Immigrants stage demonstration against intolerance in Finland

Immigrants in Oulu, northern Finland, staged a demonstration on 24 February 2012 against the shooting to death of an immigrant in a pizzeria. The demonstration reportedly attracted over 200 participants. A video posted on Ilta-Sanomat briefly captures the "march for peace" and sheds new light on the plight of immigrants. The demonstrators urged decision makers and the police to promote tolerance and to step up efforts to make the city more secure. [Source]. A similar demonstration was reportedly staged in the nation's capital on the same day. YLE News noted that the "racially-flavoured" shooting in Oulu followed two other violent acts against immigrants.

Immigrants in Finland have safety concerns.

Following the deadly Oulu shooting, many immigrants believe any of them could be a victim. I have had a discussion with at least two people who feel this way. Many are scared.

One immigrant who has lived in Finland for 18 years and owns a pizzeria said he is scared and that things have changed over the past three years. He lives in Oulu - where the shooting took place - and has noticed that the city has become more racist. [Source].

It is worth mentioning that my Tuesday article condemning the Oulu pizzeria shooting and urging people of goodwill in Finland to do the same was not well received by some readers. The article was published on Migrant Tales, a blog that debates issues facing the immigrant and minority community in Finland, with the title: Zuzeeko's Blog: Finland - Shooting of Immigrants in Oulu Pizzeria must be condemned. It has received some unsettling comments. In the spirit of the Perussuomalaiset councilman who said the shooter should be given a medal, some readers have attempted to defend the shooter or make excuses on his behalf.

It has been said that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Intolerance, hate crime, racism, discrimination and all social ills are morally reprehensible and must always be condemned by people of good conscience - no matter how loud voices in favor may seem.

*Photo: Ilta-Sanomat.

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Finland: Shooting of Immigrants in Oulu pizzeria must be condemned

In a country where a Member of Parliament for the Perussuomalaiset (PS) political party can openly use racist and derogatory language (video) against Muslims and people of African decent and is not forced to resign as representative of the people, it is easy to conclude that racism is deep-seated. However, any racially motivated shooting or killing must be unequivocally condemned in the strongest terms by all people of goodwill.

On Saturday 18 February 2012, a gunman opened fire in a pizzeria in Oulu, northern Finland - killing one man and injuring another. The gunman - a 24-year old Finn - turned the gun on himself and later died in a hospital on Sunday evening.

The pizzeria shooting claimed the life of a 21-year-old man of Moroccan origin and left a 42-year-old Moroccan man wounded. The owner of the pizzeria - an Algerian - was not hit. According to a news report published on Monday 20 February 2012 in Metro Helsinki, a daily newspaper in Helsinki, the shooting could have been motivated by racism. Other sources say police believe the shooter was not motivated by racism.

However, given the current toxic political climate and hateful rhetoric by some influential politicians, Members of Parliament and ordinary Finnish citizens targeting immigrants, racism cannot be easily ruled out as a motivation.

Following the Oulu pizzeria shooting, for instance, Tommi Rautio, a board member of PS - a right wing anti-immigration party - reportedly wrote on Facebook that the shooter should be given a medal because there is "a war going on and for every war decorations are handed out." [Source]. This speaks volumes about what the PS is made of and sheds light on the sorry-state of affairs in Finnish-Immigrant relations.

A poll commissioned by Helsinki Sanomat revealed that Muslims in general are among the groups most affected by racism and intolerance in Finland. In 2011, President Tarja Halonen expressed concern about the rise of racism and xenophobia in Finland.

The Oulu pizzeria shooting is the third incident in less than one month that resulted in the tragic death of immigrants - two Somalians and one Moroccan.

Finland is going down the wrong road. All persons of good conscience in the Nordic country must condemn racism and racially motivated crimes in the strongest terms and distance themselves from people who use immigrants and other minority groups as targets or punching bags. Politicians who use their influence to preach hate or sway public opinion against minority groups must be held to account, especially when their words are translated into action. More importantly, law enforcement must take hate crimes more seriously and ensure that perpetrators bear the full weight of the law. No one should be killed or discriminated against because he or she looks different or professes a different faith in a society that prides itself as free and democratic.

*Photo of Finnish police car: Wikipedia.

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UN Working Group urges Cameroon to compensate imprisoned musician

I received a press release from Free Muse, an organization that advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide, on 16 February 2012. The news release was about the legal opinion of the UN working Group on Arbitrary Detention in the case of Pierre Roger Lambo Sandjo, commonly known as Lapiro de Mbanga - a Cameroonian musician who was arrested, tried and imprisoned for 3 years in 2008.

Lapiro de Mbanga was arrested on 9 April 2008 following a mass demonstration in Cameroon. According to Free Muse, he was arrested for singing a song that criticized a controversial Constitutional amendment that eliminated presidential term limits and granted the Head of State immunity for crimes committed in office.

According to information communicated to the UN Working group, Lapiro was arrested on accusations of mass looting, destruction of public property, obstruction of public way, attack on public property and participating in illegal meetings. On 24 September 2008, he was condemned - after what was widely seen as a "political trial" - to 3 years in prison for participating in illegal meetings, obstruction of public way and mass looting. [Source].

Despite condemnation by rights groups and campaigns to secure his release, the artist served 3 years in the   infamous New Bell Prison in Douala. The prison, according to Amnesty International, has an official capacity of 700 but held 2,453 inmates in August 2011. [Source].

Lapiro was released on 8 April 2011.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, whose mandate includes investigating cases of deprivation of  liberty imposed arbitrarily or otherwise in violation of relevant international human rights standards, concluded that the arrest of Lapiro de Mbanga and ensuing deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and resulted in the violation of rights laid down in the following articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

• article 3 - right to liberty and security of person,
• article 5 - freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
• article 7 - right to protection of the law without discrimination
• article 8 - right to effective remedy
• article 9 - freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention
• article 10 - right to fair trial
• article 11 - right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty
• article 18 - freedom of thought conscience and religion
• article 19 - freedom of opinion and expression
• article 20 - freedom of peaceful assembly and association
• article 21 

The Working Group also concluded that the arbitrary arrest  resulted in the violation of following articles of the the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - to which Cameroon became party in June 1984:

• articles 2(3) 
• article 9
• article 10
• article 14

This is a very long list of violations suffered by one man in the hands of his government.

The UN Working Group urged the government of Cameroon to compensate Lapiro for damages suffered as a result of his arbitrary arrest and detention, grant him amnesty or pardon and take measures to guarantee his right to security of person.

The opinion and recommendations (in French) of the UN Working Group is dated 1 September 2011.

The government of Cameroon must respect its obligations under international law and fulfill the demands of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The authorities are obliged to ensure that people, including musicians, journalists, peaceful protesters or ordinary citizens, are not arbitrarily arrested or subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

ASIDE: FreeMuse interviewed Lapiro de Mbanga on 8 May 2011 - one month after his release from New Bell Prison. Watch the video interview.



It is worth mentioning that Lapiro is French-speaking.

Photo source: IFEX.

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