Conditions of detention of politically motivated offenders: The Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction) in the Federal Republic of Germany 1970-2004
My research topic is an empirical study of the conditions of detention of Rote Armee Fraktion (RAF) prisoners in high security units (HSU) in the Federal Republic of Germany from 1970-2004.
The study centres on a comparison with the conditions of detention of ordinary prisoners in German HSU, and will also include two further aspects first, an analysis of the political and legal debate surrounding the conditions of detentions of RAF prisoners and second, a forward-looking investigation into how policy-makers in the ministries of justice in the individual Bundesländer (federal states) in the FRG are planning to deal with future politically motivated offenders in detention. The final part of the study will draw comparisons with current debates in the United Kingdom.
The study’s main research question is to what extent can the investigation into the conditions of detention of RAF prisoners in the FRG from 1970-2004 and the discussions about these conditions, from the so-called harte Jahre (severe years) in the 1970’s to the emphasis on release in the 1990’s, inform the debate on how politically motivated offenders, existing and potential, should be dealt with and why?
To gather the empirical data for the study, which will consist of a combination of archival research, observational data and interviews, I am planning to conduct fieldwork in Germany in 2008.
Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit, Professor David Fraser & Frieder Dünkel (Ernst Moritz Arndt Universität Greifswald, Germany)
ESRC 1+3 Scholarship
Academic Qualifications
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Awarding Institutions
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LLB Dual Honours in Criminology and Law
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Keele University
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LLM International Law
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University of Nottingham
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MA Socio-Legal and Criminological Research
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University of Nottingham
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“Hunger Strikes in Prison: Resistance and Autonomy” (2007) at the International Conference on Law and Society in the 21st Century: Transformations, Resistances, Futures; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 25-28 July 2007
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"Die Haftbedingungen von Terroristen: Die Rote Armee Fraktion in der BRD 1970 – 200...” (2007) Presentation at the Blockseminar, Hiddensee Germany, 31. May – 3. June 2007.
April – September 2007 Erasmus exchange at the Lehrstuhl für Kriminologie unter Leitung Prof. Dr. jur. Frieder Dünkel, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Germany.