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.
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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 Omofumas 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 prosecutors
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
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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?"
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.
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