Uwe Schünemann

Uwe Schünemann in 2009

Uwe Schünemann (* 8. August 1964 in Stadtoldendorf , Holzminden ) is a German politician of the CDU . From 2003 to 2013 he was Lower Saxony's Minister of the Interior .

Life

Education and professional activity

Schünemann attended grammar school on Wilhelmstrasse in Holzminden from August 1974 to June 1984 , where he graduated from high school. From August 1984 to June 1985 he was at the higher commercial school for high school graduates at the commercial schools in the neighboring town of Höxter . From August 1985 to July 1987 he completed an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at the fragrance and fragrance producer Haarmann & Reimer GmbH. He then did his basic military service from October 1987 to December 1988 with Pioneer Battalion 1 in Holzminden. He then worked as a Key Account Manager (Southeast Asia) at Haarmann & Reimer (H&R) until June 1994 .

Political career

Uwe Schünemann in 2006

Schünemann joined the Junge Union in 1979 and became a member of the CDU in 1984. From November 1986 to November 2011 and since 2016 he has been a member of the city council of Holzminden, from 1990 to 1999 chairman of the CDU city association, from November 1996 to November 1999 he was mayor of the city of Holzminden, then deputy mayor. From 1996 to November 2011 and since 2016 Schünemann has been a member of the district council in the Holzminden district and is currently chairman of the parliamentary group. From 1997 to 2013 he headed the CDU district association in Holzminden. On September 2, 2018, Uwe Schünemann was elected chairman of the CDU district association Hildesheim.

From June 1994 to February 2013 Schünemann was a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament and during this time he was, among other things, chairman of the committee for youth and sport, parliamentary group spokesman for adult education and parliamentary group spokesman for domestic politics. In the state elections in Lower Saxony in 1998 , he lost the Holzminden state constituency to the SPD state parliament member Ernst-August Wolf with 34.6 percent of the first vote and entered the state parliament through the CDU state list. From March 2000 to March 2003, Schünemann was the parliamentary manager of the CDU parliamentary group.

In the state elections in 2003 , Schünemann won the constituency with 49.3 percent of the first votes, while Wolf received only 41.1 percent. On March 4, 2003 he was appointed Lower Saxony Minister for Interior and Sport in the Wulff cabinet under Prime Minister Christian Wulff (CDU) and a member of the Federal Council .

In the state elections in Lower Saxony in 2008 , Schünemann defended the constituency with 47.6 percent against Sabine Tippelt (SPD), who achieved 36.7 percent. He kept his ministerial office in the Wulff II cabinet . Also in the new McAllister cabinet from June 2010 under Prime Minister David McAllister (CDU) he kept the office of Minister for the Interior and Sport.

In the state elections on January 20, 2013 , Schünemann lost the Holzminden state electoral district with 40.6 percent of the first votes to the SPD candidate Sabine Tippelt with 42.56 percent. Since the CDU could not award any mandates via the state list, Schünemann lost his mandate in the Lower Saxony state parliament after 18 years and also his ministerial office due to the change of government on February 19, 2013.

In autumn 2013 Schünemann ran for the CDU in the district election in the Hameln-Pyrmont district . The main rival candidate was Tjark Bartels from the SPD. The election took place on September 22, 2013. On October 6th there was a runoff election, the Bartels won with 59.85% of the vote. Schünemann received 40.15% of the vote.

In December 2013, the CDU city association of Höxter nominated him as a candidate for the mayoral election on May 25, 2014. With the worst result of a CDU candidate in the first ballot of 34.4% of the votes, he had to face a runoff election. He lost this on June 15, 2014 with 42.04% of the votes against the incumbent Alexander Fischer (SPD) with 57.96%.

After the sudden death of MP Norbert Böhlke, Uwe Schünemann moved back to the Lower Saxony state parliament in July 2014. In the state elections in 2017 , Schünemann was unable to regain the Holzminden constituency. However, he moved into the new state parliament via the state list and was elected deputy chairman of the CDU parliamentary group; his area of ​​responsibility includes domestic and legal policy.

Other engagement

As Minister of the Interior of Lower Saxony, Uwe Schünemann was also chairman of the International Lower Saxony Tour Association .

Schünemann played basketball for years at MTV Altendorf and reached the regional league with this club.

In the annual Unity Cup , a dragon boat regatta on the occasion of the Day of German Unity , Schünemann actively participated from 2007 to 2012 together with the All Sports Team Hannover .

