In confidence that the police denounce "offensive" racism, the police opens a file in Bilbao
- By concentrating on denouncing police abuse in the San Francisco Bilbaíno neighborhood, the police opens a file alleging that the complaint is offensive. Instead of contracting, residents will return to the streets on Wednesday afternoon to report “racist police raids, humiliating explorations on the house portal and illegal emptying of habitable housing.”
Many migrants and racists live in the San Francisco neighborhood, and their neighbors are fed up with police persecution and militarization. Karen Brunel, a member of the SOS Racism of Bizkaia, tells us his day to day: “Stop without justification, illegal detentions, racist police raids, humiliating explorations at the door of the house, illegally evict dwellings with permission of habitability without any judicial order and with force… In short, abuse of power and violence”. SOS Racism counts in a week the presence of 50 police vehicles in the neighborhood. And he explains that recently the Spanish Police has deported the people of the neighborhood to the CIE (migrant detention center) of Murcia, for which they have enjoyed the cooperation of the agents.
"The police vans and 24 agents waited for us, paradoxically justifying our complaint, we met peacefully in the face of this police reaction for forty people"
Why a disproportionate police presence?
Among the complaints they receive in SOS Racism de Bizkaia, most are related to police racism. “Certain ethnic groups are criminalizing,” he says, “and because they are migrants and racists, often without papers, their rights are further violated.” He adds that the militarization of the neighborhood has increased, perhaps because they want to “clean”, “remove migrants and gentrify the neighborhood, because we see no other reason to act like this, in such a disproportionate way”.
At the last meeting to denounce all of this, “we were waiting for vans and 24 police officers, paradoxically giving reason to our complaint, in view of that police reaction for 40 people who met peacefully – Brunel tells us –. We denounced police racism and approached two officers saying that we were insulting the police and that they opened a dossier for lack of respect for authority. We were impressed: because it goes against freedom of expression and we are also denouncing a reality, we are not insulting.”
This afternoon on Wednesday they will return to the street with a kalejira at 19:30 from Plaza Corazón de María. “Racism outside our neighborhoods.”
Gasteizko Errotako (Koroatze) auzoan izan diren manifestazio "anonimoek" kolokan jarri dute auzokoen arteko elkarbizitza. Azalera atera dituzte ere hauetan parte hartu duten partidu politiko batzuen eta beste kide batzuen izaera faxista eta arrazista.
They've brought the megaphone in a hurry and running. This is unacceptable. This cannot be accepted. Let's all scream at once, we can't go on like this. Have you come to your house? Yes, you're right; we applaud you. Next week we will meet here and meet you, yes, sir. And if not,... [+]
