Asylum-seeker killed
01 January 1991
Asylum-seeker killed
artdoc December=1993
8 NOVEMBER 1993: UNITED KINGDOM: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED
BY UNLAWFUL KILLING OF ASYLUM-SEEKER IN PENTONVILLE PRISON
Amnesty International has published a paper detailing its concern
about the death of Zairian asylum-seeker Omasese Lumumba while
he was detained in Pentonville Prison, the United Kingdom, in
1991. In July 1993, an inquest jury found that he was unlawfully
killed by prison staff at Pentonville Prison as a result of "use
of improper methods and excessive force in the process of control
and restraint".
Omasese Lumumba was the nephew of Patrice Lumumba, the
first elected Prime Minister of what is now Zaire, who was
assassinated in 1961 shortly after Zaire gained independence from
Belgium. Omasese Lumumba fled Zaire after being detained for
eighteen months and ill-treated. He spent 10 years in Switzerland
and came to England seeking asylum in September 1991.
He was killed on 8 October 1991, in a cell in the
segregation unit of Pentonville Prison where he had been taken
to after he had refused to move while being escorted to the
prison hospital. Six to eight prison officers entered the
segregation unit cell and ordered him to lie down on the floor.
They proceeded to pin down his arms, legs and head and began to
strip him of his clothes, though no prison regulation authorized
this. Omasese Lumumba died during a 10-15 minute struggle to
forcibly remove his clothing. According to the prison doctor, the
prison officers continued to restrain him even after his body had
gone limp.
To date, none of the prison staff have been charged with
a criminal offence or subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Omasese Lumumba was detained on 15 September 1991, on the
decision of an Immigration Officer, which was later approved by
the Home Office Asylum Division. He was held for four days in a
cell at the Catford Police station, and then transferred to
Pentonville Prison. From 19 September 1991 until his death he was
locked in a cell for more than 20 hours a day. He was allowed out
of the cell each day only to collect two meals and for a 30-
minute period of exercise. Other prisoners and prison staff
stated that he was depressed and anxious: he rarely ate and he
was often seen holding his head in his hands, repeating over and
over again in French that he did not understand why he was being
held in prison.
When a person is charged with a crime in the United
Kingdom, a decision to detain them is reviewed by a court, as is
the question of release on bail. However, as he was an asylum-
seeker, there was no substantive judicial review of the decision
to detain Omasese Lumumba, and as he had entered the United
Kingdom without authorization and was not charged with a crime,
he did not have the right to seek bail.
Amnesty International believes that Omasese Lumumba's
story illustrates serious deficiencies in the procedures applied
to asylum- seekers in the United Kingdom. The organization has
urged the government to initiate an independent and impartial
public inquiry into the death in custody of Omasese which would
also examine broader issues concerning the use of force and
restraint on imprisoned and detained people. The organization has
also called on the government to make specific revisions of
asylum procedures to ensure that all asylum-seekers, including
those who are detained, are treated in accordance with
international standards.