Australian Police face racism accusations against Africans

Victoria police in Australia are facing two court actions alleging racism against Africans, including a city bar owner. The bar owner claims he has suffered years of persecution, including allegedly baseless raids and false accusations, simply because he is a black Kenyan and many of his patrons are African.

The allegations come after the Office of Police Integrity this week revealed Victoria Police had serious problems regarding racist attitudes by some officers that needed "immediate attention". A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police were defending both cases and could not comment.

Otieno Makoochieng, a part-owner of the Red Violin bar in Bourke St, alleged in documents lodged with the Federal Court that police launched 12 separate actions against the bar from 2008 to last year, with five actions each in 2009 and 2010. He is suing Victoria Police for $312,000 for damages caused to the reputation of his bar through allegedly discriminatory conduct.

Makoochieng alleged his bar was singled out for lightning raids because he was black, while nearby venues were not inspected. He said during raids police asked if he could speak English, whether he could read and whether he understood the significance of Good Friday, the day one of the raids was carried out.

In a separate case in the Federal Magistrates Court, Garang Garang, a Sudanese-born refugee living in Melbourne, wants $5000 compensation after a policeman allegedly discriminated against him. He claimed an officer made fun of his name and called him "Garang orang-utan" then referred to him as a "black c---".

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mo...cism-accusations/story-fn7x8me2-1226036540112

 

Africans Target of Racism, Harassment by Australian Police

The police "picked me up, they put me in the back of the car. Then they took me to (locality withheld) and beat (expletive) me, and they left me there," a young person of African background said in a new study into the treatment of youths of African background by Australian police in Melbourne.

A report by three community legal services in Australia, found that young African-Australians in the country's second-largest city are over-policed, that police harassment and violence is either under-reported or inadequately investigated by the relevant oversight bodies, and that police often resort to hostility and aggression when young people assert their rights.

Thirty youths, 27 males and 3 females aged 15 to 27, were interviewed for the study. Many had Sudanese or Somali backgrounds. Most of them had been subjected to negative and often violent experiences with Victoria state police officers, including harassment, racist comments and serious assaults. None were identified in the study for fear of potential police retribution.

One interviewee reports being racially abused, spat on and slapped around the head by police before being taken to a police station where he was "beaten up for about ten minutes."

After being released though the station's rear exit, the youth re-entered the building at the front entrance, telling the officer on duty that he wished to make a complaint. According to the youth, the officer then "called one of the coppers that were beating me up. Another copper came in and goes to me, "If you don’t get out of here now, I'll pull you back in'. And I left."

Source: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50998

 

Young Africans' case against Australian police tests race laws

Victorian police officers, facing unprecedented allegations of racial profiling and assaults on African teenagers as young as 13, have applied to the Federal Court to have the case against them thrown out before it is heard.

However, lawyers for the young African Australians have issued subpoenas seeking potentially explosive internal police files they say can corroborate the allegations.

The Federal Court action was brought in November against seven Victorian police officers, Chief Commissioner Simon Overland and the state of Victoria by 16 African Australians and one Afghan Australian.

The young men claimed police in Melbourne assaulted them, used excessive force during arrests and carried out unjustifiable searches. They also say police unlawfully took property from their homes and routinely engaged in racial taunts and abuse.

Thirteen of the 17 people who brought the action were aged between 13 and 20 at the time.

The case will mark the first time police have faced allegations of racial profiling -- the targeting of people because of race or colour -- under the Racial Discrimination Act.

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-tests-race-laws/story-e6frg6nf-1226034309684

 

Enlightening information, Benz. This will be an informative read for especially for people who don't have Australian citizenship.



LOL at those cops.