156-581: Kriminalpolizei ( German pronunciation: [ˌkrɪmiˈnaːlpoliˌt͡saɪ̯] , "criminal police") is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany , Austria , and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland . In Nazi Germany , the Kripo was the criminal police department for the entire Reich. Today, in the Federal Republic of Germany ,
312-748: A general armistice ended the fighting. In the German Revolution (November 1918), Wilhelm II and the ruling princes abdicated their positions, and Germany was declared a federal republic . Germany's new leadership signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, accepting defeat by the Allies . Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating, which was seen by historians as influential in the rise of Adolf Hitler . Germany lost around 13% of its European territory and ceded all of its colonial possessions in Africa and
468-541: A sniper as he said Mass inside a convent chapel on 24 March 1980. In December 1980, three American nuns, Ita Ford , Dorothy Kazel , and Maura Clarke , and a lay worker, Jean Donovan , were gang raped and murdered by a military unit later found to have been carrying out orders. Death squads were instrumental in killing hundreds of real and suspected Communists. Priests who were spreading liberation theology , such as Father Rutilio Grande , were also targeted. The murderers in this case were found to have been soldiers from
624-486: A sniper assassinated Archbishop Óscar Romero while he was performing Mass in March 1980. In December 1980, three American nuns and a lay worker were gangraped and murdered by a military unit later found to have been acting on specific orders. Death squads were instrumental in killing thousands of peasants and activists. Funding for the squads came primarily from right-wing Salvadoran businessmen and landowners. Because
780-513: A sustainable energy supply, the debt brake for balanced budgets, measures to increase the fertility rate ( pronatalism ), and high-tech strategies for the transition of the German economy, summarised as Industry 4.0 . During the 2015 European migrant crisis , the country took in over a million refugees and migrants. Germany is the seventh-largest country in Europe . It borders Denmark to
936-567: A temperate climate, ranging from oceanic in the north and west to continental in the east and southeast. Winters range from the cold in the Southern Alps to cool and are generally overcast with limited precipitation, while summers can vary from hot and dry to cool and rainy. The northern regions have prevailing westerly winds that bring in moist air from the North Sea, moderating the temperature and increasing precipitation. Conversely,
1092-491: A 2014 report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Buenaventura , a port town in Colombia, "entire neighborhoods were dominated by powerful paramilitary successor groups" HRW reports that the groups "restrict residents' movements, recruit their children, extort businesses, and routinely engage in horrific acts of violence against anyone who defies their will." It is reported that scores of people have been "disappeared" from
1248-528: A Mexican security forces in Chenalhó , Chiapas . In 2000, however, during an internal power struggle between former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and President Zedillo, the PRI was peacefully voted out from power in the 2000 Mexican general election , until 2013 when they partially regained their influence and power, only to lose again in the 2018 Mexican general election . It is also alleged that, during
1404-460: A NATO effort to provide security in that country after the ousting of the Taliban . In the 2005 elections , Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor. In 2009, the German government approved a €50 billion stimulus plan. Among the major German political projects of the early 21st century are the advancement of European integration , the energy transition ( Energiewende ) for
1560-482: A bridge in trucks covered with paper bags. Gente Nueva was accused of collaborating with the organization. During the California Gold Rush , the state government between 1850 and 1859 financed and organized militia units to hunt down and kill Indigenous Californians . Between 1850 and 1852 the state appropriated almost one million dollars for the activities of these militias, and between 1854 and 1859
1716-658: A centralised totalitarian state , withdrew from the League of Nations , and dramatically increased the country's rearmament . A government-sponsored programme for economic renewal focused on public works, the most famous of which was the Autobahn . In 1935, the regime withdrew from the Treaty of Versailles and introduced the Nuremberg Laws which targeted Jews and other minorities. Germany also reacquired control of
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#17327866845861872-505: A counterinsurgency strategy. The use of "death squads" as a government tactic became particularly widespread after 1966. Throughout 1966 and the first three months of 1967, within the framework of what military commentators referred to as "el-contra terror", government forces killed an estimated 8,000 civilians accused of "subversive" activity. This marked a turning point in the history of the Guatemalan security apparatus and brought about
2028-452: A death squad to kill Maximilian I of Mexico , Tomás Mejía , and Miguel Miramón for treason and reforms Maximilian made and for his support to French emperor Napoleon III . One of the soldiers on the death squad named Aureliano Blanquet would then later be sentenced to death by firing squad under Francisco I. Madero 45 years later in 1912. Francisco was then later executed a few months later in 1913. For more than seven decades following
2184-550: A former military chaplain having been indicted in this case. On 28 November 2006, Víctor Montiglio, charged of this case, ordered Pinochet's house arrest According to the Chilean Government's own Truth and Reconciliation (Rettig) report, 2,279 people were killed in the operations of Pinochet's regime. In June 1999, judge Juan Guzmán Tapia ordered the arrest of five retired generals. The United States supported death squads in Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala during
2340-615: A framework laid out in the 1949 constitution known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat ; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law , are valid in perpetuity. The president , currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier ,
2496-680: A joint responsibility of the international community. It was the world's second-biggest aid donor in 2019 after the United States. Germany's military, the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence), is organised into the Heer (Army and special forces KSK ), Marine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Cyber- und Informationsraum (Cyber and Information Domain Service) branches. In absolute terms, German military spending in 2023
2652-519: A licence to kill, which was believed to personally take orders from Farouk. It was involved in several deadly incidents. Death squads are reportedly active in this country. This has been condemned by the US but appears to be difficult to stop. Moreover, there is no proof as to who is behind the killings. In an interview with the Pan-African magazine "Jeune Afrique", Laurent Gbagbo accused one of
2808-477: A new era in which mass murder of both real and suspected subversives by government "death squads" became a common occurrence in the country. A noted Guatemalan sociologist estimated the number of government killings between 1966 and 1974 at approximately 5,250 a year (for a total death toll of approximately 42,000 during the presidencies of Julio César Méndez Montenegro and Carlos Arana Osorio ). Killings by both official and unofficial security forces would climax in
2964-667: A private telegram to the Mexican Ambassador to the French Third Republic , Alberto J. Pani . "... Catholic Church in Mexico is a political movement, and must be eliminated ... free of religious hypnotism which fools the people... within one year without the sacraments, the people will forget the faith..." Calles and his adherents used the Mexican Army and police, as well as paramilitary forces like
3120-636: A programme of " coordination " of all aspects of German life, in order to consolidate their hold on power. In July 1936, the Prussian central criminal investigation department (Landeskriminalpolizeiamt) became the central criminal investigation department for Germany, the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt . It was combined, along with the secret state police, the Geheime Staatspolizei ( Gestapo ) into two sub-branch departments of
