Tag Archives: Systemic Racism

#JusticeForLaminTouray, #justiceformbobda, African Unity, Aktion, Anti-Black Racism, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, english, politisch, Racist State of Law

5th Rememberance In Honour of Brother Tonou-Mbobda in the UKE

Rally on Sunday, April 21 from 10 am till 12 noon

Venue: UKE Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52 (20251 Hamburg)

https://www.facebook.com/events/790382222626862

5 years ago, Brother Tonou-Mbobda was brutally restrained to death in front of the UKE Psychiatric Clinic by security staff of Klinik Logistik & Engeneering GmbH without an actual court order and without supervision of any medical doctor in charge.

On this bitter day for the family, friends and our Black community as a whole, we do not only honour our Brother Tonou-Mbobda, but our thoughts are dedicated especially towards his relatives and the bereaved.

People in mental health crises or in afflicted situations are repeatedly victims of structural violence and institutional discrimination in Germany – too often this violence is fatal and there is regularly no appropriate investigation or propper litigation. Moreover, the victims are generally and reflexively labelled as criminal offenders and „blamed“ responsible for their own deaths in the course of structural cover up of state or other institutions.

Names such as #NDeyeMareameSarr (Aschaffenburg 2001), #DominiqueKoumadiou (Dortmund 2005), #ChristySchwundeck Frankfurt/Main 2011), #AmosThomas (Rohrbach,Bayern 2016), #AmanAlizada (Stade 2019), #MohamedIdrissi (Bremen 2020), #MouhamedLamineDramé (Dortmund 2022) , #LaminTouray (Nienburg/Weser 2024) and many more signify the ongoing deadly violence against people in mental health crises, who were never given professional help or de-escalative empathy, but escalating threats and deadly violence.

When we mourn and commemorate the death of Brother Tonou-Mbobda for the 5th time on Sunday, 21.04.2024, we are also protesting against the structural perpetrator-victim reversal, the systemic cover-up, the ruthless criminalisation of the victims and the habitual impunity for the perpetrators. A system that obviously does’nt seem to be able to draw appropriate consequences from unprofessional mistakes and fatal escalation strategies to bring about change cannot seriously refute the accusation of cross-institutional structural discrimination – then this practises are not only „accepted“, but in principle exactly what is wanted to be executed again and again!

We ask you to join us on this 5th anniversary in front of the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf – UKE to commemorate our brother Tonou-Mbobda.

Please bring flowers, signs and grave candles to make this commemoration a dignified event.


#TouchONE_TouchALL – #NoJustice_NoPeace

#justiceformbobda, African Unity, Aktion, Anti-Schwarzer Rassismus, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, deutsch, politisch, Rassismus in der Medizin

5. Gedenktag zu Ehren von Bruder Tonou-Mbobda im UKE

Kundgebung am Sonntag, den 21. April 2024 | 10-12 Uhr

Ort: UKE Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52 (20251 Hamburg)

https://www.facebook.com/events/790382222626862

Vor 5 Jahren wurde Bruder Tonou-Mbobda vor der Klinik für Psychiatrie des UKE durch Security-Mitarbeiter der Klinik Logistik & Engeneering GmbH ohne vorliegenden richterlichen Beschluss und ohne ärztliche Aufsicht brutal in Bauchlage zu Tode fixiert.

Wir gedenken an diesem bitteren Tag für die Familie, Freunde und unsere Black Community insgesamt nicht nur unserem Bruder Tonou-Mbobda, sondern sind in Gedanken insbesondere auch bei seinen Angehörigen und Hinterbliebenen.

Menschen in psychischen Krisen- und Ausnahmesituationen werden in Deutschland immer wieder Opfer struktureller Gewalt und institutioneller Diskriminierung – zu oft endet diese Gewalt tödlich und regelmäßig findet keine angemessene Aufklärung oder gar Strafverfolgung statt. Ganz im Gegenteil werden die zu beklagenden Todesopfer zuerst reflexartig als kriminelle Straftäter*innen abgestempelt und ihnen im Zuge eines strukturellen Schutzes von staatlichen oder anderweitigen Institutionen die „Schuld“ am eigenen Tod zugewiesen.

Namen wie #LaminTouray (Nienburg/Weser 2024) #MouhamedLamineDramé (Dortmund 2022) #MohamedIdrissi (Bremen 2020) #AmanAlizada (Stade 2019) #AmosThomas (Rohrbach, Bayern 2016) #ChristySchwundeck (Frankfurt/Main 2011) #DominiqueKoumadiou (Dortmund 2005) #NDeyeMareameSarr (Aschaffenburg 2001) und noch viele mehr stehen für die anhaltende tödliche Gewalt gegen ausgegrenzte Menschen in psychischen Krisen, denen nicht etwa professionelle Hilfe und Deeskalation widerfuhr, sondern eskalative Bedrohung und tödliche Gewaltanwendung.

