COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONSIDERS REPORT OF GERMANY
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the fifth periodic report of Germany on that country’s implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Introducing the report of Germany, Andreas Storm, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said that unemployment remained a concern of the Government and a high priority for the State. In 2010 the unemployment rate was approximately 7 per cent, which meant 3.24 million unemployed persons in 2010, versus almost 5 million in 2005. For disadvantaged persons, the State was addressing educational and participation opportunities for poorer children. They had introduced an education package for children from poorer families in which €1.3 billion per year would be allocated until 2030. Costs for school transport, school outings, school materials, learning support, school lunches, and cultural events would be covered under this programme.
Mr. Storm went on to say that another priority for Germany was to equalize opportunities between men and women in working life. They had a huge opportunity to mobilize this potential and the labour force participation of women had been on the rise for years in Germany. Currently, 69.6 per cent of women ages 22 to 65 were in the workforce. There was work to be done, especially in the area of work/life balance and promoting full-time work for women and work for women with small children. Many women returned to work only part-time or not at all after having children. Their goal was for the labour force participation of women to reach 73 per cent by the end of the decade. To accomplish this, they needed to better develop childcare facilities, among other things. The Government also wanted to foster a higher representation of women in management and top management positions in the business sector and it was working on a plan to increase the representation of women in this area.
Among the questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were concerns about the educational attainment of children of migrant backgrounds and what was being done to bridge the educational gap between these children and German born children. There were also concerns raised about child poverty and the number of children who went to school without having had breakfast or other meals. Other issues that were raised included the care and conditions in nursing homes for the elderly, changes made to social insurance programmes and the deterioration of the social safety net in the country as well as economic differences between the east and west regions of the country. The delegation was asked what was being done to address the issue of domestic violence as well as the prevention and punishment of human trafficking. Several questions were raised about the status of the Covenant in German law and how its provisions were applied by German courts. In addition, the delegation was asked about the treatment of transsexual and intersex persons in the country and how their rights were protected. The rights of children and adults with disabilities in terms of access to education and employment opportunities were also issues raised by Committee members.
In concluding remarks, Heinz Koller of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs thanked the Committee members for an intense and constructive dialogue. It was a pleasure to listen to their views and while they did not agree on everything it was important to have this exchange of views. Germany took the Covenant very seriously and they tried to demonstrate they had a system of education that was affordable and non-discriminatory, a labour market that worked for the needs of the people, and a healthcare system that covered everyone, including refugees and asylum seekers. Unfortunately, due to the financial crisis of the last few years there were many things that were not possible in the short run due to scarce financial resources, but they would continue to strive to make progress at all levels and across all policies.
The German delegation was composed of representatives from various government agencies including the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be this afternoon at 3 p.m. when it will begin consideration of the second periodic report of Yemen (E/C.12/YEM/2).
Report of Germany
The fifth periodic report of Germany (E/C.12/DEU/5) says that since 2004, the Federal Government has applied a policy based on human rights in the context of its development cooperation. That means that development cooperation is guided both by human rights and the principles that go hand in hand with human rights, namely participation, accountability, transparency, empowerment, equality and non-discrimination. The action plan for a development policy that promotes human rights was extended for three years, in 2008, and tackles major current issues such as climate change, and its consequences for human rights, and women’s sexual and reproductive rights.
Now, as in the past, migration and migratory flows are central issues. The successful integration of individuals who come to Germany to stay indefinitely is of paramount importance for the composition of our national society. The integration of migrants living in Germany is a cross-cutting task common to many policy areas. For the Federal Government, integration is one of the key tasks of our time. The Federal Government is pursuing an integration policy which is based on sustainability and mobilization of resources, recognizes and strengthens the potential of immigrants and avoids an exclusive focus on negative factors. The national integration plan is currently at the implementation stage, with a progress report due to be presented in autumn 2008.
The Federal Government attaches the requisite importance - which remains as high as ever - to the debate on and to combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and the intolerance that goes with them, significantly disrupt peaceful co-existence within a democratic society. In combating them, the Federal Government is taking a multi-dimensional approach, based on a strategy developed in 2002 - the “fourfold strategy” - which is composed of the following strands: continuing to pursue a policy on human rights and educational initiatives about human rights; strengthening civil society and promoting civic courage; promoting the integration of foreigners; and taking measures which target those who commit offences and their associates.
