Callout for a Day of Action for Jimmy Mubenga - Fri 12 Oct‏

Day of action for Jimmy Mubenga, victim of G4S and the deadly deportation
machine

On 12 October 2012, campaigners will mark the two-year anniversary of the
death of Jimmy Mubenga, the 46-year-old Angolan migrant who died in 2010
at the hands of G4S security guards 'restraining' him on board a British
Airways flight during his forcible deportation to Angola. With various
protests and actions, campaigners will be demanding that G4S and the three
guards (who were re-employed by Reliance, which took over the detainee
escorts contract from G4S later that year) are held responsible for this
crime; they will be demanding justice for Mubenga and his family, and that
no one should face such a fate in the future.

Planned protests include:

- A public demonstration outside the offices of the Crown Prosecution
Service (Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge, London, SE1 9HS) from 11am to
1pm.

- A public demonstration at the G4S UK & Ireland head office (105 Victoria
Street, London, SW1E 6QT) from 2 to 4pm.

- Groups and individuals around the UK and beyond are encouraged to
organise their own protests and actions at relevant sites and venues. For
some suggestions, see for example:
http://mappingthecorporations.org/company/g4s
http://london.noborders.org.uk/borderedlondon

Despite several eye witnesses confirming that excessive force was used by
the three G4S guards, leading to Mubenga's suffocation and subsequent
death, and that the Home Office and G4S' initial accounts of what happened
on board the flight were false, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in
July this year, 18 months later, that neither G4S nor the guards concerned
will face manslaughter charges due to “conflicting witness accounts”.
Mubenga's family, his wife and five children, were “distraught” by the
decision. The former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham condemned
the decision as "perverse". An inquest examining the circumstances
surrounding the death will not be held until next year. *Was this a
political decision? Will it serve as a licence for private 'detainee
escorts' to kill.. and get away with it?*

According to passengers on board the plane, Mubenga was heard pleading “I
can’t breathe” and “they’re going to kill me” before he collapsed. This
was not the first case where someone has died following the use of force
by G4S guards: The company's management was reportedly warned by the Home
Office in 2006 over using dangerous restraint techniques, of the type that
resulted in Mubenga's death. Concerns had also been raised by the
company's own staff. In the weeks that followed Mubenga's death, four G4S
employees secretly submitted a testimony to the Home Affairs Select
Committee looking into the case, detailing “how some G4S guards developed
a dangerous technique for restraining deportees by bending them in
aircraft seats”. According to the whistleblowers, G4S managers were
repeatedly alerted that ”disruptive deportees” were being “forced into
submission” with their heads placed between their legs. The technique,
known among G4S guards as “carpet karaoke”, is strictly prohibited because
it can result in a form of suffocation known as positional asphyxia, skull
fractures and blindness. The parliamentary report found evidence of
“inappropriate use of physical restraint, and the possible use of
unauthorised and potentially dangerous restraint techniques”. *G4S should
not be allowed to profit from torture and death and get away with it.*


The day of action is called by the Stop G4S coalition, No Borders London
and the Stop Deportation network. Supporting groups include Corporate
Watch, the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, South
Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group and others.

The day of action takes place a week after campaigners from across the UK
gather in Sheffield for a ‘Stop G4S Convergence’, which brings together
people campaigning against various aspects of G4S' unlawful activities and
human rights abuses around the world. For more details on this, see
http://london.noborders.org.uk/node/614.

Bron :

For further information and questions, please contact stop-g4s[at]riseup.net.