Call for an end to police infiltration of protest groups - and defending the right to protest.
Anti-racist campaigners, whose organisation was infiltrated by under-cover officers in the 1990s believe a Hillsborough-style panel is the only way to uncover the truth.
Last week members of Youth Against Racism in Europe (YRE), held a protest outside Scotland Yard to defend the right to protest and an end to police infiltration of protest groups.
The protest followed revelations on Channel 4’s Dispatches programme last month that officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) infiltrated Youth Against Racism in Europe while they campaigned against racist attacks and murders in South East London around the time of the killing of Stephen Lawrence in 1993.
Former SDS officer Peter Francis revealed that he and other officers were instructed to gather evidence against Stephen Lawrence’s family and friends.
Doreen Lawrence, Stephen's mother, made it plain last week that there should be an independent inquiry into Francis's claims.
Lois Austin, former chair of Youth Against Racism in Europe, said: “Rather than vital police resources being spent finding Stephen Lawrence’s murderers resources were spent spying on those people trying to stop racist attacks and murders and on the Lawrence family. And we think this is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Youth Against Racism in Europe is calling for the establishment of a panel consisting of campaigners, trade unionists and democratically elected community representatives, similar to the Hillsborough Independent Panel set up to uncover the truth about 96 Liverpool football fans killed at the FA Cup semi-final in 1989.
They say that secret files should be made available to the panel, so it can go through the evidence and make recommendations.
“We are calling for any under-cover secret police units that aren’t involved in crime to be disbanded.
“We want all the Special Branch files on peaceful protesters made available, so they can be put under public scrutiny, and we want justice for the Lawrence family,” said Austin.
She added that there were currently 16 different inquiries into allegations of police infiltration of protest organisations.
“There are two main inquires. Firstly there is one being carried out by a judge in secret courts. No-one knows about the evidence, it is not under public scrutiny what is discussed or disclosed.
“The other public inquiry is by the police themselves, so it’s the police investigating the police.
“That is unacceptable. When we talk about a public inquiry what we mean is one that is run by people who are elected from communities, from protest organisations and trade unions, who form a panel,” she said.
And Austin rejected calls for a judge-led inquiry.
“Neville Lawrence is calling for that and I can understand why. He doesn’t want the police investigating the police.
“We have had judges making terrible decisions where protesters are concerned, [and] we don’t trust them to deal with this either,” she said.
“I think the Hillsborough panel did a fantastic job. They organised an inquiry, they took a legal route, but they also took a campaigning route and that’s what we intend to do.
“We are also going to be campaigning for the right to protest, an end to the infiltration of protest groups and an end to the criminalisation of protesters.
“In the last 20 years it has been accepted by the police and political establishment that it is alright to kettle protesters for hours and hours on end, so effectively taking away their right to democratic protest.
“We are going to be doing lots of protests against austerity and cuts, and we want to know that we can go out and protest without being kettled and suffering police brutality, and we also want to know that we won’t be spied upon by secret police.”
The programme also revealed - confirmed - that under-cover officers duped female activists from other campaigns into having relationships. One even fathered a child, and later disappeared. Several of these women are now taking legal action against the police.
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