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Köln. A simple slip or a new method of intimidation? (shift)

(credit: NRW / baukunst-nrw.de)
(credit: NRW / baukunst-nrw.de)

(B2) The events that took place at the main train station (HauptBahnhof) in Cologne on New Year's Eve are striking. Is it just a collective skid of a few individuals, a little tipsy, or excited. Or something a little more organised, orchestrated by movements that have an interest in destabilization? Certain clues encourage us to lean in this direction or at least to be wary of any lesson drawn too quickly and to wonder...

Mass sexual violence

The events in Cologne do not seem to have been totally spontaneous but rather planned, or at least provoked. The number of people involved — both female victims and alleged perpetrators — the gathering place of the perpetrators, the modus operandi in raiding (far from the usual modus operandi of sexual predators), the presence of words translated into German (more or less intimidating 'I want to kiss you', 'I want to fuck you' or having to do with the female anatomy)... are all facts on which it will be necessary to look carefully. Because it could be a kind of 'sex-mob' of a new kind (see box).

Use for bullying purposes

The method used as the objective correspond in any case, quite exactly, to the methods and goals of certain organizations, such as that of the Islamic State. This movement does not aim, in fact, like its predecessors in the use of terrorist action (from the Red Brigades or direct action to the PLO or GIA, Hamas) to conquer freedom, territory or transform power. It aims more to destabilize the targeted societies - Muslim and Arab, in the countries of the Middle East, and Western - by acting on more psychological than political springs: fear, division, racism...

The use of sexual violence to enslave

This terror, Daesh, also exercises it, on the territories it controls, through the use of sexual violence, preferably on a mass scale, particularly against minorities but also against its own populations (1 ). The objective is both to satisfy their power but also to sow terror in the territories they control. The example of the Yezidis, now fairly well documented, shows this. To ensure the trafficking of Yazidi women and girls, the organization created " a systematic infrastructure, with a network of warehouses where the victims are kept, observation rooms where they are inspected and put on the market and a dedicated fleet of buses to transport them as shown by the New York Times investigation, translated in this article by the RTBF. Daesh has not only developed a detailed sex slavery bureaucracy With " notarized sales contracts by the courts of justice but it has also developed its own doctrine.

A doctrine of rape and sexual violence

« Repeatedly, ISIS leaders emphasize a restrictive and highly selective interpretation of the Koran and other religious regulations in order not only to justify violence, but also to elevate and celebrate every sexual crime as spiritually beneficial, even virtuous. » "Every time he raped me, he prayed" says a 15-year-old girl. (...) "He kept telling me it was ibadah", she said, using a term from the Islamic scriptures that means worship. »

The objective: to cause a shock wave

A terrorist action (an attack) unlike an act of war does not automatically aim to destroy the adversary but to cause a shock wave which will be much greater than the effect himself from the attack and, in return, achieve the desired objective: to undermine and destroy from within. However, if the attacks of November and December (Bamako, Paris, Beirut, Egypt...) have reached the first target (deaths), they have only imperfectly yet caused secondary effects. One could even say: on the contrary.

The political failure of the November attacks

In Paris, the attack of November 13 provoked a more certain national unity than had been the attacks of January. By wanting to hit football (the Stade de France) in particular, rock concerts or restaurants as well (much like the Shebab do in Somalia), he places everyone in the same target. It is a way of life that is affected and not only opinions or religions. In the same way, the attacks provoked at the international level - targeting Russia, Lebanon, Mali, etc. — have rather provoked a greater shared awareness and a certain unity of action by the international community than it was just a few months ago.

Cologne, a discreet terror?

The events in Cologne could thus be a new type of terror, exercised in a much more underhanded way but also more 'effective' for the intended objective, and therefore all the more dangerous. The organization could very well use several strings to its bow: sequenced attacks such as Paris 13 November, or targeted attacks, such as Charlie Hebdo, propaganda via the internet or other means (self-proclaimed preachers) aimed at Arab populations ( or Muslim) weakened (whose religious culture is often weak), and actions of destabilization.

A blow to the European way of life

The facts of Cologne are therefore anything but trivial. They will bring, beyond their very gravity, a greater shock within society, German first of all but also European. A large part of society may not look favorably on asylum seekers tomorrow. These events also allow the most racist parties, the most extremist in society, even neo-Nazis like in Germany, Greece or northern Europe, a foundation they lacked until now.

(NGV)

(Updated) beware of any quick lesson and pointing to the Islamic State behind these events. Other groups may very well have chosen this modus operandi. Just like organizations with a more criminal aim. It should not be denied either that in certain Islamist circles, the place of women is totally ignored and despised (Read in particular the article by Laurence d'Hondt which sheds light in the Vif this aspect, particularly starting from the example of Tahrir Square in Egypt). The purpose of this article is to warn about attempts to destabilize our societies, which are ultimately more dangerous than the latest wave of attacks.

(1) A process used in the former Yugoslavia, but also in Congo or Rwanda, and in many conflict regions, by Boko Haram for example in Nigeria.


A massive action, a real Sex-Mob

IchWillDichKussen@bild160110
The paper published by the daily Bild

According to a final report, 379 at least 500 complaints have been filed, some for theft (a classic in this type of event), others (at least 150) for violence with a sexual connotation, light or heavier but without any doubt on the intention: fondling, penetration, attempt or even rape. The plaintiffs reside in Germany, but also in Finland or Belgium, as specified in a testimony collected by our colleagues from Free Belgium. " The assaults took place all evening and all night. It started 'lightly' as soon as we arrived at the station and got worse at the end of the evening when we decided to go back to the apartment we had rented, after we had taken refuge for several hours in a café-snack at the central station to avoid these individuals who were everywhere in and around the station. »

Thirty perpetrators have been identified. Some are said to reside in centers for asylum seekers. The nationalities are very varied: from North Africa, according to the police, but also from other regions, Turkey, the Middle East, etc.


 

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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