Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an Instrument for Character Assassination

In the wake of the Dreksler matter, the Berlin Interior Ministry has announced a reorganization of the OPC. The problem, however, is not who does what job. A man who had committed no wrong was almost ruined, his children's lives affected, and himself ostracized. What he lived through is far from an isolated incident. The scandal was only exploded into public view because his prominence made media interest inevitable. The real scandal, however, is not that Dreksler was wrongly stated to be a Scientologist. It is the witchhunt against innocent citizens – whether members of a religious minority or not – which makes a “Dreksler affair” possible. The creation of such a climate shows contempt for man and is the very reverse of legal and constitutional.

The Dreksler case ought to be more than enough to make anyone question whether it serves the cause of human rights to place an innocent group under surveillance by the OPC, instead of taking steps to learn more about it from reliable sources and to establish communication with its leaders.

Mr. Dreksler was fortunate and retained a good lawyer; the Senate of the Interior admitted he was not a Scientologist and apologized for his dismissal. They offered him the ridiculous sum of DM 3000 in damages; his attorney is suing for 20 times that amount. But what of the thousands of Germans who, like Dreksler, have done nothing wrong, but who are Scientologists? There are no apologies for them, no reinstatement of lost employment. They not only have to live with the stigma that surveillance brings, they must tolerate harassment, intimidation and attempts at bribery by OPC agents.