Fall Stefan Gelbhaar: Greens present reports – and give mistakes

It is and remains a tricky case for the Greens. The party has completed the processing of the alleged Metoo affair around its former member of the Bundestag Stefan Gelbhaar-with the result that the ombuds’ process is not continued and the admission that there can be no final clarification in the matter. This results from a report of the commission used by the party, which should examine the incidents and an accompanying classification of the party executive. Both documents that the Greens want to release on Thursday were star in advance.

The green rooms in it. An ombuds procedure has never been able to meet the claim to make a final classification of the reports and its truth content, the Federal Executive Board reports. “We should have countered this unfulfilled expectation of the ombuds’ process at an early stage and had to recognize the limits of the existing procedure to solve the conflict in this situation.”

After allegations against yellow hair had been expressed in December, in the starting Bundestag election campaign, initially internally, later also publicly via media reports, yellow hair no longer ran for the Bundestag election. In the event of a repetition for the direct mandate, his district association no longer set him up – later the severe allegations of misconduct fell together because they were obviously falsified.

The green time has been released around half a year to clarify the processes. One knew that “many would have liked to have the report faster and that the past few months were stressful for everyone involved,” said party leader Franziska Brantner the star. “But we took the time that requires such a complex case.”

In fact, the case is complicated. This also includes that the Greens now have to admit that the ombudsman, a contact point for confidential, internal party conflict resolution, has become “unintentionally on the object of possible political instrumentalization” before it is involved. After the district politician Shirin Kreße claimed in a meeting of the Berlin left wing that several women had told her about sexual harassment by Stefan Gelbhaar, the board of directors pointed to the ombudsman of the Federal Party. Among other things, the impression was given, albeit unintentionally: “Anyone who wants to influence the list of lists at the expense of Stefan Gelbhaar must contact the ombudsman,” said the Federal Executive Board.

In the end, the organization “did not meet its responsibility towards everyone involved,” the Federal Executive Board reported. In this case, it was “structurally overwhelmed” in this case, in which many factors came together – time pressure before the Bundestag election, incorrect media reporting, lack of confidentiality of the procedure. Sufferers are Stefan Gelbhaar, as well as the persons who submitted reports, “who were initially not given sufficient trust in their descriptions after the false identity of another message was discovered,” emphasize the Greens.

Was Stefan Gelbhaar wrongly brought about his candidate for the Bundestag? The party does not give a simple answer to this question. The Federal Executive Board cannot and does not want to do justice to the desire for a clear and final clarification in the sense of rehabilitation or sanctions, “says the report of the board.

The experiences described touched “questions of the equal cooperation, respect for the limits of others, the reflection of power relationships that arise from political positions”. To this end, an organization must behave that neither an ombudsman nor a commission, and no board of directors can do that on behalf of the whole party. “The decision about personnel constellations is always the responsibility of the respective election meetings.”

In the consequence, this means that the traffic politician, who was sitting in the Bundestag in the past, was previously the head of the Berlin Greens, would like to continue to pursue political ambitions, would be at his district association in Pankow or the Berlin State Association. It is open whether it will happen again according to this history.

The fact that the federal executive board does not want to hit one side also follows from the Commission’s findings: According to this, most of the reports presented against yellow -haired reports “do not relevant to criminal behavior”, but “perceptions of this perceived by this”. According to the Commission, some of the reports were also associated with the goal of preventing a candidacy of yellow -haired in the upcoming Bundestag election – and not, to achieve confidential clarification between the parties concerned in an ombuds procedure. The Commission attributes the reports with this request of the Berlin Green Youth or their surroundings.

At the same time, the Commission acknowledges that there were “obviously a number of women” in the Berlin State Association, “which felt affected by the possibly attacked but not criminal behavior”. The Federal Executive Board emphasizes that women from both wings, with and without reference to the Green Youth – had reported to both the ombudsman and the Commission, and “reported experiences and observations that are not relevant under criminal law, but were perceived as infringing, inappropriate or attacking”.

The green episodes of the Commission’s recommendation not to continue the ombuds’ process in the case of yellow hair. According to the Commission, the previous procedure “has a lack of internal party legitimacy, a lack of structures of trust and a lack of procedural order as well as to considerable deficits and deficiency deficiencies”. The Federal Executive Board emphasizes that in the majority the reporting women did not expect the ombuds’ procedure – but an “recognition of their experience”. Whether the Federal Executive Board reports are sufficient for this seems open to questionable.

In any case, the Greens want to reorganize the structures for future cases. A working group should take care of this. Action should be both “the rule of law, democratic legitimation and feminist requirements in order to meet the perspective of those affected”. At the party congress in November, the new structure in the statutes is to be anchored.

“The area of ​​tension between the protection of those affected and the maintenance of the rule of law is not easy and, above all, not one -sided,” said party chairman Felix Banaszak the star. “This requires clearly anchored procedures and resources.” That is why Anne Lütkes and Jerzy Monday are very grateful for the work they have done as the leaders of the Commission and the recommendations for the future list of the ombuds structures.

Each organization is “confronted with border violations and the question of the correct use of it, so our”, “continues Banaszak. One wants to be a party in which a “culture of appreciation and respect for the limits of others”.

From the yellow hair case, the Greens draw a bitter conclusion for all upcoming Metoo debates. “The hurdles – especially for women – to report, display, display or address them in an organization, have also increased significantly,” the report said. For example, not only for the persons involved in this procedure, but “generally great damage was created for the concern of a reasonable handling of border violations”.