05 January 2008 - Memorial Conference in Berlin for the victims of racist police violence; 4 p.m., Mehringhof, Gneisenaustr. 2a, U6/U7 Mehringdamm

07 January 2008 - Demonstration in Dessau for the 3rd anniversary of Oury Jalloh’s murder, 1 p.m. Mainstation

NO ONE WILL BE FORGOTTEN!
FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPARATIONS!

Three years have now gone by since the German police murdered two Black-Africans. On the 7th of January, 2005, Oury Jalloh and Layé Konde were killed by the police. One may ask the question, what crime might they have committed? The answer: fulfilling the image of an enemy to this society being seen as both Black and foreign.”

Like Oury Jalloh, Layé Konde, too, was forced to flee from his home in Guinea to seek refuge in Sierra Leone, before the war in the West African country once again converted both Oury and Layé into refugees for a second time. Both Oury and Layé found their way to Europe to Germany where they hoped for a life in dignity.

But what they found here was not paradise but rather hell on Earth: police controls based on the color of their skin, a society that despises and rejects them, laws that completely restrict their freedom of movement to just a few kilometers, the permanent threat of deportation and all types of racist attacks all formed part of their everyday reality that is until they were murdered.

But Oury and Layé were neither the first nor the last human beings who had their lives stolen away from them because of where they come from or the color of their skin. On April 14, 2006, for instance, with shots to the leg and directly to the heart, a police officer in the city of Dortmund shot and killed the 21 year-old Congolese Dominique Koumadio. They apparently found him dangerous because of the color of his skin. Another refugee, the 23 year-old Mohammed Selah, lost his life on January 14, 2007 in Remscheid, because the responsible authorities denied him the necessary medical treatment.

As almost always is the case in such tragedies, the truth is twisted and buried, justice is postponed indefinitely and inevitably denied, and evidence is falsified and “disappears.” Moreover, those who engage themselves in the struggle for truth and justice are the victims of character assassination and are also persecuted.

The case of Oury Jalloh has been no different. Nevertheless, one major aspect makes the case of Oury Jalloh stand out from the many, many others: thanks to the active engagement of a large number of people from throughout Germany—but first and foremost the refugees of Dessau themselves—the case of Oury Jalloh has not simply been forgotten and converted into just another number to be archived in some bureaucratic shelf.

In other words, contrary to what they might have expected, Oury Jalloh was not just another Black whose life was stolen away from him. In part, this is because the struggle of so many people made it possible that court proceedings were opened up against two police officers. Moreover, thanks to numerous demonstrations and memorial events, the brutality of his murder was made known all over the world.

Justice Denied

Nevertheless, as we have seen over and over again since court proceedings were opened in March of 2007, a public trial against the accused police officers does as much to uncover the truth surrounding Oury’s death as does the legal system serve justice. In other words, the tactics used by the authorities since Oury’s murder on January 7, 2005, have continued unabated: arrogance, cover-up, endless postponement and lie after lie after lie without exception. And as if it weren’t enough that one witness after the other lies, blocks and covers up the truth, psychical evidence disappears in the hands of the police.

Yet there is more to this embarrassing show trial. The truth has been completely banned from the entire process altogether. This is not only because the police called by the court are consciously making a mockery of their obligation as witnesses to tell the truth, but primarily because racism and all circumstances relating to racism have absolutely no relevance for the High Court of Dessau.

Like the personal background of the principal accused, the racist comments made by the aforementioned Andreas Schubert to Dr. Bloedau, who took Oury Jalloh’s blood, have no importance for the court whatsoever. We shouldn’t forget that it was under the “supervision” of Andreas Schubert that the homeless man Mario Bichtermann lost his life in the same cell in which Oury Jalloh was murdered (the pre-investigations were closed without Andreas Schubert even having to respond for his actions). But in the case of Oury Jalloh, the court is indeed very interested in knowing how violent he was, how much he drank, if he was depressive, etc., etc. Yet on the other hand, the court also has no interest in examining the relationship in the city of Dessau between the police and those people from other continents who have been forced to live in the city due to the racist laws which restrict their movements. As such, the court also completely excludes the brutality, humiliations and racist repugnance the police have for migrants in general and Black-Africans in particular, all of whom are stigmatized, excluded and criminalized on a daily basis.

The Criminalization of a Human Being

The persecution suffered by Oury’s friend and representative of the Jalloh family, Mouctar Bah, an activist and founder of the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh sheds much light on the type of scandalously negative image which exists of Blacks. Mouctar Bah has successfully run a Telecafé in Dessau for four years now. His Telecafé in Dessau quickly turned into the only place in the entire region where migrants and particularly Black-Africans surrounded by a racist and unfriendly environment could have a place to even breathe a little and feel a bit more secure. Yet (or better yet, therefore) the authorities took away his commercial license in 2006. As a result, Mouctar was forced to turn his store over to a German. The reason? The authorities had decided that Mouctar had not done enough to prevent drugs being sold… on the street. All other shops and institutions located on this street did not even receive a warning.