Wenn wir am Sonntag, den 21.04.2024 zum 5. Mal den Tod von Bruder Tonou-Mbobda betrauern und ihm gedenken, protestieren wir auch gegen die strukturelle Täter-Opfer-Umkehr, Vertuschung, Kriminalisierung der Opfer und Straflosigkeit für die Täter*innen. Ein System, das nicht in der Lage zu sein scheint, aus den unprofessionellen Fehlern und fatalen Eskalationsstrategien angemessene Konsequenzen zu ziehen und Veränderungen zu bewirken, kann den Vorwurf der institutionsübergreifenden strukturellen Diskriminierung nicht ernsthaft entkräften – dann wird das nicht nur „in Kauf genommen“, sondern wird prinzipiell genau so gewollt und immer wieder praktiziert!

Wir bitten Euch zahlreich an diesem 5. Jahrestag mit uns gemeinsam vor dem Universitäts-klinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf – UKE unserem Bruder Tonou-Mbobda zu gedenken. Bitte bringt Blumen, Schilder und Grablichter mit, damit unsere Gedenkveranstaltung würdevoll und gleichzeitig informativ wirken kann.

#TouchONE_TouchALL – #NoJustice_NoPeace

#JusticeForLaminTouray, African Unity, Anti-Black Racism, Black Coalition, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Lives Matter, english, Polizeigewalt, Racist State of Law, Trauerfall

Justice for Lamin Touray: Immediate Change Demanded

BY THE BLACK COMMUNITY-COALITION FOR JUSTICE AND SELF-DEFENCE AND THE AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DESCENDANT COMMUNITIES IN GERMANY

In a profound state of shock, outrage, and grief, we, the BLACK COMMUNITY-Coalition for Justice and Self-Defence (BCCJSD), alongside the Black, African and African Descendant, Afro German, Indigenous, and POC communities in Germany, are confronted with the stark realities of systemic injustice. This has been tragically highlighted by the events leading to the death of Lamine Touray in Nienburg on March 30, 2024. In a critical moment of mental health crisis, Brother Lamine Touray encountered not the assistance his loved ones desperately sought when reaching out for emergency help but instead was met with excessive force by those called to protect and serve. Despite initial police claims, Lamine had not threatened his girlfriend with a knife — a narrative proven unequivocally false, yet utilized to justify a response so disproportionate that it resulted in eight shots being fired, leading not only to Lamine’s untimely death but also to injuries within the police ranks.

The tragic circumstances surrounding Lamine Touray’s death and the subsequent police response cast a glaring light on deep-seated issues of anti-Black racism and the pervasive, harmful stereotype of the „dangerous Black man.“ Rooted in centuries of racial bias and discrimination, this stereotype continues to endanger Black lives by influencing law enforcement’s perceptions and actions, often resulting in unnecessary and excessive use of force in situations necessitating empathy and assistance. Lamine Touray’s encounter serves as a harrowing reminder of the lethal consequences of such biases. Despite his vulnerable state and the need for mental health support, Lamine’s experience was shaped by entrenched notions of threat and criminality tied to his Black identity.

This event is not isolated but adds to a distressing pattern marked by the deaths of Mouhamed Lamine Dramé in Dortmund in August 2022, and the looming five-year commemoration of Tonou Mbobda’s death at UKE Hospital on April 21st. These incidents collectively underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reform in our approach to mental health crises and policing practices.

The profound delay in securing justice, particularly in cases involving the deaths of Black individuals in Germany, starkly embodies the principle that „justice delayed is justice denied.“ This sluggish progression in addressing and resolving such pivotal matters not only exacerbates the trauma experienced by our communities but also signals a broader systemic failure to afford Black lives equal protection and value on all executive levels. The slow response and extended investigations deepen the sense of injustice and mistrust within the African and African Descendant communities in Germany, highlighting a systemic reluctance, bias or incapacity to promptly and effectively confront the root causes and repercussions of anti-Black racism and police violence. This inaction prolongs the anguish of affected families and communities and perpetuates a cycle of trauma and fear among all Black individuals within these societies.

From repeated and consistant experiences, we fundamentally doubt the system of Police investigating Police or Prosecutions investigating themselves to challenge systemic cognitive dissonance and supremacist ideologies with the authorieties at work in the so called State of Law – where the presumption of innocence is strictly rewarded to perpetraiting officers and pre-judgments regulary allocated to the the victims of state violence and racial discrimination.

Our Unified Call for Action:

1. Comprehensive Support for Lamine Touray’s Family:

We demand immediate and comprehensive support for the family of Lamine Touray, including psychological and grief counseling, legal assistance, and financial support to cover all funeral and memorial expenses. This support should also extend to facilitating any travel and accommodation needs for family members who have come to Germany in their quest for justice and closure.

2. Correction of Misinformation:

We call for the public correction of false narratives surrounding this incident, to restore the dignity of the victim and his family.