Schünemann is the initiator of the Lower Saxony Lotto Sports Foundation and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2013. From 2004 to 2008 he was a member of the supervisory board of the Investment and Development Bank Lower Saxony . From 1996 to 2011 and since 2016, Schünemann has been a member of the board of the Evangelical Hospital Holzminden Foundation.

In November 2018 Uwe Schünemann was elected President of the Lower Saxony Athletics Association.

Private

While working at Haarmann & Reimer , Schünemann met his future wife. She worked there as a beautician and later moved him to run for the state parliament. The Schünemann family has a son and a daughter.

Political positions

In addition to the former Hessian interior minister and current prime minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) or the former Brandenburg interior minister Jörg Schönbohm (CDU), Schünemann is a representative of restrictive domestic policy and, for example, an advocate of a considerable expansion of video surveillance.

Exclusion of the NPD from party funding

In 2008, Uwe Schünemann, together with the legal scholar Volker Epping, presented an opinion on the exclusion of the NPD from state party funding at the federal press conference. If a party can prove anti-constitutional efforts, state funding should be excluded. To this end, a constitutional amendment was proposed. At that time, the proposal was still heavily criticized. After the NPD ban proceedings failed again in 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court suggested this option. In the meantime, both the Bundestag and Bundesrat have approved such a law and the constitutional amendment.

Telecommunications and New Media

Preventive phone monitoring

In the law amending the Lower Saxony Hazard Defense Act of December 11, 2003, Schünemann enforced the permission for preventive telephone monitoring. The Federal Constitutional Court declared this regulation unconstitutional and null and void on July 27, 2005 (1 BvR 668/04). The court complained that the state of Lower Saxony did not take sufficient account of the requirements for the specificity and proportionality of statutory authorizations for the prevention and precautionary measures for the prosecution of criminal offenses through telecommunications surveillance.

In November 2010 Schünemann repeated this requirement and extended it to the area of ​​digital communication. As part of a 17-point immediate program for the fight against terrorism developed by him on the occasion of the conference of interior ministers , Schünemann called for a ban on mobile telephony and computers for Islamic threats in addition to preventive telephone and email monitoring .

Child pornography on the internet

In December 2008, Schünemann demanded that Internet providers in future contractually oblige their customers to install filter software that blocks access to child pornographic content. He expressly supports the attempt by Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen to block Internet sites to combat child pornography (see Access Barrier Act ). In the second step, Schünemann wants to ask the federal government to check the corresponding changes in the Telemedia Act in order to make the installation of the filter software mandatory nationwide. He specifically asked for the bans to be extended to youth pornography .

Schünemann attacked Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, who was expressly opposed to the network blocking . In connection with this, he explained, among other things: "The Minister of Justice protects pedophiles and terrorists through her ideological blockade and thus becomes a security risk in our country".

In February 2010, the federal government distanced itself from the proposed law. The then Federal President Horst Köhler had refused to sign the law up to this point. On April 5, 2011, the federal government finally decided to repeal the Access Barrier Act.

In November 2009, Schünemann founded the White IT alliance with parts of the IT industry, science, the medical profession and victim protection associations . The aim of the alliance is the joint development of a holistic strategy for combating child pornography on the Internet, which ranges from prevention to law enforcement to help the victims and uses technical, legal and political instruments to implement.

Data retention

Schünemann is an advocate of data retention . After the Federal Constitutional Court had rejected the original regulation, he explained in the memorandum based on coalition decisions in March 2011 that in his federal state alone 527 crimes had not been resolved since the summer of 2010 because the corresponding regulations were not in force. He named serious crimes, some of which are said to be related to child pornography and homicides. In this context, he further stated that the “protracted debate on the subject of data storage” was “incomprehensible”, and underlined this with the statement: “Our patience is now really at the end.” Schünemann calls for “a minimum storage period of six months”. In May 2011, however, Schünemann had to admit on request to the Lower Saxony state parliament that even without data retention, no significant decrease in the clearance rate could be determined. Schünemann justified this u. a. with the effect of the elimination of data retention, which only begins with a delay, since data collected before the prohibition of data retention would be available for many procedures. Schünemann continues to advocate the introduction of data retention.

