Call for an closing curtainto constabularyinfiltration of sound offgroups – and defending the right to protest.
Anti-racist campaigners, whose organisation was infiltrated by under-cover officers in the 1990s look ata Hillsborough-style panel is the only way to scupperthe truth.
Lasthebdomadmembers of Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE), held a fendoutside Scotland Yard to defend the right to protest and an end to practice of lawinfiltration of protest groups.
The protest followed revelations on cable4’s Dispatches programme uttermost(a)month that officers from the Metropolitan Police’s finicaldeductionSquad (SDS) infiltrated Youth Against Racism in Europe objet d'artthey campaigned against racist attacks and murders in South East London approximatelythe time of the killing of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.
Former SDS officer Peter Francis revealed that he and other officers were instructed to gather evidence against Stephen Lawrence’s family and friends.
Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mother, made it plain last week that there should be an independent queryinto Francis’s claims.
Lois Austin, formerchair of Youth Against Racism in Europe, said: “Rather than vital police resources being spent finding Stephen Lawrence’s murderers resources were spent spying on those people trying to stop racist attacks and murders and on the Lawrence family. And we callthis is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Youth Against Racism in Europe is calling for the giving medicationof a panel consisting of campaigners, trade unionists and democratically elected lodgerepresentatives, similar to the Hillsborough Independent Panel set up to uncover the truth about 96 Liverpool football fans killed at the FA transfusesemi-final in 1989.
They say that secret files should be made on hand(predicate)to the panel, so it slewgo through the evidence and ease uprecommendations.
“We are calling for any under-cover secret police units that aren’t abstrusein crime to be disbanded.
“We hopeall the Special Branch files on peaceful protesters made available, so they can be put to a lower placepublic scrutiny, and we wantjuristfor the Lawrence family,” said Austin.
She added that there were currently 16 different inquiries into allegations of police infiltrationof protest organisations.
“There are two main inquires. first offthere is singlebeing carried appearby a judge in secret courts. No-one knows about the evidence, it is not under public scrutiny what is discussed or disclosed.
“The other public inquiry is by the police themselves, so it’s the police investigating the police.
“That is unacceptable. When we let looseabout a public inquiry what we mean is one that is run by people who are elected from communities, from protest organisations and trade unions, who form a panel,” she said.
And Austin rejected calls for a judge-led inquiry.
“Neville Lawrence is calling for that and I can understand why. He doesn’t motivationthe police investigating the police.
“We have had judges making dreadeddecisions where protesters are concerned, [and] we don’t trust them to deal with this either,” she said.
“I think the Hillsborough panel did a fantastic job. They organised an inquiry, they took a sub judiceroute, but they in any casetook a campaigning route and that’s what we intend to do.
“We are besidesgoing to be campaigning for the right to protest, an end to the infiltration of protest groups and an end to the criminalisation of protesters.
“In the last 20 yearsit has been accepted by the police and political establishment that it is alrightto kettle protesters for hours and hours on end, so effectively taking out-of-doortheir right to democratic protest.
“We are going to be doing practicallyof protests against austerity and cuts, and we want to know that we can go out and protest without being kettled and suffering police brutality, and we besideswant to know that we won’t be spied upon by secret police.”
The programme also revealed – confirmed – that under-cover officers duped female activists from other campaigns into having relationships. One even fathered a child, and later disappeared. Several of these women are now taking legal action against the police.
If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.
Materials taken from Womens Views on News
0 comments:
Post a Comment