3. Direct Dialogue with Authorities:

The family of Lamine Touray must be given opportunities for direct dialogue with investigative authorities and policymakers. This will ensure transparency, allow the family to voice their concerns and questions directly, and engage in the pursuit of justice for Lamine. It is crucial that the family’s voices are heard and respected throughout the investigation and beyond.

4. Community-Led Crisis Intervention:

We advocate for the funding and implementation of community-led programs, prioritizing the expertise of mental health professionals over police intervention in crises.

5. Comprehensive Reform and Education in Policing:

We insist on mandatory, extensive training for all police officers in de-escalation techniques, mental health awareness, and a deep dive into the historical and oppressive origins of policing, particularly its roots in colonialism and slave patrols. Recognizing and addressing this history is crucial for dismantling racial biases and reimagining a policing model that serves and protects all community members with equity and compassion.

As we navigate our collective grief, our resolve for justice, systemic change, and the eradication of racial biases within policing and crisis response systems only intensifies. The tragic killings of Lamine Touray, Mouhamed Lamine Dramé, and Tonou Mbobda are stark reminders of the deep reforms required in our policing and mental health care systems. We stand united in our call to action, seeking clarity, accountability, and justice, and insisting that dignity and humanity guide our society’s approach to the well-being of every individual.

Justice For Lamine Touray

Touch One – Touch All!

Signatories:
BCCJSD
Black Community Hamburg
ARRiVATi
Alafia
Akonda e.V.
Africa Home
Africa Survival in Hamburg
Tschobe for Freedom
Africans From Ukraine
Sisters in Struggle
Black Media Group

Uncategorized

JUSTICE FOR VALÉRIE ! – 2nd anniversary of death

Our voice against racist neglect in the German healthcare system!

Two years ago, 7-year-old Valérie Iyobor from Uelzen died of generalised sepsis following an undiagnosed ruptured appendix. Despite her urgent presentation to a paediatrician on the morning of 21 March at the MVZ am Hammersteinplatz, she died on the same day because the paediatrician there only assumed she had a banal „gastrointestinal infection“ despite her complaints of severe abdominal pain.

The paediatrician sent Valérie and her mother home with the recommendation to drink enough water and eat bananas…

In the afternoon, however, little Valérie’s condition deteriorated to such an extent that her mother had to inform the emergency services – but Valérie’s circulation collapsed on the way to the hospital and she could no longer be resuscitated.

We stand in solidarity with Valérie’s family and especially with her mother Jennifer Iyobor in demanding clarification of the circumstances that led to this tragic loss:

  • Why didn’t the paediatrician take Valérie’s complaints seriously?
  • Why did she not even consider acute appendicitis – the most common surgical disease in childhood(!)?
  • Why did she not carry out essential examinations to rule out a possible appendicitis?
  • Why did she fail to present herself immediately at the hospital for further examinations?
  • Why has she – just like the management of the MVZ, the group of companies or the

Leben leben Foundation – not contacted the family and expressed her personal sympathy to this day?

Such behaviour is part of a structural system in which mistakes are not acknowleged, compassion is not expressed personally and responsibility will not be accepted. Two weeks after the facts were published in the local press – Managing Director of the clinic (MVZ) Jörn Dieterich unconditionally backed this paediatrician and expressed his „conviction that she acted to the best of her knowledge and belief“. The foundation wrote on its homepage under „News“ on 9 April 2020 that „All our sympathy goes out to the mother and her little brother!“ – but to date has been neither willing nor able to express this personally to the family concerned or to offer condolences at the funeral. Nevertheless, at the end of the article in question and in view of the title chosen for the headline, she called for the following as a core message “Reporting“ on the company „to ensure respectful and fair treatment of all persons involved and/or affected!“ .

What happened on 21.3.22 can, according to our current state of knowledge, only be explained by the negligence of a doctor’s breach of duty of care. This doctor failed to carry out basic examinations to rule out appendicitis, such as taking the patient’s temperature or performing laboratory blood tests, and only carried out a very superficial medical history and physical examination.

Unfortunately, people of African descent are still too often confronted with indifference in dealing with their pain, illnesses and symptoms in the German healthcare system. And this indifference is also part of structural racism, which in this case is expressed through irresponsible negligence. The naming of this racism is expressly not an insinuation of a wilful intention to violate, but of negligence towards a Black family. The understanding „assumption“ that Black people are „better“ at enduring pain or that they tend to exaggerate, for example, is one such widespread prejudice. So when the managing director of the MVZ told the Allgemeine Zeitung from Uelzen on 9 April 2022 ‚personally offended‘: „I firmly reject the accusation of racism. It has always been the basic philosophy of ‚Leben leben‘ that everyone is treated equally here…“ – we can only hope that this statement of defence does not mean that all young patients are treated in the same way as Valérie!

How else could it be understood that the paediatrician simply ignored Valérie’s complaint of severe abdominal pain and her request for pain medication?

How else could one understand that a child who was still holding its stomach in pain in the waiting room and could not sit still was not examined carefully enough or referred to a hospital to clarify the cause?

