R a c i s m K i l l s
Every Year many people die threw the racist policy of Fortress Europe. Deaths during deportations are accepted conscious. Marcus Omofuma is not an isolated case....

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All persons shall have equal political and social rights - irrespective of origin, colour, religion, social status and gender. Differentiating instruments such as pre-deportation detention, deportation, racist laws and practices are incapable of being improved - the only solution is to prevent and abolish them. They ensure that some are excluded while others benefit. They are existentially grounded in racism.

Making deportations impossible and actively supporting refugees and migrants is one aspect of civil disobedience against institutional racism and constitutes practical solidarity with persecuted human beings.

WHERE IS MARCUS OMOFUMA?

Almost three years after Marcus Omofuma's death, the trial of three Aliens Police officers will commence on 4 March 2002 in the District Court at Korneuburg near Vienna. On 1 May 1999, while deporting Marcus Omofuma to Nigeria, the officers had used adhesive tape to tie him to his seat in the plane and to seal his mouth. He suffocated while in police custody. >>> Marcus Omofuma is not an isolated case ....

Summary of Judgment in the Trial of the three Aliens Police Officers:
The Judgment (not absolute - pending appeal) of the District Court of Korneuburg under the chairmanship of Judge Fiala as follows. Guilty of causing death by negligence under particularly dangerous circumstances. Sentence: 8 months 3 three years probation. >>> read the grounds ....

On the 1st of May 2002 we unveiled a memorial for all those who lost their lives through the violence of the racist police forces. Marcus Omofuma‘s death is one, among many, of such cases. Many immigrants have died through the state apparatus, in deportation process, „border protection“ and in cases of „combating drug abuse“. >>> read full story ....


The trial:

>>> Judgement on three police officers who killed Marcus Omofuma is now legally binding
>>> Comments on the 8th April 2002, 7th day of the trial ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 13 2002 ....
>>> Video from the protest on the last day of the trial ....
>>> Pictures from the demonstrations accompanying last day of the trial ....
>>> Short Summary of Judgment in the Trial ....
>>> Trial Report, Wednesday, 18th March 2002 ....
>>> A résumé of the first two weeks of the trial ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 14th ....
>>> Demonstrations accompanying the trial ....
>>> The Trial of Marcus Omofuma (2002) - Chapter One (excerpts) ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 11 2002 ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 07 2002 ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 06 2002 ....
>>> Report from the trial, march 04 2002 ....
>>> Why we never believed the Police over Marcus O. ....

In Belgium On the 18th March the Belgian Chambre de Conseil (Chamber of Deputies) will meet to decide whether the policemen involved in the violent deportation of Semira Adamu on the 22nd September 1998 should be brought to trial. It is a decision about a pre-trial investigation. According to one journalist the chances that it will lead to charges being brought are about 50:50. In the light of the impending trial the Belgian Collectif contre les Expulsions (Collective against Deportation) is demanding that the politicians responsible be punished as well. Although the policemen were directly responsible for the death of Semira Adamu, politicians should in no way be absolved from their responsibility. 11.03.2002

>>> read more ....
>>> Africains sans papiers
>>>
Collectif Contre les Expulsions
>>> ai news release on noborder.org


In Germany,
in the middle of February 2002, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office preferred charges of causing death by culpable negligence against three officers of the Federal Border Patrol. In May 1999 the officers accompanied the Sudanese Aamir Ageeb - who strongly resisted them – on a flight from Frankfurt to Khartoum. According to investigations, they pressed the bound man into his chair with such force that he suffocated. The charges are based on the expert opinion of a court pathologist from Munich. The officers, who till now have said nothing to the charges, are threatened with up to five years in prison. 11.03.2002

Further information: >>> www.aamir-ageeb.de.vu


NEWS:


24.01.2003 On 16 January Mariame Getu Hagos, a 25-year-old undocumented Somalian national, died after being taken ill on board an aircraft awaiting departure to Johannesburg from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. According to reports, Mariame Getu Hagos had arrived in France five days earlier from South Africa, and was placed in the waiting area at Roissy. [read more]
24.01.2003 On the 30th of December 52 year old, Ricardo Barrientos died on flight AF 416 while he was being deported from France. The Argentinean, who was resisting his deportation, died when French border police officers who where accompanying him forced his chest on his knees while the plane was taxiing for take-off. He had been brought aboard before the regular passengers and was placed in the rearmost section of the craft in an attempt to isolate him from the other passengers. The French border police claim his death is due to a cardiac arrest and considers it a 'natural death'. [read more]
04.03.2002: Antiracist Rally to mark the start of the trial in Korneuburg >>> read more
Pictures from the rally >>> see more
01.03.2002: Beside Farid Rifaat, Harald Ofner was nominated as lawyer from one of the Aliens Police officers. Ofner is parliamentarian and speaker of justice of the rightextremist FPÖ. He has been nominated some days before the start of the trial.
28.02.2002: The weekly >>> Thursdaydemonstration on 28.02.02 marked the trial against the three Aliens Police officers.
25.01.2002 UVS Decision: Police with responsibility for aliens acted unlawfully ....



