Resources for activists
Courtwatching is a powerful way to understand how the state punishes—and how we can stand in solidarity with those impacted. We see courtwatching as part of an abolitionist practice. Abolition is a long-term vision and an everyday practice towards a world without criminal courts, policing, and prisons. Courtwatching is a form of mutual aid, resistance, and a method to identify non-reformist reforms that create meaningful change today to dismantle the system rather than entrench it. For anyone interested in getting involved or starting a courtwatch group, we’ve assembled a collection of resources and campaign materials from collective struggles in Germany and beyond that focus on moving beyond the criminal system and criminal courts.
Using your courtwatching documentation to shift power
The everyday workings of criminal courts and the reality of those targeted by criminalization remains hidden to most people who are not directly impacted by state violence and punishment. Revealing what courts do and sharing stories can be a powerful tool to fight copaganda and create counter-narratives against punitive legislation. Across the world many groups courtwatch, and they use their observations differently: some use notes to monitor the impact of criminal justice reforms, some focus on amplifying the voices of people impacted, some use evidence from court observations to support demands and campaign goals. In addition to visiting our case archive, you can look at other group’s work to decide which approach works best for your organization’s strategy.
Reports from courtwatch groups in Germany
Justizwatch has been documenting racism in the justice system since 2014. Although the group is no longer active, you can find minutes and analysis from trials on their blog, with a focus on cases of racist police violence, but also some other criminal cases.
Campaign for Victims of Racist Police Violence (KOP) documents police violence and racial profiling by the police, and engages in solidarity courtwatching, analyzing the coordination and relationships between the police and judiciary.
Solidarity group Justice4Mouhamed documents the trial against the five police officers accused in the killing of Mouhamed Lamine Dramé. Through courtwatching, the initiative sheds light on the racist policing that led to Mouhamed’s death and how racist continuities in court fail to create accountability, allowing police to kill with impunity. You can also listen to Radio Nordpol’s coverage of the trial and hear perspectives from activist courtwatchers.
Initiative 2. Mai in Mannheim fights for justice for Ante P., who was killed in a police operation in 2022. You can find reports on the trial and the voices of relatives on their website.
NSU Watch documents trials against right-wing networks, most prominently the trial against the Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund (NSU) . The NSU-Complex1 is responsible for murdering 10 people between 2000 and 2007, 9 of them out of racist motives. In addition to monitoring criminal trials and government investigative committees on the matter,, an important task of NSU-Watch is to share publicly knowledge about neo-Nazis, the NSU complex, and right-wing terror networks.
Prozess Report documents trials in Germany and Austria to expose right-wing networks, fight against the criminalisation of migration, and shed light on the criminalisation of protest. You can find court reports, and reports on critical documentation of criminal trials on their blog.
Tatort Porz is an anti-racist initiative that mobilized around and documented the trials against CDU politician Hans Josef Bähner who shot at a young man from Porz for racist reasons, seriously injuring and insulting him. You can read their reports and their analysis behind Bähner’s conviction on their website.
Initiative Oury Jalloh demands justice and accountability for the murder of Oury Jalloh, who was burned in a police cell in Dessau almost 20 years ago. The initiative as well as an international delegation of courtwatchers documented the trial, revealing how courts legitimate racism and how their institutional connection to the police prevents investigation into their systemic abuse of power.
Courtwatching guides and models
So you want to form a courtwatch group or do courtwatching as part of an abolitionist campaign? Here are some guides and resources from courtwatch groups globally to help you find a model that works for your goals and strategy.
Guides in English
Survived and Punished: How to start your own Courtwatch
Beyond Criminal Courts: Community Interventions to Shift Power Inside Criminal Court
Community Justice Exchange: So you want to courtwatch? Guide
Courtwatch London: Courtwatching - A Learning Guide
Tools for the German Context
Justice Collective: Courtwatching Legal Guide
Justice Collective: Courtwatching Training
Reach Out: Über dem Richter gibt es nur den Himmel
Migrationsrat Berlin: Workshopreihe Rassismus und Justiz
Azadi e.V.: Broschüre zur Prozessbeobachtung des 129b-Verfahrens von Yildiz Aktaş
Abolitionist strategy
All over the world, people are organizing against state sanctioned violence, cops, courts and cages. If your group is looking to build a new campaign or a strategy to limit the reach of punitive institutions or you would like to learn from other campaigns about building non-reformist reforms, here are some places to start. These resources focus on mass criminalization and criminal courts. For further topics, check out the additional abolitionist resources below.