Together with the family, we mourn the loss of a little daughter and a big sister for her little brother. The family’s questions about the „why“ have still not been answered. Despite the availability of the autopsy report and a multi-part expert report, the public prosecutor’s office in Lüneburg has still not brought forward any charges. 2 years and ongoing „investigations“ in a case in which all the necessary evidence has long since been established and the paediatrician is continuing to examine and treat young patients in the meantime without having justified herself?

The slowness of these investigations is also incomprehensible in view of the statistics currently available on the duration of preliminary proceedings at the public prosecutor’s offices in 2022 – 98% of these were completed after 1 year and 99.8% after 2 years. This also raises the question as to which factors should justify the fact that the investigation proceedings have still not been concluded in this clear case?

We have not and will not simply forget Valérie’s death – and that we do not do so also means that we want to ensure that her avoidable death is at least clarified quickly and then taken seriously!

We owe it to Valérie!

JUSTICE FOR VALÉRIE

TOUCH ONE ! – TOUCH ALL!

RALLY in Uelzen on Thursday, 21.03.2024 2 – 5 PM MVZ am Hammersteinplatz (Ripdorfer Straße 3-5, 29525 Uelzen)

https://www.facebook.com/events/354713660904042

#JusticeForMouhamed, African Unity, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, Demonstration, deutsch, politisch, Polizeigewalt, Pressemitteilung, Racist State of Law, Trauerfall

Stellungnahme Mouhamed Lamin Dramé

Stellungnahme

Mouhamed Lamin Dramé

– mit Tränengas und Taser gefoltert und dann von der Dortmunder Polizei erschossen

Der 16-jährige Mouhamed Lamin Dramé war ein unbegleiteter minderjähriger Geflüchteter aus dem Senegal und am 8. August 2022 in einer so außergewöhnlichen Krisensituation, dass er drohte, sich selbst zu verletzen oder gar zu töten. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt befand er sich in einer stationären Unterbringung in einer Jugendwohngruppe der St. Elisabeth Jugendhilfe an der St. Antonius Kirche in der Dortmunder Nordstadt. Kurz zuvor war er auf eigenen Wunsch wegen psychischer Probleme in einer psychiatrischen Klinik behandelt worden und äußerte sowohl gegenüber seinen Betreuern als auch gegenüber den herbeigerufenen Polizeibeamten seine Suizidabsichten. Er verstand nur wenig oder gar kein Deutsch. Seine Muttersprachen waren Wolof und Französisch.

Wir fragen uns also: Wie und in welcher Sprache hat die Polizei eigentlich kommuniziert, um ihn zu beruhigen und seinen Selbstmord zu verhindern?

Mouhamed starb in einem Kugelhagel aus einer Maschinenpistole. Der Schrecken über den Tod eines so jungen Menschen sollte eigentlich die nationalen Schlagzeilen beherrschen, doch ein Großteil der Reaktionen erscheint eher als „Debatte“ oder Rechtfertigung für die Anwendung tödlicher Gewalt, weil Mouhamed ja ein Messer in der Hand gehalten hat.

Wir verurteilen die allgemeine Medienberichterstattung, die den Ablauf der Ereignisse so verzerrt, als ob die Polizeibeamten Mouhamed als letztmögliches Mittel erschießen „mussten“, weil der Einsatz von Reizgas und Tasern „ihn nicht beruhigen konnten“.

Warum gehörten zu den Einsatzkräften in einer suizidalen Krise keine psychologischen oder psychiatrischen Fachkräfte, oder warum warteten die Polizeibeamten nicht auf solche medizinischen Fachkräfte, die sich angemessen um Mouhamed hätten kümmern können, sondern griffen gleich selbst und im ersten Schritt übertrieben gewalttätig ein, wodurch eine ohnehin schon bestehende Krisensituation noch weiter unprofessionell eskaliert wurde?

Wie können Polizeibeamte ernsthaft „versuchen“ wollen, einen Selbstmord mittels eines chemischen Kampfstoffes („Tränengas“) und einer Elektroimpulswaffe (Taser) zu „verhindern“ und „die Lage zu beruhigen“?

Welche Kompetenzen haben eigentlich Polizeibeamt*innen, die in erster Linie für den Umgang mit Patienten in psychisch kritischen Situationen eingesetzt werden? Ist deren so genannte Amtshilfe eine Lizenz zum gewaltsamen Einschreiten oder gar eine Lizenz zum Töten?

Jede*r Mediziner*in würde für fehlerhafte tödliche Behandlungen von Patient*innen zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden – Polizist*innen jedoch haben eine uneingeschränkte Lizenz zum Verletzen und Töten, sanktioniert durch die staatlichen Behörden und Institutionen, durch Politiker*innen sowie die von den Medien einseitig erzeugte öffentliche Meinung. Es fehlt dabei jede kritische Bewertung von fehlender Kompetenz und Erfahrung sowie jede Verantwortlichkeit und Rechenschaftspflicht. Während „Spekulationen“ über bekannte Tatsachen moralisch und rechtlich „verboten“ seien, gehört die voreingenommene und unreflektierte Konstruktion von angeblichen „Notwehrsituationen“ zur Normalität des öffentlichen Mediendiskurses über polizeiliche Tötungen und deren juristische Aufarbeitung.