3276-547: A provisional capital, to emphasise its stance that the two-state solution was temporary. West Germany was established as a federal parliamentary republic with a " social market economy ". Starting in 1948 West Germany became a major recipient of reconstruction aid under the American Marshall Plan . Konrad Adenauer was elected the first federal chancellor of Germany in 1949. The country enjoyed prolonged economic growth ( Wirtschaftswunder ) beginning in
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#17327866845863432-577: A series of Imperial Reforms (approximately 1495–1555) provided for considerable local autonomy and a stronger Imperial Diet . The House of Habsburg held the imperial crown from 1438 until the death of Charles VI in 1740. Following the War of the Austrian Succession and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle , Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa ruled as empress consort when her husband, Francis I , became emperor. From 1740, dualism between
3588-464: A small number are chosen to receive a technical education in criminology at a police college. Those completing the course then serve a three-year apprenticeship before attaining full status as an investigator. Joint investigation teams are often formed with German Federal Police and customs investigators to combat drug smuggling or organised crime activities. Each state also has a state investigation bureau or Landeskriminalamt , generally located in
3744-638: A state, the East German authorities eased border restrictions, but this actually led to an acceleration of the Wende reform process culminating in the Two Plus Four Treaty under which Germany regained full sovereignty. This permitted German reunification on 3 October 1990, with the accession of the five re-established states of the former GDR. The fall of the Wall in 1989 became a symbol of
3900-712: A symbol of the Cold War . Tensions between East and West Germany were reduced in the late 1960s by Chancellor Willy Brandt 's Ostpolitik . In 1989, Hungary decided to dismantle the Iron Curtain and open its border with Austria , causing the emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany via Hungary and Austria. This had devastating effects on the GDR, where regular mass demonstrations received increasing support. In an effort to help retain East Germany as
4056-634: A universal health care system , and tuition-free university education . Germany is a member of the United Nations , Council of Europe , NATO and OECD , and a founding member of the European Union, G7 and G20 . It has the third-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites , 54 , of which 51 are cultural. The English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania , which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for
4212-474: Is Scuderie Detetive Le Cocq (English: Shield of Detective Le Cocq ), named after deceased Detective Milton Le Cocq. The group was particularly active in the Brazilian southeastern states of Guanabara and Rio de Janeiro , and remains active in the state of Espírito Santo . In the state of São Paulo , death squads and individual gunmen called justiceiros were pervasive and executions almost were exclusively
4368-648: Is devoted to agriculture, while 30% is forested and 14% is covered by settlements or infrastructure. Plants and animals include those generally common to Central Europe. According to the National Forest Inventory, beeches , oaks , and other deciduous trees constitute just over 40% of the forests; roughly 60% are conifers , particularly spruce and pine . There are many species of ferns , flowers , fungi , and mosses . Wild animals include roe deer , wild boar , mouflon (a subspecies of wild sheep), fox , badger , hare , and small numbers of
4524-608: Is largely autonomous in regard to its internal organisation. As of 2017 , Germany is divided into 401 districts ( Kreise ) at a municipal level; these consist of 294 rural districts and 107 urban districts . Germany has a civil law system based on Roman law with some references to Germanic law . The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) is the German Supreme Court responsible for constitutional matters, with power of judicial review . Germany's specialized supreme court system includes
4680-653: Is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident ( President of the Bundestag ), who is elected by
4836-488: Is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections using the mixed-member proportional representation system. The members of the Bundesrat represent and are appointed by the governments of the sixteen federated states. The German political system operates under
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4992-463: The Gründerzeit period following the unification of Germany, Bismarck's foreign policy as chancellor of Germany secured Germany's position as a great nation by forging alliances and avoiding war. However, under Wilhelm II , Germany took an imperialistic course, leading to friction with neighbouring countries. A dual alliance was created with the multinational realm of Austria-Hungary ;
5148-491: The Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the party or coalition with the most seats in the Bundestag . The chancellor, currently Olaf Scholz , is the head of government and exercises executive power through his Cabinet . Since 1949,
5304-699: The Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo). Reinhard Heydrich was in overall command of the SiPo. Arthur Nebe was appointed head of the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt and reported to Heydrich. In September 1939, the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) was created as the overarching command organization for the various state investigation and security agencies. The SiPo was officially abolished and its departments were folded into
5460-735: The African National Congress (ANC), their ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), began a campaign to topple South Africa's National Party (NP)-controlled Apartheid Government. Both the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and South African security forces routinely engaged in bombings and targeted killings, both at home and abroad. Particularly notorious apartheid death squads were
5616-889: The Allies de jure abolished the German state and partitioned Berlin and Germany's remaining territory into four occupation zones. The western sectors, controlled by France, the United Kingdom , and the United States , were merged on 23 May 1949 to form the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland ); on 7 October 1949, the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( German : Deutsche Demokratische Republik ; DDR). They were informally known as West Germany and East Germany. East Germany selected East Berlin as its capital, while West Germany chose Bonn as
5772-625: The Battle of Britain in the same year. In 1941, German troops invaded Yugoslavia , Greece and the Soviet Union . By 1942, Germany and its allies controlled most of continental Europe and North Africa , but following the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad , the Allied reconquest of North Africa and invasion of Italy in 1943, German forces suffered repeated military defeats. In 1944,
5928-597: The Berchtesgaden National Park . In addition, there are 17 Biosphere Reserves , and 105 nature parks . More than 400 zoos and animal parks operate in Germany. The Berlin Zoo , which opened in 1844, is the oldest in Germany, and claims the most comprehensive collection of species in the world. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic. Federal legislative power
6084-537: The Bloody Island and Yontoket Massacres , in which up to 400 or more natives were killed in each massacre, constitutes acts of genocide against the native people of California. Beginning in the 1850s, pro-slavery Bushwhackers and anti-slavery Jayhawkers waged war against each other in the Kansas Territory . Due to the horrific atrocities committed by both sides against civilians, the territory
6240-810: The Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) and the South African Police 's counter-insurgency unit C10, commanded by Colonel Eugene de Kock and based at the Vlakplaas farm west of Pretoria , itself also a center for torture of prisoners. After the end of Apartheid, death squad violence conducted by both the National Party and the ANC was investigated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission . From 1971 to 1979, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin set up death squads to murder enemies of
