World Cup security worry: German judges ban downing of hijacked jets
The Times (London)
February 16, 2006, Thursday
HEADLINE: Judges ban downing of hijacked jets
BYLINE: Roger Boyes
Questions are being raised over security at World Cup matches as court ties the military's hands, reports Roger Boyes
German fighter jets have been banned from shooting down hijacked passenger aircraft, even if it looks as if they are about to be used in a terrorist attack against crowded buildings or football stadiums.
The ruling yesterday, imposed by the Constitutional Court, weakens the ability to guard the airspace over the 12 German football stadiums that will be used to stage the World Cup, which will run from June 9 to July 9.
Ministers emphasised that there would still be a no-fly zone over the football matches -some of which will involve the national teams of England, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States -and that two Phantom jets will be standing by to intercept suspicious aircraft. But there will be no legal way that the German Air Force can put the lives of hijacked passengers at risk.
"The protection of the right to the dignity of human life is strict, and an infringement is not permissible," Hans-Jurgen Papier, the president of the Constitutional Court, said.
The court was ruling on a law introduced after January 2003, when a 31-year old student stole a small aircraft and threatened to smash it into a Frankfurt skyscraper.
Fighter jets tried to make radio contact with the student, but their hands were bound by the law.
In the event, the pilot landed at a Frankfurt airport after a couple of hours and was arrested. But the incident stirred memories of the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and demonstrated to Germans the vulnerability of their cities. The law that followed, which permitted the shooting down of aircraft, was intended as a last resort, with the Chancellor and the Defence Minister ultimately deciding whether a pilot should pull the trigger.
Civil libertarians and Cockpit, the pilots' union, said that the law set a dangerous precedent. Some politicians also saw it as a further encroachment of the German military into civilian life.
The Constitutional Court sided with the critics: the Government, it said, had no right to kill some people to save others.
The ruling undermines Germany's security preparations for the World Cup. It had been hoping to police German airspace in a credible way and to deploy soldiers on the ground.
The Constitutional Court made clear yesterday that this, too, would be highly controversial. "The deployment of the military for purposes other than national defence are constrained by very strict constitutional principles," Professor Papier said.
Leading conservatives called for a change in the constitution. "It is only three months before the start of the World Cup and we urgently have to bring some clarity into the situation," Edmund Stoiber, the premier of the southern state of Bavaria, said.