Die Anwendung von Gewalt gegen Kinder, Jugendliche und schutzbedürftige Menschen ist jedoch immer ein menschenverachtendes Problem und kann nie und unter keinen Umständen als irgendwie zielführende „Lösung“ angenommen werden!

Unzählige Fälle von Polizeigewalt, rassistisch motivierten Aggressionen und extralegalen Tötungen schutzbedürftiger Menschen durch im Umgang mit psychischen Krisensituationen unzureichend geschulte Polizeibeamte sind ein leider nur allzu bekanntes Phänomen – doch Lernprozesse oder gar eine Fehlerkultur lässt sich in den Behörden leider nirgendwo erkennen. Eher im Gegenteil: der Status Quo ist garantierte Straffreiheit durch alle verfügbaren Mittel und Manipulationen.

Während wir den Verlust von Mouhamed betrauern, teilen wir gleichzeitig auch noch die Trauer, den Schmerz, die Wut und den Kummer über weitere Morde in der jüngsten Vergangenheit:

  1. August – ein 23-jähriger Schwarzer Mann aus Somalia wurde in den frühen Morgenstunden von der Polizei in Frankfurt durch einen Kopfschuss hingerichtet
  2. August – der 48-jährige Jozef Berditchevski, ein stadtbekannter Straßenmusiker russischer Nationalität, wurde in seiner Wohnung von 2 Kölner Zivilpolizisten bei einer Zwangsräumung erschossen
  3. August – ein 39-jähriger Mann in einem offensichtlich psychotischen Zustand wurde von der Polizei Recklinghausen nach Pfeffersprayeinsatz zu Tode fixiert.

Und wir betrauern natürlich auch die vielen schon vorher begangenen Morde an

Kamal Ibrahim – am 3. Oktober 2021 von der Polizei Stade erschossen – 13 Schüsse

Omar K. – erschossen am 28. Mai 2021 von der Hamburger Polizei – 7 Schüsse

Mohamed Idrissi – erschossen am 18. Juni 2020 von der Bremer Polizei – 2 Schüsse

Aman Alizada – erschossen am 17. August 2019 von der Polizei Stade – 5 Schüsse

Adel B. – erschossen am 18. Juni 2019 durch die Polizei Essen – 1 Schuss (durch eine Tür)

Matiullah Jabarkhil – am 13. April 2018 von der Polizei in Fulda erschossen – 12 Schüsse

Diese Liste bedeutet ausdrücklich nicht, dass deutsche Polizeibeamte keine Weißen Menschen in psychischen Krisensituationen erschießen oder anderweitig töten würden – aber sie verdeutlicht eindrücklich, dass die unangemessene und kontraproduktive Exekutionen von verletzlichen Schwarzen Menschen und People of Colour in Krisensituationen durch die Polizei keinerlei rechtliche oder andere institutionelle Konsequenzen haben.

Kein einziger dieser Fälle führte zu strafrechtlichen Anklagen oder auch nur zu einer Disziplinarstrafe für die Beamten. Um künftige Gewaltanwendung zu verhindern und das Vertrauen der Community zu stärken, muss zukünftig Rechenschaft abgelegt werden.

Wir verstehen all diese Fälle als Fälle rassistischer Ungleichbehandlung und rassisch motivierter Brutalität, die tief in unserer institutionellen und systemischen Unterdrückung verwurzelt sind.

Wir verstehen den historischen Kontext und verurteilen die systemische Legalisierung der Entmenschlichung Schwarzen Lebens in deutschen Gesetzen, der deutschen Verwaltung, den deutschen Medien und allgemeinen gesellschaftlichen Praktiken und Verhaltensweisen.

Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass der Tod des 16-jährigen Mouhamed Lamin Dramé umsonst gewesen ist.

Seine Ermordung ist eine ernüchternde Erinnerung an die Notwendigkeit, wieder einmal für den Wert des Schwarzen Lebens in diesem Land kämpfen zu müssen, in dem ein Schwarzes Kind in einer psychischen Krise ungestraft gequält und ermordet werden kann.

Die BLACK COMMUNITY COALITION OF JUSTICE & SELF-DEFENCE fordert alle couragierten zivilgesellschaftlichen Initiativen und Organisationen auf, schnell und konsequent zu intervenieren, um den Mord an Mouhamed rückhaltlos aufzuklären und seiner trauernden Familie Gerechtigkeit widerfahren zu lassen.

Formal fordern wir auch eine gründliche und umfassende Aufarbeitung durch den deutschen Rechtsstaat, wohl wissend, dass wir bisher in allen derartigen Fällen immer wieder schmerzhafte Erfahrungen mit systematischer Rechtsbeugung und Vertuschung machen mussten.

