British ‘security’ thugs injure refugee

This music video is Securicor [another label for G4S corporation], by Crass. Lyrics are here.

So, there are not just thugs for Shell, who rough up Irish small farmers protesting Shell pollution.

And not just thugs for Tony Blair, roughing up elderly Holocaust survivors who oppose pro war “new” Labour policies.

From British daily The Morning Star:

Security thugs ‘put refugee in hospital’

Wednesday 27 May 2009

by Paddy McGuffin

The Home Office has come under fire as allegations have emerged that an African national was so badly beaten by guards during an attempted deportation this month that he required hospital treatment.

The shocking claims have raised further questions over the abuse of asylum-seekers in detention and the Home Office’s deportation protocols.

The man, who cannot be identified for fear of reprisals, is alleged to have suffered vicious beatings as the authorities attempted to deport him from Britain to his native country via France.

He was left bleeding and battered to such a severe degree at the hands of G4S – formerly Group 4 – security guards that a French pilot refused to allow him on the flight which would have returned him to Africa, supporters claim.

As a result, the man has now been returned to detention in Britain, where it is feared that there will be yet another attempt to deport him.

The allegations, made to the Morning Star by anti-deportation campaigners on Wednesday, add to a litany of cases in which detainees, overwhelmingly of African origin, have suffered racist and physical abuse at the hands of state-sanctioned private security personnel.

So grave is the problem that campaigning group Medical Justice compiled a report on the issue – Outsourcing Abuse – which was published last year. The report documented over 300 cases where abuse was alleged, often at the hands of security firms operating government contracts for the “escort” and removal of deportees.

Summarising its findings, Medical Justice stated: “While the practice of using private companies for running detention centres and escorting of forced removals may contribute to a certain level of ‘see no evil, hear no evil,’ our understanding is that the Home Office is aware of an unacceptable level of alleged abuse through its own complaints procedure.

“We consider the evidence in this report reveals what may amount to state-sanctioned violence, for which ultimate responsibility lies with the Home Office.”

In the latest case, the detainee was deported as far as Paris, having been handcuffed, had fingers jammed into his nostrils and been beaten and stamped on by guards. So blatant were his injuries that the Air France pilot refused to take the injured man on the flight.

This also does not appear to be an isolated incident. The report gives one example of abuse as follows: “The officers kicked and punched him and kneed him in the nose. He was then placed in the segregation unit and left naked and without a mattress to sleep on.

“Later that evening, the applicant attempted to kill himself. He was visited by police officers who convinced him to withdraw his complaint. Under duress, the applicant agreed.”

Last November, an investigation was launched into allegations that Cameroonian Anselme Noumbiwa suffered similar brutality. He too was deported to Paris where an Air France pilot refused to fly him to Africa and contacted police over the barbarity of his treatment. …

The Morning Star contacted G4S for comment but, by time of press, it had not replied.

Let Home Office boss Jacqui Smith occupy herself with making amends for her role in the expenses corruption scandal, including, eg, her husband’s porn films payed by taxpayers; instead of pandering to the nazi BNP and other racists by having refugees violently deported by G4S mercenaries. Those merchants of violence are already making far too much profit from war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

Talking about Jacqui Smith, “new” Labour, and thuggery, also from the Morning Star:

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith faced legal action yesterday over claims that MI5 colluded in the torture of former civil servant Jamil Rahman.

Britain: Journalist freed as he wins reprieve on deportation to Cameroon: here.