German Court Restricts Police Profiling to Find Terrorists

Deutsche Welle reported today that:

Germany's highest court on Tuesday ruled that profiling by police and intelligence agencies to identify potential terrorists is illegal if it is based on a mere suspicion without any concrete evidence.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, German lawmakers had given considerably more powers to intelligence officers to obtain information, particularly about people with a Muslim background. The were also allowed to employ a nationwide profiling search to flush out so-called sleepers, such as the Sept. 11 attackers, who had lived in Hamburg for years without raising suspicion.

The profiling searches in Germany have primarily targeted Arab students. They were approved by then Interior Minister Otto Schily, a Social Democrat. He played no small role in making sure that this highly controversial means of preventive investigation made it into the second package of anti-terror legislation adopted after the terrorist attacks in the United States.

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2029600,00.html