Erklärungen und Dokumentation zur Polizeigewalt am 8. März auf der Demonstration UNTIL TOTAL LIBERATION in Berlin

Update 12. März 2025. Es kommen immer mehr Scheußlichkeiten des Polizeiverhaltens am internationalen Frauenkampftag in Berlin ans Tageslicht. Jetzt fordern auch Amnesty International, reach out u.a. Konsequenzen. Parteien, die das Verhalten der Polizei weiter decken, sind für Frauen unwählbar geworden. Wir werden genau hinsehen! Auch den DGB fordern wir auf, zu den systematischen öffentlichen Übergriffen auf Frauen und Kolleginnen nicht weiter zu schweigen! Weggucken geht nicht mehr, wenn man noch glaubwürdig bei Erklärungen gegen patriacharliche Gewalt bleiben will. In Stuttgart haben die Sprecherinnen des Bündnisses zum Frauenkampftag unter Beteiligung Verdi konsequent auf weit weniger heftige Polizeiübergriffe reagiert. Warum ist das in Berlin nicht möglich?

Wir publizieren hier die Erklärungen und Dokumentation von Alliance of Internationalist Feminists, Pallies, Palestine Speaks und Arrest Press Unit Berlin, Amnesty International u. a. zur Polizeigewalt am 8. März auf der Demonstration UNTIL TOTAL LIBERATION in Berlin

Was sich am Frauenkampftag an Polizeiübergriffen auf dieser Demonstration abspielte ist ungeheuerlich und auch In unzähligen weiteren Videos dokumentiert. Da finden sich Bilder an Frauenfeindlichkeit, die durch nichts zu rechtfertigen sind. Diese umkreisen mal wieder den Erdball und ruinieren wohl endgültig den Ruf dieser Stadt. Von der besonderen Weltoffenheit, Kultur- und Wissenschaftsfreiheit Berlins ist nach zwei Jahren CDU/SPD Senat unter Kai Wegner nicht viel übrig geblieben. Von Doppelmoral triefende Lippenbekenntnisse für Menschen- und aus aktuellem Anlass für Frauenrechte sind erlaubt. Aber wehe, die Kritik trifft ins Mark der „Staatsräson“ und der geostrategischen Interessen des deutschen Kapitals – sei es die Zusammenarbeit mit Israel, die Realitäten neokolonialer deutscher Aussenpolitik oder die allseits propagierte „Kriegstüchtigkeit“, dann ist Ende mit Toleranz und Verpflichtung zur Wahrheit. Dann kommt der Knüppel des Redeverbots, der kürzlich nicht einmal Halt machte vor der offiziellen UN Sprecherin für Menschenrechte in Palästina. Was Wunder, dass Demonstranten behindert werden, Positionen internationalen Rechts öffentlich auszusprechen und bei Zuwiderhandlung den echten Knüppel zu spüren bekommen!

"Wenn es sich um eine Demonstration gegen die AfD handelt, erhalten die Beamt:innen die Anweisung, sich gut zu benehmen, ihre Präsenz ist gering, sie haben keine Kampfmontur und sie spielen - noch - die Rolle des „Freundes und Helfers“. Wenn es sich um eine pro-palästinensische Demonstration handelt, haben sie ein festgelegtes Protokoll, das darauf abzielt, die Menge zu provozieren und sie gewalttätig zu machen (was meistens nicht passiert und sie gezwungen sind, Gewalt anzuwenden, auch gegen Kinder, nur weil sie eine palästinensische Flagge halten).
Um die Stimmung anzuheizen, lassen die Polizist:innen die Demonstration nicht marschieren, führen willkürliche Festnahmen gleich zu Beginn durch (zum Beispiel wegen eines Schildes wie „Juden gegen Genozid“). Wenn die Demonstration losgeht, sorgen sie für eine Verzögerung... " [1]jüdische Stimme für einen gerechten Frieden in Nahost 

Kulturelle Vielfalt, Entfaltungsmöglichkeiten von Diversität und Minderheiten sowie zur Wahrheit verpflichtete Wissenschaftsfreiheit sind aber quasi der Sauerstoff, ohne den Berlin weder atmen noch gedeihen kann. Dazu gehört auch die Anziehungskraft auf die meist internationalistisch geprägten Beschäftigten in den vielen Startups. Das alles war einmal. Es geht bergab mit dieser Stadt.

Auch wirtschaftlich lässt diese Bornierheit von geostrategisch geprägter Intoleranz, die im Agieren der Polizei nur ihren krassesten Ausdruck findet, inzwischen deutliche Spuren. Das trifft letztendlich alle. Vom kleinen Restaurant Besitzer bis zu den Beschäftigten in den Metallbetrieben.

AKtuell  zu den deutschen Kriegskrediten: "Verschuldungsorgie für „Kriegstüchtigkeit“ kann mit grün reaktionärem Sahnehäubchen durchgewunken werden"

Erklärung Amnesty International, reach out…. .

STATEMENT ON ARRESTS, MASS POLICE BRUTALITY, VIOLENCE & CRIMINALIZATION at the Revolutionary 8th March protest in berlin

By the Alliance of Internationalist Feminists, Pallies, Palestine Speaks and the Arrest Press Unit Berlin, 09 March 2025

During the Revolutionary 8th March Demonstration organized by the Alliance of Internationalist Feminists at Oranienplatz, Berlin, on March 8, 2025, the Berlin police once again violently escalated against demonstrators. The demonstration was called to reaffirm that March 8th is not a day for celebration it is still a fight. A fight against patriarchal, colonial, and imperialist domination and violence. Instead of protecting fundamental rights, the German authorities once again weaponized police forces to silence dissent and criminalize those resisting oppression.

A PATTERN OF CRIMINALIZATION AND POLICE SUPPRESSION

From the outset, the police actively prevented the protest from marching, surrounding the gathering and blocking movement. They changed the pre-approved protest route without justification, deliberately making it easier to contain and attack the demonstrators. This aligns with a recent Berlin police directive that restricts pro-Palestinian protests, effectively stripping demonstrators of their right to assembly and free expression.

Despite the nonviolent nature of the demonstration, police forces engaged in extreme violence and targeted repression, including:

DISPROPORTIONATE POLICE PRESENCE AND REPRESSION

• Unlike all other demonstrations that took place in the context of March 8th, which faced no visible police interference, this marchwas met with overwhelming police brutality and a heavy police presence from the very start. Obstacles were deliberately put in place to prevent the protest from happening, with authorities actively placing barriers and creating obstructions to hinder and suppress the demonstration.
• Officers blocked the protest from proceeding, forcing long delaysand intimidating organizers.
• The police changed the route of the march, using this as a tactic to destabilizeand isolate sections of the crowd.

BRUTAL ARRESTS AND PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

At least 29 arrests were recorded, with extreme violence used against demonstrators.

• Protesters were punched in the face, shoved to the ground, and restrained using excessive force.
• Several demonstrators suffered hand and facial, leg and knee injuries, including fingers nearly broken due to aggressive police grips and kicking.
• A young female demonstrator was violently detained and taken to a fire station with 2 other protestors, where she was subjected to further mistreatment Witnesses reported that police deliberately exposed her body and restrained her in degrading positions.
• 5 demonstrators were taken to the detention center (Gefangenensammelstelle),where they were held without access to legal aid or medical attention.
• One arrested person was was unconscious and had to be taken to the hospital.

SEXUALIZED VIOLENCE AGAINST DETAINED FLINTA INDIVIDUALS

• One protester was dragged into a police van, where officers forcefully restrained her. She was choked, her face pushed to the ground, and her hands tied behind her back despite showing no resistance.
• Officers deliberately kept her in a humiliating position, exposing parts of her body while restraining her.
• Even after she was completely subdued, officers continued their abusive and degrading treatment, with one officer forcibly holding her head between his legs while others pressed her body into the ground. Her repeated cries for help and medical attention were ignored.
• Another young person was seen being choked by a police officer while being violently dragged away. Witnesses reported that they were repeatedly hit while restrained.
• The fire department was complicit in some cases, assisting police in detaining protesters inside a fire station, shutting the doors while they were being assaulted inside.
• Witnesses reported that at least 4 people were dragged into the fire station, where they were beaten and mistreated away from public view.
• One arrest inside the fire station was described as extremely violent, including elements of sexual assault, further demonstrating the systematic use of sexualized violence against detained individuals.
• Multiple observers reported that the number of sexual assaults by police during this demonstration was higher than usual, indicating a deliberate increase in gendered violence as a repressive tactic.
• Many FLINTA demonstrators reported that officers grabbed their breasts intentionally, not as part of pushing or restraint but in anexplicit act of sexual assault, with some describing the groping as deliberate kneading rather than incidental contact.
• One demonstrator reported multiple instances of violence, including several strikes to the hand while holding a banner, repeated punches to the chest, and having her breast deliberately grabbed by an officer. She was also choked, had a hand pressed against her face and neck, and was subjected to four forceful kicks to her knee and thigh, leaving her barely able to walk.
• Multiple demonstrators reported being choked by police officers, including one case where a protester was choked twice from behind while attempting to film police brutality.