6396-645: The Dirección Federal de Seguridad as a death squad to kill Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Federal Judicial Police commanders who investigated or destroyed drug plantations in the 1970s and 1980s in Mexico. One example was the murder (after torture) of DEA agent Kiki Camarena , who was killed in Guadalajara for his part in the Rancho Bufalo raid. The DFS also organized death squads to kill journalists including Manuel Buendía who
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6552-1186: The Eurasian beaver . The blue cornflower was once a German national symbol . The 16 national parks in Germany include the Jasmund National Park , the Vorpommern Lagoon Area National Park , the Müritz National Park , the Wadden Sea National Parks , the Harz National Park , the Hainich National Park , the Black Forest National Park , the Saxon Switzerland National Park , the Bavarian Forest National Park and
6708-399: The European Union (light green) Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe . It lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 82 million in an area of 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi), making it the most populous member state of
6864-485: The Fall of Communism , the dissolution of the Soviet Union , German reunification and Die Wende ("the turning point"). United Germany was considered the enlarged continuation of West Germany so it retained its memberships in international organisations. Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act (1994), Berlin again became the capital of Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries. The relocation of
7020-411: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic . The Nazi rise to power in 1933 led to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship , World War II , and the Holocaust . In 1949, after the war and a period of Allied occupation , Germany was organized into two separate polities with limited sovereignty: the Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany , and
7176-432: The Holy See and the Mexican State negotiated a compromise agreement. Refusing to lay down his arms despite offers of amnesty , General Gorostieta was killed in action by the Mexican Army in Jalisco on 2 June 1929. Following the cessation of hostilities, more than 5,000 Cristeros were summarily executed by Mexican security forces. The events of the Cristero War are depicted in the 2012 film For Greater Glory . During
7332-400: The International Bar Association , Mark Ellis , cautioned that any such involvement by foreign nations would constitute a breach of international law. The United Kingdom and Israel denied participation in the Kenyan National Security Council's reported death squads, with the UK Foreign Office indicating that it had approached the Kenyan authorities over the charges. Beginning in the 1960s,
7488-422: The Investiture controversy . Under the Hohenstaufen emperors (1138–1254), German princes encouraged German settlement to the south and east ( Ostsiedlung ). Members of the Hanseatic League , mostly north German towns, prospered in the expansion of trade. The population declined starting with the Great Famine in 1315, followed by the Black Death of 1348–1350. The Golden Bull issued in 1356 provided
7644-428: The Jastorf culture during the Nordic Bronze Age or early Iron Age . From southern Scandinavia and northern Germany , they expanded south, east, and west, coming into contact with the Celtic , Iranian , Baltic , and Slavic tribes. Southern Germany was inhabited by Celtic-speaking peoples, who belonged to the wider La Tène culture . They were later assimilated by the Germanic conquerors. Under Augustus ,
7800-478: The Kriminalpolizei adapted once more to the changes in oversight and accountability and, as with other public servants, took the political and economic change of the post-war years in its stride. Eastern Germany organised centralized Volkspolizei with Criminal Investigation Department ( Hauptabteilung Kriminalpolizei ). The Federal Republic of Germany divides police responsibilities between federal and state authorities. The state police or Landespolizei of
7956-422: The Ku Klux Klan Act through Congress in 1871 and called on the United States Army to help federal officials the arrest and breakup of the Klan. 600 Klansmen were convicted, and 65 men were sent to prison for as long as five years. In June 2020, Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Austreberto "Art" Gonzalez filed a claim against the county, claiming that approximately twenty percent of the deputies operating in
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#17327866845868112-475: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 's Compton station belonged to a secret death squad. Gonzales alleges that the group, named " The Executioners ", carried out multiple extrajudicial killings over the years and that members followed initiation rituals, including being tattooed with skulls and Nazi imagery. During the Salvadoran civil war , death squads (known in Spanish by the name of Escuadrón de la Muerte, "Squadron of Death") achieved notoriety when
8268-408: The Lower Paleolithic , with various tribes inhabiting it from the Neolithic onward, chiefly the Celts . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century, northern German regions became
8424-414: The Mexican Revolution , Mexico was a one-party state ruled by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). During this era, death squad tactics were routinely used against suspected enemies of the state. During the 1920s and 1930s, the PRI's founder, President Plutarco Elías Calles , used death squads against Mexico's Roman Catholic majority in the Cristero War . Calles explained his reasons in
8580-467: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland , beginning World War II in Europe ; Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. In the spring of 1940, Germany conquered Denmark and Norway , the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg , and France , forcing the French government to sign an armistice . The British repelled German air attacks in
8736-419: The Red Shirts , to abduct, torture, and execute priests, nuns, and actively religious laity. Mexican Catholics were also routinely hanged from telegraph poles along the railroad lines. Prominent victims of the Mexican State's campaign against Catholicism include the teenager Jose Sanchez del Rio , the Jesuit priest Father Miguel Pro , and the Christian Pacifist Anacleto González Flores (see also Saints of
8892-529: The Roman Empire began to invade lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes, creating a short-lived Roman province of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. In 9 AD, three Roman legions were defeated by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest . The outcome of this battle dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history . By 100 AD, when Tacitus wrote Germania , Germanic tribes had settled along
9048-416: The SIM to kill Haitians in the Parsley massacre . The Tonton Macoute was a paramilitary force created in 1959 by Haitian dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier , they murdered 30,000 to 60,000 Haitians. In a way similar to the American Indian Wars , the Centralist Republic of Mexico struggled against Apache raids. Between 1835 and 1837, only 15 years after the Mexican War of Independence and in
9204-430: The Saarland in 1935, remilitarised the Rhineland in 1936, annexed Austria in 1938, annexed the Sudetenland in 1938 with the Munich Agreement , and in violation of the agreement occupied Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) saw the burning of synagogues, the destruction of Jewish businesses, and mass arrests of Jewish people. In August 1939, Hitler's government negotiated
9360-450: The Triple Alliance of 1882 included Italy. Britain, France and Russia also concluded alliances to protect against Habsburg interference with Russian interests in the Balkans or German interference against France. At the Berlin Conference in 1884, Germany claimed several colonies including German East Africa , German South West Africa , Togoland , and Kamerun . Later, Germany further expanded its colonial empire to include holdings in
