Throughout British history Black communities have fought in the streets and in the courts for the basic human right to live without fear of racial attacks. 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance continues to fight the necessary fight for those in the Black community who have and continue to be affected by police brutality.
An anonymous act has been submitted to 81 in the spirit of this struggle; multiple posters entitled ‘People’s Tribunal on Police Killings’ and a list of those who have been murdered at the hands of the police have been installed in bus stops circling the Police Station in Brixton.
This bold and significant act refers to and demonstrates its support of the People’s Tribunal campaign.
The People’s Tribunal on Police Killings is an initiative of the The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC), Migrant Media and 4WardEverUK. The People’s Tribunal is designed to take forward the heritage of struggle in a way that radically challenges the status quo. The Tribunal is particularly concerned that the crimes of murder and manslaughter committed by state agents have gone unpunished.
The People’s Tribunal plans to establish in the UK context:
- The failure of State officials to ensure the basic right to life is made worse by the failure of the State to successfully prosecute those responsible for custody deaths.
- The failure to successfully prosecute those responsible for deaths in custody sends a message that the State can act with impunity.
The Tribunal will hear evidence regarding the above from families and other relevant parties. This will be presented to an international panel in a public forum. The panel’s decisions will then be implemented with the support of international bodies.
To make contact with the People’s Tribunal campaign then email peoplestribunal21@gmail.com and follow them on Instagram @thepeoplestribunal to keep up to date.
UFFC is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody, and supports others in similar situations. UFFC was set up in 1997 by families who had lost loved ones at the hands of the state to challenge the injustice in the system. It began as a network of black families because disproportionate numbers of black people were dying in police custody. It supports families of the victims of all custodial deaths at the hands of police officers, prison officers or in secure medical units.
The UFFC demands that:
- Prison deaths be subject to a system of properly funded investigation that is completely independent of the Prison Service;
- Officers involved in custody deaths be suspended until investigations are completed;
- Prosecutions should automatically follow ‘unlawful killing’ verdicts;
- Police forces be made accountable to the communities they serve;
- Legal Aid and full disclosure of information is available to the relatives of victims;
- Officers responsible for deaths should face criminal charges, even if retired.
Migrant Media was established in 1989 and is a collective of radical film makers working. Their Our work has a focus on race and class with a central narrative of resistance.
WATCH Migrant Media’s film ‘‘Britain’s Black Legacy’ which interweaves a wealth of archive material with personal testimonies from some of those who were centrally involved in those struggles. The film retraces this history of struggle and shows how this legacy of resistance opened up fundamental questions around policing and the entire judicial system in Britain. Finally, the film expresses the need to challenge the current political system through using the lessons learnt from the long history of Black struggles in Britain.
WATCH Migrant Media’s film Ultraviolence. The silence over the police killings of Black people is now broken. Since 1969, over two thousand people have died at the hands of the police in the UK. Shootings, chokeholds, batons, gassing, suffocation, restraint and brutal beatings are some of the methods used. The numbers of deaths is escalating. Inevitably police officers involved are not convicted for these killings. In this documentary, the families of the victims of police violence demand justice. They ask why society ignores human rights abuses by agents of the state. This reflection on resistance is poignant and political, capturing the brutality and trauma as well as the unrelenting fightback of those who will not be silent about state violence.
4WardEverUK was established June 2006. The core purpose of 4WardEverUK is to provide a one-stop-resource for case profiles, news and event details, useful directories & resources, statistics, appeals, and more in relation to deaths and abuses whilst in custody; including the death penalty, other injustices and human rights abuses in the United Kingdom and internationally.