Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Germans probe soldiers over right-wing violence Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 14:51:51 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD Germans probe soldiers over right-wing violence \BY Rolf Soderlind \CR REUTERS NEWS AGENCY \DT BONN BONN - Twenty-four German soldiers, including two officers, are under investigation in connection with right-wing violence, racist propaganda and off-duty attacks on refugees, officials said yesterday. A Defense Ministry spokesman said some of the soldiers were said to have taken part in nine assaults on homes for foreign asylum seekers in the past 10 months in Germany. The ministry said manslaughter was suspected in three cases, but a spokesman said these involved "skinhead" draftees fighting among themselves. At least two Germans died in the fighting, the spokesman said. Another spokesman denied a radio report that two draftees were detained for suspected manslaughter after attacks on refugee homes. In letters to officers that were released yesterday, the army's top commander ordered tough action against extremists and the navy's commander said there was no place for racism on his ships. The first ministry statement sought to play down fears of right-wingers gaining ground in the 400,000-member armed forces. Released in response to a radio report about the letters, it said, however, that 22 draftees and two officers were being investigated in connection with off-duty activity involving "right-wing radicalism or hatred against foreigners." The army commander, Lt. Gen. Helge Hansen, said rightist paramilitary groups apparently used army training grounds for what they call "military sports exercises." Gen. Hansen warned that the military's democratic credentials could be tarnished by paramilitary groups. Self-styled "military sports groups" have been sneaking onto military grounds to practice combat roles and simulate attacks on foreigners' hostels. "For us to be credible, we also have to make sure the radical groups have no chance to carry out their sinister works on armed forces property," Gen. Hansen wrote in his letter. Walter Kolbow, defense spokesman for the opposition Social Democrats, said: "These incidents are an appalling alarm signal that not only has to be watched carefully, but must also be countered with all necessary means." The navy commander, Vice Adm. Hein-Peter Weyher, wrote to his officers: "We must succeed in making it clear to our sailors that using violence against foreigners is always wrong." Gen. Hansen said he was upset at a wave of anti-foreigner rioting that began in Rostock in August when neo-Nazis firebombed a hostel for asylum-seekers. At least 10 foreigners died in such attacks this year. "Young men entering our barracks bring with them all their thoughts and attitudes, hopes and dreams, but also all the faulty thinking and acting of their times," he wrote, urging officers to educate their soldiers more thoroughly in democratic ideals. His letter was welcomed by Maj. Helmuth Priesz, spokesman for the Darmstadt Signal, a group of 200 military officers critical of some official policies. "We are dealing with problems that cannot be overlooked," said Maj. Priesz, a member of the army training staff in Cologne. "But I find it superficial to make it just a question of young radicals." "Some old officers are also conservative or radical and have an unreflecting attitude toward National Socialism [Nazism]," he said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM