All African Women’s Group Support the Right to Protest

7 Feb, 2-8pm, Parliament Sq

We, the All African Women’s Group, support the campaign for the right to protest in Parliament Square. Our group includes women from Algeria, Bangladesh, Burundi, The Comorous, Ivory Coast, Congo (DRC and Brazzaville), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe. In Africa we organised for survival and change for our families and communities, and we do the same here.

The government is trying to stop any of us campaigning against injustice, including being detained and deported, or getting our human rights to seek safety. They want to stop us exposing what is happening at home – the arms trade causing war, destruction and long term suffering, while multi-nationals exploit people and natural resources at the expense of our misery.

The government don’t want their bad deeds exposed. People are blind-folded through newspapers and the media, and one of the ways to hear the truth is threatened with being closed down . If we don’t protest, it will continue further into the grassroots level; it’s global and will come down on our communities hardest, especially on us women because we are always protecting our children and families.

If they stop people protesting in Parliament Sq, who will be next? Isn’t this dictatorship? Many of us fled countries where we had no democracy and were targetted for violence because we spoke out, including against war and military service, now the same is happening here. Western governments blame the Third World for corruption and dictatorship, like Zimbabwe which is always mentioned, but they are also trying to take away our freedom of speech here.

The Global Women's Strike picket in Parliament Sq is a platform where people can express themselves and get together. If it is stopped by this legislation, it's another form of suppressing freedom of speech. Will they next close our centres where we get help, find solicitors and campaign for our cases to be recognised? Will they stop us protesting when we are
detained?

We defend the right to protest in Parliament Sq as a way to defend ourselves. It’s a place where many of us meet to speak about our problems, about the rape and other torture that we escaped, and being forced into destitution, homelessness, arbitrary detention, isolation in area s where we face daily racist attacks, and other policies that undermine the basic
rights of every human being.

We call upon asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and supporters, church groups, Black organisations and any others concerned with justice, to please join us in the all day speakout from 2pm to 8pm, on 7 February in Parliament Square. Please see full details below.

Constance Kajumba, Congo DRC
Jackie Nassuna, Uganda
Grace Kaija, Congo DRC

home