Now, over one year later, according to the law Mouctar has a right to recuperate his commercial license. Nevertheless, the prohibition imposed by the city of Dessau that Mouctar no longer carry out commercial activities in the city was upheld. The reason? Put briefly: The Telecafé is primarily frequented by Black-Africans who go back and forth to the Telecafé on foot or on bicycle more than once a day (according to the city of Dessau, a clear sign they are dealing drugs). Moreover, according to the city of Dessau, they, the Black-Africans, are loud, urinate on the houses, use the street as a waste bin, are violent and, by frequenting Mouctar’s Telecafé in the city of Dessau located outside of their assigned districts, violate the laws restricting refugees’ freedom of movement.

As for Mouctar, who has twice been attacked by a known right-wing extremist (the same person who repeatedly calls the police because of noise, trash, urinating, etc.) in relation to the case of Oury Jalloh, the city of Dessau has the following words to say: A behavior which makes repeated police investigations necessary leads us to conclude independently of the results of the investigations that you are a person with serious deficiencies of character who obviously does not accept the societal norms of living together or the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Several neighbors, whom the city of Dessau cites to sustain their racist arguments, even wrote in a letter to the city administration that drug trafficking is predestined to take place when a Black-African is given permission to open such a shop.

Of Banana Republics and Show Trials

Confronted with the constant and obvious lies of the Dessau police, in a very theatrical gesture Judge Steinhoff of the High Court of Dessau slammed his fist on the table and warned that Germany is no banana republic where police can simply unashamedly lie before the court, as they have been doing since March of this year. Nevertheless, since that time until today nothing has changed, and thanks to Judge Steinhoff the truth has been completely banned from the court proceedings. As it looks now, there is no hope that the trial will result in neither truth nor justice for the Jalloh family. Just as in the so-called banana republics, in which the impunity of the powerful is the norm and the people’s right to live has been and remains permanently banned, where people have no protection from the law and its enforcers but can only fear them, we can clearly see in the city of Dessau, in Germany as a whole and even Europe how precisely this system is the norm rather than the exception.

Nevertheless, such horrendous systems and their executioners can only survive so long as the people do not find the courage to stand up with pride, dignity and without fear of their brutality and look directly in the eyes of those who perpetuate it.

Three years have now gone by since Oury and Layé lost their lives. Much has happened in this time. It would have been easy to give up, to remain silent, to wait for the court decision, to avoid the use of the word murder and much more. But we have refused to desist. We have refused because we are standing up side by side, one for the other; because this barbarity must be put to an end so that it does not continue as his has until now, from one generation to the next.

That’s why we have risen up. That’s why we will continue with our struggle until the very end.

We’re still here, we’re still furious and we still cry out:

BREAK THE SILENCE!

FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPARATIONS!

We call on all to participate in our activities from the 5th to the 7th of January, 2008, in Berlin and in Dessau. Come and mobilize your friends and acquaintances. Let’s show those who brutalize us that we stand together, and that an attack against one is an attack against all of us.

For more information please contact:

Yufanyi Mbolo
+49-170-8788124

http://initiativeouryjalloh.wordpress.com/

http://thevoiceforum.org

http://thecaravan.org

E-Mail: initiative-ouryjalloh@so36.net

Regina Kiwanuka Report On Dessau Demonstration 23.06.2007

2nd report

NATIONWIDE VOICE FOR DEFENCE ON THE ATTACK TO HUMANITY 27 June 2007

********

Foto and Video

REMEMBERANCE FOR OURY JALLOH

Regina Kiwanuka Report On Dessau Demonstration - Part 1
23.06.2007

The Demonstration that moved Dessau Protesting the injustice that has consistently befallen the African people over the centuries

The tears of more than 150 people over the terrifying death of Oury Jalloh poured in the city of Dessau on Saturday 23 June 2007 when heavy rains and thunder joined in the struggle to demand justice for the black man.>>>>>

At exactly 14hrs people from different cities in Germany and of different nationalities gathered at the front of the main train station in Dessau to once again protest against the appalling events surrounding Oury Jalloh's untimely shocking death.

Oury Jalloh a 23year old young man from Sierra Leone died on 7 January 2005 in a police cell in the basement in Dessau, following his unnecessary brutal arrest by two police officers Mr. Schneider and Mr. Maerz. Reason for his arrest?? Identity verification. In spite of the fact that the police were aware of Mr. Jalloh's valid and legal status here in Germany. He was nevertheless forced into the police car by officer Schneider who illustrated the events of that fateful arrest in court during the week of 27 March 2007, and that was the last interaction for Oury Jalloh with the outside world . Undressed of all Human Rights and dignity, Jalloh was handcuffed and forcefully ushered into the deadly police station and mercilessly delivered to the police chief Mr. Schubert.

Mr. Schubert in turn racially mocked and rebuked Oury Jalloh's status on the telephone with Dr. Bloedau following Dr. Bloedau's complaints of difficulties in tracing veins from the black skin, having been requested to check Jalloh's medical status by the police. Mr. Schubert's mocking advice to Dr. Bloedau was to "carry along a tube" with jeering laughter at the black African as he was termed.

