A hybrid unit of German special forces is involved in a politically explosive operation. Research shows previous training sessions with live ammunition.
The special forces association Uniter, which has received much criticism, has ruled on the authoritarian Philippines Police trained. In contrast to the illustration, it could have been about more than medical training. This is the result of joint research by t-online.de and the ARD political magazine “Contrasts”. A police chief said that, to his knowledge, the opening event was about “terrorism”. Documents within the association confirm previous exercises with live ammunition.
Tens of thousands killed in “drug war”
According to the research, forces from the Philippine National Police (PNP) took part in the training. The PNP is associated with serious human rights violations. Images published by Uniter show club members in a police station in the Laguna district south of the capital Manila. A participating trainer from the association confirmed first aid training there.
“We flew there to help – that had nothing to do with politics,” said the soldier, who only wants to be called “Alex”. It was sad that two afternoons with the police were the topic, but not the courses for civil protection or for children in a school. The effort was voluntary and humanitarian.
Training in the police station in the city of Biñan: Uniter trainers were deployed there – and published the photo themselves. (Source: Uniter / Screenshot: t-online.de)
But the deployment of German special forces in the Southeast Asian island state is explosive. Human rights groups have accused the Philippine National Police of far more than 20,000 illegal executions since the head of state Rodrigo Duterte ordered the so-called “war on drugs”. Even according to official government reports, more than 5,000 alleged drug users or sellers were shot by emergency services. The International Criminal Court has launched preliminary investigations and the UN Human Rights Council has ordered its own investigation. In this situation, German special forces trained police officers there.
Expert is critical of engagement
“That doesn’t fit into the foreign policy guidelines,” said Nicole Deitelhoff, head of the Leibniz Institute Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research. She advises the Department of Defense on internal governance issues armed forces, “The Federal Republic condemns the violations of human rights in the fight against drugs in the Philippines. There is no need to support the regime there.”
Background: Uniter is an association founded by special forces, which is mainly associated with right-wing extremist networks because of its founder “Hannibal”. He was in contact with the terror suspect Franco A., who also had a (over the counter) patch from Uniter. The group “Nordkreuz” also emerged from a chat administered by “Hannibal”. She is said to have had “death lists” with political opponents for a day X after a collapse of the state order. The defense of Constitution illuminates Uniter on possible anti-constitutional efforts,
Uniter emphasizes that the mission abroad was about first aid courses: According to its own account, the unit sent to the Philippines in July 2019 has expertise that brings considerable advantages for military and police units. In fact, it is intended for much more than simple first aid courses.
Police cordoned off at a crime scene in Manila: The Philippine National Police are held responsible for tens of thousands of murders. In the Laguna district, too, people are regularly killed in drug use. (Source: Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)
Because the association’s “Medical Response Unit” (MRU) is a so-called hybrid unit made up of police officers, soldiers, doctors and rescue workers. According to the association, members were already trained in “tactical medicine” in their profession. Her expertise is not only in emergency medicine, but also has a significant tactical component from which fighting units can benefit. The so-called “Tactical Combat Casualty Care” (TCCC) is considered emergency medicine under conditions of the battlefield.
The goal: an armed unit
In addition to the care of the wounded, a primary goal is to secure care – in order to avoid further wounded, fire sovereignty must be established in accordance with international standards. Association trainer “Alex”, the tactical head of the unit, confirmed t-online.de and “Contrasts”: In the long term, a unit should actually be formed that can also actively defend its paramedics in action with firearms. But that is not the current status of the joint training and is “still in the stars”. In addition, the legal situation must be taken into account. At present, one is struggling with the increasing loss of members, said several officials of the association.
US Army exercise on “Tactical Combat Casualty Care”: Soldiers secure the care of a wounded actor. (Source: Stocktrek Images / imago images)
So far, Uniter has been largely silent about long-term plans for the unit. In press releases, it was said that the “Medical Response Unit” had created a unit that was “to be empowered to” actively defend itself within armed conflicts “and to move independently and safely”. It fills a “gap between civil rescue workers and local security forces, such as the police”. So far there has been no talk of firearms. However, a Uniter insider also reported on the objective.
“We train under a sharp shot”
In Germany, members practiced with live ammunition. This emerges from an association-internal invitation from 2018, which is available from t-online.de and “Contrasts”. “We are training,” reads the letter to the Uniter members, “under a sharp shot in the squad. Basic requirement: safe handling of the handgun.” The participation fee should be transferred to the association in advance. The tactical head of the MRU also confirmed t-online.de and “Contrasts” such joint trainings. However, the exercises are within the legal framework and “on the threshold of a hobby”.
Background: So far, the association has always denied a connection between weapon exercises and the “Medical Response Unit”. The ARD magazine “Monitor” recently published a video of a paramilitary exercise in 2018 in Mosbach. The responsible public prosecutor’s office had apartments searched and several soft-air weapons secured.
Expert Deitelhoff, on the other hand, calls “a classic military service” what Uniter apparently wants to train her unit for in the long term. She therefore sees a regulatory gap in German law: If such capabilities are passed on during operations such as in the Philippines, this is not yet subject to arms export control. The Ministry of Defense confirmed this assessment at the request of t-online.de and “Contrasts”.
So what was the association about in its assignment abroad? Why did you train the Philippine National Police? Why not just rescue workers, as originally announced in press releases?
“This is above my security level”
In such questions, those responsible for the Uniter refer to other club members on such questions. When asked specifically about the overseas mission, a district leader also initially declines – because not every member of the club knows what the board is planning or doing. Information is shared carefully. “It’s above my security level,” says the man who calls himself “Duke”. “Talk to Hannibal.” So with André S., the club’s founder, long-time chairman of the club and today’s head of Germany, who was recently fined for an explosives offense.
A crime scene in the Philippine capital Manila: The Philippine national police are held responsible for thousands of murders – German special forces trained police officers there. Was it just a first aid course? (Source: Dondi Tawatao / Getty Images)
The former elite soldier “Hannibal” subsequently only admits that Filipino police forces had been trained. He sees no problem in this. Different from today’s club chairman “Michael”: “I don’t want to pretend that, at least it wasn’t planned that way,” he says t-online.de and “Contrasts”. At the moment it seems that the club cannot please anyone. “But we are not responsible for the situation in the Philippines.” Similar to other club representatives, he says: The cooperation with the police had arisen spontaneously on site.
A meeting in Manila
One thing is clear, however: Already months before the training, in February 2019, Uniter members met “high-ranking representatives of the police, army, air force and Navy” in a hotel near the capital Manila at a kick-off event according to their own press release. Photos, about which “taz” first reported at that timeshow men of the Philippine National Police among the participants. You were apparently invited to the lecture. “I have been told that a German group is giving a lecture on terrorism,” said Eleazar Matta, the chief of police in Laguna province.
UNITER – SAFETY FOR LIFE, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT – We stand by the Law, respect for peace, and human rights! ???SEDA HOTEL⚔️February 13, 2019
Posted by HE Ejercito at the Tuesday February 26, 2019
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The Philippine news portal “Rappler”, which supported the research by t-online.de and “Contrasts”, had already asked him for an opinion in April. Matta said at the time that he had been invited to do so by a security company friend and sent subordinates there. No concrete plans for cooperation have been agreed. Matta recently did not respond to further inquiries.
He knows nothing about the lecture in February, says Uniter instructor “Alex”, who was later deployed in the Philippines. One cannot choose who takes part in such events, says “Hannibal”. In any case, it was not about terrorism. And what was the subsequent training in July about?
Descriptions sound harmless
Uniter did not carry out tactical training, says the instructor involved t-online.de and “Contrasts” in the presence of his district leader. It was a normal first aid course for the approximately 40 participants: stable side position, care for wounds, bleeding bleeding. “They had almost no basics. We had no time at all for tactical elements.” It was only two afternoons. t-online.de and “Contrasts” could not independently check these descriptions.
According to documents from another German TCCC provider, three days is a sufficient period of time for training, which includes outdoor exercises, the simulation of care under fire, and playing through tactical scenarios. For such training of up to three dozen participants, 24,000 euros will be charged. According to Uniter, the training in the Philippines was much shorter. The government’s anti-drug campaign was also not addressed.
Uniter members doing a medical exercise: On the left is the panel in question. The numbers of those arrested are listed there. (Source: Uniter / screenshot: t-online.de)
Another photo of the training courses in the Philippines, however, raises questions: You can see two Uniter members on a training manikin. On the left in the picture, right next to them, is a board. It lists statistics – total number of inmates, female, male, children in custody, of which “drug-related”: 757. Was Dutertes campaign against drugs discussed but its conditions for emergency services taken into account? The instructor involved does not remember the board. The “war on drugs” was not mentioned.
There would have been good reason to talk about it. Since President Duterte declared war on drugs, the number of children and adolescents in state custody has increased dramatically. According to Filipino media reports, many no longer dare to leave custody because too many young people are shot by security forces.
“Our intention was not to train the police there to be able to carry out this disgusting work even better,” said today’s club chairman “Michael”. “That’s why we’re not there.” At the request of the news portal “Rappler”, the association even wrote that it had put the activities in the Philippines on hold for the time being. A further commitment of the association is only possible if the political situation in the Philippines changes. The reason: bad press.
The ARD political magazine “Contrasts” is showing a contribution today on Thursday, February 27, 2020, at 9.45 p.m. on the joint research on Uniter’s international mission.
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