Paramedics watch death during police arrest
01 May 2003
On 15 July, 33-year-old Mauritanian Cheibani Wague died after being injected with the tranquilliser Haldol when police officers were called to a dispute at his workplace. The incident was caught on camera and showed the police sitting on Mr Wague whilst he was handcuffed and lying on the ground - as well as paramedics standing on the victim and failing to give first-aid as he lay motionless.
Cheibani Wague, a former post-graduate physics student at the Technical University of Vienna, was in charge of the children's workshops in the Afrikadorf African cultural project in Vienna's municipal park. This opened on 28 May and hosted various events with the intention of promoting cultural understanding. On 15 July, there was a dispute between Mr. Wague and his employer, the manager of the cultural project, who called the police. On the site, Mr Wague was handcuffed by police and injected with the tranquilliser Haldol by an ambulance officer. According to eye witness reports, police beat the victim in the face and back and threw him to the ground. They sat on him to put him in foot shackles. The incident was filmed by a passer-by and the film was later screened on a national news programme. Apart from the violence of the police conduct, the footage raised serious questions about the conduct of the paramedics, who were seen standing on Mr Wague and "looking on with his hands in his pockets" whilst Mr. Wague's condition deteriorated. The paramedics failed to offer first aid when Mr Wague became motionless and even dropped him on the floor when they finally transported him to the ambulance.
The official reaction to the death was identical to previous incidents involving violence towards black people in Austria: the victim is described as violent and, if he died in the process, is said to have suffered from a heart condition. Racist stereotyping in particular of Africans is common, especially in official enquiries into the death of black people at the hands of white officials (see Statewatch vol 12 no 2). In this case also, mainstream media later described Mr. Wague as "raging" with a violent temper, an account which friends of the victim refute, pointing out that Mr Wague was popular at work and in his student life, where he was voted to represent the Afro-Asian Institute (from which he received a grant).
The death was followed by a vigil on 22 July and 25 July several thousand people joined a demonstration. The cultural project has suffered two arson attacks since the death of Cheibani Wague, but instead of supporting the project the city council has threatened to close it down on grounds of "public security".
Political reactions have been mixed. Elizabeth Pittermann, socialist city councillor responsible for health, has suspended the paramedics in question but is holding the executive police officers responsible for Wague's death. Interior minister Ernst Strasser defended the police officers and demanded an apology from Pittermann, claiming her comments were politically motivated.
The regional court in Vienna has initiated a preliminary investigation against "unknown perpetrators" on suspicion of negligent death. Although interviews of around 30 witnesses, as well as the post-mortem examination of the victim have not concluded, police and prosecution claim it was a "death due to heart failure". In the past, officers have not faced prosecution on grounds of post-mortem examinations claiming the victim had had a "weak heart".
The anti-racist group GEMMI, which campaigns against institutional racism and violent police conduct against black people in Austria, has pointed out that far from being an isolated incident, drugs raids against Africans and other minorities are taking place almost on a daily basis in Austria and are marked by systematic violent. In their press release, the Vienna based Advice Centre for Witnesses and Victims of Racism (ZARA) further pointed out that their annual racism report 2002 shows