9516-445: The extrajudicial killings . The murders reportedly totalled several hundred homicides every year. They included the assassination of Abubaker Shariff Ahmed "Makaburi", an Al-Shabaab associate from Kenya, who was among 21 Islamic extremists allegedly murdered by the Kenyan police force since 2012. According to the agents, they resorted to the killing after the Kenya Police could not successfully prosecute terror suspects. In doing so,
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#17327866845869672-668: The federal states perform the majority of investigations in Germany. Within the Landespolizei , the Criminal Investigation Department is known as the Kriminalpolizei or Kripo. The various Kriminalpolizei departments are organized according to state law and report, ultimately, to the Interior Ministry of their state. As the vast majority of police work is performed at state level, the Kriminalpolizei conducts most criminal investigations in Germany. Kriminalpolizei detectives investigate crimes and incidents and work in plainclothes . They collect evidence, interview victims and witnesses and question suspects. Detectives are also involved in
9828-409: The former East German states join the Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 . Germany has been described as a great power with a strong economy ; it has the largest economy in Europe by nominal GDP . As a global power in industrial, scientific and technological sectors, it is both the world's third-largest exporter and importer . As a developed country , it offers social security ,
9984-417: The inquisitorial Federal Court of Justice for civil and criminal cases, along with the Federal Labour Court , Federal Social Court , Federal Fiscal Court , and Federal Administrative Court for other matters. Criminal and private laws are codified on the national level in the Strafgesetzbuch and the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch respectively. The German penal system seeks the rehabilitation of
10140-428: The revolutions of 1848 in the German states , raising the German question. King Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the title of emperor, but with a loss of power; he rejected the crown and the proposed constitution, a temporary setback for the movement. King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the Minister President of Prussia in 1862. Bismarck successfully concluded the war with Denmark in 1864 ;
10296-428: The "Evangelical" faith ( Lutheranism ), but also decreed that the faith of the prince was to be the faith of his subjects ( cuius regio, eius religio ). From the Cologne War through the Thirty Years' Wars (1618–1648), religious conflict devastated German lands and significantly reduced the population. The Peace of Westphalia ended religious warfare among the Imperial Estates . The legal system initiated by
10452-414: The "Twelve Golden Men of Rio de Janeiro's Police", and from there it spread throughout Brazil in the 1970s. In general, its members were politicians, members of the judiciary, and police officials. As a rule, these groups were financed by members of the business community. In the 1970s and 1980s, several other organizations were modeled after the 1960s Esquadrão da Morte . The most famous such organization
10608-585: The 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, death squads continued to be used against anti-PRI activists, both Marxists and social conservatives . One example of this is the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre , in which an anti-regime protest rally was attacked by security forces in Mexico City . After this event, paramilitary groups like " Los Halcones " (The Hawks) and the "Brigada blanca" (White brigade) were used to attack, hunt and exterminate political dissidents. Allegations have been made by both journalists and American law enforcement of collusion between senior PRI statesmen and
10764-448: The 1980s. In 1993, Amnesty International reported that clandestine military units began covertly operating as death squads in 1978. According to the report, throughout the 1980s political killings rose to a peak of 3,500 in 1988, averaging some 1,500 victims per year since then, and "over 1,500 civilians are also believed to have "disappeared" since 1978." The AUC , formed in 1997, was the most prominent paramilitary group. According to
10920-414: The Alps. Subsequently, the Holy Roman Empire emerged from it. The Ottonian rulers (919–1024) consolidated several major duchies . In 996, Gregory V became the first German Pope, appointed by his cousin Otto III , whom he shortly after crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire absorbed northern Italy and Burgundy under the Salian emperors (1024–1125), although the emperors lost power through
11076-411: The Austrian Habsburg monarchy and the Kingdom of Prussia dominated German history. In 1772, 1793, and 1795, Prussia and Austria, along with the Russian Empire , agreed to the Partitions of Poland . During the period of the French Revolutionary Wars , the Napoleonic era and the subsequent final meeting of the Imperial Diet , most of the Free Imperial Cities were annexed by dynastic territories;
11232-681: The Cristero War ). In response, an armed revolt against the Mexican State, the Cristero War , began in 1927. Composed largely of peasant volunteers and commanded by retired General Enrique Gorostieta Velarde , the Cristeros were also responsible for atrocities. Among them were the assassination of former Mexican President Álvaro Obregón , train robberies, and violent attacks against rural teachers. The uprising largely ended after
11388-591: The European Union . It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt ; the largest urban area is the Ruhr . Settlement in the territory of modern Germany began in
11544-695: The Franks established the Frankish Kingdom and pushed east to subjugate Saxony and Bavaria . Areas of what is today eastern Germany were inhabited by Western Slavic tribes. Charlemagne founded the Carolingian Empire in 800; it was divided in 843 . The eastern successor kingdom of East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to the Elbe river in the east and from the North Sea to
11700-504: The German Bundestag , though they have never been part of the federal government. In the 2017 German federal election , the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time. Germany is a federation and comprises sixteen constituent states which are collectively referred to as Länder . Each state ( Land ) has its own constitution, and
11856-705: The German Democratic Republic, or East Germany . Berlin continued its de jure Four Power status . The Federal Republic of Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community and the European Union , while the German Democratic Republic was a communist Eastern Bloc state and member of the Warsaw Pact . After the fall of the communist led-government in East Germany, German reunification saw
12012-550: The Holocaust , the German government persecuted minorities , including interning them in concentration and death camps across Europe. The regime systematically murdered 6 million Jews, at least 130,000 Romani , 275,000 disabled , thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses , thousands of homosexuals , and hundreds of thousands of political and religious opponents . Nazi policies in German-occupied countries resulted in
12168-664: The Jayhawkers' earlier destruction of Osceola, Missouri . The Bushwhackers shot down nearly 150 unarmed men and boys. During the Reconstruction era , embittered Confederate veterans supported the Ku Klux Klan and similar vigilante organizations throughout the American South . The Klan and its counterparts terrorized and lynched African Americans, northern carpetbaggers , and Southern " scalawags ". This
12324-671: The Kripo, but in practice there is little demand for this. The responsibility for law and order in Switzerland basically lies with the cantons where the cantonal police ( Kantonspolizei ) are responsible for investigations. The Swiss federal structure is reflected in a number of cantonal police services which are organized in different ways, but in the German-speaking cantons, the criminal investigation departments are generally known as Kriminalpolizei. Germany – in Europe (light green & dark grey) – in
12480-508: The Mexican drug cartels . It has even been alleged that, under PRI rule, no drug traffickers were ever successful without the permission of the Mexican State. If the same drug trafficker fell from favor, however, Mexican law enforcement would be ordered to move against their operation, as happened to Pablo Acosta Villarreal in 1987. Drug lords like Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo , Rafael Caro Quintero , and Juan José Esparragoza Moreno would use