In his opening remarks and details that moved the crowd, Mr. Yufanyi Mbolo began with the agonies and challenges that surrounded the predicament of Jalloh's death. He reminded everyone that on the oders of Dr. Bloedau, Oury Jalloh was tightly fixed on a fireproof mattress on the floor heavily chained both at his hands and feet and then blazenly and heartlessly burned to death in the custody of the police officers.

He continued with how the death procedure was reiterated in court that week of 27 March 2007 by the two officers M and Schn. who were responsible for Oury Jalloh's arrest, conducted the grievous bodily harm of tightening his body in a constrained and despicable manner, then left him in the basement for dead.

Mr. Yufanyi continued that a person heavily chained to that extent and the police's intentions to fool the world into a suicidal death, because Oury Jalloh can no longer speak for himself is abominable, vehemently disputed by the African community, the Human Rights activists and all members of the community who hold the well being of humanity at heart. And the sole reason for today's demonstration.

He continued that many of us have witnessed the Oury Jalloh's process in the Honourable court in Dessau and we have seen how the case is being run off - course by the Honourable court criminalizing Oury Jalloh as unfit in society, in the eyes of the press, the various organisations that attended court, his friends and sympathisers and in particular his mother and brother who travelled all the way from Guinea to witness the horrible events that stole their loved one and a born and bred African national.

The fact that all police officers obstructed justice in court by denying events, dates and crucial details in respect with the case, conferring with one another in the course of the trial and trying to unsuccessfully cover it up, and that the Honourable court seems to follow suit by tolerating the lies, the contortion and destruction of the police is representation that the judicial is not independent. And that if we do not come out stronger each day and portray the whole controversial suspected murder of one of our own to the whole world, the whole incident might just be turned into a family feud right under our noses and we shall be faced with worse grievous challenges in future as a black people in the Diaspora and at home.

Yufanyi reiterated that we are all Oury Jalloh, let not any one of us make a mistake to identify him or herself as an individual in the eyes of these people. To them we are like flies one can never differentiate a female from a male. So whichever land that you may belong to in our dear African continent, here we are one and the same,

Oury Jalloh is us and we are Oury Jalloh.

With that in mind Yufanyi maintained that we should not only look at it as a demonstration event in Dessau, rather wherever you live in Germany continue to declare and pronounce the facts surrounding Oury Jalloh's terrifying death and the course the court is embarked on to see to the freedom of its people when we are always left for dead, criminalised and grievously punished with severe penalties no matter how insignificant the impact of the offence. And that Dr. Bloedau should never be let off scot free. A person who has practised medicine for years and has vowed to save lives rather on this occasion gave a directive for Oury Jalloh's fixation and detention. Whether it was a conspiracy with the police, Dr. Bloedau must be brought to justice, if not, let us fight to bring justice to him.

With those words the procession began its journey once again marching steadily through the now infamous city of Dessau. People from Bochum, Jena, Frankfurt, Goettingen, Berlin, Billefeld, Nuremberg, Duesseldorf, Dortmund and many more continued pouring in and no sooner did the March begin than the massive rains that powered immediately accompanied by heavy rocking winds as if to blow off the ghastly uncleansed airs of injustice surrounding the city of Dessau.

Tears of sorrow and torture of the African people continued pouring when the people braved the heavy rains and continued with the slogan of "Oury Jalloh -- Das was Mord, Oury Jalloh -- Das war Mord" ( "Oury Jalloh -- that was murder") over and over again, oblivious to the deep paddles that formed all over the streets right straight into their shoes, oblivious to the body soaking cold and uninterrupted waters falling from above. As if a humongous tap was continuously opened in anger and in determination to portray and protest against the injustice that has befallen the black people since Africa was invaded many centuries back.

The procession continued once again to where Alberto Adriano met his fateful end, beaten to death by racist extremists in the centre of Dessau where people held a one minute silence and sung in remembrance of another innocent brother whose only crime like all the others was the colour of his skin.

The microphone never rested in spite of the heavy pouring waters people continued to proclaim the obstruction of justice, the conspiracy surrounding the deaths of Africans in Germany. They continued that no matter the viciousness and the continuation of the modernised slave trade and modernised colonialism of the determined aggressors, the African community vowed that it is equally to the task of defending and fighting for its existence and the freedom of the mother continent AFRICA.

We reject to continue living in deception of the organised international community disguised in terms of global funding as in development Aid handed down to the African dictators who in turn transform its peoples into refugees all over the world. Only to get burned alive in the basement in police cells in Dessau, shot at point blank by the same police officers of the aggressors in the middle of the streets as Dominique Koumadio in Dortmund, discriminated against to meet their fateful deaths in various ways under the hands of the people alleging development Aid which in reality is advanced or modernised colonialism.

The procession continued without much threatening incidents from the Dessau residents or the police though some people raised their windows shut, others waved the German flag through their windows in retaliation, portraying ignorance and lack of knowledge that it is indeed the aggressors who invaded Africa and triggered the dispersion of the African peopel from its peaceful mother continent.