TOUCH ONE  –  TOUCH ALL

#JusticeForMouhamed, African Unity, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, Demonstration, english, politisch, Polizeigewalt, Pressemitteilung, Trauerfall

Statement Mouhamed Lamin Dramé

Mouhamed Lamin Dramé

– tortured with tear gas and Taser then shot to death by Dortmund police

The 16-year-old Mouhamed Lamin Dramé was an unaccompanied refugee from Senegal and on August 8, 2022 in such an extraordinary crisis situation, that he threatened to harm or even kill himself. At that time, he was in an inpatient placement in a youth residential group of the St. Elisabeth Youth Welfare Service at St. Antonius Church in Dortmund Nordstadt. A short time before, he had been treated at his own request for mental problems in a psychiatric clinic and expressed his suicidal intentions both to his caregivers and to the police officers called. He understood little or no German. His mother tongues were Wolof and French.

So we ask ourselves: How and in which language did the police actually communicate to calm him down in order to prevent suicide?

Mouhamed died in a hail of bullets from a submachine gun. The horror of the taking of such a young life should be dominating national headlines, yet, much of the reaction seems to be a “debate” or justification about the use of deadly force given that Mouhamed was holding a knife.

We condemn the general media narrative which distorts the course of events as if the police officers „had“ to shoot Mouhamed as a last resort, because the use of irritant spray gas and Tasers had „failed to calm him down“.

Why did the team of responders in a suicidal crisis not include mental health professionals or why did the police officers not wait for medical professionals to take adequate care but intervened excessively violent in the first step, unprofessionally escalating an already existing crisis situation?

How can police officers seriously „try“ to „prevent“ a suicide by means of a chemical warfare agent („tear gas“) and an electric pulse weapon (Taser)?

What are the competencies of police officers who are primarily called to deal with patients in psychologically critical situations? Is so called administrative assistance a license to violently intervene or moreover a license to kill?

Every medical doctor* would be held accountable for wrongful fatal treatments of patients – police officers, however, have an unconditional license to harm and kill, sanctioned by the state authorities and politicians as well as media made public opinion, without regard to their lack of competence and expertise or any accountability. While „speculations“ about known facts are morally and legally „forbidden“, the prejudiced and immediate construction of „self-defense situations“ is a routine normality in the public media discourse of police killings and its juridical persecution.

However, the use of violence against children, adolescents and people in need of protection is always an inhuman problem and can never and under no circumstances be assumed a goal-oriented „solution“!

Countless cases of police violence, race-related aggression and extralegal killings of vulnerable people by police officers, who have insufficient training/expertise in handling psychological crisis situations, are an unfortunately all too familiar phenomenon – yet learning processes or even error culture in the authorities are nowhere to be recognized. Rather the contrary is the status quo: impunity by all means providable.

As we grieve the loss of Mouhamed, we share in the grief, pain, rage, and sorrow of the recent killings of

August 2nd – a 23 year old Black man from Somalia was executed by a shot in his head in the early morning hours by police in Frankfurt

August 3rd – 48 year old Jozef Berditchevski, a street musician of Russian nationality was killed in his flat by 2 Köln civil police officers

August 7th – a 39 year old man in an obviously psychotic state of mind was killed by the police in Recklinghausen.

We also mourn the past killings of

Kamal Ibrahim – shot dead on October 3, 2021 by Stade police – 3 shots fired

Omar K. – shot on May 28, 2021 by Hamburg police – 7 shots fired

Mohamed Idrissi – shot on June 18, 2020 by Bremen police – 2 shots fired

Aman Alizada – shot on August 17, 2019 by Stade police – 5 shots

Adel B. – shot dead on June 18, 2019 by Essen police – 1 shot (through a door)

Matiullah Jabarkhil – shot dead by Fulda police on April 13, 2018 – 12 shots fired.

This list explicitly does not mean that German police officers do not shoot or otherwise kill White people in psychological crisis situations – but it illustrates that the inappropriate and counterproductive execution of vulnerable Black and People of Colour in crisis situations by police has no legal or institutional consequences.

Not a single one of these cases resulted in criminal charges or even officer discipline. Accountability is needed to deter future use of force and build community trust

We do understand all these cases as instances of racial health inequality and race-related brutality which is deeply rooted in institutional and systemic oppression.

We understand the historical context and condemn the systemic legalization of the dehumanization of Black lives in German Laws, German Administration, Media and societal practices.

 

We will not allow the death of 16year old Mouhamed Lamin Dramé to be in vain.

His killing is a sober reminder of the need, once again, to fight for the value of Black life in this country where a Black child in a mental crisis can be assassinated in impunity.

 

The BLACK COMMUNITY COALITION Of JUSTICE & SELF-DEFENCE calls on all courageous civil society initiatives and organisations to act swiftly and thoroughly to investigate and clarify the murder of Mouhamed as to bring justice for his grieving family.

