Sunday, 5 October 2008

3 Days of Anti-Racist Iniatives in Italy

Yesterday (4 October) saw the first of three days of anti-racist actions in Italy against the increasing attacks on the migrant communities in Italy [Link in Italian]. In Rome thousands of people demonstrated against racism near the Coliseum in the wake of a series of violent assaults on immigrants in Italy. Hundreds of Chinese immigrants were among those who took part in the demonstration, two days after a 36-year-old Chinese man was beaten up by a group of teenagers in the Italian capital. Demonstrators also held pictures of six African migrants who were killed by mafia gunmen on September 18 in the southern town of Castel Volturno.

Meanwhile, another 15,000 people demonstrated against racism in Caserta (a southern town near Naples) close to Castel Volturno where the murders took place. The Italian police claim that the deaths were a result of the local Camorra attempting to protect their lucrative drugs trade. Meanwhile, the Italian government responded by sending in 500 troops to the area as part of the 'state of emergency' [see 14 August post below]

At the Rome demo, placards were also held up in memory of Abdul Salam Guibre, a 19-year-old Italian of Burkina Faso origin, who was beaten to death with a metal bar on 14 September in Milan by two bar managers who accused their victim of stealing some biscuits. [Link]

One of the most recent racist attacks was on a 22-year old Ghanaian student who was beaten up by local traffic police in Parma. He was arrested by plain clothes cops who failed to identify themselves but did manage to kick and brutally assault him, leaving him with a black eye. [Link]

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