As a result of the 2005 Assembly Act (Versammlungsgesetz) and the broadening of the offence of incitement to hatred, much-improved legal capabilities now exist for banning gatherings by the extreme right propagating xenophobic and racist messages. Under article 130, paragraph 4, of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), for example, any person disturbing the peace by supporting, glorifying or justifying the despotism and tyranny of national socialism now faces a criminal penalty. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the establishment of this criminal offence, for instance, opens up the possibility of banning gatherings intended to glorify senior national socialist personalities.
Presentation of Report
KONRAD SCHARINGER, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introduced the members of the delegation and said that the report was drafted with the input of several federal ministries including the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Justice. Civil society was represented by various groups in the room as well as students from the University of Fribourg.
ANDREAS STORM, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, presenting the fifth periodic report of Germany, said that the work of the Committee was very important to the work of the German Government. For example, in 2001 concerns about the situation of long term care had been raised by the Committee and the State took this very seriously and a number of initiatives had been taken to improve the situation of care, including better training and facilities. The German Health Minister had declared 2011 the Year of Long Term Care in an effort to improve the situation even further.
Employment in Germany was as high as it was in the early 1990s, despite the economic and financial crisis which had affected the country’s productivity. They had avoided a breakdown of the labour market situation with the help of civil society. They had also maintained and further developed commitments in social security, the right to labour and equality between men and women. A wide range of social benefits was successful, especially a wide range of short term work which helped stabilize the labour market. Much remained to be done in Germany to achieve the optimal application of the Covenant.
Mr. Storm said that unemployment remained a concern of the Government and a high priority for the State. In 2010 the unemployment rate was approximately 7 per cent, which meant 3.24 million unemployed persons in 2010, versus almost 5 million in 2005. For disadvantaged persons, the State was addressing educational and participation opportunities for poorer children. They had introduced an education package for children from poorer families in which €1.3 billion per year would be allocated until 2030. Costs for school transport, school outings, school materials, learning support, school lunches, and cultural events would be covered under this programme.
Mr. Storm said that another priority for Germany was to equalize opportunities between men and women in working life. They had a huge opportunity to mobilize this potential and the labour force participation of women had been on the rise for years in Germany. Currently, 69.6 per cent of women ages 22 to 65 were in the workforce. There was work to be done, especially in the area of work/life balance and promoting full-time work for women and work for women with small children. Many women returned to work only part-time or not at all after having children. Their goal was for the labour force participation of women to reach 73 per cent by the end of the decade. To accomplish this, they needed to better develop childcare facilities, among other things. The Government also wanted to foster a higher representation of women in management and top management positions in the business sector and it was working on a plan to increase the representation of women in this area.
Turning to immigration and migration, Mr. Storm said it was still a fact that in the labour market the qualifications of people with a migration background were still lower than those of Germans. The unemployment rate for foreigners in 2010 was twice as high as that for Germans. As part of its integration strategy, Germany was addressing participation in the workforce through skill building programmes, business start-ups, language skills, and the recognition of skills learned abroad. They would also offer individual counselling to new migrants as well as those who had been in Germany for a long period of time. There were over 600 counselling centres in Germany which made up a comprehensive network.
Their aim was to foster an inclusive society, including for persons with disabilities and they were developing a national action plan in this regard. Germany took its international obligations very seriously and the right to water, sanitation and adequate housing were all very important. They had advocated the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the national level and the federal government would resume its consideration of this Optional Protocol after a thorough debate and research of the issue.
In conclusion Mr. Storm said he looked forward to a constructive dialogue with the Committee because it helped Germany to make better progress on the road to equality in the country.
Questions by Experts
An Expert asked whether the courts in Germany had adopted any decisions based on violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee member was concerned about the ability to enforce economic, social and cultural rights in the courts and they were concerned that there seemed to be no court decisions handed down in this regard. Another issue was equality between men and women and the Expert wanted to know what had been done in that regard and what results had already been achieved.
How was the Covenant applied in German domestic law? Was there an efficient complaint mechanism for economic, social and cultural rights?