Formally we demand thorough and comprehensive procedures by the German state of law well aware of our lived experiences of legal bias and cover up in all such cases ever since.

TOUCH ONE  –  TOUCH ALL

#AfricansFromUA, African Unity, Aktion, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, Demonstration, english, EUROPEAN DAYS OF SOLIDARITY WITH ALL REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE, politisch, Termine, Ukraine Krieg, Veranstaltungen

World Refugge Day 2022 – Demonstration for Equality of Treatment

 
On this year’s World Refugee Day on June 20, we want to show solidarity especially with African and international refugees that fled the war in Ukraine and are being discriminated against on racial, ethnical or national grounds. They are refugees of the same war, have suffered the same trauma of war and flight from war, had to leave behind their valuables and belongings, their normal lives and achievements – but are treated differently through discrimination and exclusion from temporary protection.
 
We want to advocate for the right to equal treatment of ALL refugees of ALL wars or due to ALL other valid reasons to flee once country of living.
 
Pls read the Statement of the self-organized Refugee group “Africans From Ukraine” here: https://blackcommunityhamburg.blackblogs.org/2022/03/29/statement-africansfromua-on-equal-treatment/
 

Continue reading World Refugge Day 2022 – Demonstration for Equality of Treatment →

#AfricansFromUA, African Unity, Aktion, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Lives Matter, english, Organisational, politisch, Pressemitteilung, Ukraine Krieg

Statement #AfricansFromUA on Equal Treatment

WE ARE AFRICAN AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND REFUGEES OF THE UKRAINE WAR

Like millions of Ukrainian citizens we were forced to flee for our lives due to the war in Ukraine since February 2022 – we are refugees of this war and had to leave behind our belongings, our houses and flats, our studies and other ways of peaceful living in Ukraine as well as our investments in and fees for our future education and perspectives – some of us were separated from friends and loved ones and some even had to witness them being killed violently …

Unlike those millions of Ukrainian citizens many of us have been discriminated against all the flight way long – we have been excluded and even forced out of public transportation, we have been picked up and set out in remote forests, we have been held back at the borders from leaving the war-torn country without shelter from freezing temperatures, some of us have been dying unprotected from the cold at night and day, we were immediately told at the EU borders to return back to our respective countries of origin without regard to given situations and without access to refugee protection measures …

The EU-Council was very fast to announce that Ukrainian citizens will be granted unequivocal protection inside EU territories including unconditional access to social and medical care, work and education under temporary protection for refugees of war. Later on the same EU-Council even went on to announce that „ALL PEOPLE, who are fleeing war will be granted protection from and access to the EU, health, education, labor and residence – regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or skin color“ …

Despite this actually unambiguous statement, there were immediate exclusions from exactly this unconditional protection status for refugees of war, formulated along exactly those lines of nationality, ethnicity and skin color from the very same speakers of the EU-Council for those refugees of war who do not hold Ukrainian citizenship otherwise a Ukrainian permanent residence or have spouses of one of the 2 first categories …

What we demand:

According to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the European Convention on Human Rights and other subsequent international treaties, declarations, codes and programs of action that EU countries are party in

WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE PROTECTION AND EQUALITY OF TREATMENT!

We appeal to the German government that the unprecedented decision to grant immediate temporary protection to ALL those who call Ukraine their home is now being translated into a practice of equality.

For all of us Ukraine has been our home and the center of our lives.

All of us have invested substantial funds and efforts as to enable their studies or respective ways of life in Ukraine and all of us had to leave behind considerable belongings, properties and deposits in uncertainty of probable loss or destruction by bombing, looting or to state of emergency laws. Also from that point of view we are in no way different from other refugees of the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

How do we feel?

After walking for days on end and having to experience segregation, racism, hunger, abuse and violence at the borders as well as separation from families and loved ones, with parents and little children being affected and exposed to harsh weather conditions and the experiences of destruction of documents, financial losses, educational losses, we now face burdensome uncertainty about our future. We are afraid and have anxiety. The trauma haunts us all. Some of us have problems sleeping, some of us have flash backs or strong reactions to unexpected noises. The war has affected us all. We do not know how our future will be. We start to wonder if we should go to another country …

We do not know if we will ever be accepted here …

Should we go or should we stay …

We arrived in Germany to again face unequal treatment based on our nationality, ethnicity and skin color as compared to people of Ukrainian citizenship, who were treated warmly and differently. While the German Minister Interior stated on March 3, 2022 “Third-country nationals who have been living in Ukraine with a regular residence status are also not required to go through an asylum procedure”, the German directive on how to address our specific situation of March 4, 2022 even falls short of the EU operational guidelines to the Temporary Protection under Article 5 of the EU Council Directive 2001/55 by excluding various groups of Ukrainian residence holders from temporary protection under section 24 of the German Residence Act, who would lose their actual accomplishments and their future by “going back to ‘their’ countries”, which they have left for still unchanged true reasons.

