A/HRC/39/9
10.
The Government of Germany had strongly condemned the recent anti-Semitic
attacks and a Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight
against Anti-Semitism had been appointed.
11.
Refugee movements and migration had grown into a global challenge of an immense
magnitude. In this regard, Germany had undertaken broad engagement within the
framework of the international cooperation and had put forward concrete proposals in
relation to the movement and migration of refugees.
12.
The integration of refugees was an ongoing process for society as a whole and
brought with it challenges. Integration had been organized in towns, local administrations,
workplaces, schools and nurseries, with the participation of citizens.
13.
The integration measures were aimed at achieving equal opportunity for all people
who were eligible, regardless of their national, ethnic or religious origins.
14.
With regard to implementing border controls in a manner consistent with human
rights, police situation reports would have to be taken into consideration and in certain
sections of the border the controls would focus on certain groups of people or particular
means of transport. An individual’s features would not be the sole or decisive factor for
police measures. The facts had to be objective and verifiable by a court.
15.
Although freedom of opinion was vital to free societies, it was not unlimited. For
example, German criminal law contained provisions that enabled certain forms of hate
speech to be punished.
16.
The State had a responsibility to protect its citizens from hate speech However, it
was crucial to ensure that freedom of opinion was not impaired in fulfilling this
responsibility.
17.
The equality of women and girls and thus the implementation of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was a high priority for
Germany. Many key human rights and gender equality initiatives had been launched for
which Germany had received praise from the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women. However, Germany had some way to go to achieve full
gender equality in all spheres. On 12 October 2017, Germany had ratified the Council of
Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic
violence. Furthermore, additional measures would be undertaken, including further
development of support services, a new programme on prevention and a nationwide
awareness-raising campaign.
18.
In January 2017, Germany had adopted the second action plan on implementing
Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security for the period
2017–2020. Germany’s efforts had been aimed at prevention, participation and protection,
the three main principles of the resolution.
19.
Germany was firmly committed to the goals of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and had implemented recommendations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child
in many areas. Germany was set to report to the Committee in April 2019. In 2015, an
independent monitoring office had been established at the German Institute for Human
Rights to oversee implementation of the Convention.
20.
The governing parties had agreed that the explicit fundamental rights of children
would be incorporated into the text of the Basic Law.
21.
The protection of children from human trafficking, prostitution and pornography
was important to Germany. Identification mechanisms were being put in place to make it
easier to identify underage victims of human trafficking/child trafficking and child
prostitution.
22.
Germany was keen to create a society that welcomed, respected and accepted sexual
and gender diversity. In June 2017, marriage was made possible for same-sex partners.
23.
In recent years, Germany had intensified its efforts to implement the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Federal Participation Act, which improved the
situation for individuals with disabilities, had been developed in line with that Convention,
3