olympics), Germany enacted a series of antiterrorism laws*, many of which are far more restrictive of individual liberty that anything in the US.
In 1971, terrorism-focused laws against hijacking and attacks on aircraft, manslaughter, kidnapping, and taking hostages were introduced. In 1974, the Law of Criminal Procedure was amended to widen the powers of prosecutors and restrict the rights of the defense. In 1976, the various procedural codes were further amended and a new crime,
Bildung terroristischer Vereinigungen ("Formation of Terrorist Organizations") was added to the Criminal Code (StGB § 129a). This criminalized not just forming, but supporting such an organization.
Under the
Kontaktsperregesetz of 1977, an order of confinement incommunicado can be made. This prevents a detainee from contacting another detainee or anyone else. The law provides that "where a real danger exists regarding the life, person or freedom of a person, and where grounds exist which justify a suspicion that a terrorist organization poses such a danger and if it is necessary to prevent this danger, the discontinuation of all contact between detainees themselves and by them to the outside world, including written and oral contact with their defending legal representatives, may be ordered." ("
Besteht eine gegenwärtige Gefahr für Leben, Leib oder Freiheit einer Person, begründen bestimmte Tatsachen den Verdacht, daß die Gefahr von einer terroristischen Vereinigung ausgeht, und ist es zur Abwehr dieser Gefahr geboten, jedwede Verbindung von Gefangenen untereinander und mit der Außenwelt einschließlich des schriftlichen und mündlichen Verkehrs mit dem Verteidiger zu unterbrechen, so kann eine entsprechende Feststellung getroffen werden." EGGVG § 31).
And German courts have had the power since 1888 to close off trials to the public to avoid "endangerment of state security" (
Gefährdung der Staatssicherheit).
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*
Gesetz zur Ergänzung des Ersten Gesetzes zur Reform des Strafverfahrensrechts vom 20. Dezember 1974, Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl.) 1974 I, 3686;
Gesetz zur Änderung des Strafgesetzbuches, der Strafprozessordnung, des Gerichtsverfassungsgesetzes, der Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung und des Strafvollzugsgesetzes vom 18. August 1976, BGBl. 1976 I, 2181;
Gesetz zur Änderung der Strafprozessordnung vom 14. April 1978, BGBl. 1978 I, 497;
Gesetz zur Änderung des Einführungsgesetzes zum Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz vom 30. September 1977, BGBl. 1977 I, 1877.