BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany launched a national register of neo-Nazis on Wednesday as it takes steps to tackle failings that allowed known extremists to wage a seven-year racist killing spree.
The discovery of a
small neo-Nazi cell in the former East German town of Zwickau last year
and evidence linking it to the killings caused profound shame in Germany
and highlighted its shortcomings in fighting right-wing extremism.
The existence of the cell, calling itself the Nationalist Socialist Underground
(NSU), only came to light by chance after two members committed suicide
following a botched bank robbery, and a female accomplice torched an
apartment used by the gang.
Germany plans an overhaul its intelligence
services in the wake of the NSU murders, but some experts say what is
needed most is a fundamental change in approach in a country whose Nazi
past makes right-wing militancy a sensitive subject.
"The new database
will be of use, but it doesn't help with the fundamental problem which
is that this data must be properly scrutinized, and immediately
investigated. The fact this didn't happen is what led to the
catastrophic failures," said Hajo Funke, an expert on Germany's
far-right.
Underestimating the far-right threat is a long running trend, he said."For too long intelligence agencies saw the enemy elsewhere. During Cold War times they monitored the leftists, anarchists and punks. The far right simply wasn't on their radar. In some quarters there may have also been some sympathy for the far-right within their ranks."
Since late last year a depressing picture has emerged of missed chances and missed leads as the group engaged in a killing spree from 2000-2007, murdering eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman.
Authorities hope
the new register will ensure intelligence on far-right extremists is
properly shared between the police forces and domestic intelligence
services across German states.
The register is modeled on a database of radical Islamists that has been in operation for several years.
"The aim of this is
to develop an effective fight against far-right extremism in this
country ... and in this way to ensure that what has happened can never
happen again," Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said at the launch
of the register in eastern Berlin.
However obstacles
faced by an inquiry into the killings show that progress may be
difficult. The probe has been undermined by agencies withholding or even
destroying information.
In July the head of Germany's domestic intelligence
service resigned after admitting that an official within his agency had
shredded files on the NSU. This week Berlin's Interior Senator expressed
regret for not sharing with the inquiry that an informant of the Berlin
Office of Criminal Investigation had warned years earlier that he had
information about the NSU.Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has apologized to the families of the murder victims for the catalogue of neglect and errors, said on Monday the inquiry was not proceeding as it should.
Experts say
far-right extremism is a particular threat among disenchanted young
people in Germany's eastern regions where unemployment is high.
Police have
reopened all unsolved cases with a possible racist motive since 1998
amid fears that security services underplayed the far-right threat, or
used unreliable informants.
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