Call to demonstrate in Cologne on Saturday, March 15th, 2008, at 14:00 hrs |
Political parties, civil action groups, and professional associations nationwide call for participation in a demonstration against the ever increasing surveillance by state agencies and the industrial sector. On Saturday, March 15th, 2008, citizens shall rally on the streets under the slogan "For a Tomorrow in Liberty". Meeting point is the Roncalli-Platz ("Domplatte") in Cologne. Not only since the attacks of September 11th did various federal governments pass ever more authoritative regulations regarding the surveillance of Germany's citizens. Today's main force behind the increased state spying on citizens is Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior, who in the past announced numerous measures, the conformity of which with human rights is very questionable. The blanket retention of all communications data generated when using telephone, mobile phones, internet, and e-mail restricts the individual rights in a manner inconsistent with a society based upon free and democratic principles. Expert criminologists agree that such surveillance measures do not have any significant impact upon the prevention of terrorism or criminal offences. Such laws merely constitute a wasteful spending of millions of Euros of tax payers funds and, by restricting freedom of speech and encroaching on crucial areas of human conduct of life, jeopardize our democracy. Political parties and organisations from all over Germany shall not stand by and watch this ridiculous urge for surveillance on behalf of the federal government, which is hostile towards civil rights and wasts enourmous sums of money. Members of our protest alliance are:
Our call for demonstration is supported by:
We call on all citizens to participate in this demonstration on March 15h, 2008, and, thus, show this government that German citizens publicly demonstrate for their liberty and civil rights. We demand:
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