Would the competence of the national human rights institution be expanded in the future? Would Germany consider creating an ombudsman’s office? In terms of development assistance, was the Germany Government still on track for commitments on aid made through the United Nations and the European Union? To what extent did Germany develop aid policies with a human rights approach and the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights? To what extent were private companies with their headquarters in Germany legally bound under German law to respect economic, social and cultural rights while acting abroad? What percentage of development aid was targeted at debt cancellation?
Were foreigners included in statistics on religion and other areas? This had a bearing on cultural rights so it was important to know how statistics were gathered and whether various groups were included. The Committee member welcomed German’s involvement in drafting the Optional Protocol, but would the State accede to the instrument? Many issues were dealt with on the state level, so did the delegation see the need for a powerful agency at the federal level to coordinate the overall response to economic, social and cultural rights as well as other human rights?
The Committee’s attention had been brought to reports that alleged negative effects of exports on the right to food in certain countries as well as the negative effects of certain engineering projects such as the building of dams in some countries. How did the country ensure that its exports and engineering projects abroad did not have an adverse impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of the local population?
In terms of the German Institute for Human Rights, what was being done in terms of the possible expansion of its mandate and capacity? Why were people only able to petition the Institute after exhausting all other measures? People needed an efficient mechanism for redress when their rights were violated. Was harmonization of work and family life also on the men’s agenda or was it only on the part of women? What was being done to change gender stereotypes so that men also considered the home and children to be their responsibility and not just that of women? Regarding transsexuals and intersex peoples, the Government should listen to their requests and demands and address the horrible discrimination they experienced.
Was there resistance to the integration process from either German residents or foreign born residents? Regarding General Comments, an Expert wondered how much weight they were given in the State party and whether the Covenant was directly applicable in courts.
Germany had been interested in renewable energy projects recently in other countries; what was the status of some of these projects?
A Committee member asked for more information on changes that had been made to unemployment and social welfare benefits. There was also a sizeable difference between benefits paid out in the Eastern states and Western regions of the country. What was the State doing to remedy this? The Federal Constitutional Court had ruled that former high level government employees of the former German Democratic Republic were not eligible for their pensions from the former German Democratic Republic. What did this mean in practical terms for this admittedly small group of people?
Response of Delegation
Beginning with the questions on the German Institute for Human Rights, the delegation said the role this institution played at a macro level was a broad one ranging from education to monitoring. However, it would not be advisable or realistic for this institution to engage in investigations or examinations and there were other agencies to do this. That this was a well functioning system was borne out by decisions of the constitutional court that the Committee members had referred to. There was also a system of petition committees and parliamentary bodies that functioned very well and was widely accepted. This was evidenced by the fact that in 1980 there were 10,000 petitions and by 2009 this number had grown to 18,000. Also 20,000 to 30,000 petitions had been received through the new online petition system.
There were several questions related to the legal status of the Covenant in the country. The basic law was a legal instrument developed after the Second World War and the guiding idea was that it would play a warning function. The basic law existed before the legal instruments of the United Nations were adopted so it had to always be interpreted in this context; all laws were derived from the basic law which was created in 1949.
In terms of gender equality, the delegation said that the State had made good progress in female labour market participation and the objective was that by 2020 this number would increase to 73 per cent. But they realized this required reconciliation between work and family. They had adopted new measures in parental leave and parental allowance to encourage men to take more leave and to ensure both parents shared responsibility for the family. The long term care of parents should not only be done by women alone either.
Concerning the economic strength of Germany and the fulfilment of European Union development aid targets, the delegation said that when it came to guaranteeing social rights they had to think about their responsibility vis-à-vis the future generation. Therefore, their approach was to take into account the interest of future generations in the budget. This meant they had to reduce their debt and this was a considerable constraint which meant they had to stick with allocations they already had and there was little room to increase their aid budgets.
Regarding the Optional Protocol, the delegation said that the Government would examine this issue and had taken note of the urgent wish and encouragement expressed by Committee members for the State party to adopt the Optional Protocol.
In terms of German companies abroad, generally in the area of corporate social responsibility the German Government had worked out specific criteria for the conduct of companies, one of which concerned the export of weapons. The delegation would address this issue in greater detail at a later point in the dialogue.