The number of the police force was increased this time, their vehicles were countless and the dark green uniforms were spotted all over the city. Although some on motorbikes soaked wet like the rest of the other human beings, many of the police ducked straight into their vehicles to avoid getting soaked. As if these heavenly waters would ever come anywhere close in comparison to the fires of hell in the basement of the police station in this city Dessau on 7 January 2005. Or any other atrocities befalling the African person around the globe. The sun had long returned to dry up the soaked bodies and a whole good hour was once again spent on those last fateful steps that saw Oury Jalloh to his towering inferno in the police station.

Flowers were laid on the steps as a sign of agony, remembrance and peace for the rested soul. Another one minute silence was also observed for Mario Bichtermann who died in the same cell in the basement in November 2002.

Dominik Kuomadio 23yrs (Kongo) who was shot to death on 14 April 2006 in the streets of Dortmund by the police, Laye Konde who was killed again by police brutality in Bremen on the same day that Jalloh was also burned. John Achidi (Nigeria/Cameroon), killed in Hamburg, Osamuyi (Nigeria) our recent shock from Spain killed again by the Spanish police in a deportation attempt representing the conspiracy of the white people to finish off the Africans. All their souls were remembered and grieved for.

The residents in Dessau were more alert this time and many onlookers followed and gaped at the moving procession. The press and the reporters were not intimidated by the heavy thunder, cameras kept rolling all through the rain.

The procession returned peacefully to its original spot at the main train station Dessau at exactly 17hrs and concluded with more loud voices of solidarity and togetherness to save the African continent from perishing. SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON.

Compiled by Regina Kiwanuka from (Uganda) and proud to be an African.
*****
Part ll

NATIONWIDE VOICE FOR DEFENCE ON THE ATTACK TO HUMANITY

2nd report. 27 June 2007

In the aftermath of the demonstration for Oury Jalloh in Dessau on Saturday 23 June 2007;
We shall not tire, we must continue to stand and raise our voices against the attack on humanity.

Let not the people interpret demonstrations as the means only to tackle these grievous violations against humanity. Let the demonstrations represent the beginning and creating of awareness among ourselves, our blindfolded brothers and sisters all over the world, in the African continent and in particular those in the Diaspora who are holding citizenship of the western world, holding travel documents, producing children and transforming all this into weapons to defend themselves against the worldwide attack to humanity.

This will not realise deliverance from the aggressors:

Do not wait to be affected only when your family is attacked. We are falling in the traps of the aggressors. They separated and divided us against our will and consent the day they called the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 to partition and share the African continent right here in Germany. This has operated for centuries, it is transparently corroborated through the African dictators of today. They have sold our conscience and are bent to the egoism of the aggressors and we have continued to abandon our continent to save ourselves. We are Oblivious of our brothers and sisters enduring the fires of hell in the heart of Africa, forgetting the whole meaning and existence of the African continent.

Let the demonstrations represent a wake up call to uproot the base and the ground for our relocation from Africa and the barbarism against the black person, rather than focusing on the symptoms of why the system hate us so much and why the police in the Diaspora is bent on killing a black person in the name of deportation and criminalisation.

Let the Oury Jalloh fires of hell in the basement of the police cell in Dessau command the interpretation of what it really stands for: THE DOGMA IMPRINTED ON THE CONSCIENCE FOR CENTURIES AND CENTURIES OF PEOPLES THAT THE AFRICAN PERSON IS FOREVER INFERIOR, LESS TO HUMANITY AND THEREFORE DOOMED TO PERISH IN WHICHEVER MEANS POSSIBLE.

This is represented in the manner and the effrontery of the police witnessed by many on the grounds outside the court in Dessau during the Oury Jalloh trial, when the police distracted the process and concentrated on attacking the peaceful witnesses of the trial outside court holding banners displaying the picture of a fire lighter that sparked off the horrible fires that burnt Oury Jalloh alive in police custody, the banners with inscriptions that " Oury Jalloh was murdered". These are only banners representing our freedom of speech, the word is already dispersed that Oury Jalloh died in police custody and with a fire lighter. The police and the authorities should concentrate on the realism of peace and justice, and focus on the extent the judicial is prepared to excel to see to justice in respect to humanity, to prove its independence from the executives and the almighty aggressors who have suffocated the world and deprived it of its human rights and the breath of freedom.

The police should not reduce themselves so as to display fear of the word murder or should it be termed pretence. The word murder has not only existed but has been practiced in reality for centuries. It is not new and neither is it old. So the police should place their concentration on being proven innocent, rather than being thrown into a panic rage and demonstrate it by attacking innocent supporters of the Human Rights.

Letting loose of the organised crimes against the Human Rights and freedom fighters and turn a blind eye with statements like "one doesn’t have to see everything" and "there are ways to write reports more slowly- "they are only for show anyway", coming from a Chief police officer? This chief police officer made a call for other colleges to break the law and went unpunished while the criminalisation and charges against members of the Oury Jalloh Initiative goes unabated. This exhibits itself through our apparent systematic destruction, permitting of the racist extremists to attend the process in court and the closing down of the internet shop owned by an African in Dessau on 7 February 2006 under the guise of controlling drug trafficking and law breakers when it was to prevent the collective African voice in defence. And all the atrocities befalling the African people during the Oury Jalloh process in the name of keeping peace, asserting law adherence and preventing obstruction when it is the police that is obstructing justice in the Honourable court of law.

