UPR Intervention for Germany,
16th Session April 25, 2013
As delivered by Ambassador Eileen C. Donahoe
The United States warmly welcomes H.E. Mr. Markus Loning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and the German delegation.
We applaud Germany’s commitment to addressing the broad spectrum of human rights, including Germany’s commitment to prosecute and punish officials in the security services, and elsewhere in government, who commit abuses. Additionally, we commend Germany’s efforts to discontinue police use of software that might enable illegal access to personal computers.
We welcome the German Federal Cabinet’s creation of a central database of violent neo-Nazis. Like the German Federal government, we remain concerned with right-wing extremism and the number of attacks on ethnic non-Germans as well as discrimination against these individuals.
Finally, we welcome Germany’s efforts to promote barrier-free access to persons with disabilities, including with respect to the federal government, restaurants and transportation. However, we remain concerned that legal requirements do not extend to a broad spectrum of private entities that provide goods and services to the public.
The United States makes the following recommendations:
- Ensure that perpetrators of violence, including against non-ethnic Germans, are identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law;
- Extend legal requirements of barrier-free access for persons with disabilities to private entities that provide goods and services to the public.