The German Government would love to have more disaggregated data about the labour market, but there were very strict rules prohibiting the collection of data based on ethnicity to avoid discrimination. In the last five years they had begun to get a clearer picture of the migrant and foreign community in Germany. One fifth of German residents had a migrant background and there were twice as many migrants as foreigners. There were also a number of ethnic Germans who had returned to the country from Russia and other countries. There were also people with a migrant background who had immigrated to the country in the 1950s and 1960s, but they had obtained German citizenship so they no longer figured in the statistical data regarding foreigners.
The delegation said the petition committees were available at the state as well as federal level.
Early language support was of decisive importance in integrating people with a migration background so that children spoke the German language by the time they went to school and they would then be in a position later to get better jobs and go on to higher education. There were also schemes to support entrepreneurs with a migration background who wanted to provide training for young people.
General Comments had an important signalling function for the State. The sentiments in the comments had to be translated to more concrete terms. In terms of social welfare reform, the goal was to provide a uniform welfare benefit and to take measures to ensure that people did not depend on these benefits for a long time and went back into the labour market. They had seen a considerable decrease in long term unemployment numbers and they hoped to decrease this number by a further 20 per cent. In terms of the constitutional court ruling which said that the new social welfare benefits deprived children of their rights, the delegation said this ruling said that the way in which the benefit for children was calculated (based on parents), was not fully transparent and thus was not compliant with the law. In many States, benefits that were paid to children were often derived from benefits paid to adults, but in Germany this was no longer the case as a result of this ruling.
The delegation said that over the last 10 years there had been a 10 per cent increase in benefits for those receiving pensions. It was not a great increase, but it was not a reduction nor was it stagnation. Pensions followed the wages and salaries of workers and they were paid on the “pay as you go” system. This meant that they would have more people collecting pensions than paying into the system and this had to be taken into account when setting pension adjustments. In terms of varying pension rates in various regions of the country, wages and cost of living were higher in the west than the east so the argument could be made that people in the east actually had higher pensions because the cost of living was not as high. There were competing values that had to be taken into account when deciding these things and the State hoped to have a harmonized policy in the next few years.
Answering some of the questions more fully, the delegation said that in terms of the application of the Covenant in Germany, the constitution stipulated that national law recognized and respected the principles of international law and should be respected and applied by German courts and all those who exercised state authority in Germany.
Regarding people arrested or convicted under terrorism laws, when it came to the way these people were treated in prisons there was no difference between people convicted under terrorism laws and those convicted of other crimes. People sentenced under anti-terrorism laws still enjoyed economic, social and cultural rights guaranteed under the Covenant.
On the issue of overseas development aid, the delegation said that the German Government was committed to reaching the European Union goal of 0.7 per cent of GDP and disbursements had increased from €8.7 billion in 2009 to €9.6 billion in 2010. However, there were budgetary constraints as had been mentioned before. Since 2004 the State had practiced a human rights component in overseas development, which was spelled out in an action plan and policy paper on German human rights development and cooperation. Cross-cutting issues were addressed in various ways and gender perspectives had to be mainstreamed into every project.
In terms of renewable energy projects in Northern Africa, it was very difficult to get enterprises to take part in such a project with the situation being what it was in that region at this time.
Questions by Experts
With respect to prisoners, Committee Experts asked about prisoners working for private companies and whether they were paid for this work. This was an area of concern in the 2001 concluding observations as well.
Civil servants did not have the right to strike nor did teaching staff because they enjoyed the status of public servants. Why was this right restricted for those people?
With regard to immigrant workers and migrant workers, did undocumented migrants know their rights and was there any agency that could help them assert their rights? They faced discrimination and did not receive equal pay for work of equal value. What was being done to address these issues?
The right to work was broader than simply employment and unemployment. Attention was always paid to the supply side, but why was more attention not paid to the demand side as well? The role of the State was very important in stabilizing this market.
Response of Delegation
In terms of forced work by prisoners, the delegation said this work was voluntary and paid. Approximately 55 per cent of all prisoners worked during their imprisonment, of which 20 per cent worked for private companies. Prisoners wanted to work because prison was too boring for them.