White IT and monitoring measures on private computers

At Cebit 2012, Schünemann, together with a Munich IT company, presented an edition of a software suite for monitoring PCs that was developed for the Alliance against Child Pornography White IT . This is based on an endpoint security and device control product from the company. The concept provides that the software installed on end users' computers automatically compares their files when they are opened for content relevant to criminal law. The basis of the hashed check is an external database, the contents of which the software automatically accesses via the Internet. If the specified hash values ​​appear on the local system, the checked data can be deleted or changed automatically. The concept provides that authorities deliver the hash values ​​and update them regularly.
The "White IT" alliance, founded by Schünemann and co-sponsored by Microsoft, says it is holding talks with Microsoft in order to generally anchor corresponding mechanisms in the operating systems of the world's largest manufacturer. Microsoft is supposed to deliver them as an integral part of Microsoft Windows in the future . Corresponding concepts from White IT were criticized in the public discussion, among other things, for the fact that they seem to establish a new control and monitoring structure.

Ban on "killer games"

In June 2006, Schünemann called for a ban on violent computer and video games , so-called " killer games ". In this context, he also called for stronger controls by the independent testing agency USK . A production and distribution ban for extreme depictions of violence is urgently needed. Although Germany is one of the countries with the strictest rules for youth release of media in international comparison, Schünemann expressly advocates tightening the existing regulations. In an interview on the subject, he was unable to name a specific online game that glorifies violence to which he explicitly refers. He cited research by the ZDF magazine “ Frontal21 ” as inspiration for his approach . He described scientific evidence of the dangerous effects of computer games as superfluous, for example for "games in which women can be mutilated." Schünemann was repeatedly criticized in this context. Among other things, some authors took the view that he was acting by claiming that stimulation and imitation effects existed in this area, for which evidence would then be sought afterwards. The Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and the Lower Saxony Criminological Research Institute headed by Christian Pfeiffer . V. (KfN) jointly examined in 2007 possible tightening of the protection of minors in relation to “killer games”. On April 13, 2007, Schünemann called for the creation of a purely state test center for computer games, as the entertainment software self-control (USK) had failed in his estimation. The demand comprised the merger of the Federal Testing Agency for Media Harmful to Young People (BPjM) with the entertainment software self-regulation (USK). Furthermore, the politician demanded that criminologists should also be involved in the relevant decision-making .

Counter-Terrorism Measures

In the wake of thwarted attacks on German trains in July 2006 and the ensuing discussion about counter-terrorism measures, Schünemann also called for information on religious affiliation to be included in addition to the expansion of video surveillance to “busy places in the inner cities”, similar to SPD domestic politician Dieter Wiefelspütz , Criminal record, occupation and stays in training camps in the so-called " anti-terror file ". This should generally be designed to be as "flexible" as possible and also contain a free text field for "special findings", since otherwise this "would not help."

Furthermore, he repeated his demand for the introduction of the "electronic ankle cuff" for "dangerous foreigners who cannot be deported." He also spoke out in favor of preventive telephone monitoring in the event of suspected terrorism, which would necessitate a change in police laws.

He went one step further than calling for changes to the law with the demand that the grand coalition "should think about a constitutional change ", since he finds it deplorable that the Federal Constitutional Court is preventing the use of the computer search and the " great eavesdropping " - for him "effective instruments in the fight against terror" - have restricted. In this context, his Schleswig-Holstein official Ralf Stegner (SPD) urged prudence instead of actionism and demanded that the "sheriff attitude be abandoned."

In October 2006, following a successful arrest of a terrorist suspect, Schünemann finally also demanded a “ban on downloading hate messages” from the Internet. This should be punished "similarly to the distribution, acquisition and possession of child pornographic material."

In December 2007, he requested that the police clandestinely search their homes.

In May 2012, in the news magazine Der Spiegel, after attacks by Salafists on police officers, Schünemann demanded that the Federal Constitutional Court should examine whether the expression of opinion by hate preachers who aggressively combated the German constitution could be restricted. His colleague, the Berlin Senator for the Interior, Frank Henkel , expressed reluctance to Schünemann's request. In this context, Henkel declared: "We cannot defend freedom by giving up important basic values ​​ourselves".

Right to stay and asylum policy

Schünemann advocates greater consideration of successful integration for young people threatened with deportation and their parents. School performance should be a decisive factor.

In his function as Minister of the Interior, Schünemann insisted on the deportation of an Iranian woman who had fled her homeland and who would have been sentenced to stoning because of the divorce from her Muslim husband and conversion to Christianity if deported to Iran . The Lower Saxony state parliament rolled the case after massive protests by human rights groups and church representatives, e. B. the regional bishop Margot Käßmann , shortly before the impending deportation and decided in favor of those affected as hardship.

