Do underground right-wing terrorist structures, even a „Brown-Army-Faction,“ exist in Germany? For about two weeks now, it has been known that a group of right-wing extremists have committed murder and robbery in Germany over the past 13 years. They call themselves „Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund“ (NSU), National Socialist Underground, and presumably consist, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s office, of three people, supplemented by a network of supporters. Two of the NSU members, who are being charged with ten murders (of nine foreign small businessmen and one policewoman), multiple aggravated assaults and 14 bank robberies, avoided arrest by committing suicide. The third member and an alleged supporter are under arrest.

The fact that the group was able to operate in at least eight Länder in Germany for more than a decade, without being detected by police or one of the Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (Germanys federal and Länder domestic Intelligence agencies), has led to an intensive, even partly hysterical, public debate. A center point of the debate focuses on speculations about possible support of the NSU by staff members of intelligence agencies or by intelligence agency informants.

By now, the hysteria as also reached politics. Instead of waiting for the investigations to be completed by the Federal Prosecutor’s office, and the already deployed special investigative team, the German minister of justice, Mrs. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, has already demanded extensive alterations of the German security architecture. Volker Kauder, chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, discussed a complete cancellation of informants at the domestic intelligence agencies. Also, Secretary of Homeland Security, Hans-Peter Friedrich, called the acts of the NSU right-wing terrorism. Other politicians named them the „ Brown-Army-Faction“ , referring to the „Red-Army-Faction,“ a former left-wing terrorist group in Germany.

The exceptionally high extent of political commitment and demands, at times where relevant facts have not been identified and essential questions have not yet been answered shows that some members of the governing coalition are not living up to their responsibility.

One of the most important questions that must be answered first is whether the NSU actually is a terrorist organization at all. Terrorists, regardless of their type, attempt to achieve political objectives by announcing demands and by threatening or attacking civilians. But the so called confession-DVD of the NSU raises more questions than answers. Why was the DVD that refers to attacks, murders and bank robberies between 2000 and 2007, and which was created in December 2007, not sent out until the suicide of the two NSU members? Since four years passed between the creation of the DVD and making it public, had the group planned to keep on operating secretly, if they were not detected on their escape from the bank robbery on November the 4th in 2011? Why are there no, except for the short general note to call for change in ‚politics, media and freedom of speech“, concrete political demands in the 15-minute long video?