Failure to focus on Doctor Bloedau's competence who authorised Oury Jalloh's detention exposing him to the ferocious barbarism that resulted in his death.

All these will not divert the attention and the facts surrounding the terrible death of Oury Jalloh in police custody in Dessau. Nor will it weaken the gravity of the police bitterness and hatred towards the African people, again displayed when they ruthlessly strangled Osamuyia Aikpitanhi in Spain on 9 June 2007.

It should only portray the fact that the time has come for the police and their masters to come up clean and start exercising civilisation and the protection of the Human Rights in place of the atrocities towards the African people and towards humanity. For, their suicide justification has indeed run out of steam. It has come down from colonisation to suicide and self defence on the part of the aggressors.

The demonstrations and the banners are the only voice we have, to scoop up the enormity from the white side of the pacific directed to the black community, persistently upholding for centuries when indeed it was the African continent invaded and wronged.

To the Germans and other “western white constructs”, those Organisations, groups and political parties calling themselves progressive and humanists, mobilising in their thousands to speak for Africa in the G8 of the capitalists and imperialists ( known for Africa’s doom) in Heiligendamm: You cannot speak for Africa when black people are burnt to death in your police cell and you do nothing, when black people are exonerating and you cheer, when black people are fighting and you divide them. First take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the eyes of Africa. You are part of the problem when you pretend and dominate.

We therefore call upon all African People in their respective lands of exile and at home to focus on a strong strategy in defence against this attack on humanity and to the black people in particular to create an African conference to fight the dictators of today and to peacefully return the African continent into our hands.

Let us not let the Nkwame Nkurumas, the Lumumbas, the Sankaras and the Nelson Mandelas' mission and vision of an independent and a free African continent die in vain. Oury Jalloh's inferno is just the beginning and his spirit should stay within us to fight for his justice and ours.

We either unite and fight on or we stay divided and continue perishing. We have been enslaved, colonised and then made to feel morally and systematically guilty of our actions when we resist and fight oppression and persecution.

Compiled by Regina Kiwanuka on behalf of all the demonstrators on Saturday 23 June 2007 for the suffering children of Africa.

*****

Additionally, the Initative in Memory of Oury Jalloh will be holding a
press conference at 1.30 pm outside the central train station. The
demonstration is being organised in response to the alarming
developments of the court proceedings surrounding the death of the 21
year-old refugee from Sierra Leone/Guinea as well as diverse attacks
against the Initiative itself.

In light of these developments, the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh
declares the following:

Those familiar with the brutality of the South African Apartheid regime
can only imagine this situation all too well: a human being is chained
at his hands and feet to fireproof mattress. Hours later, the man is
dead, his body fully charcoaled, the upper parts of his fingers
completely burned off. The official hypothesis: suicide.

On January 7, 2005, Oury Jalloh—a human being converted in life and
death into an eternal refugee—died under exactly these circumstances in
a police holding cell in Dessau, Germany. This happened on the very same
day that the police in Germany took away the life of another African:
Layé Konde, whom ten days before went into a coma after the police had
forced vomit-inducing chemicals down his throat, also perished on
January 7, 2005. Until today, not one single police officer has been
charged for these crimes.

From our point of view, the sequence of events only permits one
possible hypothesis: Oury Jalloh was murdered. Since organising
ourselves in the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh we have
consistently insisted on the fact that the death of Oury Jalloh will
remain a murder so long as the responsible authorities do not thoroughly
clear up the events surrounding Oury's death. From the very beginning,
the state prosecutor in Dessau only allowed one line of investigation,
i.e. suicide. Yet in spite of all facts widely made available to the
public, for instance that he was chained to a fireproof mattress, that a
lighter only appears in a second inventory of the items found in the
cell, that the broken nose was only discovered in the second,
independently financed autopsy, etc., etc., the police, the court and
even the media only allow one line of thought: Oury Jalloh killed himself.

The current court proceedings in the case of Oury Jalloh only serve to
confirm our concerns regarding the cover-up of the case which lasted
over two years. From the very first day, the trial has been
characterised by a penetrating non-remembrance and selective knowledge
of details on the part of the accused and witnesses alike—all of whom
are from the police. Moreover, although there is more than enough
evidence available to include a critical observation regarding the
racism surrounding Oury's death and the entire process in and of itself,
until now the issue of racism has been completely excluded from all
investigations and subsequent proceedings. Instead, all efforts are
being made to "prove" that Oury Jalloh set himself on fire.

Rather than pursue the truth, the authorities are instead bent on
persecuting activists of the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh,
against whom a series of investigations and preliminary proceedings are
being launched, among other excuses because of libel. This is because we
openly voice our opinion: it was murder. Activists are even persecuted
and threatened by the police within the courtroom itself. Further, at
one of the vigils organized outside of the court, an attack was once
again made against our freedom of speech in which a banner was
forcefully removed by the police. The reason? It contained an
illustration of a lighter and underneath it the words: OURY JALLOH WAS
MURDERED!

