Germany’s civic space was rated as “narrow” in a new report from global rights watchdog CIVICUS Monitor. Germany was one of seven countries downgraded in the People Under Attack 2023 report, which analysed how governments protect citizens’ freedom of expression in 198 countries. The report found that over 30 percent of the world’s population now resides in countries with restricted civic spaces—the most since CIVICUS Monitor started reporting in 2018.
In their report, the CIVICUS Monitor rated civic spaces on a scale from “open” to “closed” based on the level that authorities violate the their people’s freedom of speech and assembly. The CIVICUS Monitor define civic space as “the respect in law, policy and practice for freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression and the extent to which the state protects these fundamental rights.” They worked with 20 civil society research partners to produce the report.
CIVICUS Monitor downgraded the rating for civic space openness in Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Venezuela. The last two are now rated as “closed” because their “conditions for civil society continue to worsen.”
Over the course of the the year, Germany’s civic space was rated as “narrow” one below “open.” The report highlighted that the reason for this downgrade was primarily due to Germany’s “repressive measures” used in response to climate activists. The CIVICUS Monitor noted that throughout the year, climate activists were detained for non-violent civil disobedience actions, and police used “excessive force” to remove protestors, with 700 being removed in Lutzerath in January. On one occasion, officers beat and pepper sprayed a journalist, who was accredited with the police, because they were covering environmental protests.
The report also highlighted Germany’s treatment of protestors demonstrating in response to the Israeli-Hamas war. German government imposed restrictions on mass protests supporting Palestine during the assault on Gaza, and announced their intention to “deport all non-citizens perceived to be expressing support for Hamas.”
The CIVICUS Monitor ended the report by providing recommendations to governments to improve the rating of their civic spaces. Regarding protests, they urged governments to “desist from using excessive force against peaceful protesters, stop preempting and preventing protests and adopt best practices on freedom of peaceful assembly, ensuring that any restrictions on assemblies comply with international human rights standards.” They also urged governments to “review. . . and update existing human rights training for police and security forces.”
Overall, of the 198 countries investigated in this report, 28 countries or territories with closed civic space, 50 with repressed civic space, 40 with obstructed civic space, 43 countries have narrowed civic space, and 37 with an open rating. This is the highest percentage of closed civic spaces since 2018.
