This episode is a recording of statements made by the families and friends of the Ulm 5 at an event held in Berlin on the 22 of March. The Ulm 5 are five activists who were arrested last September after attempting to stop the flow of weapons to Israel during the Gaza Genocide from an Elbit Systems factory in Ulm, Germany.
They have since been held in separate prisons across Germany for seven months, charged with trespass, property destruction, and being a members of a ‘criminal organisation’ under ‘Section 129’ of the German criminal code. They are being subject to harsh detention conditions, including solitary confinement, 23-hour lock-up, extremely restricted activities, and surveilled visits, phone calls and post, under ‘under conditions that breach the right to adequate, confidential and unrestricted legal representation, the right to be heard, and the right to a fair trial’ (lawyers’ statement).
Germany, which supplies a third of all weapons delivered to Israel, is currently on trial at the International Court of Justice for complicity in the Gaza Genocide.
‘Section 129’ is also being used against climate activists in Germany, which has been criticised by UN Special Rapporteurs.
Other speakers at the event were Nehal Abdulla from CAGE International, and Yasmin Khuder from Amnesty International.
Related press Conference: https://realmedia.press/ulm5-press-conference/ and https://www.youtube.com/live/Lm9whmEKyxI
Support the Ulm5! website: https://ulm5.info/en/
Letter writing guidelines: https://ulm5.info/en/page/letter-writing-guidelines
Ulm5 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theulm5/
Roser Gari Perez: https://theleftberlin.com/germany-vs-the-ulm-5/
NehalAbdulla, CAGE International: https://www.newarab.com/author/75089/nehal-abdalla
Yasmin Khuder, Amnesty International Germany:https://verfassungsblog.de/author/yasmin-khuder/
‘Germany: criminal proceedings and investigations against members of climate action group Letzte Generation (joint communication)’ by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN human rights experts to the Government of Germany: https://srdefenders.org/germany-criminal-proceedings-and-investigations-against-members-of-climate-action-group-letzte-generation-joint-communication/
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide can be read here (it’s quite short) and worth a read:https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-punishment-crime-genocide
‘Torture and genocide – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967’, Francesca Albanese, 19 February 2026: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc6171-torture-and-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human
Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin