United Families and Friend March in London (23 Oct 2008)
Peter Marshall | 25.10.2008 21:32 | Anti-racism | Repression | Social Struggles
Justice for Sean Rigg
The de Menezes family attended the protest
Why?
Death Certificate for Patrick Cawley (1982-200)
Family Campaign
Police largely kept a low profile
Justice for all
A long list - 2553 names
Police inspect the bouquets
Laying the bouquets at Downing St
Grief at Downing St
Gates of Downing St
Justice
Rally calls on Parliament for action
Women in black at rally in Parliament Square
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2003/10/oct25-06.htm Many of us heard Pauline speak at previous annual marches organised by the United Families and Friends of those who have died in custody and had come to know and respect Pauline through her single-minded campaigning.
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/01/jan.htm#holloway News of her suicide at her daughter's grave this May came as a shock (but not a surprise) and it was appropriate that she was remembered at the start of the march in Trafalgar Square.
http://re-photo.co.uk/?p=361 Pauline was one of many whose name was not listed among the over 2500 people who have died in care of police and prison staff, either through violence or neglect, but her and many other deaths are also very much a result of their actions.
Despite the publicity achieved by this campaign, and various investigations by the media, inquest verdicts and other enquiries that have made the damning evidence crystal clear, nothing seems to have changed. Racism, the lack of a proper culture of care and an almost complete lack of accountability mean that healthy people, mainly but not all black, continue to die in police and psychiatric custody and in prisons and there is no justice for them. In the past year there were 182 such deaths recorded, and the banner carried in the march listed over 2500 who have died.
The march made its way in silence down Whitehall to Downing Street where, after the bouquets had been subjected to a police examination, family members were allowed to come forward and fix them to the gates in front of Downing St, where police had agreed they would be allowed to stay until the end of the protest.
Among those taking part were the family of Jean Charles de Menezes, The inquest on his death continues.
http://inquest.justice4jean.org/ Outside Downing St the marchers were encouraged to give vent to their feelings and make a great noise, before continuing to march, now chanting, to Parliament Square where there was a rally at which a number of people whose family members had been killed made pleas for justice to be done.
More pictures on My London Diary shortly
http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct.htm#united
Peter Marshall
e-mail:
petermarshall@cix.co.uk
Homepage:
http://mylondondiary.co.uk
Additions
fitting tribute
26.10.2008 00:07
Dignified Rage
Correction Re: Jason McPherson
26.10.2008 14:33
Just like to retract that now.
This has NOT definately the case as the post-mortem has still not been finalised and so the cause of
Jason's death is still not properly established.
A further correction which needs to be stated is that his death took place in January last year, not this year as previously stated.
Jason was heard asking for his inhaler by his friends whom were arrested with him and because whilst being held down by the police his mobile was turned on and rang through to his mother whilst this happened and his mother heard it all. Jason was also heard saying the words: "get off me, I cant breath".
Dignified Rage
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Why wasnt this advertised on the front page?
26.10.2008 01:42
It happens every year and should be pushed as something people should support.
anonymouse
Why I didn't, anonymouse.
26.10.2008 07:17
The demo has police permission to operate in the SOCPA zone and stewards and so it cowtows to the cops. Can you not see the irony here?
The picture of a cop inspecting bouquets sickens me and I wonder why the demonstrators continue to tolerate such treatment.
Wotsit
The regularity of this march more important than police's authorisation of it
26.10.2008 11:17
"The demo has police permission to operate in the SOCPA zone and stewards and so it cowtows to the cops. Can you not see the irony here? "
> In an ideal world, the families would not have to cowtow to the police. In an ideal world, they would not have to go through the indignity of not getting a fair trial in the courts but going through with it nevertheless, but all of the families have done this because that is the only means to formally get justice in our supposed fair and independent judiciary (as far as I understand it, only once legal challenges have been exhausted in the public courts can families be in a position to pursue private prosecutions; the problem of course is the cost).
I agree with Wotsit's sentiment on dismissing the need for pre-approval by the state. The only ways and means through the fog of the state's jurisdiction in compromising the independence of our supposed fair criminal justice system and 'policing us' is for us to all self-organise in free association on our estates, in our communities and link up across them regionally and nationally (Wotsit dismisses the importance of how far this march can go to achieving this). Self-organising is essential, but I'd say both this and pursuing justice through the criminal justice system is essential, however unneccessarily fraught with delay, obfuscation and sabotage the process is victim to during the course of it's pursuance. The self-organising of our movement is there primarily to support family members in this struggle in any case.
If the families had the puritanical attitude you have, Wotsit, then they wouldn't have even got over the first hurdle in pursuing justice within the criminal justice system, not least managing to make this march a regular event.
Also, shame on Indymedia for not remembering to give the march it's fullest publicity before it happened.
Waltzing Matilda
missing the point entirely
26.10.2008 11:47
Is that the same Indymedia whose mission statement says: "The content of the Indymedia UK website is created through a system of open publishing: anyone can upload a written, audio and video report or a picture directly to the site through an openly accessible web interface"
In other words, it was your failure Waltzing Mathilda, as much as anyone elses that there wasn't a feature beforehand. There are no servants, paid or unpaid, at Indymedia to do your work for you.
Billy Can
collective editorial team should = collective memory for important events
26.10.2008 12:13
If there is a editorial collective, then I question the lack of collective memory for the importance of this event, in comparison to say, the Climate Camp?
Waltzing Matilda
The march has been featured in the new IMC-London website
26.10.2008 17:38
Also, there is now a feature about the march on the website's front page:
The Indymedia London new website now has a different publish form:
Please make sure that reports of demonstrations, actions and events taking place in the London area are also published in Indymedia-London. We'd love to promote your stories!
See the IMC-London feature 'Annual United Families & Friends Remembrance March' here:
Cheers,
IMC-London
e-mail:
imc-london@lists.indymedia.org
Homepage:
http://london.indymedia.org.uk
Nice Report, worth putting on main page as a national event,IMC UK does its best
27.10.2008 12:00
Indymedia does get activist accounts on a good platform to many people including media professionals& they often use it to pick up on stories.
Regualar Reader& human rights activist
Good Report,Nice1 IMC,does everyone on IMCUK have acess2annual event checklists?
27.10.2008 12:06
Indymedia does get activist accounts on a good platform to many people including media professionals& they often use it to pick up on stories.
Green syndicalist
A Moving Occasion
28.10.2008 10:24
George Coombs