We need temporary protection and clarity now!

We Africans and other non-European nationals from Ukraine are neither responsible for nor part of the ongoing geo-political war but equivalently afflicted. We got into the same situation of war – both NON EUROPEAN CITIZENS & UKRAINIANS alike – and we should be given the same rights and treatment because none of us planned this war and the impact and trauma affects all of us. Bombs and bullets do not discriminate amongst their victims! And thus protection should be the same for all of those who had and lost their homes in Ukraine when war broke out. Many of our friends or international student colleagues have even met the dramatic decision to rather stay back in war-torn Ukraine than to flee to EU countries that refuse to provide protection for them.

Non-Ukrainian nationals from the war in Ukraine arriving in Germany have been facing very different terms of treatment – both in different federal states and cities but also within the very same city throughout time and different facilities. While some received so called “Fictitious Certificates” for 1 year without further procedures others were pressurized to submit an asylum application with their finger prints registered and passports seized. Again others were given a so called “Duldung” including the threat of deportation.

We call for immediate and unobstructed Temporary Protection, including the Right to Study, the Right to Work and equivalent access to social benefits i.e. accommodation, finances, medical care and social welfare as Ukrainian refugees of war. Those of us that have been forced to apply for asylum due to lack of information and administrative inconsistencies should have the asylum application withdrawn and given back their passports.

We ask to be given valid and consistent information for clarity.

Germany should take an example from other EU countries that offer protection and opportunities for studies to ALL. It is basically a shame to Germany for stepping back in regard to its responsibilities.

EQUALITY IS A UNIVERSAL RIGHT – NOT A PRIVILEGE TO SELECT!

EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT – NOT PRIVILEGE BY CHOICE!

Contact #AfricansFromUA c/o ARRiVATi – Community Care Network – mailto:info@arivati.de

Speakers:

Sister Omwenga +4915216149012

Brother Enyia +4915781315784

African Unity, Aktion, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Demonstration, deutsch, politisch, Polizeigewalt, rechtlich, Solidarisch mit..., Termine

Repressive Strafverfolgung von Sista Oloruntoyin wegen des #BlackLivesMatter-Protests vor dem US-Konsulat am 5. Juni 2020

Liebe Grüße an alle,

wir möchten Euch darüber informieren, dass ein Strafverfahren gegen Sista Oloruntoyin von der Black Community Coalition of Justice & Self-Defence

am 03. Februar 2022, um 09:00 Uhr,

im Gerichtssaal 176

Amtsgericht Hamburg stattfinden wird

(Strafjustizgebäude/Criminal Justice Building, Sievekingplatz 3)
Sista Oloruntoyin (LaToya Manly-Spain) muss sich wegen des Vorwurfs der „Abhaltung einer verbotenen oder nicht angemeldeten Kundgebung und Demonstration trotz Verbots oder polizeilicher Aufforderung zur Auflösung nach § 26 Versammlungsgesetz“ verantworten. Am 5. Juni 2020 versammelten sich rund 5000 Demonstranten aus Solidarität vor dem US-Konsulat in Hamburg, um ein starkes Signal in die Welt zu senden. Wir sehen die juristische Kriminalisierung von Sista Oloruntoyin als einen Angriff auf die Schwarze Community in Hamburg und alle Protestierenden. Wir rufen alle zivilgesellschaftlichen Gruppen und Organisationen zur aktiven Unterstützung und Solidarität auf.

Continue reading Repressive Strafverfolgung von Sista Oloruntoyin wegen des #BlackLivesMatter-Protests vor dem US-Konsulat am 5. Juni 2020 →

African Unity, Aktion, Black Community Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, Black Community Hamburg, Black Lives Matter, english, Polizeigewalt, Racist State of Law, Repression, Solidarisch mit...

Repressive prosecution of Sista Oloruntoyin for the #BlackLivesMatter protest in front of the U.S. Consulate on June 5, 2020

Greetings Dear All,

This is to inform that there will be a criminal court case against Sista Oloruntoyin of the Black Community Coalition of Justice & Self-Defence

on 03. February 2022, at 09:00 am,

at courtroom 176

Amtsgericht Hamburg

(Strafjustizgebäude/Criminal Justice Building, Sievekingplatz 3)

Sista Oloruntoyin (LaToya Manly-Spain) faces criminal charges for allegedly “holding a prohibited or unregistered manifestation and rally in spite of ban or police order to disperse in accordance with Paragraph 26 of the law on assemblies”. About 5000 protesters joined in solidarity to send a strong signal across the globe. We are seeing this juridical criminalisation of Sista Oloruntoyin as an attack on the Black Community in Hamburg and all protesters. We call on all civil society groups and organisations to come out in active support and solidarity.

Continue reading Repressive prosecution of Sista Oloruntoyin for the #BlackLivesMatter protest in front of the U.S. Consulate on June 5, 2020 →