Electronic shackles and citizen strips

Schünemann demanded, among other things, electronic shackles for "3000 violent Islamists in Germany", which should be allowed to be used without a court order. The Lower Saxony state data protection officer, Burckhard Nedden, described Schünemann in this context as a “security-political convict”. Furthermore, he represented the introduction of communally paid “citizens' strips” based on the US model.

Compulsory homeland security service for men

In the discussion about the suspension of compulsory military service, Schünemann advocated that young men must complete a mandatory “homeland security year”. Otherwise he fears high additional costs for disaster control. In contrast to the Federal Ministry of Defense, Schünemann has no constitutional concerns in this regard.

Cargo aircraft shot down

In November 2010, in response to thwarted parcel bomb attacks, Schünemann called for a new aviation security act to enable the Bundeswehr to be deployed in Germany in the event of terrorist attacks . The Bundeswehr should be allowed to shoot down cargo planes with a bomb on board if necessary. The Federal Constitutional Court had in 2006 in its judgment declared an earlier regulation which was the shooting down of hijacked planes allowed, unconstitutional and void.

Monitoring measures by the protection of the constitution

At the end of September 2013, the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior announced that while Schünemann was in office as the responsible minister, the Lower Saxony state protection of the Constitution had an employee of the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen observed because she had participated in demonstrations against Castor transports and right-wing extremism.

Earlier it was officially announced that random samples had shown that the Lower Saxony constitutional protection agency had collected information about journalists (including Andrea Röpke ) who had been told in response to their personal inquiries that there was no data about them.

The Hanoverian public prosecutor's office told the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung in October 2013 that, following a complaint by a Göttingen lawyer in this matter, they had "found no sufficient actual evidence of criminal behavior" .

Big Brother Award 2003 and 2011

In 2011 Schünemann received the negative Big Brother Award in the Politics category because in November 2010 at a demonstration against the Castor transport he initiated the “first proven police use of a surveillance drone at political meetings” . According to FoeBuD , the association for the promotion of moving and still public data traffic , which is responsible for the award ceremony, this violates the protesters' personal rights and could have an intimidating and deterrent effect.

Schünemann had already received the negative award in 2003, at that time for "the demand for preventive monitoring of e-mails and telephone calls".

Awards

• December 2006: “Pro Ehrenamt” awarded by the German Olympic Sports Confederation
• June 2011: Schlesierschild of the Landsmannschaft Silesia
• November 2015: Honorary gift from the State Sports Association of Lower Saxony

See also

• Cabinet Wulff I - Cabinet Wulff II - Cabinet McAllister

Web links

Commons : Uwe Schünemann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Member profile in the Lower Saxony state parliament in the 18th electoral term. Lower Saxony state parliament.
• Personal website
• www.abenkenwatch.de: Uwe Schünemann

