This Appeal is updated with the corrected translation from Deutsch into English and French.
You can find below; The Bank account for Donation and Contact address to Mouctar Bah in Germany. We call for your solidarity and help to spread this Appeal to inform others:
Osaren Igbinoba,
The VOICE Refugee Forum Jena.
https://thevoiceforum.org
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English:
Justice for Mouctar Bah – Fax Campaign against the city of Dessau-Roßlau
https://thevoiceforum.org/node/698
Deutsch:
Oury Jalloh: Gerechtigkeit für Mouctar Bah - Faxkampagne an die Stadt Dessau-Roßlau
https://thevoiceforum.org/node/682
French Text:
Justice pour Mouctar Bah
https://thevoiceforum.org/node/693
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Campaign against the efforts of the City of Dessau to destroy the existence of an African activist, because he protested as his friend was burnt in a police cell:
Video Interview with Mouctar Bah http://www.umbruch-bildarchiv.de/video/gesetze/260106mouctar_bah.html
Television Broadcast by WDR - Monitor Bericht vom 12.04.07 http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=19243569 , WDR subtitled in Portuguise with link; OURY JALLOH IN PORTUGIESISCH by Marcos Romão: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=B5tMN0fgLkg&eurl=http://www.mamaterra.de
http://mamaterra.de
Campaign Information and Fax Appeal to Download: http://thecaravan.org/files/caravan/mouctar_bah.pdf
http://thecaravan.org/node/1454
On the morning of 7th January 2005 Oury Jalloh, an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone was arrested by the police and taken into custody. He was beaten, handcuffed and chained on hands and feet to the floor of a cell. Four hours later under unexplained circumstances, the completely tiled cell was on fire and it is still open how this could happen. Instead of helping Jalloh, the policemen on duty turned off the alarm three times.
He torturously burned. Since then friends of the West African refugee and antiracist initiatives in Germany are demanding “Clarification, Repatriation and Justice”. They formed “The Initiative in remembrance of Oury Jalloh”. Under the slogan “Oury Jalloh, it was murder!” they are organizing numerous demonstrations in Dessau and other cities.
The main person of the protests: Mouctar Bah, a friend of Oury Jalloh and former operator of an internet café in the town center of Dessau. Already in 2006 his license was taken away from him, with the argument that he had not reacted offensively enough towards drug dealers near his shop. Since then he is working as an employee in the internet café.
But this now is to be forbidden as well: because of supposedly complaints of neighbors about noise and dirt of his customers and also because he went against the requirements of the administrative order by having a “leading” position in the café, he should not be allowed to work there at all.
The State of Sachsen-Anhalt is trying with a campaign “Active against xenophobia” to represent itself positively in public. But as a refugee torturously and under unexplained circumstances burns in police custody, only a friend of the refugee who is also an African, could expose this in public. It was only then that the judiciary, due to pressure decided to investigate the incident.
Due to that, the State authorities want to revenge. Mouctar is now being forbidden to work in his telephone café, with implausible and racist justifications. Because of his active engagements against police violence, the State is destroying his means of existence.
We call on all to support Mouctar Bah!
Mouctar Bah opened his phone café four years ago in Dessau. It is one of the rare places in Dessau where African refugees can meet and feel safe. But after the death of Oury Jalloh he became object to the attention of the authorities. Under the pressure of the “Initiative Oury Jalloh”, which was founded by Bah, the prosecution office had to give out the burnt corpse of the dead refugee for a second and independent autopsy. Herein suddenly a broken nose was diagnosed, which was missed during the first round. In the documentation “Death in the Cell” of the TV-Channel WDR and also in interviews with other media representatives Bah doubts the explanations of the prosecution office about Jalloh’s death, which says that Oury Jalloh burnt himself, despite his being chained to the floor.
The authorities did not like him even before. Now for three years the Ordnungsamt (munipical department for public order, or the city’s regulatory agency) is trying to take away Mouctar Bah’s business license. The fact that people with black color had their meeting point at his shop seemed to be enough reason to argue that it was a drug trafficking spot.
But Mouctar Bah himself had reported drug dealers several times to the police. Nevertheless, he is being accused of having reported the dealers after knowing that the police had noticed them as well. That is the reason given by the court where Bah protested against the withdrawal of his license. The court confirmed the decision of the authorities from the year 2006. Mouctar Bah had to give up his shop but was again employed by the new owner of the café.
After one year he applied again for the allowance of a new license. The Ordnungsamt can only deny this if there are cogent arguments against him. The authorities think they found good reasons, why Mouctar Bah should not have the license, with following accusations:
1. Because he works on his own in the shop, he must have a ‘leading position’ breaking one of the pre-conditions to the new owner of the Café.
2. His customers would pollute the environment of the Café, urinate on the walls and produce a lot of noise.
3. The drug dealing was continued.
4. According to police observation, especially Africans would visit the shop, leave it and return “several times a day (…) either by foot or with a bicycle”.
5. Some of the visitors of the Café had left their administrative districts without permission and broken the law of residency restriction.
The Ordnungsamt also points at four complaints, which were put against Bah. Two of them were by the same neighbor of the café, to whom the presence of the Africans in that area is like a “torn in the eye”. The well known right wing neighbor has insulted Bah several times in front of the Café. Twice he even hit Mouctar Bah – the second time Bah defended himself and the neighbor had to be treated by the doctor. Out of revenge he twice, filed complaints of body injury against Mouctar to the police.
In the first case, Bah was found not guilty by the judge, who saw Bah to be the victim. The second case is still on. The third charge is from a policeman, who felt insulted by Bah during the court case against his colleagues charged because of the dead of Oury Jalloh. The fourth case was finally stopped by the prosecution office a long time ago.
The simple fact that someone has filed charges to the police against Bah means to the Ordnungsamt that Bah has “great character deficiency”. Nevertheless, the Ordnungsamt declares: “A behavior, which repeatedly needs police investigation, independent of the results shows great character deficiency of the person and a lack of acceptance of the norms of living together in the society and of the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany”.
The simple fact, that there were filed charges against Bah, independent of the results of investigations, seems to be enough to prove “great character deficiency”. This shows how the Ordnungsamt strongly wishes to discredit Bah. Mouctar Bah is held responsible for the behavior of his customers, who are under surveillance by the police due to their color of skin and their status. That he was taking care of the cleaning of the area and of the activities of his customers is being interpreted as “cognizance”. The fact that Bah reported to the police about drug dealing means to the administration that he had knowledge about drug dealing before and did nothing against it.
The phone Café is even supposed to have provoked the activities of his customers: “There are no doubts that the incidents on the Friedrich-Naumann-Street only happened because of the existence of the shop with telecommunication services and your (Mouctar Bah) operational readiness.”
Since March 2007 two policemen are being tried in court because of the death of Oury Jalloh. A clarification about the circumstances of death is not in sight – because the colleagues keep silent.
Meanwhile the police and the town of Dessau have become known for their friendly association with far right activities and are now trying to produce another picture in the public. But if it is about Non-Germans and especially blacks, then they still can unapologetically continue with their disrespect and discrimination – the bureaucratic means are at their disposal.
What exactly the “acceptance of the norms of the society to live together and the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany” means, seems to be under the definition power of the administration, which also has the power to enforce the definition.
Everyday people of color are affected by this definition – in the streets, as well as behind the walls of police offices.
Years have gone by, with Mouctar Bah resisting the efforts of the authorities to take away his means of existence in this town. Since the death of Oury Jalloh this pressure has considerably increased.
The Dessau administration has relied on their experience in the past that also in this case too, this could happen without publicity and hoped to continue in their administrative manner, the exclusion of refugees and migrants. They should not be allowed to succeed!
This is why we demand a broad solidarity with Mouctar Bah. Please take part in the fax campaign against the city administration of Dessau.
For more information:
Contact: +49( 0)160/95796679
The Caravan for the rights of refugees and migrants
http://thecaravan.org
The Initiative in remembrance of Oury Jalloh
http://initiativeouryjalloh.wordpress.com
Fax-Action in support of Mouctar Bah
Sender
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(Place and date)
To
Stadt Dessau-Roßlau
Amt für Ordnung und Verkehr
C/o Frau Lindner
per Fax: 03 40.20 4-29 36
Stop the revocation Mouctar Bah’s business license
Ladies and gentlemen,
I strongly protest against the revocation of the business license of Mouctar Bah and demand that you allow Mr. Bah to continue running his telephone Café in future.
Best regards,
_________________________
Please also send a copy of the fax to:
The Initiative in remembrance of Oury Jalloh in Dessau
Fax: 0340/2168622,
Contact MOUCTAR BAH; Tel.: 0049 0(160) 957-96679E_mail: ouldah@hotmail.de
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Donations: Bah, Mouctar O.
Account nr: 33003861, Bank BLZ. nr: 80053572
IBAN: DE13 8005 3572 0033 0038 61;BIC: NOLADE21DES
Bank: Sparkasse, Dessau