12636-630: The Pacific and China. The colonial government in South West Africa (present-day Namibia ), from 1904 to 1907, carried out the annihilation of the local Herero and Namaqua peoples as punishment for an uprising; this was the 20th century's first genocide . The assassination of Austria's crown prince on 28 June 1914 provided the pretext for Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia and trigger World War I . After four years of warfare, in which approximately two million German soldiers were killed,
12792-684: The Pacific. On 11 August 1919, President Friedrich Ebert signed the democratic Weimar Constitution . In the subsequent struggle for power, communists seized power in Bavaria , but conservative elements elsewhere attempted to overthrow the Republic in the Kapp Putsch . Street fighting in the major industrial centres, the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian and French troops, and a period of hyperinflation followed. A debt restructuring plan and
12948-798: The RSHA. The Reichskriminalpolizeiamt became Amt V (Department 5), the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) in the RSHA. Nebe was replaced as commander of the Kripo in August 1944 by Friedrich Panzinger . The Kriminalpolizei were mostly plainclothes detectives and agents, and worked in conjunction with the Gestapo, the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; uniformed police), and the Geheime Feldpolizei (secret military police). The Kripo
13104-599: The Reichstag after a special election in 1932 and Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. After the Reichstag fire , a decree abrogated basic civil rights and the first Nazi concentration camp opened. On 23 March 1933, the Enabling Act gave Hitler unrestricted legislative power, overriding the constitution, and marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. His government established
13260-587: The Rhine and the Danube (the Limes Germanicus ), occupying most of modern Germany. However, Baden-Württemberg , southern Bavaria , southern Hesse and the western Rhineland had been incorporated into Roman provinces . Around 260, Germanic peoples broke into Roman-controlled lands. After the invasion of the Huns in 375, and with the decline of Rome from 395, Germanic tribes moved farther southwest:
13416-586: The Salvadoran military and security forces, the U.S. role in El Salvador- what was known about death squads, when it was known, and what actions the United States did or did not take to curb their abuses- became an important part of El Salvador's death squad story." Some death squads, such as Sombra Negra , are still operating in El Salvador. The Salvadoran Army 's U.S.-trained Atlácatl Battalion
13572-576: The Salvadoran military, which was receiving U.S. funding and had U.S. military advisors during the Carter administration. These events prompted outrage in the U.S. and led to a temporary ending of military aid at the end of his presidency. Honduras also had death squads active through the 1980s, the most notorious of which was the army unit Battalion 316 . Hundreds of people, teachers, politicians, and union leaders were assassinated by government-backed forces. Battalion 316 received substantial training from
13728-672: The Soviets pushed into Eastern Europe ; the Western allies landed in France and entered Germany despite a final German counteroffensive . Following Hitler's suicide during the Battle of Berlin , Germany signed the surrender document on 8 May 1945, ending World War II in Europe and Nazi Germany. Following the end of the war, surviving Nazi officials were tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials . In what later became known as
13884-444: The US to provide increased counterinsurgency assistance to Guatemala's security apparatus in the mid to late 1960s. Documents released in 1999 details how United States military and police advisers had encouraged and assisted Guatemalan military officials in the use of repressive techniques, including helping establish a "safe house" from within the presidential palace as a location to coordinate counter insurgency activities. In 1981, it
14040-681: The United States Central Intelligence Agency . In Southeast Asia , extrajudicial killings were conducted by both sides during the Vietnam War . As of 2010 , death squads have continued to be active in Chechnya . The Iron Guard of Egypt was a pro-palace political movement or a secret palace organization of the Kingdom of Egypt which assassinated Farouk of Egypt 's enemies or a secret unit with
14196-582: The United States Central Intelligence Agency . At least 19 members were School of the Americas graduates. Seven members, including Billy Joya , later played important roles in the administration of President Manuel Zelaya as of mid-2006. Following the 2009 coup d'état , former Battalion 3–16 member Nelson Willy Mejía Mejía became Director-General of Immigration and Billy Joya was de facto President Roberto Micheletti 's security advisor. Another former Battalion 3–16 member, Napoleón Nassar Herrera ,
14352-516: The United States! That was how he answered us." Throughout the Ortega government, starting in 2006, but escalating with the 2018–2020 Nicaraguan protests , Sandinista National Liberation Front government has employed death squads also known as " Turbas " or militia groups armed and aided by the National Police to attack pro-democracy protesters. The government's crackdown of lethal force
14508-922: The centre of the Protestant Reformation . Following the Napoleonic Wars and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the German Confederation was formed in 1815. Formal unification of Germany into the modern nation-state commenced on 18 August 1866 with the North German Confederation Treaty establishing the Prussia -led North German Confederation , which became the German Empire in 1871. After World War I and
14664-530: The communist-controlled Socialist Unity Party of Germany , supported by the Stasi , an immense secret service. While East German propaganda was based on the benefits of the GDR's social programmes and the alleged threat of a West German invasion, many of its citizens looked to the West for freedom and prosperity. The Berlin Wall , built in 1961, prevented East German citizens from escaping to West Germany, becoming
14820-648: The constitutional structure of the Empire and codified the election of the emperor by seven prince-electors . Johannes Gutenberg introduced moveable-type printing to Europe, laying the basis for the democratization of knowledge . In 1517, Martin Luther incited the Protestant Reformation and his translation of the Bible began the standardization of the language; the 1555 Peace of Augsburg tolerated
14976-600: The country's GDP, well below the NATO target of 2%. In 2024, Germany reported $ 97.7 billion to NATO, exceeding the NATO target of 2% at 2.12% of GDP. Death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings , massacres , or enforced disappearances as part of political repression , genocide , ethnic cleansing , or revolutionary terror . Except in rare cases in which they are formed by an insurgency, domestic or foreign governments actively participate in, support, or ignore
15132-469: The creation of a new currency in 1924 ushered in the Golden Twenties , an era of artistic innovation and liberal cultural life. The worldwide Great Depression hit Germany in 1929. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning 's government pursued a policy of fiscal austerity and deflation which caused unemployment of nearly 30% by 1932. The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the largest party in
15288-472: The creation of a more unified European political, economic and security apparatus. The governments of Germany and the United States are close political allies . Cultural ties and economic interests have crafted a bond between the two countries resulting in Atlanticism . After 1990, Germany and Russia worked together to establish a "strategic partnership" in which energy development became one of
15444-536: The criminal and the protection of the public. With the exceptions of petty crimes, tried by a single professional judge, and of serious political crimes, all charges are adjudicated by mixed tribunals where lay judges ( Schöffen ) and professional judges preside together. As of 2016, Germany's murder rate stood at a low of 1.18 murders per 100,000. In 2018, the overall crime rate fell to its lowest since 1992. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 2017, and LGBT rights are generally protected in
