Questions and Answers about the Cologne Attacks

The case of 1,000 mostly Muslim men attacking citizens of Cologne on New Year's Eve greatly interests me, and I took the trouble of translating as best I could, from a Cologne newspaper, some questions and answers about the attacks.

From the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger

On Tuesday, Henriette Reker commented on the events at Cologne Central Station. Her recommendation that women “keep an arm’s length distance or more” from strangers is reaping wide mockery upon the mayor.

After the sexual assault at Cologne Central Station in New Year's Eve, the city intends to issue "rules of conduct" for women.

. . . .
Questions and Answers

What do we know about the perpetrators?

Nothing really, because so far not a single one has been identified. On Sunday five suspects were arrested after a robbery at the station, but it’s not clear whether they had anything to do with the actions on Thursday.

The predominantly female victims described the perpetrators as North Africans and Arabs. According to information from the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger," there were 1,000 men in front of the train station, far more than the known North African pickpockets and tricksters with which the police are familiar. Police checked about 100 men of the group, and found "a number of refugees" from Syria who had been living in Germany beginning only recently. The five arrested on Sunday, of which two are sitting now in pre-trial detention, are Syrian nationals, confirmed a spokesman of the police union (GdP) in Dusseldorf on request.

Police at the train station reported that numerous men appeared to be from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but the police chief warned against making a blanket judgment against refugees because of the general makeup of the crowd.


Did the perpetrators conspire to meet at the Cologne train station?

The police share this suspicion. An investigator said he could not imagine that 1,000 young men, many of whom probably do not come from Cologne, had met by chance in front of the main train station. To confirm this assumption, police are scouring internet forums and social networks in which men may have arranged to meet.

How many victims are there?

So far, 90 criminal complaints have been received by the police, mostly of robbery or theft. Among the victims were also refugees. About a quarter of the reports involved sexual assault.

Police learned of the crimes only in the course of the early morning, as reports gradually trickled in, although the first female victim approached officials at about 0.45 clock. But the perpetrators were submerged in turmoil. Although policemen were standing at the top of the stairs in front of the Cathedral before they were aware of the crimes, they noticed nothing unusual. Director Michael Temme said that in a crowd like this it is "extremely difficult" to detect situations at certain points, especially in the dark.

How does the city and the police intend to prevent such incidents in the future?

Firstly, through education: Even before Carnival, Mayor Henriette Reker said she intends to publicize “Prevention Advice for Women.” Secondly, by more police and an expansion of video surveillance at critical points. For large events, the city will continue to provide safety concepts to the public. Police will see if it’s legally possible to have known offenders prohibited from attending certain events.

When will delinquent asylum seekers be deported?

When asylum seekers are convicted of criminal offenses, they are not necessarily immediately deported. The European Court of Human Rights requires that all the circumstances are examined on an individual basis before a decision about deportation is made. This is particularly true for recognized asylum seekers and those with a temporary residence permit during the asylum procedure.

What about after the completion of the asylum procedure or for foreigners with different residence permits?

For rejected but tolerated asylum seekers, the Immigration Office can decide to deport them quickly in serious and clear cases, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia. In practice, however, they must usually await the outcome of certain proceedings from which to have a more secure legal basis.

"If the alien has been sentenced to imprisonment or youth custody of more than two years of res judicata for one or more intentional crimes", as it says in the law, there is a particular "expulsion interest" on the part of the State.

As a rule, such people would be deported after having served his sentence. Nevertheless, individual factors such as family environment and situation would have to be taken into account in the home country of a person.

The decision as to whether an offender is deported is determined, in any case, by the immigration authorities of the counties and cities.

Regardless of possible criminal asylum seekers from some North African countries such as Morocco and Algeria, only in rare cases are rejected but tolerated refugees guilty of committing crimes allowed to stay. The acceptance rate in these cases is about two percent.