The Anthology

The Anthology
48
our work, 58 or to ask for information) he would also
contact us by phone.
It was repeatedly suggested to us that we would
receive more precise information, and receive it
continuously, if we could also send observers to the
Police Administration Centre next to the Operational
Corps. It was also suggested, for the same reason,
that it would be expedient to use a “Unified Digital
Radio” (TETRA Police Radio) set during our observations.
We discarded both ideas, however, because
they would have meant merging different constitutionally
based functions. We are convinced that, in
order to preserve the separation of the branches of
state power, the Ombudsman and his staff should
only be present in or next to the Operational Corps in
extraordinary cases. 59
The issue of the police radio (and we wish to stress
that this is completely theoretical) raised serious
questions to do with the safety of the observers.
On the one hand, there is no doubt that in cases of
trouble the police radio would have been the fastest
way to ask for help. On the other hand, possessing
a police radio set in a dangerous context in which
there is animosity and aggression towards the police
itself seemed to pose an unacceptable risk. And
thirdly, and this was perfectly supported by practice,
the police radio system, ensuring the possibility
of precisely determining location, would not have
served the success of our observations.
For our very first inquiry, the Chief of the National
Police appointed an officer of the police corps as
the contact person; we were then in direct commu-
58 One such instance was when we received information in
this way about an event planned by a radical nationalist
youth organisation on the evening of October 23, 2008; this
group was armed and the police was to block them in the
city, and this measure was likely to be interesting for us.
59 Such extraordinary cases would include situations in which
the bodily safety of the associates could not be ensured by
other means, situations in which there was wide scope for
street fights, or when information could not be acquired
from any other source.
nication with that officer, could ask him for all the
information we needed in every situation, and could
tell him immediately if we experienced a problem
anywhere. To be very clear, we want to stress that
the only way we exchanged any information with the
police during any of the announced investigations
was through this contact person. In addition, based
on our experiences in these investigations, we can say
that it was definitely unfortunate for us when it was
the commander responsible for the safety and security
of the event who was also appointed as our contact
person, because his ability to give us information
was then naturally limited due to his own executive
tasks. 60
The designated contact person received precise
information about our movements, including which
of us would participate in which event and when, 61
in almost every case. It was obviously a priority to
ensure that the observation should in no way disturb
or obstruct police measures (especially the dispersion
of the crowd or the use of coercion). It was also very
important that, aside from what was required for
the concerns of the inquiry, our presence not create
further tasks for the police or, as they put it, that we
should “take care of yourselves and not make trouble”.
In the interest of fully observing these priorities,
we tried to respect all the security recommendations
given to us by the police. And we kept our contact
person informed about our accurate location except
when it seemed expedient to carry out the observation
without disclosing who we were. 62
As a general rule, we received all the information
about a given event that was necessary for our obser-
60 This only happened once, when the Ombudsman requested
information directly from the chief of the national police
headquarters.
61 It was quite simple to identify us, and for the police to
inform us about safety measures, because the members of
our inquiry team (3 or 4 people), as well as the staff of the
Operational Corps, are permanent staff members.
62 We only did this three times during our inquiries.