15600-585: The death squad's activities. Death squads are distinguished from assassination groups by their permanent organization and the larger number of victims (typically thousands or more) who may not be prominent individuals. Other violence, such as rape, torture, arson, or bombings may be carried out alongside murders. They may comprise a secret police force, paramilitary militia groups, government soldiers, policemen, or combinations thereof. They may also be organized as vigilantes, bounty hunters, mercenaries, or contract killers. When death squads are not controlled by
15756-551: The death squads involved were found to have been soldiers of the Salvadoran Armed Forces , which were receiving U.S. arms, funding, training and advice during the Carter , Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, these events prompted some outrage in the U.S. Human rights activists criticized U.S. administrations for denying Salvadoran government links to the death squads. Veteran Human Rights Watch researcher Cynthia J. Arnson writes that "particularly during
15912-461: The deaths of an estimated 2.7 million Poles , 1.3 million Ukrainians , 1 million Belarusians and 3.5 million Soviet prisoners of war . German military casualties have been estimated at 5.3 million, and around 900,000 German civilians died. Around 12 million ethnic Germans were expelled from across Eastern Europe, and Germany lost roughly one-quarter of its pre-war territory. After Nazi Germany surrendered,
16068-473: The deaths took place in what he defined as more than 370 massacres (defined as the "intentional killing of five or more disarmed combatants or largely unarmed noncombatants, including women, children, and prisoners, whether in the context of a battle or otherwise"). Some scholars contend that the state financing of these militias, as well as the US government's role in other massacres in California, such as
16224-502: The early 1950s. West Germany joined NATO in 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community . On 1 January 1957, the Saarland joined West Germany. East Germany was an Eastern Bloc state under political and military control by the Soviet Union via occupation forces and the Warsaw Pact . Although East Germany claimed to be a democracy, political power was exercised solely by leading members ( Politbüro ) of
16380-648: The ecclesiastical territories were secularised and annexed. In 1806 the Imperium was dissolved; France, Russia, Prussia, and the Habsburgs (Austria) competed for hegemony in the German states during the Napoleonic Wars . Following the fall of Napoleon , the Congress of Vienna founded the German Confederation, a loose league of 39 sovereign states . The appointment of the emperor of Austria as
16536-541: The end of the nineteenth century the Kriminalpolizei had been established nationwide. During the early part of the 20th century and post- World War I , the Kripo continued to serve as the German state's investigative agency for all criminal activity. After Adolf Hitler assumed national power in January 1933, the Kriminalpolizei came to be under the control of members of the Schutzstaffel (SS). The Nazis began
16692-661: The following years. In 1811, their rules of service were written into the Berliner Polizeireglement (Berlin Police Regulations), and in 1820, the rank of Kriminalkommissar was introduced for criminal investigators. In 1872, the new Kriminalpolizei was made a separate branch of police service distinguishing it from the uniformed police called Schutzpolizei . Based on the experience with this new kind of police force, other German states—such as Bremen in 1852—reformed their police forces and by
16848-617: The government was completed in 1999, and modernisation of the East German economy was scheduled to last until 2019. Since reunification, Germany has taken a more active role in the European Union , signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, and co-founding the eurozone . Germany sent a peacekeeping force to secure stability in the Balkans and sent German troops to Afghanistan as part of
17004-760: The interference of the Mexican Air Force . As a result, Carillo Fuentes became known as "The Lord of the Skies." During the 1990s drug cartels were on the rise in Mexico and groups like the Gulf Cartel would form death squads like Los Zetas to suppress, control, and uproot rival cartel factions. The PRI also used death squad tactics against the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in the Chiapas conflict . In 1997, forty-five people were killed by
17160-559: The late 1970s and early 1980s under the presidencies of Fernando Romeo Lucas García and Efraín Ríos Montt , with over 18,000 documented killings in 1982 alone. Greg Grandin claims that "Washington, of course, publicly denied its support for paramilitarism, but the practice of political disappearances took a great leap forward in Guatemala in 1966 with the birth of a death squad created, and directly supervised, by U.S. security advisors." An upsurge in rebel activity in Guatemala convinced
17316-518: The liberal and communist opposition to the military junta during the " Dirty War " of the 1970s. For example, Alianza Anticomunista Argentina was a far-right death squad mainly active during the "Dirty War". The Chilean military regime of 1973–1990 also committed such killings. See Operation Condor for examples. During the Salvadoran Civil War , death squads became notorious following the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero by
17472-412: The location of missing persons and the recovery of stolen property. Investigators may be assigned to precinct detective squads or one of dozens of specialized investigative units that have borough, citywide or regional jurisdiction. Kripo candidates are mostly regular state police officers who have done well in police school and in their first years of street duty. After rigorous screening and examination,
17628-504: The matter over to the courts, public prosecutors or Kripo state security ( Staatsschutz ) officers who decide independently what action is justified. The Bundeskriminalamt , the German Federal Investigation Bureau, and the federal police, Bundespolizei , have their own investigators but these are not referred to as Kriminalpolizei . It is technically possible to transfer from the federal police to
17784-582: The midst of the Texan Revolution , the Mexican state governments of Sonora and Chihuahua (that border with the U.S. states of Texas , New Mexico and Arizona ) put a bounty on the Apache bands that were in the area. In the case of Chihuahua the bounty attracted " bounty hunters " from the United States, that were often Anglo Americans , runaway slaves and even from other Indian tribes . It
17940-410: The most important factors. As a result of the cooperation, Germany imported most of its natural gas and crude oil from Russia. Germany's development policy functions as a distinct sector within its foreign policy framework. It is formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and carried out by the implementing organisations. The German government sees development policy as
18096-409: The nation. Germany has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. Germany is a member of NATO , the OECD , the G7 , the G20 , the World Bank and the IMF . It has played an influential role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France and all neighbouring countries since 1990. Germany promotes
18252-435: The north, Poland and Czechia to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France , Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west. Germany is also bordered by the North Sea and, at the north-northeast, by the Baltic Sea. German territory covers 357,596 km (138,069 sq mi). Elevation ranges from the mountains of the Alps (highest point: the Zugspitze at 2,963 metres or 9,721 feet) in
18408-402: The numbers are likely far higher. Brazilian politician Flávio Bolsonaro , the son of Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro , was accused of having ties to death squads. One of the most notorious murder gangs operated by the Chilean Army was the Caravan of Death , whose members travelled by helicopter throughout Chile between 30 September and 22 October 1973. During this foray, members of
18564-445: The occupying Allied Powers began their own programme of de-Nazification . It was understood that, in a totalitarian state, few people could participate in public service without also being members of the Nazi Party . Party membership alone was not viewed as sufficient grounds for dismissal, but allegations of involvement or complicity in Nazi war crimes or crimes against humanity were investigated and any police official convicted
