Florian Pfaff

Florian Pfaff (right) with Uri and Rachel Avnery .

Florian D. Pfaff (* 1957 in Munich ) is a former major in the German Armed Forces who became known for his pacifist attitude.

Case description

Pfaff joined the German Armed Forces as a conscript in 1976 and, after becoming a regular soldier, studied pedagogy between 1978 and 1981 at the University of the German Armed Forces in Neubiberg, with a main focus on learning theories . In his diploma thesis he dealt with the topic of "learning on machines". Pfaff later became a professional soldier .

During the publicly controversial operations of the Bundeswehr on March 20, 2003, he finally refused to participate indirectly in the Iraq war and describes himself as a pacifist . He saw his involvement in the war, at that time a member of the armed forces office of the Bundeswehr, through his involvement in the Bundeswehr software project SASPF . After a week-long psychiatric examination (ordered on March 20, 2003) , which did not reveal any abnormal results, his superiors ordered him not to examine whether he was involved in crimes. He resisted this. Ultimately, the attempt by the armed forces leadership to dismiss him without notice was unsuccessful. On June 21, 2005 Florian Pfaff was rehabilitated by the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG). The downgrading of rank previously pronounced by the Troop Service Court in Münster, but never legally effective , has been repealed. The public prosecutor's office closed the investigation (for refusal to obey and disobedience) against him. It should be noted, however, that the Federal Administrative Court has not found that the Iraq war or the support provided by the Federal Republic were actually contrary to international law . It is therefore not stated whether the Iraq war was a war of aggression contrary to international law; Nor is it stated whether Pfaff's official activity would have been a crime (see link to judgment).

Since then, Florian Pfaff has been actively involved in the peace movement. Since then, Florian Pfaff has been calling on all members of the Bundeswehr to refuse to obey and refuse direct and indirect support in the event of ordered participation in such wars, as well as the public to end inciting soldiers to illegally participate in wars of aggression (see his book Manslaughter in Office was , March 2008). He takes the view that the universal validity of human rights and the primacy of law and morality over power can only be fought for in a non-violent and democratic way and that every individual should consistently avoid crimes for this purpose. In his opinion, the first step to peace is the truth, and the best method is to prove whatever falsehoods invented for the purpose of warfare. He collects and publishes (e.g. in lectures) evidence of lies for the purpose of committing politically motivated crimes (or inciting to do so).

He published an internal paper of the Bundeswehr, in which the Bundeswehr indirectly called for soldiers to ignore the laws in the case of wars of aggression that are contrary to international law, such as the war in Iraq (Art. 26 GG and § 80 StGB) and to follow the employer's opinion. In the specific case, the Bundeswehr contradicted the binding nature of the BVerwG's ruling and demanded that in the case of decisions of conscience "with a political background" (as it now expressed itself after the ruling and what it now assumed to Pfaff): "The functionality of the armed forces" is "in to accommodate such cases by enforcing the order by reasonable means. " Therefore, there was no longer any transport (contrary to the prohibition of any serious disadvantage contained in the judgment [see below publications (Appendix B, p. 20 b)) and judgment of the BayVerwGH of 2008 with the lifting of the de facto transport ban imposed in 2005]).

A book with the details of the "Pfaff case" and the measures taken by the Bundeswehr to ensure operational capability even in the event of wars of aggression was published on March 12, 2008 (see publications below). He is a member of the board of the Darmstädter Signal working group .

Pfaff also publicly revealed the case of Christiane Ernst-Zettl , who was deployed as a medical sergeant in the ISAF mission's field hospital in Afghanistan in 2005 , and who was ordered by the commandant of the facility to remove the protective symbol (Red Cross armband) in order to carry out security tasks to take over as a combatant in the camp. The case was picked up in 2007 by the daily newspaper . Due to the fact that under the 1st Geneva Convention it is expressly forbidden to discard the protective symbol in armed conflicts, the soldier refused to carry out the order, was punished with a disciplinary penalty and returned to Germany. The complaint against the measure at the Troop Service Court in Munich was unsuccessful and the Commissioner for the Armed Forces rejected her petition in the interim decision on the grounds that the Afghanistan mission would not be an armed conflict.

He was retired in May 2013; his previous lawsuit for promotion - he was no longer promoted as a major since 2003 - was dismissed by the Bavarian Administrative Court in Munich in February 2013 because of unfoundedness .

Awards

Florian Pfaff was nominated for the taz Panter 2006 and was awarded the Carl von Ossietzky Medal on December 10, 2006 together with Bernhard Docke by the International League for Human Rights in Berlin . On March 4, 2007, he was awarded the AMOS Prize for Civil Courage in Church and Society of the Open Church in Stuttgart .

Florian Pfaff received the World Citizen Award (AWC) 2008 (presented on March 14, 2008 in Leipzig).

Literature on the judgment of the BVerwG

• Markus Kotzur : Freedom of conscience versus duty of obedience or: the Iraq war on an administrative test bench , in: JuristenZeitung (JZ) 2006, p. 25ff.
• Manuel Ladiges: The Federal Administrative Court and the soldiers' freedom of conscience , in: Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW) 2006, pp. 956ff.
• Frank Schafranek: The soldier's freedom of conscience - comment on the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court of June 21, 2005 - (2 WD 12-04) - , in: Neue Zeitschrift für Wehrrecht (NZWehrR) 2005, p. 234ff.

Publications

• Manslaughter in office. How peace was betrayed , HWK-Verlag, Wassertrüdingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-937245-03-4

Web links

• Interview with Florian D. Pfaff , Muslim-Markt , March 12, 2008.
• Judgment of the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG 2 WD 12.04)
• Speech by Florian Pfaff , Peace Alliance Karlsruhe, Easter March on April 15, 2006 in Ulm.
• Jürgen Rose : Parole "EdeKa" , Berlin Information Center for Transatlantic Security (BITS), February 10, 2006.
• Manuel Ladiges: Iraq conflict and conflicts of conscience (article on the cases of Florian Pfaff and Ehren Watada ; PDF; 175 kB), texts by the Federal Association for Security Policy at Universities (BSH), March 22, 2007.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The main speakers and their contributions: Florian Pfaff ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , 21st FIfF annual conference at the Munich University of Applied Sciences on 5./6. November 2005 (Topic: Hidden Computers - Uncontrollable Networking). 
2. ↑ Board of the sponsorship group. In: https://www.darmstaedter-signal.de/ . Retrieved January 26, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Heide Platen: Medical service at the weapon , in: taz , October 14, 2005, p. 7.
4. ↑ Florian Pfaff definitely not promoted , AWC Germany eV, March 28, 2013.
5. ↑ SWR.de: Bundeswehr Major Pfaff receives AMOS Prize 2007 for moral courage , press release, March 4, 2007.
6. ↑ Not to be confused with the World Citizenship Award of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS): "Association of World Citizens" ( Memento from April 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )