Make Equality Real Campaign

 BARAC UK is part of Make Equality Real campaign, coordinated by the General Federation of Trade Unions which we are pleased to announce are affiliated to BARAC UK.

Please join the campaign and sign up to support here:

Join the Make Equality Real Campaign

Raise funds for BARAC UK to fight racism and injustice by playing union lotto

It costs just £1 per week to play union lotto, win money and prizes and raise funds for BARAC UK at the same time. Click on the link to sign up. 

Play Union Lotto and raise funds for BARAC UK  

Open Letter on the UK's transition to e-visas

 

Open Letter on the UK's transition to e-visas co-signed by Chair of BARAC UK Zita Holbourne.

Press Release: In support of Diane Abbott

 

International Organisations condemn the incitement to racial hatred by the largest Tory party donor, Frank Hester, and the racist and Islamophobic comments by the former Tory Vice Chairman and M.P., Lee Anderson.

 

PRESS RELEASE            PRESS RELEASE                 PRESS RELEASE

Press release embargoed: Thursday, March 14th, 2024 @ 9.01 am GMT

 

An international alliance of civil society organisations, and human rights activists have come together to condemn the actions of the Tory Donor, Frank Hester in the deliberate racist abuse of Diane Abbott M.P. This latest scandal comes in the wake of the equally racist and Islamophobic comments by Lee Anderson, the former Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, who has now defected to the extremist Reform Party with comments directed at the Mayor of London, Saddique Khan.  The Conservative Party is itself guilty of fostering and promoting the same extremism it now seeks to condemn

 

The Governments definition of extremism that is exemplified by that words of both Hester and Anderson is now,

“vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

 

SBL will be reporting both individuals to the Metropolitan Police and Mr Hester to Yorkshire Police to endorse the action by Ms Abbott.

 

Zita Holbourne of BARAC UK  commented

 

“Two Members of Parliament have been killed in recent years due to the corrosive effects of hate speech on political life, with none in more danger than Diane Abbott M.P. who has been threatened regularly on social media. The statements by Frank Hester are an absolute disgrace, with the dreadful silence from Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and Government Ministers failure to condemn the racist abuse is a further level of abuse. One could only imagine the clamour for a prosecution if this had been a statement by a black member of Parliament against any white person in power and authority.”

 

 

Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. (Retired), Chair of the Society of Black Lawyers,

 

“The failure of the Prime Minister to condemn the words of the largest Tory donor was unacceptable. Either this is because he was sending out Ministers to minimise the seriousness of what had occurred. or alternatively he was more concerned to protect the perpetrator of this incitement to racial hatred to safeguard the £10 million contribution made by Hester to the Tory party. His silence makes him complicit to this appallingly dangerous abuse. If the word “Jewish women” had been substituted for the word “black women”, imagine the international calls for the Tory party to disown and prosecute Frank Hester. Sunak suggesting this can be ignored is complete hypocrisy from a Prime Minister who has no appreciation of the effects of racism on society.

 

Lee Jasper, former adviser to the Mayor of London commented,

 

“The targeting of Islamists and Saddique Khan by Lee Anderson and the venomous and racist attack on our longest serving Black Member of Parliament, Diane Abbott all come from the same racist Tory play book. Even the late recognition by Minister Kemi Badenoch sought to protect the Masters house by suggesting that threats to kill could be ignored as she suggested, “there needs to be space for forgiveness where there is contrition”. This must be the type of forgiveness that requires her to put out the racist fire in the Masters house where she and the Prime Minister underplay the seriousness of the threat to the life of a sitting M.P. who is already the most targeted for abuse and threats in Parliament. The Tory party has no moral qualms it seems from accepting funds from a known racist who has still denies the blatant racism of what he said.”

 

Mrs Yetunde Asika, Co-Chair of Bandung Africa, commented,

 

“We will not stand idly by and allow this blatant victimisation of Diane Abbott MP by the by Tory donor Frank Hester. She has been a fighter for justice and equality in our community, showing huge leadership qualities in the aftermath of  the Grenfell fire, and many other community injustices over the years. She has shown her commitment to racial justice both on the African Continent and in the diaspora. It should come as no surprise that this far right Tory donor links his abuse to her ethnicity, extends it to all black women and then pretends he is not a racist. He is happy to call for our longest serving black female member of Parliament to be shot and lie others assumes some half-hearted apology would suffice. This is the sort of donor the Tory party is happy to be funded by, not even Donald Trump is publicly funded directly by the KKK.