In addition, Mouctar Bah, the former owner of a Telecafé in Dessau and
international representative of the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh,
is once again receiving serious and diverse threats. Already on February
7, 2006, the city authorities closed down his store and expropriated his
commercial license. The justification? Mouctar allegedly had not done
enough to keep the so-called drug dealers off the street where his
Telecafé was located. Subsequently, he was forced to sell his shop to a
German, for whom he now works as an employee. Currently, the new owner
is being threatened with the closure of the Telecafé. The official
justification? Mouctar Bah is still working there.

As if the persecution Mouctar Bah has suffered from the authorities is
not enough, some take up where others leave off. In the night of May 14,
2007, unknown persons painted swastikas and nazi symbols on the monument
in memory of the deported Jews and the destruction of the synagogue as
well as Mouctar's former Telecafé, among other sites. Mouctar has also
been physically attacked on more than one occassion. These attacks
against Mouctar and the Initiative must be seen within the context of
the recent racist attacks in Halberstadt, Cottbus and Bemberg and the
reaction of the local police to them.

In spite of all these very alarming developments, certain, organized
nazis are still allowed to attend the trial against the police in Dessau
as so-called "normal" observers and to write viciously racist reports.
In addition to all that mentioned above comes another shocking detail
concerning the Vice-Director of the police in Dessau, Hans-Christoph
Glombitza: three secret agents normally employed in investigating crimes
of right-wing extremism have sworn under oath that Mr. Glombitza, in his
function as acting director of the police, has actually tried to impede
the persecution of fascist crimes. They quote him as saying that, "one
doesn't have to see everything," and that, "there are ways to write
reports more slowly." Regarding programmes of the federal government to
combat right-wing extremism, Glombitza is reported to have said
that,"they are only for show anyway." Nevertheless, according to
Wolfgang Böhmer, Interior Minister of Sachsen-Anhalt, "The accusation
has been disproved. We now know that there were rather personal
conflicts behind all of this."

And thus the vicious circle continues its barbaric cycle: cover-up,
fraud, deception, deceit, delay and then forgetting. In this sense, we
are by no means surprised by the fact that the demand of the family of
Oury Jalloh's legal counsel to begin preliminary proceedings against Dr.
Blödau have been openly rejected by the state prosecutor. Dr, Blödau,
who became famous thanks to his extremely racist and vile comments about
Blacks, was the person who took blood from Oury and ordered him to be
chained at his hands and feet. He was also involved in declaring Mario
Bichtermann, the homeless man who died or was possibly murdered in the
same cell in November, 2002, fit for detention. The investigations
against those responsible for the death of Mario Bichtermann? Closed.
The case? Unresolved.

Several weeks ago, Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe, one of the international
delegates invited by the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh to assist
the trial, made the following comment: "The court faces the decision of
having to condemn and distance itself from the racist conduct of the
police or to excuse it and support it." In our opinion, the same is true
for the media as well as the political parties and the society as a whole.

At the demonstration, the Initiative will also be honouring Layé Konde
(Sierra Leone), who—as mentioned above—was murdered on the same day as
Oury. Additionally, we will also be remembering Dominique Koumadio
(Congo), who was shot to death by the police on April 14, 2006 in the
city of Dortmund, John Achidi (Nigeria/Camerun), who also lost his life
after the police in Hamburg forced vomit-inducing chemicals down his
throat in 2001 as well as Osamuyia Aikpitanhi (Nigeria). Osamuyia died
on June 9, 2007 died during a deportation attempt in Spain while tied at
his hands and feet and a rag stuffed down his throat and covered over
with tape. According to the police, Osamuyia Aikpitanhi committed suicide.

We call on all people of solidarity to join us in Dessau and to
participate in our demonstration in memory of Oury Jalloh. Furthermore,
in light of the increasing attacks and attempts at criminalisation, we
call on the media to be aware and to cover the demonstration and
especially the further developments of the case.

For enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh
Spokesperson: Yufanyi Mbolo
Tel: +49-1708788124
E-mail: the_voice_goettingen@gmx.de

download press release (pdf)

23RD JUNE; 2007; 2PM CENTRAL TRAIN STATION
NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATION IN DESSAU

I hadn't realized that they even took away our right to call the most gigantic deportation in the history of humanity by its name. And that only because the slave traders, their descendants and their historians neither at that time nor at the present day used the word deportation or authorised its use to describe their practices.

Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe

The Persecution of a Word

Those familiar with the brutality and horror of the apartheid regime can picture all too well the scenario: a Black man is tied at his hands and feet to a fireproof mattress in a holding cell at a police station. Hours later the man is dead, his body burnt like charcoal, the upper regions of his fingers burnt completely away. The official thesis: suicide.

On the 7th of January, 2005, Oury Jalloh, a human being converted into an eternal refugee, died under exactly these conditions in the city of Dessau, Germany. On that very same day the life of another African was extinguished: Layé Konde, who ten days before had chemicals forced down his throat by the police who were looking for possible drugs, had his life taken from him after not coming out of the coma induced by the police action. The number of police sentenced for the two deaths until today: 0.

