Brazil

Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL) condemns London police shooting

www.socialistworld.net, 29/07/2005
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI

‘Shoot to kill’ death of Jean Charles de Menezes - “This crime was unacceptable”

Solidarity message from P-SOL (Party of Socialism and Liberty), Brazil

We would like to offer, in the first place, our sad solidarity with the family of our Brazilian friend, Jean Charles de Menezes, in this moment of extreme pain and anguish.

The assassination of Jean Charles, which was brutally carried out by the police in London, last week, has provoked a vehement repudiation by all of the Brazilian people.

Jean Charles, 27 years of age, was an electrician, and like thousands of other Brazilian workers lived outside his country to get wages to try and improve the living conditions of his family here in Brazil. This is due to the brutal social crisis and cruelty that the ‘globalised’ economic model of capitalism that drives thousands of workers and youth to go away from their own countries.

Jean Charles was killed by eight bullets and was “confused” with a suspect terrorist responsible for recent London bombings. The response of the police in London following this “mistake” was to say that they will continue to fire first and ask questions later. This is not acceptable.

The policy of Tony Blair is doubly criminal. Firstly, to maintain troops in Iraq unconditionally along side the North American troops – a war of occupation which is responsible for the deaths of 100,000 during the last two years – and, secondly, to use indiscriminate repression against immigrant workers in the name of a “war against terrorism”.

At the same time, we condemn the brutal attacks on a bus and on the metro of the capital of England – unfortunate actions and provocations which attacks workers, students, immigrants and the poor. We cannot but say that the responsibility for this war without end is the aggressive policy of military occupation executed by the governments of the United States and Great Britain that is now returning in the most horrible form in the premeditated deaths of immigrant workers that now live in these countries.

We reiterate our solidarity with the family of Jean Charles. We offer to use mandates as MPs to support any international campaign which denounces this crime and demands justice for the family of Jean Charles.

We demand that the Brazilian government uses its sovereignty in relation to this episode to demand from the British government a full investigation of this crime, repudiates the police for the extreme persecution of immigrant workers, and breaks diplomatic relations with the Blair government while it maintains its policy of “shoot first and ask questions later”.

We support all those forces mobilised by the Brazilian community in London to demand justice for this unacceptable crime.

Heloísa Helena -- Senator P-SOL (AL)

Geraldo Mesquita - Senator P-SOL (AC)

Luciano Genro – Federal Deputy P-SOL (RS)

Babá –Federal Deputy P-SOL (PA)