Author: POLadminOBS

Cheikh Wade

March 8, 2021 – Dakar

32 year-old. Shot dead

In March 2021, political opponent Ousmane Sonko was arrested, a decision that resulted in a massive protest wave around the country. In turn, the government responded with unabated repression that culminated in the most dramatic crisis in Senegal since 10 years.

Amongst the 14 victims of the repression was Cheikh Wade, a young taylor living in the North part of the capital. He took to the street to protest and was shot dead by a policeman, as the bullet got him in the neck, as a video bcame virale shows. A police car is seen passing close by, but made no attempt at stopping or trying to reccue Cheikh.

An autopsy was performed by Prof. Cherif Dial, Chief of service at the Hôpital général Idrissa Poue (Cto).

To this day, the police officer who murdered him remains free, no trial has been scheduled, in spite of the family’s formal complaint. Presumed murder is identified by the family as the Police commander in chief at the Dakar Parcelles Assainies police station. The family is expecting the President of the Court of Appeal’s Accusation chamber to request a judiciary inquiry by the Procureur de la République.

25.05.2021 – Complaing lodged by family with the President of the Court of Appeal’s Accusation chamber : homicide, failure to assist a person in danger, violation of freedoms, abuse of authority, acts of barbarism and cruel and degrading acts
03.2021 – Autopsy ; Burial certificate
08.03.2021 – Murder of Cheikh

[Read the heartbreaking open letter Cheikh‘s sister Ngoné Wade wrote (in French)]

[Sources: Amnesty International, Sene.News, LimaMetti, Jeune Afrique, RFI, Amnesty Internationa]

Tags SEN

Uncategorized

Marcus Coutain

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date November 13, 2021

July 17, 2020 – North Islington – London

45 year-old. Feared for his life while officer was kneeling on his neck

Police were called to reports of a fight in Isledon Road around 6.30pm. What happened next emerged with a video footage filmed by an anonymous witness and released on social media.

An officer can be seen pinning Marcus to the ground with his knee on his head, telling him to “stay down” – while another policeman is restraining his legs.

Marcus seems distressed and screams “Get off my neck!“. The officer, still kneeling on him : “Are you gonna behave yourself?” “I ain’t done anything wrong,” replies Marcus.

Several members of the public plead with the officer to “stay calm” and urge him to take his knee away from his neck. The officer removes his knee and orders bystanders to “Back up” – before telling one to “Shut it” when they challenge him.

The officer continues to use his hand to force Marcus‘s head down as he writhes on the concrete, and witnesses plead with everybody to “relax“.

The first officer then stands up and walks towards the crowd, ordering them back – as a woman shouts: “That’s a human being. Do not press on his head.”

The second officer eventually allows Marcus to sit up and the man filming says: “Thank you, officer.”

Several more police officers arriving on the scene as tension among the crowd escalates. Witnesses tell the newly arrived officers that they have been videoing the incident and urge them to “arrest the officer“. A woman heard giving a statement to a constable says: “It’s okay to arrest him but don’t push his head and then kneel on him. It might kill him, it might injure him.”

Marcus was arrested, taken to a police station and seen by a police doctor, and later charged with possession of a knife in a public place and appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court.

Sir Steve House, Deputy Commissioner, stated :

“The video footage that I have seen today and is circulating on social media is extremely disturbing. I understand that many viewing the footage will share my concern. The man involved was arrested, taken to a police station and has now been seen by a police doctor. Some of the techniques used cause me great concern – they are not taught in police training. We have quickly assessed the incident, including the body worn video footage from the officers and their statements and justification for their use of force. As a result we have referred the matter to the IOPC. We will co-operate fully with the IOPC investigation. The officers’ initial interaction with the man and the events that led to him being detained have also been analysed.”

06.08.2020 – Officer removed from frontline duties
18.07.2020 – Highbury Corner magistrates court
17.07.2020 – Arrest and abuse of force

[Source: The Sun]

Victims

Mounir Abdouli

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date October 29, 2021

January 25, 2016 – Sfax

Beaten up and abandoned near a trash container

Mounir went out despite the curfew to get cigarettes from neighbours. He was intercepted by a police patrol on the Mahdia road, Kilometer 4, and was asked for his ID while being patronized for infringing the curfew.

