Society for Threatened Peoples

Society for Threatened Peoples International (STPI)

Logo de la Sociedad por los Pueblos Amenazados
Founded	1970
Founder	Tilman Zülch
Type	Non-governmental organization
Focus	Religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples
Location	Berlin Germany
Area served	Germany, Bosnia, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Kurdistan
Website	http://www.gfbv.de/index.php?change_lang=english

Society for Threatened Peoples International (German: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker-International, GfbV-International) is an international NGO and human rights organization with its headquarters in Berlin, Germany. It claims to create awareness of and protect minority peoples around the world who are threatened by oppressive governments. The group states on its website that it "campaigns against all forms of genocide and ethnocide". It has advisory status at the United Nations, participatory status with the Council of Europe and has sections and offices in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Secretary General of the Society for Threatened Peoples International (STPI) and ociety for Threatened Peoples-Germany is Tilman Zülch.

Since 2012, german state prosecutor's are investigating Tilman Zülch, the Secretary-General of two organizations, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and Society for Threatened Peoples International (STPI), for embezzlement of money. The accused is alleged that he enriched himself at the expense of the organization's assets, announced state prosecutor Frank-Michael Laue. In addition, Tilman Zülch is accused of having given money to other individuals and therefore to have harmed the organization. The organisation has rejected the charges, explaining that all financial transactions were subject to verification by two external auditors and that the German tax authorities had not found any evidence of wrongdoings.

History

The Society for Threatened Peoples Germany emerged in 1970 from the Hamburg based “Aktion Biafra-Hilfe”. Aktion Biafra-Hilfe was founded in June 1968 by Tilman Zülch and Klaus Guerke during the Biafra War to draw attention of the world to the occurrences within Biafra in present day Nigeria and to stop the hunger and genocide going on there. Zülch went to the area to witness the atrocities and eventually wrote a book together with Klaus Guerke. The experience campaigning for the protection of the victims and refugees encouraged campaigns for other minorities transforming Aktion Biafra-Hilfe into the Society for Threatened Peoples-Germany.

In 1978 the headquarters of the Society for Threatened Peoples_Germany moved from Hamburg to Göttingen. In 2011 the headquarters moved to Berlin. Up until today, Zülch is the President of the Society for Threatened Peoples International and the Secretary-General of Society for Tthe Society for Threatened Peoples-Germany.

Since 1993 the STP has advisory status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The STPI is also a Member organization of Committee for a Democratic UN. Since January 2005 the STPI also has participant status at the Council of Europe.

Prominent supporters of STP-Germany include: the writer and futurologist Robert Jungk, the author Günter Grass, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, current President of East Timor José Ramos-Horta, and Marek Edelman a leader in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Organization and Areas of Work

The STPI is one of several european minority rights organizations. In April 2006 the organization had more than 6,000 members and more than 25,000 patrons, most of whom are based in Germany. The organizations activities are coordinated in Göttingen. Regional groups support the work of the STP-Germany in a few German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Münster and Nurnberg. The STPI publishes press releases, organizes public demonstrations, arranges post card campaigns, prepares reports for court hearings, produces educational materials fo teachers, and publishes the journal pogrom, which is a source of information about the situation of ethnic and religiuos minorities.

A main focus of the human rights work of the STP since the founding has been the African continent where the STPI is however not represented by a section. Since the Yugoslav wars the STPI has been disproportionately active in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo. In Kosovo the STP-Germany paid for a team that under the direction of the human rights worker Paul Polansky worked for the interests of the Roma. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the support of the survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre is particularly important for the German chapter of the STPI. Another main focus of the STPI is indigenous peoples. The STP-Germany organized the first large European trip of an Indian Delegation from 16 American countries. In the Middle East the Kurds play an important role for the STP: This pushed the STP-Germany to open a STPI office in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. Israel and the conflict with Palestinians appear under represented in the activities of the STP measured by the prevailing German public.

Political Goals and Stategies

The STPI places the fight against genocide, forced migration, racism, all forms of minority oppression, and deportation of refugees in their country of origin as the center of their work. Their themes include the cultural and religious groupings like the Falun Gong in China, the Christian minorities in Iran, or ethnic groups like the Roma or Chechen. The STPI lobbys politicians and uses letter writing campaigns to apply pressure for its causes.

The STPI has always maintained that forced migration of people is wrong even when the victims belong to a group of people who were the perpetrators of a war or another grave infringement of international law. In connection with this the STP has advocated for a Centre against Expulsions and thereby has incurred the same criticism as the project of such a center itself .

Unlike other human rights organizations the STP_Germany has in special situations supported military interventions and invasion/intrusion. Much criticism has been given to the STP for its advocacy of the NATO intervention in Kosovo War in 1999. In 2006 the STP supported the protection of elections in the Congo by the German military.

References

• "Society for Threatened Peoples" in Lawson, Edward, Encyclopedia of Human Rights, New York : Taylor & Francis, 1991. ISBN 9780800280031

External links

• Society for Threatened Peoples website
• Prosecutor's are investigating Secretary-General of Society for Threatened Peoples for embezzlement of money.
• Investigation of the STP founder Tilman Zulch for embezzlement