In terms of the unemployment rate in Germany, it was quite low compared to other OECD countries and it was the lowest it had been since 1990.
The prohibition on strikes by civil servants was an important part of the keeping of the peace. Postal workers and rail workers could now strike because these businesses had been privatized.
In terms of why women were less affected by the economic downturn, the delegation said it was because most of the jobs had been lost in industries where a high percentage of men worked such as car manufacturing. Regarding the shadow economy, it was difficult to get people out of the informal sector because then they would have to pay taxes and pay into the social system and it was difficult to get them to join the formal sector. There was no right to work under the constitution in Germany, only the right to choose one’s occupation.
In the past there had been two systems, one of unemployment assistance and one of social assistance. When they created a new unified system of social welfare this changed the way statistics were gathered as well as the data that was reported.
Questions by Experts
In a round of follow-up questions, an Expert was interested to know where the State came up with the interpretation of the Covenant that a ban on strikes was permissible. Another Expert asked for more recent data on employment and unemployment of persons with disabilities after 2005.
Response of Delegation
The delegation said that the ban on the right to strike by State employees or civil servants was an exemption to the Convention and the State did not intend to change this.
Due to the constitution and constitutional rights, the rights enshrined in the Covenant were already covered by domestic these laws and other laws such as the European Charter for Fundamental Rights which could be applied by the constitutional court.
As for the extraterritorial actions of German companies, a human rights impact assessment would be included in new guidelines on doing business abroad and corporate responsibility.
Questions by Experts
A Committee member asked for more specific figures on alcohol, tobacco and drug consumption in the country. How was the problem of suicide and attempted suicide being confronted in the country? What improvements had been made in nursing home care and facilities? What were the consequences of having 2011 as the Year of Long Term Care? How were the problems of elderly people dealt with in general? Were universities being privatized and if so what were the results of this?
Another Expert said there were widespread reports among non-governmental organizations and in the press about growing malnutrition among primary and secondary school children. Could the delegation expand on the policy and practice of providing free meals at schools in Germany? There were also concerns about the growing social exclusion from school activities of children from poor families? Could the delegation talk about the issue of street children and neglected children? What was the current poverty threshold in Germany?
How was the social environment for people with HIV/AIDS? Did they face employment, medical or housing discrimination and were they accepted by society at large?
What was being done to combat domestic violence? Were there federal laws or did each state make its own laws on this issue? How was domestic violence defined, how were penalties applied, how many domestic violence cases had been brought, why was the domestic violence rate higher for women of Turkish descent and what was being done to protect this vulnerable group of women?
Did foreign children have access to vaccinations on the same footing as German children?
Statistics showed that 8 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line, which included about 3 million children. Was this correct? Did the State adopt a human rights approach to poverty? Why was there no strategy plan to combat homelessness?
Response of Delegation
The delegation pointed out that Germany was a social state, but sometimes people did not avail themselves of the programmes on offer in the country. They were working to address child poverty through various initiatives including school lunch programmes. Since July 2008 a reform had taken place which focused on raising the quality of care in nursing homes and domestic care services. Nursing homes were also reviewed and the results were posted online for everyone to review so people could consult them before choosing a nursing home. They intended to offer care at home as much as possible in the future. They had launched initiatives to recruit more qualified staff, particularly for the elderly and they had developed more training in the field of elderly care.
The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities was double that of able bodied people. The unemployment rate for this group was 14.5 per cent between 2008 and 2009; currently 180,000 persons with disabilities were unemployed.
Poor and low-income children received grants to receive meals at school. Activities at school were very important when it came to access to sports and music and other activities. Who was actually poor in Germany and how was this calculated? The most recent data was being gathered, interpreted and processed and would be issued in a 2012 report. The poverty rate for those over 65 years old was very low and did not constitute a problem. They aimed at avoiding hidden poverty in old age and basic security was provided to everyone.
On health questions, the delegation said that there were about 1.3 million alcoholics and 200,000 drug addicts (not including marijuana) in the country. If one considered marijuana or cannabis another 500,000 to 725,000 users would have to be added. Most of the drug addicts were addicted to heroin. With regard to suicides, men represented 75 per cent of suicides.