18720-493: The officers indicated that they were acting on the direct orders of Kenya's National Security Council, which consisted of the Kenyan President, Deputy President, Chief of the Defence Forces, Inspector General of Police, National Security Intelligence Service Director, Cabinet Secretary of Interior, and Principal Secretary of Interior. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and the National Security Council of Kenya members denied operating an extrajudicial assassination program. Additionally,
18876-399: The officers suggested that Western security agencies provided intelligence for the program, including the whereabouts and activities of government targets- alleging that the British government supplied further logistics in the form of equipment and training. One Kenyan officer within the council's General Service Unit also indicated that Israeli instructors taught them how to kill. The head of
19032-457: The officially appointed National Commission on Disappeared People (CONADEP). The Esquadrão da Morte ("Death Squad" in Portuguese) was a paramilitary organization that emerged in the late 1960s during the Brazilian military dictatorship . It was the first group to have received the name "Death Squad" in Latin America, but its actions resembled traditional vigilantism as most executions were not exclusively politically related. The greater share of
19188-404: The opposition leaders, Alassane Ouattara (ADO), to be the main organizer of the media frenzy around his wife's involvement in the killing squads. He also successfully sued and won, in French courts, in cases against the French newspapers that made the accusations. In December 2014, Kenyan Anti-Terrorism Police Unit officers confessed to Al-Jazeera that they were responsible for almost 500 of
19344-474: The parties in power to exterminate even more political dissidents, activists and their own rivals. An example of this is the case of the 2014 forced disappearance and assassination of 43 activist rural students from the Ayotzinapa Teachers' College, in the hands of police officers colluded with the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel. Six years later in 2020, it was confirmed that members from the Mexican Army base in town had worked with police and gang members to kidnap
19500-404: The party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany . So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party and the Alliance 90/The Greens have also been junior partners in coalition governments . Since 2007, the democratic socialist party The Left has been a staple in
19656-507: The people' (see also the Latinised form Theodiscus ), derived from * þeudō , descended from Proto-Indo-European * tewtéh₂- 'people', from which the word Teutons also originates. Pre-human ancestors, the Danuvius guggenmosi , who were present in Germany over 11 million years ago, are theorized to be among the earliest ones to walk on two legs. Ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The first non-modern human fossil (the Neanderthal )
19812-456: The peoples east of the Rhine . The German term Deutschland , originally diutisciu land ('the German lands'), is derived from deutsch ( cf. Dutch ), descended from Old High German diutisc 'of the people' (from diot or diota 'people'), originally used to distinguish the language of the common people from Latin and its Romance descendants . This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic * þiudiskaz 'of
19968-421: The permanent president reflected the Congress's rejection of Prussia 's rising influence. Disagreement within restoration politics partly led to the rise of liberal movements, followed by new measures of repression by Austrian statesman Klemens von Metternich . The Zollverein , a tariff union, furthered economic unity. In light of revolutionary movements in Europe , intellectuals and commoners started
20124-414: The political executions during the 21 years of military dictatorship (1964–1985) were carried out by the Brazilian Armed Forces itself. The purpose of the original "Death Squad" was, with the consent of the military government, to persecute, torture and kill suspected criminals ( marginais ) regarded as dangerous to society. It began in the former state of Guanabara led by Detective Mariel Mariscot, one of
20280-549: The south to the shores of the North Sea ( Nordsee ) in the northwest and the Baltic Sea ( Ostsee ) in the northeast. The forested uplands of central Germany and the lowlands of northern Germany (lowest point: in the municipality Neuendorf-Sachsenbande , Wilstermarsch at 3.54 metres or 11.6 feet below sea level ) are traversed by such major rivers as the Rhine, Danube and Elbe. Significant natural resources include iron ore, coal, potash , timber, lignite , uranium , copper, natural gas, salt, and nickel. Most of Germany has
20436-756: The southeast regions have more extreme temperatures. From February 2019 – 2020, average monthly temperatures in Germany ranged from a low of 3.3 °C (37.9 °F) in January 2020 to a high of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) in June 2019. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 30 litres per square metre in February and April 2019 to 125 litres per square metre in February 2020. Average monthly hours of sunshine ranged from 45 in November 2019 to 300 in June 2019. The territory of Germany can be divided into five terrestrial ecoregions : Atlantic mixed forests , Baltic mixed forests , Central European mixed forests , Western European broadleaf forests , and Alps conifer and mixed forests . As of 2016 , 51% of Germany's land area
20592-459: The squad ordered or personally carried out the execution of at least 75 individuals held in Army custody in these garrisons. According to the NGO Memoria y Justicia , the squad killed 26 in the South and 71 in the North, making a total of 97 victims. Augusto Pinochet was indicted in December 2002 in this case, but he died four years later without having been convicted. The trial, however, is on-going as of September 2007 , other militaries and
20748-448: The state appropriated another $ 500,000, almost half of which was reimbursed by the federal government. By one estimate, at least 4,500 Californian Indians were killed in the California genocide between 1849 and 1870. Contemporary historian Benjamin Madley has documented the numbers of Californian Indians killed between 1846 and 1873; he estimates that during this period at least 9,492 Californian Indians were killed by non-Indians. Most of
20904-490: The state capital, to assist the Kripo in cases that require specialist forensic or investigative resources. German police departments have separate Staatsschutz departments within the Kripo to investigate politically motivated crime. German intelligence agencies have no executive police powers. Their operatives are not authorized to carry out arrests, searches of premises, interrogations or confiscations. If they establish that judicial or police measures are required, they hand
21060-434: The state police ( Landespolizei ) perform the majority of investigations. Its Criminal Investigation Department is known as the Kriminalpolizei or more colloquially, the Kripo. In 1799, six police officers were assigned to the Prussian Kammergericht (superior court of justice) in Berlin to investigate more prominent crimes. They were given permission to work in plainclothes, when necessary. Their number increased in
21216-509: The state, they may consist of insurgent forces or organized crime, such as the ones used by cartels. Although the term "death squad" was not widely used until the activities of such groups became widely known in Central and South America during the 1970s and 80s, death squads have been employed under different guises throughout history. The term was first used by the fascist Iron Guard in Romania . It officially installed Iron Guard death squads in 1936 in order to kill political enemies. It
21372-426: The state. Rafael Trujillo 's Dominican government employed a death squad, known as la 42 and led by Miguel Angel Paulino. Paulino would often drive a red Packard called the Carro de la Muerte (Death Car). During the 12-year regime of Joaquín Balaguer , the Frente Democrático Anticomunista y Antiterrorista , also known as La Banda Colorá , continued the practices of la 42 . Balaguer was also known for directing