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gabriele Andretta (Ed.), Department for Press, Public Relations, Protocol: Lower Saxony State Parliament. Handbook of the Lower Saxony Parliament of the 18th electoral period. 2017 to 2022 , 1st edition, Hanover: Lower Saxony State Parliament, 2018, p. 150
2. ↑ Peter Heller: Schünemann succeeds Güntzler as district chairman. In: Göttinger Tageblatt. Göttinger Tageblatt, September 2, 2019, accessed on May 6, 2019 . 
3. ↑ cf. z. B. Quick report on the 2013 state elections on January 20, 2013 Wahlkreis Holzminden - Landkreis Holzminden kds.de , accessed on January 20, 2013
4. ^ "CDU wins 54 direct mandates", welt.de , accessed on January 21, 2013
5. ↑ http://www.hameln-pyrmont.de/Pektiven_und_Verwaltung/Wahlen/Landratswahl_2013/
6. ↑ Ulrich Exner: Uwe Schünemann: The “tough dog” of the CDU now wants to become district administrator. In: welt.de . August 4, 2013, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
7. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 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. 
8. ↑ Result of the ballot for the runoff on October 6, 2013 ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ CDU in Höxter nominated Schünemann as mayor candidate Focus from December 4, 2013
10. ↑ Benno Schirrmeister: Direct elections: Uwe Schünemann remains unemployed , Taz , May 27, 2014
11. ↑ http://wahlen.hoexter.de/kom2014/BMS14/ergebniss/index.html , accessed on June 15, 2014 at 7.47 p.m.
12. ↑ Ulrich Exner: The quiet comeback of the "tough dog" , Die Welt , July 22, 2014
13. ↑ CDU parliamentary group elects new board
14. ^ Udo Röhrig: Uwe Schünemann elected NLV President: large majority. In: Homepage NLV. NLV, November 4, 2019, accessed May 6, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Angelika Henkel and Stefan Schölermann: Late satisfaction for Schünemann. NDR, May 19, 2017, accessed on July 18, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Lower Saxony's Minister of the Interior calls for cell phones and PCs to be banned for “dangerous people” heise.de, November 17, 2010 , accessed on January 21, 2013
17. ^ Heise online : Lower Saxony's interior minister calls for filter programs against child porn. December 15, 2008.
18. ↑ Heise.de, June 12, 2009: Federal Council has "considerable reservations" about child pornography bans , online at heise.de
19. ↑ Internal security divides the coalition - In the CDU, Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is ridiculed as a "security risk", welt.de and the dispute over web filter reason triumphs over Internet blocking, spiegel.de, April 6, 2011 .
20. ↑ Der Spiegel : Black and Yellow are moving away from Internet blocks
21. ↑ Die Zeit : Köhler refuses his signature  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
22. ↑ cf. z. B. Fight against child pornography coalition overturns internet blocks , tagesschau.de, April 5, 2011 ( memento of April 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) and coalition of child pornography overturns “Zensursula” law , spiegel.de, April 5, 2011 .
23. ^ Stefan Krempl: "White IT": State and economy united against child pornography , Heise online , November 27, 2009
24. ↑ cf. Union interior ministers are pressing for full coverage , spiegel.de, March 11, 2011 .
25. ↑ cf. z. B. Friedrich (CSU) and Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) , focus.de, March 11, 2011 .
26. ↑ see Fighting Cyber ​​Crime Through Data Retention , niedersachsen.de, May 27, 2011 .
27. ↑ Hardliner admits uselessness for criminal investigation on Golem.de from June 6, 2011 (accessed on June 7, 2011)
28. ↑ heise online : CeBIT software to prevent child pornography from being displayed . March 3, 2012.
29. ↑ heise online : CeBIT software to prevent child pornography from being displayed . March 3, 2012.
30. ^ Zeit.de (2011): White IT. Child porn search for all internet users on December 27, 2011, accessed on March 10, 2012.
31. ↑ Spiegel Online : VIOLENCE DEBATE: Minister calls for ban on "killer games". . June 19, 2006.
32. ↑ Telepolis : Why values ​​are also defended with the "killer games". November 18, 2007.
33. ↑ Spiegel Online : Killer Game Debate: Interior Minister calls for state testing center. . April 13, 2007.
34. ↑ Netzeitung : Judges make fighting terrorism more difficult. ( Memento of January 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) October 11, 2006.
35. ^ Heise online : Lower Saxony's interior minister also wants to secretly search apartments. December 18, 2007.
36. ^ Minister: Restrict the freedom of expression of radical Salafists augsburger-allgemeine.de, May 13, 2012
37. ↑ Henkel is critical of repression against Salafists welt.de, May 14, 2012 , accessed on June 4, 2012.
38. ↑ http://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/vorschlaege-vor-der-innenministerkonferenz-gute-schulsicherheit-laengeres-bleiberecht-1623752.html
39. ↑ Thorsten Jungholt: Conscription debate: Minister wants homeland security for young men. In: welt.de . August 27, 2010, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
40. ↑ http://www.trading-house.net/news/politik/schuenemann-sicht-ausetzen-der-wehrpflicht-weiterhin-kritisch-21653661.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
41. ↑ dpa / dapd / jm: After package bombs were found: deployment of the Bundeswehr inside required. In: welt.de . November 2, 2010, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
42. ↑ Interior Minister Pistorius informs about the illegal storage of personal data at the nds. Protection of the Constitution, press release by the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior from September 18, 2013
43. ↑ ^{a b} Verfassungsschutz also has its sights set on Greens ( memento from September 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) NDR regional from September 27, 2013
44. ^ Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of October 5, 2013; page 1
45. ↑ http://www.bigbrotherawards.de/2011/.pol
46. ↑ Big Brother Awards: Monitoring at every turn The time of April 1, 2011
47. ↑ cf. z. B. Data Protection's Nightmare , freitag.de
48. ↑ Pro honorary office. DOSB, accessed on July 18, 2017 . 
49. ↑ Newspaper article celleheute  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
50. ↑ Gift of Honor. LSB Lower Saxony, accessed on July 18, 2017 .