Regarding medical treatment and healthcare for transsexuals, since 1981 there had been an act on transsexual persons in Germany. A reform of this act was debated in parliament but it was never enacted. The constitutional court declared parts of the act to be unconstitutional and it was currently being revised. The part of the law on name changes after a sex change was being revised. In Germany, HIV/AIDS patients received all the treatment they needed and they received access to medicine and healthcare. There were specific programmes and projects at all levels to increase integration of people living with HIV/AIDS. There was a national HIV/AIDS foundation and the World AIDS Day campaign. There was also the law against discrimination that was applicable to all persons affected by HIV/AIDS including in housing, jobs and medical care. The German healthcare system was based on universal coverage so all people living in Germany had access to affordable healthcare and medicines. In terms of access to vaccination programmes, the delegation was unsure about the access that undocumented workers, asylum seekers and refugees had to these services. There was only in a small number of cases mandatory judicial orders for hospitalization of people who were mentally ill. On the use of electroshock therapy to treat mentally ill people, there was a certain number of patients who were being treated with this method but in Germany it was called electro cramp therapy and there was a difference. This was used in a small number of cases and only for highly depressive people.
On the issue of domestic violence, the delegation said that there had been two action plans on domestic violence and they included measures such as networks of centres to combat trafficking of women, shelters and hotlines. There was also a new law to combat forced marriages including a new criminal offence for forced marriages. The law would enter into force in May 2012.
The vast majority of universities were still public, although the vast majority of German states had introduced fees to finance education, but some of these policies had been reversed depending on the political parties in power.
Questions by Experts
In follow-up questions, an Expert asked whether having more qualified nursing staff as well as relatives would include men as caregivers. What would be done to break gender stereotypes in the provision of home care for the elderly?
It was also very important to listen to the concerns and views of transsexual and intersex people.
Did each state make its own domestic violence or was there a federal approach to it? How serous was the phenomenon of human trafficking, how severe were the sentences and what was being done to combat it?
Response of Delegation
The delegation said that they were starting as early as kindergarten to introduce boys and girls to different occupations to stop gender stereotyping in the workplace so this could also be done with nursing and elder care.
So far, their impression was that human trafficking was limited in Germany, but they had just received a study four weeks ago and they were analyzing the data to come up with a response to the situation. In 2009 there were 534 investigations into human trafficking, 11 per cent more than in 2008. Most of the victims came from Romania and Bulgaria, but there were also victims from Poland, Turkey, Hungary and Nigeria.
Questions by Experts
What was the ethnic makeup of Germany and how was ethnicity determined? Approximately 15 million people out of 80 million were from other ethnic groups. Was there any mechanism for determining minorities and were there groups that wanted to be recognized, but who were not? How were the cultural and linguistic rights of these groups ensured?
Was it acceptable to have separate but equal schools for children with disabilities? Were there segregated schools? Did asylum seeking children have problems enrolling in schools? How did schools of underachievers work? Were they mostly for immigrant children? Was human rights education systematic? Was the Covenant included in human rights education? First and second generation immigrant children seemed to fare worse than German children, so were there any programmes, policies or plans of action to remedy this?
How did the State party take the recommendations from the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and what responses or follow-up actions were made in response to the recommendations? What guidance or education was provided to young people and the general public on sexual and reproductive health?
Germany should review and study the idea of criminal provisions for domestic violence.
What was being done in the area of human rights education with an emphasis on economic, social and cultural rights? The report said that it depended on the states and the teachers. To what extent had the situation evolved since 2003?
What was the role of the media in combating racism and xenophobia? Was the Internet used to combat racism?
Response of Delegation
Fees for German universities ranged between €500 and €600 per semester and were applicable in 5 German states; in 11 other states schools were still free of charge.
There were no restrictions to cultural diversity in Germany, and ethnic minorities were encouraged to practice their cultural heritage.
As far as sexual and reproductive health was concerned in Germany, there had been a lot of activity around this issue. There were pregnancy counselling centres and a federal law that outlined the health and counselling services related to all reproductive health issues. There was a federal mother and child protection law which provided financial aid to those mothers who applied for it. The Federal Agency for Health Education dealt with all mass communication on sexual and reproductive health. There was another agency aimed at family planning which included outreach to marginalized groups and people with a migration background.
Regarding ethnic minorities, the delegation said that this was not just an administrative question but also one that was highly politically relevant.
There was an intensive debate going on about the best way to keep children from a migration background in school and to provide vocational training to them. Education was normally handled at the state level, but addressing these issues required a joint effort by the federal government and the states. It remained their goal to spend 10 per cent of GDP on education by 2015 to give people additional opportunities.
Questions by Experts
An Expert asked what happened in practice for the children of immigrant parents in terms of access to education and other opportunities. What was being done to level the playing field for children of immigrant origin so that they had the same opportunities to reach the same outcomes as other children? It seemed that integration had failed in schools in Germany so what was the fate of immigrants in German society?
Response of Delegation
In terms of corporate social responsibility of German companies abroad, the delegation said that German law could be applicable to companies operating abroad, for example in cases of corruption. There had been several cases over the last two years against German multi-national companies.
The federal government had also issued guidelines which outlined the obligations of companies to fulfil international standards, particularly with regards to human rights. Also, before the German Government invested money abroad a comprehensive impact assessment was done by several ministries to ensure compliance with human rights standards.
Moving on to education, the delegation said that the states took the lead on education, but children of immigrant background had the same rights as all other children, although their outcomes were not as good in terms of secondary school completion and college attendance. The delegation said they would not agree that integration had failed in German schools, but the existing concrete problems had been seen in a more detailed way in the last few years and they were seeking solutions for these problems. One of the big measures they had undertaken was building the language skills of immigrant children and adults because language was a key to doing better in school. There were also programmes that drafted the parents because they were key to children’s achievement in schools so it was important to get them involved.
Turning to human rights education, the delegation noted that human rights and dignity were taught to children in all schools. It was the delegation’s view that human rights were a subject in all parts of school. Until now, they had referred to education in democracy so this was the terminology that they used in the State so if one searched this term they would find many more references to this type of human rights education.
Concerning the query on the extent that children with disabilities were separated and taught in so called special schools, the delegation said it preferred to call them supportive schools because they helped to support children who had various disabilities. These schools had developed over the last 100 years, with teachers becoming more professional. The idea behind these schools was to provide a protective area for children with special educational needs. Over the years the perspective on these schools had changed as education professionals realized it had turned into a separate system.
On the issue of social segregation of children, the delegation said that they did not have a system of bussing similar to the one in the United States in which children from impoverished areas were bussed to other school districts where they could get a better education. The problem was that in some areas schools were segregated because of parents’ decisions. In the Pisa Study the Government found that second generation immigrants actually had more educational problems than first generation immigrations. It was disturbing to note that children who were born and raised in Germany had less success in education than first generation immigrants. Studies showed that educational attainment by parents had a lot to do with the educational success of children. Scientists had told the Government that one reason for this could be that the first immigrants who came were in a totally German society, while children who arrived or were born in Germany later were in a larger migrant community and this could have an adverse effect on integration and immersion. There had also been changes in the labour market that had an effect on educational attainment, but there was also the tendency among young people with a migration background to attach importance to their ethnic background.
German language competence was the key to integration and was of enormous relevance to the way one acquired knowledge and attained competency and skills in various areas. It was paramount that children had German language skills before they started school so language support programmes were very important. It was also important to hire teachers from a migration background and train teachers to deal with immigrant children.
Also, the issue of educational performance could not be ascribed only to the school system; parents, income and socio-economic class, language skills, and other factors had an impact on a child’s performance in schools. Social origin had an impact as well as the distance to the school and the educational level of parents. Children from families of lower social status were often not sent to grammar school by their parents so the State had to work on facilitating this attendance through various programmes.
Sexual education and reproductive health was a firm part of the curricula, starting in primary school through subjects like biology and ethics. The object was to teach kids the broader view and concept of partnership in relationships as well as sexual health and sexual determination.
On the question of domestic violence, the delegation returned to this issue as the Experts had asked for additional information. The State had the regular criminal measures for murder and manslaughter, but there were also special measures to prevent violence that had entered into force in the last year including provisions against stalking and restraining orders that could be issued by family courts. A person could be sentenced to ten years imprisonment for stalking if it resulted in death. There were also emergency measures in which the police could issue an emergency restraining order without getting a court order first.