 

Lee Anderson’s racist xenophobic comments that,

 

“I want my country back…we are allowing people into our country that will never intergrate and adopt out British values” and alleging that Saddique Khan and London was controlled by “Islamists” has been roundly condemned as deeply offensive, and playing into some far right conspiracy playbook that echoes the way in which Jews were targeted in the 1930’s by alleging some sort of state control based on racial origin and religious faith. This racist politician conveniently forgets the hundreds of thousands who came to fight for the U.K. in two world wars, and gave their lives to up hold so called “British values”. In elevating “British Values” to some form of higher moral status he omits any reference to the exploitation, murder, torture, and oppression that constituted British actions and deplorable “values” regularly applied in the former British colonies from India to Kenya and the Caribbean.

 

We, the undersigned condemn the incitement to racial hatred against black women targeting a sitting Member of Parliament, and the gratuitous and extremist language deployed by the former Tory MP, Lee Anderson, who failed to offer any apology for his offensive and ridiculous assertion that London and its Mayor is controlled by Islamist extremists. The racist targeting of MP Diane Abbott is not capable of being met with any form of apology and we, the undersigned call upon the MPS and Yorkshire Police to take action in this case.

 

Rtd Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. , Chair SBL and Bandung Africa

 

Mrs Yetunde Asika, Co-Chair Bandung Africa

 

  Co-Chair Bandung Africa

 

 

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, U.K. Member of Parliament

Claudia Webbe, U.K. Member of Parliament

Lee Jasper, Former Adviser on Policing to the Mayor of London,

Zita Holbourne, BARAC U.K.

Viv Ahmun, Director Blaksox,

Professor P.L.O. Lumumba, Kenya

Donald Deya, CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU)

Tim Okuwa, CEO, The Black Equity Organisation (U.K.)

 

 

For further information please contact:

Pherb5law@aol.com

ya@bandungafrica.com

info@blaksox.com

 

Judge D Peter Herbert O.B.E. (Retired) +254 (0) 742 101 877

Viv Ahmun +44 (0)7985 395 166

Lee Jasper +44 (0)7984181797

 

 

After the 25th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!

 

Press Statement: Justice for Jay Campaign
 Immediate Release,  31^st January 2024
 

After the 25^th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!
 

 

 Background

Jay Abatan, a black man of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, died on 29th January 1999, following an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men, in the early hours of the 24th of January in Morley Street, Brighton. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness. He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.

 

Twenty Fifth Anniversary events

 

29^th of January 2024 was the 25^th anniversary of the death of Jay and still no justice has been served despite the killers being known to the police. This, combined with a catalogue of failures by Sussex Police and failures in the judicial system, mean that twenty-five years on, nobody has been convicted for Jay’s murder.

 

New evidence that police officers that bungled the case holidayed abroad with suspects has come to light yet Sussex police have failed to act upon this.

 

To mark the 25^th anniversary, a  well-attended vigil was held  outside Brighton Police station the day before, on Sunday 28^th of January and a meeting in the Houses of Parliament took place on the anniversary, Monday 29^th of January, launching a pamphlet about the campaign, attended by the Abatan family,  members of Parliament, representatives from BARAC UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Brighton and Hove Stand Up to Racism,  who are part of the Justice 4 Jay Campaign, plus representatives from various campaign groups and journalists.

 

Sir Peter Bottomley MP chaired the meeting.

 

Other MPs in attendance included Bell Ribero-Addy, Claudia Webbe, Jeremy Corbyn, Kim Johnson, Richard Burgon and Annelise Dodd. Messages of solidarity were received from MPs who wished to attend but were unable to, due to other business and these included Caroline Lucas who has agreed to table an Early Day Motion, John McDonnell, Beth Winter, Barry Gardiner, Peter Kyle and Sam Tarry.

 

Speakers at the meeting included brother of Jay, who was also attacked at the same time as Jay, Michael Abatan, Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC UK and Hector Wesley, PCS NEC.

