Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

10th Annual United Families & Friends Remembrance Procession

UK Features | 28.10.2008 12:39 | Anti-racism | Repression | Social Struggles

On Saturday 25th October 2008,several hundred people attended the 10th Annual United Families & Friends Remembrance procession which was led by many family members of those who have died in suspicious circumstances in police custody, prison and 'secure' mental health facilities.

In customary tradition the procession made its way in dignified silence from Trafalgar Square down Whitehall to Downing Street in dutiful respect to those who mourn the loss of loved ones and to invoke their memory and the collective injustices that their deaths represent. In the past year 182 such deaths have been recorded recorded, and a banner carried in the march listed over 2500 who have died.

Reports and Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Previous UFF processions: 2005 | 2006 [More] | 2007
External links: Inquest | Injustice the film 1 | 2 | Online petition against the Shoot to Kill Policy

An appaling roll-call of the dead.
An appaling roll-call of the dead.


The procession stopped at Downing Street and family members came forward and attached bouqets to the gates. The procession then returned to Trafalger Square, where a number of family members of the victims of injustice spoke. Their speeches highlighted an almost complete lack of accountability within the police, prison and mental health service whereby healthy people, mainly but not all black, continue to die in police and psychiatric custody and in prisons. Several talked about the indignity of not getting a fair trial in the courts and a criminal justice system which has consistently failed them.

Amongst the families who spoke at Parliament Square were the sister of Jason McPherson, who died after being held down by 10 cops in police custody in January 2007 after being prevented from being allowed to have use of his inhaler despite repeated pleas. The cause of Jason's death is still not established, as the family are still awaiting for pathology and post-mortem reports over 20 months on, one of which being the family's own independent post mortem.

The mother of Paul Coker also spoke. Paul died on 6th August 2005 aged 32 in a cell at Plumstead police station, South East London, just two hours after being arrested for causing a breach of the peace. Up to fifteen police officers arrested Paul, and the initial postmortem was inconclusive.

Other victims of injustice who were represented on the march by family and friends included Sean Rigg who died in police custody on Thursday 21st August 2008, Jean Charles de Menezes whose inquest is ongoing, Patrick Cawley and Habi Bullah who died whilst being arrested on Thursday 21st August 2008

UK Features

Additions

Thx + date next year + links

28.10.2008 16:57

thanks for making this a feature here on the mainpage as well (saw it just now), because the march is clearly a national rally with families attending from all over.

--> The 11th annual protest will take place SATURDAY 31st OF OCTOBER 2009, assembly again again at 1 pm at Trafalgar Square.

Coverage elsewhere:

 http://harpymarx.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/uffc-procession/
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct25-01.htm
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct25-02.htm
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct25-03.htm
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct25-04.htm
 http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2008/10/oct25-05.htm
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/7925846

PigBrother.info


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
Jan 12th, London
Climate rush at Heathrow
Feb 7th
Valentine's Day Demo Against Carmel Agrexco
Feb 21-22, Bristol
No Borders UK gathering
Feb 27th, London:
SHAC City shakedown
May 4th, Brighton
Mayday Reclaim the Streets Against EDO MBM/ITT
Ongoing UK
Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Iraq Occupation: Electronic Iraq
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Climate Change: Climate Indymedia
United Kollectives
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Leeds Bradford
Liverpool
Manchester
Nottinghamshire
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Scotland
York
Projects
Indymedia Projects

iMobile Page
Photo Page
Indymedia Cinema
Video Page
Radio Page
Offline Newsheet

Other Media Projects

Schnews
Riseup Radio
Dissident Island Radio
Topics
All Topics
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
COP15 Climate Summit
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Unencrypted Page
We suggest you use an encrypted connection for browsing this site.
Please install the CAcert root certificate to verify the authenticity of the site, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa
ambazonia
canarias
estrecho / madiaq
kenya
nigeria
south africa

Canada
hamilton
london, ontario
maritimes
montreal
ontario
ottawa
quebec
thunder bay
vancouver
victoria
windsor
winnipeg

East Asia
burma
jakarta
japan
manila
qc

Europe
abruzzo
alacant
andorra
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
bristol
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
euskal herria
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
lille
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
nice
norway
oost-vlaanderen
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
saint-petersburg
scotland
sverige
switzerland
thessaloniki
torun
toscana
toulouse
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
brasil
chiapas
chile
chile sur
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
adelaide
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
oceania
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india
mumbai

United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
austin
baltimore
big muddy
binghamton
boston
buffalo
charlottesville
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
tennessee
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
armenia
beirut
israel
palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech
volunteer