Since that time, diverse refugee, migrant and anti-racist organizations have joined together to fight for truth, justice and restitutions. Under the slogan OURY JALLOH DAS WAR MORD, we organized ourselves in the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh.

Our words, however, provoke fear and subsequent persecution on the part of the authorities. According to their logic, without knowing the exact incidents surrounding the events of the 7th of January, it is not a crime to describe the death of Oury Jalloh as self-murder (i.e. suicide), but it is a crime to describe it as a murder.

The power of language, the power of definition is decisive and a fundamental pillar of totalitarian—and colonial—power. It is used to silence opposition and to maintain hegemony over words and thoughts.

We must, however, never forget what past experiences have taught us; how often and ruthlessly genocide was committed so that all traces of the truth would be eliminated together with its victims, such as happened in Europe during the time of Nazi terror and with the separation of mothers from their children during the time of slavery, for example.

But, as the executioners, their descendants and their historians have been forced to repeatedly recognize: no matter how many are killed, no matter how far those in power are willing to go in order to fulfill their objectives, you can never eliminate a collective memory—and no oppression can last forever.

Selective Memory and the Non-Persecution of the Truth

That Justice is a blind goddess
is a thing to which we Blacks are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
that once perhaps were eyes

Aimé Césaire

On the 27th of March, 2007, court proceedings finally began against two of the police officers implicated in the death of Oury Jalloh. Andreas Schubert and Hans-Ulrich März have been accused of negligence in the death of Oury Jalloh. Within the formal accusation presented by the state prosecutor—the only entity allowed to formulate such an accusation in Germany—neither racism nor any other possible cause of death play a role other than the official version: suicide. Likewise, the broken nose and broken middle-ear discovered in the second, independently financed autopsy, are not considered within the trial-based evidence permitted by the court (in other words, these facts are not even considered when the judge is to make his decision).

Until now, the trial has been nothing more than a confirmation of our deepest mistrust. For over two years we have consistently denounced the cover-up and the intentional attempt to win time. As expected, every single police officer or related state employee who has been called as a witness has shown remarkable coincidences between each other: all of them have a perfect memory—except that which involves the death of Oury Jalloh. There is, however, one exception: all seem to remember clearly that Andreas Schubert, accused of negligence for not having reacted in time, was swift in his response of running down into the basement, where Oury Jalloh had been chained down—and burnt to death—to a fireproof mattress.

The issue of racism, however, has remained just as absent from the trial as has any word of truth spoken on the part of the police. On only two occasions was racism made an issue: Once, as an African man was forced out of the courtroom for shouting „What have we ever done to you to deserve this,“ as the racist protocol between Andreas Schubert and the doctor who ordered Oury Jalloh to be chained, Dr. Blödau, was read aloud, and, secondly, as an African man was ordered by the judge to sit as the accused and apologize for his behavior or be accused of allegedly having offended a Nazi-party member.

Additionally, at the middle of May a scandal appeared (and disappeared just as quickly) in the national media: Hans-Christoph Glombitza, acting vice-director of the police in Dessau, was recorded in a conversation with members of the German state security office in which he said, referring to crimes committed by right-wing extremists, that, “one doesn't have to see everything.”

Adding that the federal government programs to combat Nazi crimes and thought were, “really just for the art galleries anyway,” he pointed out that there are ways “to write reports slowly.” Citing a lack of evidence of a crime having been committed, the leading state prosecutor in Dessau, Volker Bittermann, has already refused to open investigations.

For their part, the police have seen the trial as an opportunity to intimidate and persecute members of the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh. At least one hundred police—including dogs—have been set to surround and occupy the court inside and out.

Activists have not only been subject to massive security controls and the photocopying of their identity papers, but also direct persecution, as described above. Additionally, civil-clothed police have tried to control and intimidate members of the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh.

Why we must fight—not just protest or question

My tongue shall serve those miseries which
have no tongue, my voice the liberty of those
who found themselves in the dungeons of despair.

Aimé Césaire

We have neither deceased in our struggle for truth and justice nor in the conviction that only we will decide which words we will use. The fight for truth and justice in the case of Oury Jalloh—like that of Dominique Koumadio, shot to death by the police in Dortmund on April 14, 2006—is a question of survival. The arrogance and lack of human understanding—especially toward non-whites—within the police is exactly that which permits Oury Jalloh to die in such a vile manner. Moreover, the fact that it is so systematic and historic is one of the many reasons why we have and will continue to speak of murder.

This goes far beyond a question of simple protest or questioning official versions of Oury's, Laye's or Dominique's deaths. On the contrary, it is as much a question of self-determination as it is the rage against so much perpetual brutality.

We cannot and will not let ourselves to continue functioning within this murderous normality, accomplices of our own death and persecution. By refusing to speak out and by silencing our own beliefs, we are only contributing further to the duration of our common suffering.

We refuse. We refuse to obey. We refuse to continue being a part of our own oppression. We refuse to remain silent, much less be silenced. That time is over.

MOBILIZE AND COME TO DESSAU ON THE 23RD OF JUNE

ORGANIZE GROUPS IN YOUR CITIES TO ACCOMPANY THE COURT PROCEEDINGS ON SPECIFIC DAYS!

