Today, Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community Horst Seehofer banned the associations Deutsche Libanesische Familie e.V., Menschen für Menschen e.V. and Gib Frieden e.V.

The organisations are considered follow-up organisations to the fundraising association Waisenkinderprojekt Libanon e.V (WKP), which was banned in 2014, as they are intended to carry on the anti-constitutional aims of the WKP (see section 8 (1) of the Act Governing Private Associations). The WKP was banned by the Federal Minister of the Interior in 2014, because the association had raised millions for Hezbollah’s Shahid Foundation (Foundation of Martyrs).

Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said: “Our security authorities are alert. Supporters of terrorism will not be safe in Germany. No matter their guise, they will not find a safe haven in our country.”

Actions to enforce the ban have been under way on 20 premises in Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein since the early hours of the morning. At this writing, the police have seized cash, mobile phones and other pieces of evidence. Many hundred officers have been carrying out the raids across Germany.

The associations Deutsche Libanesische Familie e.V., Menschen für Menschen e.V. and Gib Frieden e.V. were founded to carry on the anti-constitutional aims and activities of the Hezbollah-sympathetic fundraising association Waisenkinderprojekt Libanon e.V. (WKP, Lebanon Orphan Project), whose name was later changed to Farben für Waisenkinder e.V. (Colours for Orphans). This can be seen from their activities as well as from their internal objectives. The associations’ foremost goal is not organising cultural or religious events, as they claim, but raising funds and arranging sponsorships for Hezbollah’s Shahid Foundation.

The WKP was a fundraising association operating across Germany, with its headquarters in Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and branch offices in Berlin, Göttingen and Hanover. The association collected donations and arranged sponsorships on behalf of the Lebanon-based Shahid Foundation to support orphans of fallen Hezbollah fighters. Between 2007 and late August 2013, the WKP transferred more than 3 million euro to the Shahid Foundation. By collecting donations for the Shahid Foundation, the WKP helped support survivors of Hezbollah fighters, thereby providing targeted support and encouragement for Hezbollah’s fight against Israel and opposing the concept of international understanding.

The association was banned and dissolved on 2 April 2014 by order of the Federal Minister of the Interior. The Federal Administrative Court, in its judgment of 16 November 2015, confirmed the lawfulness of the ban (1 A 4.15). The WKP filed a constitutional complaint against the ban, which the Federal Constitutional Court, in its decision of 2 July 2019, declined to consider (BvR 358/16).

Bans on associations are an instrument of threat prevention law. A ban fundamentally changes the legal situation of the association concerned, because any activity of the organisation itself and of third parties acting on behalf of the organisation can be prosecuted under association and criminal law. Moreover, internet providers can be asked to block banned content.