Thugs in uniforms

Shocking images of a Cypriot police officer kicking, roughly manhandling and breaking the leg of an Ivory Coast national point again to the endemic racism that runs through Cypriot society like a plague.  

The 6-minute video, released to the press by the Nicosia-based NGO, KISA (Movement for Equality, Support and Anti-Racism), was filmed by one of the eye witnesses at the scene.  It shows the Ivorian man being kicked and screaming in agony, holding his leg.  He can be heard refusing to go with the police to “a doctor”.  One of the bystanders says to the cop:  "He doesn't trust you."  Towards the end of the video his leg can be seen at an unnatural angle.  He is eventually attended by an ambulance crew, his leg is set and put into a splint.  

One panicked cop is seen talking to his superior on his mobile before the medics arrive.  His words have been subtitled in Greek as he anxiously asks for back-up.  He is clearly heard shouting in dialect, “έσσιει παναύρι πολλήν δαμέ, κύριε” (“there’s a big commotion going on here, sir”), “έσσιει πολλήν κόσμο” (“there are too many people”), and “επιαστήκαμε δαμέ” (“we’re stuck here”).  Was he being instructed to flee the scene?  Oops.  All on film too.  

KISA says three MMAD (Mobile Immediate Action Unit) officers randomly stopped, for no apparent reason, three black-African men going about Nicosia town centre on a Wednesday afternoon, which is a half-day in Cyprus (non-working afternoon).  All three men were carrying written proof that they are legal residents.  The Ivorian man whose leg was broken has lived legally in Cyprus for 7 years and is married to a Cypriot woman with whom he has a 4-year-old child.  It is not clear why the policemen decided to arrest and manacle him in the first place, let alone inflict such brutal violence.  

Is this the new police efficiency and commitment to solving serious crimes that Justice Minister Jonas Nicolaou was boasting about earlier this week?   “This [Ivorian] case will be investigated,” Nicolaou said yesterday.  What’s to investigate?  The man is in Nicosia General Hospital being treated for a broken leg, KISA says.  It doesn’t look like he fell over and broke it himself.  What disciplinary action will be taken towards those policemen?  If an ordinary citizen behaved in the same way they would be charged with grievous bodily harm and racially aggravated assault, and imprisoned.  

Last year, 145 complaints were lodged with the "independent" police complaints commission in Cyprus, according to Poly Pantelides in the CM (print edition), up 9.8% from the previous year.  Of those 145 cases, only 58 were assigned official investigators.  Of those 58, only 5 were referred to the attorney general who has the authority to prosecute the perpetrators.  Of those 5, only 3 resulted in further legal action.  So I make that 0.2% of complaints against the Cypriot police eventually see a result.  99.8% don't.  

The minister of injustice, Jonas Nicolaou, told the CM that only "one or two isolated cases" have been related to the excessive use of force by the Cypriot police in the past.  Ahh, the other 143 complainants last year must have just been moaning about speeding fines. 

Eleven years ago the Republic of the Ivory Coast was torn apart by civil war.  Two years ago they had another war.  Those that managed to flee the bloodshed and violence have tried to find better lives in more peaceful, supposedly civilised countries.  Can Cyprus call itself that? 

O God, Your children of all colours have been hurt by racism.  Help us heal together.  Help us do the inner work to be open to Your grace and to the 'balm of Gilead', so that our hearts are converted and we can join hands to do the constructive work of love and justice.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.