 

Over the 48 hours, the campaign garnered mainstream national, local and international news coverage.

 

Taking the campaign for justice forward

 

Going forward, Justice for Jay will be stepping up the campaign to ensure that justice is served.

 

There will be an Early Day Motion and a series of parliamentary questions tabled in parliament and MPs will be writing to Sussex Police.

 

There will be formal complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the campaign will be pursuing a public inquiry and an investigative inquiry as well as legal action regarding the criminal aspects of the case which include the killing of Jay Abatan but also the physical assault on Michael Abatan.

 

The Alliance for Police Accountability are supporting the Justice for Jay campaign. A fundraiser has been launched, administered by BARAC UK, to raise money towards legal fees.

 

To support the campaign:

 

•      Messages of solidarity and information relating to the case, can be sent to:

justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com and barac.info@gmail.com

•      Join the Justice for Jay Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForJayAbatan

•      Donate towards the legal fundraiser - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/justice-for-jay-abatan

•      Write to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, calling for a new public inquiry into the killing of Jay Abatan - pcc@sussex-pcc.gov.uk

•      Download the pamphlet in electronic form here; https://blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com/2024/01/justice

-4-jay-25th-anniversary-event-in.html

•      Write to your MP asking them to sign the EDM 349, tabled by Caroline Lucas MP on 1st February 2024

•      Invite a speaker from the campaign to your trade union / organisation AGMs, branch meetings and conferences

 

Michael Abatan, brother of Jay Abatan, Justice for Jay campaign said:

 

 “The new witness coming forward shows that it is not too late to get justice for my brother.  I have been humbled by all the support I have received and thank everyone mentioned in this statement. It has been a long fight for the truth which is yet to come out. I will continue to keep a clear and open mind and let the evidence speak for itself. I urge anyone with any information to come forward and do the right thing. Injustice for one is injustice for all”

 

Zita Holbourne, National Chair BARAC UK, Justice for Jay Campaign said:

 

“Twenty-five years is too long for any family to have to dedicate lives fighting for justice, it is too long to wait to grieve. The Abatan family need and deserve answers, they need justice, and we need to see the killers and those who helped cover up their crime, punished. Justice must be served and we will be working as a community to support the family in ensuring that it is.” 

 

Ends

 

Contact: justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com or barac.info@gmail.com

 

#Justice4Jay  #JayAbatan #SussexPoliceAreNotInnocent

Justice 4 Jay 25th anniversary event in parliament, vigil and legal fund appeal

29th January 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Jay Abatan by racists in murder, still nobody has been convicted for this murder and the Abatan family are continuing their quest for justice.

To mark the 25th anniversary a meeting in UK Parliament will be held at 6pm on Monday 29th of January  at Portcullis House - please use this entrance, not the entrance for the Houses of Parliament, Portcullis House is next to Westminster tube station.  The meeting will be hosted by Peter Bottomley MP.

Full details can be accessed via the facebook event page

A vigil will also be held outside Brighton Police Station at 2pm on Sunday 28th of January.

A new pamphlet about Jay Abatan and the campaign for justice can be accessed via the link below.

Justice for Jay 25th anniversary pamphlet

Racist Murder of Jay Abatan

Jay Abatan died on 29th January 1999.  He had been attacked in the early hours of the 24th January in Morley Street, Brighton.  He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness.  He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.   

Initially a group of four men were identified and arrested for the attack on Jay and his brother Michael. Two men were subsequently charged with the manslaughter of Jay, actual bodily harm (ABH) on Michael and affray and they were released on bail. On the day the case was listed for commital, the Prosecution decided to drop the charges of manslaughter against one of the men despite the case having been prepared on a “joint enterprise” basis.  Officers claimed that Prosecution Counsel asked them what their “gut feeling” was about who was most likely to be responsible for causing Jay’s death and on that   they dropped the charges of manslaughter against one of the suspects.   As a result, the court refused to commit the one remaining suspect for the killing of Jay.  Two men subsequently stood trial for ABH and affray in relation to the assault on Michael and were acquitted.    The Judge ruled that the jury were not allowed to know what happened to Jay.   When Michael  gave evidence, he was not allowed to say that as he was being hit he had already seen that they had attacked his brother and he was lying injured on the ground.  As soon as they stopped kicking and punching Michael,  he went to his brother’s aid and began trying to resuscitate him rather than focusing on the men and where they had gone.  

