Stop the racial violence against black people by the security guards in Sweden!

On the 5th January 2019, two 12 year old swedish boys with Somali background were brutally beaten down by security guards in the Kista mall in Stockholm. This happened after the two boys had a loud conversation about football in a nearby library when one of the visitors complained to the librarians whom called the security guards to take control over the situation. The boys did not recieve any warnings from the librarian or any other staff member beforehand. 

Among much, the children were forfully pulled towards the handrail on the escalators, were thrown down on the floor in the shopping mall and got the guards knee pulled on their backs while laying on their stomach. The children were therafter dragged around on their feet by the grownup security guards. The sequence of the event was around 30 minutes. Because of the brutality, one of the children got a concussion. The whole even was catched on surveallance cameras as well as recorded on the phones by withnesses. 

 

Quickly after this, Save the Children Sweden published a press release claiming this to be a clear case of childrens abuse: https://press.raddabarnen.se/news/kommentar-fraan-raedda-barnen-med-anledning-av-bilderna-paa-en-vakt-i-kista-galleria-som-goer-ett-ingripande-mot-ett-barn-348714

 

The 20th January 2019, the Swedish documentary programme "Kalla Fakta" (Translated to "Cold Facts") on TV4 (among the largest TV channels in Sweden) with an episode about racial profiling. Several people of color or with miniority background shared their experience in discrimination and racial profiling from the police, the security guards and the justice system.

Among many, the biracial young man Sebasitan, and his white father Martin Atterby spoke about an incident when Sebastian, with dark skin and dreadlocks, was caught in the security in the airport after a family holiday and taken to the security room, without any explanations of why he was a suspect.

 

 

On the 31th January 2019 (less than a month after the incident in Kista mall), a heavily pregnant black woman, three weeks before estimated birth date, was forcefully thrown out from the subway in Stockholm. Her pregnant belly hit a bench and she was thereafter pulled down to the ground and dragged around by the security guards in front of  the eyes of her five year old daughter. The woman experienced contractions and was on her way to the hospital for a checkup at that time. She had a valid ticket until the 5th February but didn't manage to show it quickly enough to the ticket inspectors, which was their justifications for the violence against the woman. After the event, the woman needed to take an ambulance to the hospital where she spent the night for surveallance. The woman got bruises all over her body and her five year old daughter experiences severe chock. The whole sequence of this event was caught on camera by withnesses. 

After all these occasions, the guard firms in charge and SL (the Stockholm public transport) have cosistently given vague answeres or avoided talking to the press. The media have given limited attention to the cases and haven't given any obvious critisism towards the clear racial profiling.

 

 

Enough is enough!

 

We demand:

- A througly and transparent statement, an official apology and a decent indemnity from the guard firms towards the victims and their families.

- A mandatory training in discrimination and racial profiling for every security guard in service.

- That every security guard gets specific information and knowledge about the differences between a security guard and a police.

- That the security guards in service during these events will be fired and taken to court.

- That the guard firms takes their responsibility!

 

The names in this petiton will be sent to every guard firm related to these events and to every politician in the Swedish Parliament.