EXTREME CASE OF SEXUALIZED POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST A YOUNG WOMAN

A young woman was subjected to an extreme and deliberate act of sexualized police violence, carried out in full public view. This case exemplifies the systematic use of gendered brutality bylaw enforcement to degrade, violate and silence protesters.

The violence began as police forcefully dragged the young woman from the crowd, despite her repeated cries of „Lass mich, lass mich“ (Let me go, let me go). She was immediately forced to the ground, where officers brutally pressed her head against the pavement, disregarding the bleeding from her mouth and eye.

Witnesses standing less than a meter away described how officers pushed her head down with excessive force,ignoring shouts from the crowd thatshe was struggling to breathe.

As the assault continued, the young woman, who was wearing a skirt, was deliberately exposed by the police. Rather than covering her up, officers pulled her skirt further up, exposing her body even more. They then began to grope her aggressively, grabbing her sides and body while she lay completely motionless, unable to resist. At this point, bystanders were screaming that she was no longer responsive, but theofficers continued their abuse.

Themost horrifying moment occurred when an officer forcefully shoved the woman’s head between his legs, pressing her face directly into his genitals.
He maintained this degrading position while other officers restrained her, pulling her by the hair as they forcefully handcuffed her.
Throughout this entire assault, the police repeatedly shouted, „Hören Sie auf, Widerstand zu leisten“ (Stop resisting), despite the fact that she was already unconscious, limp, and completely incapable of movement.
Even after she lost consciousness, the officers continued to brutalize her. They lifted her up like a lifeless sack and threw her onto the pavement multiple times before dragging her to the fire station, where further abuses took place out of public sight. This case is a visible escalation ofpolice sexualized violence, where law enforcement not only physically assaulted awoman but also deliberately humiliated and degraded her through exposure, groping, and forced contact with officers’bodies.

SUPPRESSION OF DOCUMENTATION AND OBSTRUCTION OF LEGAL AID

• Police officers deliberately used bright lights to obstruct documentation of their brutality, preventing demonstrators and journalists from filming arrests and assaults.
• The police actively obstructed access to detainees names and dates of birth, making legal assistance and medical care harder to coordinate.
• Medics were prevented from accessing and treating the injured, with police physically blocking first-aid responders from reaching those in need.
• Many demonstrators suffered panic attacks and asthma attacks, and it was extremely difficult to get them through the police cordons to receive medical assistance.Police formed chains and kettled protesters, making it impossible for medics to reach and support injured demonstrators.

ESCALATION TACTICS AND USE OF FORCE

• Police strategically exploited gaps in the crowd, rushing into the demonstration at moments when participants were more spread out, deliberately isolating individuals to attack and arrest them.
• As the protest shrank in size due to long delays and repression, the police intensified their violence, attacking the crowd more brutally as the march continued.
• The second part of the demonstration was marked by extreme police aggression, particularly as it became darker, making it harder for journalists and witnesses to record abuses.
• Police deployed pepper spray indiscriminately, with reports of demonstrators suffering severe respiratory distress and skin burns.
• Riot police lined up in formations designed to kettle and mass-arrest demonstrators ifnecessary, signaling their intent to escalate rather than de-escalate tensions.

COORDINATED EFFORT TO SILENCE PRO-PALESTINIAN VOICES

The extreme repression at the Revolutionary 8th March Demonstration is part of Germany’s broader campaign of criminalizing Palestinian solidarity and suppressing resistance. The violent repression at this demonstration was not isolated-it reflects Germany’s unwavering commitment to silencing those who resist its fascist and colonial policies.

POLICE VIOLENCE MUST END

The extreme repression at the Revolutionary 8th March Demonstration is part of Germany’s broader campaign of criminalizing Palestinian solidarity and suppressing resistance. The violent repression at this demonstration was not isolated-it reflects Germany’s unwavering commitment to silencing those who resist its fascist and colonial policies.

WE DEMAND

• An immediate end to all kinds of police violence · An independent investigation into the police brutality at the demonstration.
• The immediate release of all detained demonstrators.
• The suspension of officers responsible for excessive force and mistreatment of detainees.
• Protective measures to ensure the safety of vulnerable groups at protests, including women, trans, non-binary and queer people and refugees.
• The abolition of colonial racist policing policies that target FLINTA, Palestinian, Black, Arab, and BIPOC demonstrators.

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. THE PROTEST FOR A FREE PALESTINE WILL CONTINUE ON THE STREETS OF BERLIN

Titel PHOTO CREDIT: @E_GUELTEKIN, Videomaterial von Beteiligten und Zeitzeugen der Vorkommnisse. Besonderer Dank an mudiblick1 (Tiktok). Aus Respekt vor den Opfern verzichten wir ausdrücklich auf Bilder, die diese in enrwürdigender Weise darstellen könnten.