Twenty five years on, nobody has been successfully prosecuted for Jay's death.    We are still no clearer about how many serving police officers were present with the group the night of the attack and in the aftermath.   

Background:

Jimmy Abayomi Abatan, known as Jay, was born in Lewisham in 1956 to Michael Abatan, an electrical engineer from Nigeria and Susan Abatan, a bilingual secretary from Kent.  

On Saturday 23rd January 1999, Jay, then  42 years old, a tax specialist with Price Waterhouse Coopers, went out for the night with his brother  Michael and a group of friends to celebrate a promotion at work.

After going to Ocean Rooms nightclub in Brighton, they went to the taxi rank on Grand Parade.

There he was subjected to an attack that he was unprepared for and as a result suffered life-ending injuries.     He was kicked and punched until he was unconscious on the floor with a fractured eye socket and fractured skull.   

He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and I went with him.   He never regained consciousness and was placed on life support.   He had a significant brain injury that resulted in his death on Friday 29th January 1999.  

Campaign for Justice

The Abatan family, led by Jay's brother Michael, have been fighting for justice ever since and strongly believe there has been a police cover up. This fundraiser is being administered by BARAC UK, on behalf of the Abatan  family and Justice 4 Jay campaign  to raise funds for a legal challenge. Twenty five years is too long for anyone to have to fight for justice.

Please support Justice 4 Jay by donating.

Sign the open letter by Justice 4 Windrush on the Windrush Compensation Scheme

Sign the open letter here

The fight for justice for the Windrush Generation continues. Justice for Windrush have launched an open letter and campaign video, calling for a just and accessible Windrush compensation scheme and we support this campaign fully.

 It will be eight years in 2024,  since I started campaigning against what became known as the Windrush Scandal and wrote about it  here in The Guardian - How Can 50 People be Snatched?

It's a disgrace that the Windrush Generation, families and our communities are still fighting for justice. When I wrote about it in 2016, it was not the start of the so called 'scandal', many victims had already been experiencing the horror of being detained, deported or barred from returning to the UK, for years or even decades by then. 

The Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched almost five years ago now, so you would expect that most people  would have received the compensation they are entitled to for the pain, loss and trauma they were put through.  Instead, the vast majority have received nothing  and in the few cases where the Home Office has made an offer, it has been woefully low and inadequate, to compensate the multiple injuries and losses experienced, meaning that people have had no choice but to appeal. A freedom of information request exposed that only 1% of people had received any compensation on appeal, in 2021.

We are supporting the open letter launched to start this year, by Justice 4 Windrush.  The letter exposes the many failures of the Windrush Compensation Scheme,  with only 13% of those eligible to receive compensation, receiving any funds, since the scheme was launched, to date. Many of those eligible, are elders and sadly too have passed, due to their age, without ever receiving any compensation. This is an abuse of human rights.

Alongside other demands, the letter calls for compensation for all eligible, to be paid swiftly, to stop deportations, as this petition calls for, for legal aid for those claiming compensation and crucially  it calls for an independent and neutral body to oversee the Windrush Compensation Scheme, removing it from the Home Office.

There are so many parallels with the Windrush Scandal and the Post Office Scandal. 91 year old disgusted with compensation delay and like Windrush, it has been heartbreaking to hear the stories of the Post Office victims. The human costs to both Windrush and Post Office scandal victims are horrific.  Our full solidarity goes to the Post Office scandal victims.

Please sign the open letter   and also watch the powerful  Official Campaign Film  which features survivors of the Windrush Scandal and their families alongside celebrities and public figures,  including Baroness Doreen Lawrence, actors, Adrian Lester and Eddie Marsan, TV presenter Jay Blades and musicians Don Letts and Leee John.

Please support this important campaign, Justice 4 Windrush have asked that you sign the letter,  watch the video, follow them on X and share with your networks.

 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Zita Holbourne

Co-founder and National Chair BARAC UK