According to his lawyer, Chahine Khelifi, who denounced a case of torture by 3 officers, amounting to a murder attempt :

“On Monday 25 around 23:30, Mounir Abdouli is approached in his hometown of Sfax by 3 officers under influence in Berlingot vehicle and gets beaten up by 3 men who reproach him for violating the curfew regulation (22:00). Mounir explained them he just wanted to get cigarettes. They proceeded with the usual checks, then one of them asks him why he’s not wanted by the police. My client replied that he is a patriot and loves his country, detailing he did his service time and defended his country. The officer punched him in the face.

Inexplicably, 3 officers started to hit him in the face and all over his body. When Mounir fell down on the ground, a 4^th agent pressed his colleagues to stop it, telling them they were about to kill him.

They totally tore him to pieces. Mounir will have to undergo 2 surgeries. We’re the first ones to support our police who do an incredible job at protecting et securing the country, but we also must denounce such intolerable behavior. Whatever the circumstances, no one has the right to inflict such violence on another human being.”

The aggressors then dumped him unconscious near a dumpster before leaving the scene. Some neighbors found him there, still unconscious, in the morning of the next day. He was transported to an ICU unit at Hédi Chaker hospital where he underwent 2 surgeries.

The Attorney general opened an investigation. The Sfax Police District Chief contacted Mounir to apologize and said he was outraged about the officers bahavior. Mounir lodged a complaint against his aggressors.

28.01.2016 – Opening of an investigation
26.01.2016 – Discovery of Mounir and hospitalization
25.01.2016 – Aggression of Mounir

[Sources: Kapitalis, Marsad]

Tags TUN

Victims

Hassan Ahmed

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date October 28, 2021

Hassan Ahmed

August 16, 2020 – Halifax, West Yorks

27 year-old. Feared for his life on a chokehold

Hassan Ahmed was arrested after he was called to the area by a family member and got into an argument with a man, in which he admitted punching him.

A video of the arrest, shared on social media, shows Hassan being held on the ground with an arm around his neck.

The video footage showed him waving his hand across his throat as he struggles to breathe during the arrest.a voice can be heard saying “Chill out or I’ll choke you out, chill out or you’re going to sleep“.

In his own words, Hassan explained :

“I was afraid for my life, I thought ‘that’s it, he’s going to end up killing me’. […] I honestly thought it was my final moments, I was in shock, I was really scared. […] I was just thinking about my family, I thought ‘He’s not going to let go, he’s going to keep going, he’s going to finish me. […] I was in pain, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t feel anything, I couldn’t even gasp for air. He carried on, then he punched me in my face. […] This is the same thing that happened to George Floyd – it’s happening on our streets too.”

Hassan was arrested on suspicion of assault after the incident and released pending investigation. Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Osman Khan, of West Yorkshire Police, said “The officer has been removed from frontline operational duties” pending investigation.

08.2020 – Officer suspended pending investigation, Hassan release under investigation
16.08.2020 – Assault on Hassan

[Sources: Bladi, BBC, The Sun]

Tags UK

Victims

Ilyas Tahiri

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date October 26, 2021

Ilyas Tahiri

July 1st, 2019 – Almeria

18 year-old. Suffocated from a knee on his neck

Ilyas was a young Moroccan from Tetouan who immigrated to Spain. According to the Ligue marocaine pour la défense des droits de l’homme (LMDDH) and a videosurveillance footage they obtained, the supervisors of the Tierras de Oria accommodation center for minors where he was detained transported Ilyas with his hands tied behind his back to a room. Once laid on his belly on the bed, six of them held him while one pressed on his back and neck with his knees during several minutes, which resulted in Ilyas suffocating and stopping breathing.

El Pais published the video footage proving Ilyas was not resisting nor being violent, raising serious doubt about the need to use such “mechanical contention“.

Almeria’s Attorney general described Ilyas‘ death as an “excessive force” used on the victim and amounting to an “accident“, to justify dropping the homicide case. Worse even, the coroner’s report concluded death by cardiac arrest and excluded death suffocation, in obvious contradiction with the video footage.

Ilyas Tahiri

Mourad El Ajouti, representing the family and the Coalition Justice for Ilyas, lodged a request with the Tribunal of Almeria, demanding the case be reexamined.

The Collective was invited by the Spanish Parliament to talk about the use of the “mechanical contention protocol” in minor detention centers and the opportunity of a new legislation prohibiting such protocol. Later an Almeria judge sent a letter to the the Ginso Foundation announcing that for now the protocole would be put on hold in the Ginso center.