Downloads:


>>> Flyer (german) - Download as [pdf]
>>> Poster (german) - Download as [pdf]
>>> Sticker - download as [pdf]

Articles:

>>> Demolish the system of deportations
>>> Abolish remand pending deportation




Further Information:

>>> AUSTRIA: before the UN Committee against Torture: allegations of police ill-treatment - Amnesty Internatioal Report 2000
>>> Campaing: Memorial for those killed through racist police violence >>> The Omofuma Deportation
>>> Illegalization in Austria
>>> The killing of Marcus Omofuma - and the consequences for the anti-racist scene in Vienna
>>> Das rechtsmedizinische Gutachten zur Frage nach der Todesursache Marcus Omofumas von Obergutachter B. Brinkmann bestätigt einen Tod durch Ersticken.
>>> Materials on Marcus Omofuma (german)
>>> Materials on Operation Spring (mostly in german)
>>> deportatiNO - demolish the system of borders, detention and deportations

 

deutsch


last update: 24.01.2003


don't give up the fight

this song is dedicated to Marcus Omofuma and all the others
>>> play mp3 ....


The Trial in Overview:

4.3. 9:15am: Reading of the Indictment and Questioning of the Accused ....
6.3. 9:15am: Questioning and cross-examination of the 2 uniformed officers and employees of Balkan Air who were witnesses at Schwechat Airport ....
7.3. 9:15am: Questioning and cross-examination of pilot and crew of Balkan Air plane ....
11.3. 9:15am: Questioning and cross examination of some of the passengers and the doctor who completed the certificate of death in Sofia ....
13.3. 9:15am: Questioning and cross-examination of the police superiors and the ex-Minister of the Interior Löschnak
14.3. 9:15am: Questioning of ex-Minister of the Interior Einem ....
18.3. 9:15am: Questioning of ex-Minister of the Interior Schlögl ....
8.4. 9:15am: Questioning of six Dutch passengers
10.4. 9:15am: Questioning of the first medical expert
11.4. 9:15am: Questioning of second medical expert
15.4. 9:15am: Questioning of third medical expert. Reading of the judgment

Location: District Court of Korneuburg near Wien, Hauptplatz 1 Can be reached from Vienna with the S3 – timetable enquiries to ÖBB



Contact:
For a World without Racism
p/a Schottengasse 3a/1/59
A-1010 Vienna, Austria
E-Mail: fewor@no-racism.net

Public meeting every Tuesday at 5 pm at BG Schottengasse 3a/1/59, 1010 Vienna (U2 Schottentor). One of the topics discussed there is the coordination of the activities beside the trial and the campaign "Where is Marcus Omofuma?"





Marcus Omofuma is not an isolated case ...


UNITED: List of documented Refugee deaths through fortress europe [pdf]
- Zwischenfälle bei Abschiebungen
- Semira Adamu
- Kola Bankole
- Aamir Ageeb
- Samson Chukwu
- Mariame Getu Hagos
- Ricardo Barrientos

The European noborder-network. With the increasingly restrictive harmonisation of asylum and immigration policy in Europe, there have been several attempts in the last few years to improve the networking between anti-racist grassroots organisations.

The Deportation Alliance is made up from Europe's leading Airlines. They are committed to enforce the inhumane asylum policies of the European states by flying refuges back to the places where they fled from - and where they often face death, torture or imprisonment. By combining the extensive range of destinations of its member-airlines the Deportation-Alliance is able to offer the governments of the European countries a unrivaled service, flying refugees back to even the most remote, war-torn regions on the globe.
Most of the refugees, who are transported against their own will, try to resist their deportations. Law enforcement services of have developed methods to overrun this resistance, using motorcycle helmets, sedatives, handcuffs and often plain force against those who are forced to fly deportation class. Although this has lead to several fatalities over the last years, the member airlines of the Deportation-Alliance continue to tolerate the use of force on their planes. They could stop this practice today if the wanted to.



Editors Note: You find less information in english on this site. We will try to translate older articles and publish more english articles during the next weeks.
Observers were present at the trial of the 3 Aliens Police officers in Korneuburg, Austria. Reports of each day in court will be available in English here as soon as possible.
If you want to help us with the translations, please mailto:global@no-racism.net.

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