BY JESS MELVIN
"People are stopped for no reason, bashed for no reason, physically and spiritually abused. They target migrants and people from Third World countries", Hussein Farah from the Somali Youth Association and the Western Suburbs Community Coalition Against Racism (WSCCAR) told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. Farah is not talking about some far-away dictatorship, but police harassment in Footscray in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
On October 7, a 23-year-old Somali man from Footscray was bashed unconscious in the Footscray police station by police, who called him "Osama Bin-Laden" and a "terrorist". He had been stopped on a train by ticket inspectors and asked for identification, which he supplied. He also had in his possession his friend's driver's license.
He was detained by inspectors and eventually taken to the police station where he was held before being thrown, unconscious, onto the street. A stranger found him and took him to hospital. He had received head and arm injuries.
"A lot of times this brutality has taken place, but nobody stood up, because young kids were afraid that they might be attacked afterwards", continued Farah.
"We were reporting incidents to police stations, to social workers, community leaders, to the ombudsman... but nothing happened. Everybody experiences this all the time", Farah said.
According to the young people living in Melbourne's west, such attacks on black and Arab young people are increasing. Police have been emboldened by the atrocious anti-Muslim propaganda used to justify the "war on terrorism".
"The police force is part of the government. If the government wanted [police racism and violence] to stop, it would stop. The way of the government is to make some people feel welcome while others are told indirectly to go back home", explained Axmed Ali, a member of WSCCAR.
"Police abuse power, firstly, because they know that they have the government on their side, secondly, because they have the people's trust and, thirdly, they have weapons. This has created a sort of pride that encourages them to abuse power."
WSCCAR was initiated by African students living in the western suburbs, who approached the Socialist Alliance to organise a rally, held on November 22, after the above attack.
It is not just in Victoria that police racism is a problem. In NSW, young Lebanese, Asians and Muslims have become used to being vilified by the state Labor government. In Bankstown, a suburb particularly under attack by NSW Premier Bob Carr and the shock-jock media, the local community has also begun to organise.
In October, Carr issued a public warning to migrants: "Obey the law in Australia, or ship out of Australia."
"What is being questioned here", Souhier Edelbi, a member of Bankstown Books Not Bombs, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly "is... the citizenship rights of all Lebanese, Arabs, Muslims and anyone who is an immigrant or whose parents are not white."
Books Not Bombs was attacked by the NSW government in April, following hugely popular student strikes against the war in Iraq. Using footage of passionate Arabic and Muslim young people at the protest, the media, backed by the government, described these teenagers as "violent" and "extremists".
Frightened by the publicity, several local councils subsequently refused to allow Books Not Bombs to hold film screenings.
Books Not Bombs organised a public meeting to discuss the fight against racism in June, which brought together Muslim organisations and defenders of civil rights, in a discussion about fighting the state-promoted racism.
When things just got worse, the Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group held another meeting on November 26, titled "Don't vilify our community".
Like their comrades in Bankstown, young campaigners in Footscray have faced a backlash from police. Intimidation of community leaders eventually convinced the Somali Community of Australia to withdraw its support for the Footscray rally.
"At the police liaison meeting [police said] that if any violence occurred at the rally it would be the responsibility of the rally's sponsors, of WSCCAR and in particular the Somali Community of Australia. The next week they sent their multicultural officer around to community groups continuing this," said WSCCAR Ray Fulcher, also a member of the Socialist Alliance.
Despite the intimidation, more than 350 people attended the peaceful protest in Footscray. And local young people continue to organise.
"The rally was a real morale boost for standing up for our rights", said Ali. "Now every police officer should have in mind that if they beat up an African, they will have another rally on their hands. They don't want that. So, hopefully we'll see a positive change of attitude from the police towards young people... A lot more people will attend another rally because they'll have in mind how well the first one turned out."
Ali pointed out that many young people do not know what they can do when they are attacked by police, particularly if they have poor English. "[We are making] plans for non-English speaking background people to know their rights", he said.
On December 10, the Somali man who was bashed by police will be facing court. WSCCAR and the Socialist Alliance will be present to show their support for him. "The rally has changed a lot of things," he told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly "[The ombudsman was] not investigating my case before, but since [the rally] they are... [and] there have been no attacks since."
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, December 10, 2003.
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