21528-454: The students. The Sinaloa Cartel has been known for having enforcer death squads like Gente Nueva , Los Ántrax , and enforcers forming their own death squads. From 2009 to 2012, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel under the name Los Matazetas did massacres in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas with their intention to remove the rival Los Zetas Cartel . One example was the Boca del Rio massacre in 2011, where 35 corpses were found under
21684-429: The subsequent decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation which excluded Austria . After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War , the German princes proclaimed the founding of the German Empire in 1871. Prussia was the dominant constituent state of the new empire; the King of Prussia ruled as its Kaiser, and Berlin became its capital. In
21840-433: The time they first lost the presidency, some of the most powerful PRI members were supporting and protecting drug cartels that they used as death squads against their criminal and political rivals, with it being one of the real reasons the National Action Party government accepted to start the Mexican drug war against the Cartels. However, it is also alleged that during this period of time the turmoil of war has been used by
21996-460: The work of off-duty policemen. In 1983, a police officer nicknamed " Cabo Bruno " was convicted of murdering more than 50 victims. The "Death Squads" active under the rule of the military dictatorship continue as a cultural legacy of the Brazilian police. In the 2000s, police officers remain linked with death squad-type executions. In 2003, roughly 2,000 extrajudicial murders occurred in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with Amnesty International claiming
22152-427: The years 1980–1983 when the killing was at its height (numbers of killings could reach as far as 35,000), assigning responsibility for the violence and human rights abuses was a product of the intense ideological polarization in the United States. The Reagan administration downplayed the scale of abuse as well as the involvement of state actors. Because of the level of denial, as well as the extent of U.S. involvement with
22308-407: Was also used during the Battle of Algiers by Paul Aussaresses . In Latin America , death squads first appeared in Brazil where a group called Esquadrão da Morte (literally "Death Squad") emerged in the 1960s; they subsequently spread to Argentina and Chile in the 1970s, and they were later used in Central America during the 1980s. Argentina used extrajudicial killings as a way of crushing
22464-624: Was condemned by the international community, the Organization of American States, Human Rights Watch, and the local and international Catholic Church. Amnesty International reports that "the security forces in Argentina first started using "death squads" in late 1973. One example was Alianza Anticomunista Argentina , a far-right death squad mainly active during the " Dirty War ". By the time military rule ended in 1983 some 1,500 people had been killed directly by "death squads", and over 9,000 named people and many more undocumented victims had been "disappeared"—kidnapped and murdered secretly—according to
22620-454: Was discovered in the Neander Valley . Similarly dated evidence of modern humans has been found in the Swabian Jura , including 42,000-year-old flutes which are the oldest musical instruments ever found, the 40,000-year-old Lion Man , and the 41,000-year-old Venus of Hohle Fels . The Nebra sky disk , created during the European Bronze Age , has been attributed to a German site. The Germanic peoples are thought to have emerged from
22776-459: Was dubbed " Bleeding Kansas ". After the American Civil War began, the fraternal bloodshed increased. The most infamous atrocity which was committed in Kansas during the American Civil War was the Lawrence Massacre . A large force group of Partisan Rangers who were led by William Clarke Quantrill and Bloody Bill Anderson and affiliated with the Confederacy attacked and burned down the pro- Union town of Lawrence, Kansas in retaliation for
22932-460: Was high Commissioner of Police for the north-west region under Zelaya and under Micheletti, and also became a Secretary of Security spokesperson "for dialogue" under Micheletti. Zelaya claimed that Joya had reactivated the death squad, with dozens of government opponents having been murdered since the ascent of the Michiletti and Lobo governments. Throughout the Guatemalan Civil War , both military and "civilian" governments utilized death squads as
23088-413: Was killed by orders of DFS chief José-Antonio Zorrilla. By the early 1990s, the PRI started to lose the grip on its absolute political power, however, its corruption became so pervasive that Juárez Cartel boss Amado Carrillo Fuentes was even able to purchase a window in Mexico's air defense system. During this period, his airplanes were permitted to smuggle narcotics into the United States without
23244-554: Was often done with the unofficial support of the Democratic Party leadership. Historian Bruce B. Campbell has called the KKK, "one of the first proto-death squads". Campbell alleges that the difference between it and modern-day death-squads is the fact that the Ku Klux Klan was composed of members of a defeated regime rather than members of the ruling government. "Otherwise, in its murderous intent, its links to private elite interests, and its covert nature, it very closely resembles modern-day death squads." President Ulysses S Grant pushed
23400-419: Was one of the sources of manpower used to fill the ranks of the Einsatzgruppen and several senior Kripo commanders, Arthur Nebe among them, were assigned as Einsatzgruppen commanders. The Einsatzgruppen mobile death squad units perpetrated atrocities in the occupied Soviet Union, including mass murder of Jews, communists, prisoners of war, and hostages, and played a key role in the Holocaust . In 1945,
23556-513: Was organized in a hierarchical system, with central offices in all towns and smaller cities. These, in turn, answered to headquarters offices in the larger German cities, which answered to Amt V of the RSHA in Berlin. The Kripo was mainly concerned with serious crimes such as rape , murder and arson . A main area of the group's focus was also on "blackout burglary ," considered a serious problem during bombing raids when criminals would raid abandoned homes, shops and factories for valuables. The Kripo
23712-534: Was paid based on Apache scalps, 100 pesos per warrior, 50 pesos per woman, and 25 pesos per child. As historian Donald E. Worcester wrote: "The new policy attracted a diverse group of men, including Anglos, runaway slaves led by Seminole John Horse , and Indians — Kirker used Delawares and Shawnees ; others, such as Terrazas, used Tarahumaras ; and Seminole Chief Coacoochee led a band of his own people who had fled from Indian Territory .". During Benito Juarez 's regime and his comeback as president , he used
23868-418: Was reported by Amnesty International that this same "safe house" was in use by Guatemalan security officials to coordinate counterinsurgency activities involving the use of the "death squads." According to a victim's brother, Mirtala Linares "He wouldn't tell us anything; he claimed they hadn't captured [Sergio], that he knew nothing of his whereabouts – and that maybe my brother had gone as an illegal alien to
24024-460: Was responsible for the El Mozote massacre where more than 800 civilians were murdered, over half of them children, the El Calabozo massacre , and the murders of six Jesuits in 1989. Honduras had death squads active through the 1980s, the most notorious of which was Battalion 3–16 . Hundreds of people, teachers, politicians, and union bosses were assassinated by government-backed forces. Battalion 316 received substantial support and training from
24180-413: Was sentenced in the usual way. However, the Allied Powers felt the rule of law would be jeopardised by the mass-sacking of police officials who had served the Nazi state and that maintaining the continuity of a civilian and indigenous police force from the outset, together with all its accumulated practical skills and experience, was the most efficient way of restoring democracy to the German people. Thus
24336-444: Was the seventh-highest in the world . In response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that German military expenditure would be increased past the NATO target of 2%, along with a one-time 2022 infusion of 100 billion euros, representing almost double the 53 billion euro military budget for 2021. In 2023, military spending according to NATO criteria amounted to $ 73.1 billion, or 1.64% of
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