Interrupting Criminalization, Project Nia & Critical Resistance: So is this Actually an Abolitionist Proposal or Strategy? A collection of resources to aid in evaluation and reflection
Stevie Wilson and Community Justice Exchange: Beyond courts - study guide
Community Justice Exchange: Dismantling Carceral Debt: A Manifesto on Building Debtor Power
Community Justice Exchange: A Social Media Toolkit for Organizing and Advocacy to End Mass Criminalization and Incarceration
Beyond Criminal Courts: Abolitionist Principles & Campaign Strategies for Prosecutor Organizing
Project NIA: Abolitionist Toolbox - Everyday Resources for a Punishment-Free World
Abolitionist publications in German
In Germany there are many groups and movement traditions that have practiced abolitionist principles in their work. The history and diversity of abolitionist practices exceeds the scope of this resource collection. As a starting point to understand abolitionist movement principles and interconnected analyses, we recommend reading this introduction to the 135th edition of CILIP Magazine in German. Here is a small selection of movement publications against criminalization, police brutality, transformative justice, and racist punishment.
Ihr seid keine Sicherheit: Gegenbericht zum Jahresbericht der Berliner Polizei zu den sogenannten “kriminalitätsbelasteten Orten”
Ihr seid keine Sicherheit: FAQ Abolitionismus
Go Film The Police: A Street Action Guide
Melanie Brazell: What really makes us safe? Toolkit for Activists
Community against Rape and Abuse (CARA): Das Risiko Wagen. Strategien für selbstorganisierte und kollektive Verantwortungsübernahme bei sexualisierter Gewalt
Solidaritätskreis Justice 4 Mouhamed, Defund the Police Dortmund und Justice Collective: Warum gibt es vor Gericht keine Gerechtigkeit?
Justizwatch: Literaturliste
Additional Abolitionist Resources
Here you can find more resources, articles, guides and reports by and for abolitionist movements globally.
Transformative Justice Collective Resource Collection (DE/EN)
Racial Capitalism, Crises, Abolition - Documentation of International Activist Conference 2023
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Articles
DE
Britta Rabe und Michèle Winkler: “Es braucht ein Umdenken, bevor weitere Menschen sterben” - Zur Systematik staatlicher Legitimierung polizeilichen Tötens, Analyse und Kritik
Niels Seibert: Armut und soziale Probleme lassen sich nicht strafrechtlich lösen, Neues Deutschland
Shaïn Morisse, Vanessa E. Thompson: Eine kurze Geschichte des Abolitionismus - Die Bewegung will nicht nur Polizei und Gefängnisse endgültig abschaffen, Neues Deutschland
Katharina Schoenes: Rassistische Behördenkette - Erst diskriminiert, dann angezeigt - Betroffene, die sich dagegen wehren wollen, werden von Polizei und Gerichten kriminalisiert, Neues Deutschland
Initiative 2. Mai: Auswertung der Prozessbegleitung zum Tod von Ante P. - eine Zwischenbilanz
EN
Jocelyn Simonson: “We Stopped Him From Going to Prison!” Groups of people are showing up to collectively contest the criminal legal system, Hammer and Hope
Jocelyn Simonson: “We’re Only Here to Watch”How courtwatchers are shifting the power dynamics in criminal courtrooms., The Nation.
Zohra Ahmed: The Demand for Transparency as Non-Reformist Reform, LPE Project
Zohra Ahmed and Rachel Foran: No More Courts - The legal institutions, processes, procedures, and actors implicated in the progression of criminal cases are simply beyond reform. Inquest Decarceral Pathways
Podcasts and Videos
DE
ManyPod #18: Böllern gegen den Staat? Silvesterkrawalle und rassistische Stereotype
#4 Daniel Loick & Vanessa Eileen Thompson - Online Lecture
EN
Abolitionismus Special Part 1 | Abolitionist futures: in conversation with Vanessa Thompson and Daniel Loick, The minor constellations podcast
Abolitionismus Special Part II | Justice Collective: in conversation with Mitali Nagrecha and Anthony Obst, The minor constellations podcast
Citations
- 1
We refer to the NSU-Complex because the murders of Enver Şimşek, Abdurrahim Özüdoğru, Süleyman Taşköprü, Habil Kılıç, Mehmet Turgut, İsmail Yaşar, Theodoros Boulgarides, Mehmet Kubaşık, Halit Yozgat and Michèle Kiesewetter were not carried out by three Neo-Nazis alone. They were supported by and part of a broader right-wing scene. The German secret service, police departments, inflammatory media, and a justice department unwilling to carry out a full investigation are all also implicated in the injustices. In the absence of justice through the system, the NSU-Tribunals sought to acknowledge harm, elucidate the structural racism, and work towards transformative change.