Terror victims in Germany to receive better compensation
November 8, 2019
After criticism that the victims of the 2016 Berlin terrorist attack were left behind, Germany has passed new laws on damages. Victims will be more speedily and more generously compensated.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/C. Koall
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Future victims of terrorist attacks in Germany will get better and speedier compensated after a new law was passed in the Bundestag on Thursday evening.
The law passed by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil provides for higher cash benefits for surviving dependants and injured parties. Access to vocational reintegration measures and assistance in everyday life will also be improved. Trauma outpatient clinics, which provide fast and targeted care for victims, will be available nationwide in future.
Victims will also be assigned case managers during the application process for compensation and in the proceeding events.
The new law also opens the possibility of such compensation for the victims of psychological violence such as stalking or passive violence such as the neglect of a child. Victims of human trafficking and sexual violence will also be covered.
Widows, widowers and orphans will also rise and witnesses who were psychologically affected by an attack will be eligible for compensation.
Most regulations will not take effect until 2024, while some improvements will be applied retroactively, including equal treatment for foreign nationals.
Only the right-wing populist AfD party opposed the measures. The laws still need the approval of the Bundesrat, the upper house of Parliament.
The current law dates from 1985 and based on compensation of war victims. The central idea of the reform of victim compensation is that the state has a responsibility to protect its citizens from acts of violence and damage caused by criminal acts.
aw/rt (epd, KNA, dpa)
Trucks: New weapon of choice for terrorists
Tuesday's terror attack in New York was the latest in a deadly trend that began less than 16 months ago in France. The gruesome terror attack after a Bastille Day celebration in Nice marked the beginning of a new era.
Image: Reuters/A. Kelly
Nice - Bastille Day (July 14) 2016
A new era of terror appears to have been ushered in when a huge truck plowed through masses of people along a beachfront promenade in the French city of Nice. Some 86 people were killed and at least 300 injured in the carnage. Police said the attacker was raised in Tunisia but moved to France in 2005. He was shot dead by police at the scene of the attack.
Image: Reuters/E. Gaillard
Berlin - December 2016
A truck attack on a Christmas market left 12 dead and 48 injured a week before Christmas. Police said an 'Islamic State' militant hijacked the truck driven by Polish driver Lukasz Urban who tried to alter the direction of the truck, saving lives as he sat in the passenger seat. Urban was killed by the attacker who fled the scene but was shot dead four days later.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Stockholm - April 2017
The back end of a delivery truck was left sticking out from the corner of a department store in downtown Stockholm as police investigators examined the site; 5 people were killed and 14 injured. Police soon arrested a suspect. Appearing in court two days later his lawyer Johan Eriksson told the court that the man "admits to a terrorist crime." He claimed to be an IS supporter.
Image: Reuters/D. Armada
London Bridge attack - June 2017
London endured a trio of truck attacks in 2017 that have left 18 dead and 100 injured. The deadliest attack occured June 3 on London Bridge and the nearby Borough Market, leaving 11 dead and 50 injured. The other vehicle attacks occurred March 22 and June 19; the former left six dead and at least 40 injured, while the latter left one person dead and 10 injured.
Image: Reuters/S. Wermuth
Charlottesville, VA - August 2017
In a bizarre twist a white supremacist took a page from Islamist militants and turned his vehicle into a weapon, plowing into a crowd of people at an anti-fascism rally, which left one person dead and at least 19 injured. Police charged a 20-year-old man with second-degree murder. He was photographed at the rally with Vanguard America, a white supremacist group.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/The Daily Progress/AP/R.M. Kelly
Barcelona - August 2017
A van was used to run down pedestrians on the city's Las Ramblas street; 17 people were killed and at least 100 injured. Several hours later, 75 miles down the coast, a car slammed into a group of people in the town of Cambrils, killing one and injuring five. There were five people in the attack vehicle and police killed all of them. Police confirmed that the two attacks were connected.
Image: Imago/E-Press Photo.com
New York - October 2017
It didn't take long for the suspect to wreak havoc Tuesday in lower Manhattan; eight people were killed and 11 seriously injured. After his truck came to a crashing halt the suspect jumped out with a pellet gun and a paintball gun and shouted "God is great." The 29-year-old suspect was shot by police and taken into custody.