02.07.2020 – Sit-in in front of the tribunal in Almeria
01.07.2020 – Hearing of the Collective Justice for Ilyas at the Parliament
06.2020 – Protests at the Spanish Consulate in Tetouan
01.2020 – Almeria tribunal reopens the case
2019 – Attorney general drops the homicide case
01.07.2019 – Death of Ilyas

[Sources: Bladi, Bladi, Bladi, Bladi]

Tags ESP

Victims

Domenico ‘Mimmo’ Lucano

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date October 14, 2021

October 2, 2018 – Riace

60 year-old – Sentenced to thirteen years in jail

Mimmo Lucano was mayor of Riace from 2004 to 2018, a small town in Calabria in the South of Italy. He used his leadership to welcome migrants and asylum seekers to his town. Such towns in rural southern regions are becoming depopulated as younger people move to bigger towns or the north. Young immigrant families could help give life and energy back to such areas. Local people married some of the migrants but the legal authorities accused him of setting up false, artificial marriages. He set up cooperatives to help support the newcomers and obtained public funds to do so.

In October 2018, the Italian police put Mimmo under house arrest for allegedly helping illegal migrants to stay in the country by organising “marriages of convenience”. The state has accused him of mismanaging the funds. Even his accusers accept that Mimmo has made no personal financial gains at all.

Mimmo will be appealing and his future will not just depend on the vagaries of the court but on the strength of the national and perhaps international campaign in his favour.

30.09.2021 – Sentenced to 13 years and 2 months in jail for abetting illegal migration and for “irregularities” in managing the asylum seekers
11.06.2019 – Trial
11.04.2019 – Indicted on charges of abuse of power and aiding illegal immigration ; faced another probe regarding alleged false public statement and fraud
02.10.2018 – Mimmo put under house arrest

[Sources: Jacobin, Anticapitalist Resistance, Abolish Frontex, The Guardian, Wikipedia]

Tags ITA

Victims

Huber Samir Camayo Fajardo

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date September 20, 2021

Huber Samir Camayo Fajardo

August 2, 2021 – Cajibío, Cauca

23 year-old. Shot Dead

Huber Samir Camayo Fajardo was on the sidelines of a social protest taking place in the area, where confrontations between peasant and indigenous communities and the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (Esmad) of the National Police have been registered in recent days during the process of territorial recovery being carried out by several communities.

He was only passing through the area when he was hit by a shot fired at a distance of 60 meters. He died in hospital in Popayán after surgery.

09.08.2021 – General Prosecutor of the Nation opens preliminary investigation
02.08.2021 – Death of Huber

[Sources: teleSUR, Radio Super Popayan, Anti-K, Secours Rouge]

Tags COL

Victims

Said Yousef Muhammad Odeh

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date May 9, 2021

May 5, 2021 – Beita (West Bank)

16 year-old. Shot in the back twice

A promising player with the Balata Youth Center football team, Said was from the village of Odala near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. He was walking towards the village’s entrance night when occupation forces stationed in an olive grove shot him, according to an investigation by Defense for Children International Palestine. He was hit with live bullets in the back, near his right shoulder and in the pelvis area, with both bullets exiting from the front of his body.

Occupation forces then reportedly shot another youth in the back who tried to reach Said to render aid. Israeli soldiers blocked an ambulance from reaching him for 15 minutes. When medics were finally able to reach him, he had no signs of life. Said was taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where he was pronounced dead.

The Israeli army claimed firebombs had been hurled at them and that “troops operated to stop the suspects by firing toward them,” according to the Associated Press. But DCIP found Said had not been involved in any confrontations between occupation forces and villagers when he was shot.

[Sources: DCI Palestine, Electronic Intifada, Al Jazeera, AP News, Times Of Israel, Democracy Now!]

Tags PSE

Victims

Hasana Aalaia

Post author By POLadminOBS
Post date May 6, 2021

Hasana Aalaia

June 17, 2010 – El Aaiun, Western Sahara

22 year-old. Abducted, beaten, intimidated

On June 17 late afternoon, agents of a police patrol circled young Hasana Aalaia, a young sarahoui militant in November 24 Street where he was walking with his friend Mohammad Hali, 23. They punched him many times before forced him into their car and drove away.

Interrogation lasted for about 45 minutes, while he was beaten and handcuffed. He was questionned about certain people, about his intentions to organize festive demonstrations on ZAMLA uprising day.

After he was brutally beaten, the police offered him a Western Sahara flag to wipe his blood of from, but Hasana refused to use the flag he’s fighting for.

He was released far away into the desert past the airport, his face wounded and his legs an back badly hurting. The police recommended he should show himself so that everyone can see what they do to people like him.

[Source: ASVDH/APSO]

Tags ESH