RISE UP AND BREAK THE SILENCE!

For more information contact:
Tel: +(49)170-8788124 or the_voice_goettingen@gmx.de

Come to Dessau on March 27th - 30th and April 19th-20th of 2007

Observe the trial and participate in the permanent vigils, events and
rallies during this time

On the 7th of January, 2005, Oury Jalloh agonizingly burned to death---tied
at his hands and feet in Cell Number 5 in Dessau. He was a 21 year-old
refugee from Sierra Leone. The smoke and fire alarm were simply ignored by
the supervising police officer; the communication system connected directly
to the cell was turned off, supposedly because the police officers felt
bothered by the "burbling noises" while they were talking on the telephone.
Since his death to this day, the State Prosecutor, responsible for carrying
out the investigations, has exclusively promoted the theory that Oury Jalloh
committed suicide.

Nevertheless, there are simply too many contradictions in their theory:
Why does a lighter first appear in a second inventory taken of the items
found in the cell? How did a lighter enter into the cell when two police
officers carried out a body search of Oury Jalloh? How do they explain the
broken nasal bone and the injuries to the middle ear as found in the second
autopsy organized by the Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh? What role did
the racist attitude of Dessau's police play, which was recorded on tape
before and during the fire and made partially public?

On the basis of the ascertainable facts regarding the death of Oury Jalloh
and until it is proved otherwise we will continue to believe and make our
opinion known: Oury Jalloh was murdered.

That all of these contradictions have even been made known to a wider public
has only been possible thanks to the mobilization and engagement of friends
and acquaintances of Oury Jalloh as well as diverse migrant, refugee and
anti-racist organizations, who in spite of the attempts at criminalization
and the persecution of several activists have never given up in fighting for
an exhaustive clarification of the circumstances surrounding the death of
Oury Jalloh as well as justice and reparations.
All of these groups have come together to form the Initiative in Memory of
Oury Jalloh.

Finally, after two years of mobilization and public campaigning of the
Initiative, court proceedings are to be held in March against two of the
police involved in the crime. Although we find this to be an important step
in the direction of shedding light on the death of Oury Jalloh, we have
serious doubt as to whether the proceedings will bring either justice or an
exhaustive clarification of the circumstances.

Since Oury's murder, neither the court nor the State Prosecutor has shown
interest in discovering the truth behind the events in Dessau. Rather, the
case has been plagued by two years of impediments, cover-up and the denial
to cooperate with the lawyers of Oury's parents. Only for the recognition of
the mother and father as co-plaintiffs in the case did the court need
17 and 15 months to come to a decision, respectively. In addition, the State
Prosecutor refused to allow an x-ray of Oury Jalloh's corpse to be carried
out with the justification that it simply wasn't necessary. The second
autopsy, carried out independently in the name of the Initiative in Memory
of Oury Jalloh, demonstrated then demonstrated the serious injuries to
Oury's nose and middle ear.

But Oury Jalloh was not alone. Dominique Koumadio, for example, was shot and
killed by the police on the 14th of April, 2006. The General Public
Prosecutor has already absolved the police of any crime. The justification?
Self-defense. Indeed, crimes by the police enjoy almost complete impunity,
especially when those crimes are committed against refugees and migrants.
Indeed, German police abuse refugees and migrants on a daily basis, and
physical mistreatment is widespread, though punishment is seldom—if it even
comes that far. In general, it is fair to say that the police, just as
society, is dominated by a racist, inhumane consensus that sees refugees and
migrants in general as sub-humans.

In general, Europe has made it known and enforced the fact that refugees and
migrants, but especially Blacks, are not welcome here. Alone in 2006 more
than 7,000 HUMAN BEINGS were forced into their death by a system which has
systematically and eternally robbed them of their most basic
right: the right to life. Who will pay the price for these murders? Who can
give their families and friends back their loved ones?

These are just some of the reasons why we totally distrust the German legal
system.

It is our responsibility to Oury, his family and all victims and survivors
of racist police violence and even murder to come together and demonstrate
to the court, to the society and to the world that we will not stand
silently by while they continue their crimes in impunity. If we do not come
together to stop this now, how many will follow? Who will be next?

A wide public and political mobilization to accompany the trial and assist
the proceedings as independent observers is of extreme importance. We
therefore call on all progressive sectors and people of solidarity to join
us in Dessau for the entire length of the court proceedings. Vigils, events
and rallies will be organized during the whole duration of the events.

Come to Dessau on March 27th-30th and April 19th-20th. Observe the trial and
participate in the permanent vigils, events and rallies during this time.

The Court address:
Landgericht Dessau, Willy-Lohmann-Str. 29, 06844 Dessau

Stay informed at: http://oury-jalloh.so36.net

Info-phone at: 0176-65977644
Donations can be made to: Antirassistische Initiative / Bank für
Sozialwirtschaft / Konto-Nr.: 3039600 / BLZ: 100 205 00 / Stichwort:
Dessau.

COME TO DESSAU!
BREAK THE SILENCE!