Overview
- Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on free expression, said after a visit to several German cities that many people are afraid to voice their views.
- She judged that authorities are leaning on criminalization and security‑oriented measures that fall short of international human rights standards.
- Khan pointed to blanket restrictions on activist slogans and the use of anti‑terror laws that she says constrain advocacy for Palestinian rights.
- She singled out Paragraph 188, which penalizes insults of politicians, and criticized treating the slogan “From the River to the Sea” as equivalent to support for Hamas.
- Khan also faulted the domestic intelligence service’s vague use of “extremism,” warning that such stigmatization narrows the space for democratic debate.