According to the delegation, as far as the role and relevance of the Covenant within the German system of legal norms was concerned, the German legal system consisted of the constitution, which enjoyed the highest order in German law, and then there was statutory law of which the Covenant was a part. The courts had to respect the Covenant as fully fledged law, although there were hardly any norms in the Covenant that were not included in the constitution so it was unlikely for courts to base rulings on the Covenant alone.
In terms of the fight against xenophobia, this was a very important topic for the German Government in light of the country’s history. There were numerous programmes, action plans and fora against xenophobia and anti-Semitism and lots of engagement with civil society. Apart from these preventive measures, they also had the possibility to prohibit institutions that engaged in xenophobic or racist activities, although this step wasn’t taken lightly as it almost always involved freedom of speech issues. If there were websites with racist or xenophobic or anti-Semitic content this was a punishable offence under German law, but the Government was reluctant to police the Internet in such a heavy handed manner.
Questions by Experts
Were there any examples in which the Covenant had been applied at all in law, even as a statutory law? To what extent did the Covenant play a role at the state level? Was the Covenant applied in a uniform manner throughout the country or did it differ state by state? On human rights education, the Expert wanted to know how the Covenant was being taught within the context of human rights education. Were there any educational campaigns or awareness-raising campaigns for addressing the education gap? Were the state and local governments aware of the Committee’s General Comments on education?
Another Expert said they were concerned about the follow-up to the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on education. The Committee member could not see that any actual concrete follow-up had been taken by the State in response to the recommendations. Also, the Expert said that the State should wait longer before they started dividing children up into groups to guide them in certain directions because at this point the age was quite young and there needed to be an analysis of how socio-economic and ethnic background played into this tracking of students into different paths.
Was the delegation aware that many students came to school without having breakfast, particularly students from a migration background, and the impact this had on their educational attainment and ability to study? Was the Government aware of this problem and if so what was it doing to address it?
Response of Delegation
The delegation said it felt that the constitution covered most of the provisions of the Covenant and there was a unified law in Germany so states respected the provisions of the Covenant as well. The Covenant largely reflected norms that were already embodied in the constitution or other statutory law so this was why courts hardly ever cited the Covenant.
Xenophobia was an issue that needed to be tackled, but there were always certain limits to respect freedom of expression so they tried to balance those rights with tackling xenophobia. There were norms in the German criminal code to prohibit hate propaganda and people who engaged in such propaganda were punished. Most countries did not agree with Germany’s take on hate speech as many other countries felt that it was a violation of freedom of speech.
In terms of the early division of children into certain tracks, the delegation said it was not so easy to change the system because parents liked things the way they were. In Hamburg, they had a referendum on whether children should be divided into tracks after grade 6 and the initiative was voted down, so parents had to be persuaded to change the system before anything new could be implemented. In 1965 8 per cent of students were entitled to go on to university and this figure had risen to over 40 per cent today so things had changed, but economic status did impact a child’s ability to go on to higher education. It was also possible to chart a different path in higher education later on even if students did not finish high school or were not on the college track in school.
In terms of children coming to school without breakfast, some surveys showed that up to 25 per cent of children came to school without having had breakfast. There were no surveys or studies on the impact of not having breakfast on educational attainment. In full time schools lunch was automatically offered and the number of full time schools had doubled in the country since 2003 so the Government was working on addressing the problem through schools and families.
The delegation said that the federal government did make sure that all the provisions of the Covenant were respected at every level of government and were guaranteed by the constitutional courts and normal courts.
Concluding Remarks
In concluding remarks, HEINZ KOLLER, of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, thanked the Committee members for an intense and constructive dialogue. It was a pleasure to listen to their views and while they did not agree on everything it was important to have this exchange of views. They took the Covenant very seriously and they tried to demonstrate they had a system of education that was affordable and non-discriminatory, a labour market that worked for the needs of the people, and a healthcare system that covered everyone, including refugees and asylum seekers. Unfortunately, due to the financial crisis of the last few years there were many things that were not possible in the short run due to scarce financial resources, but they would continue to strive to make progress at all levels and across all policies.
For use of the information media; not an official record
ESC11/006E