Germany: Refugee killed in police custody
01 January 2005
On December 27, Laye-Alama C., 35, from Sierra Leone, was arrested by the police of the city-state of Bremen, on suspicion of drug trafficking and was transferred to the local police headquarters. Two and a half hours later he was dead. Nevertheless, on 4 January, Bremen's Senator for the Interior denied that the refugee's death had occurred, informing the public that the victim was recovering. Only the following day was the killing admitted and the truth revealed.
Laye-Alama was suspected of having swallowed some wraps of cocaine to prevent discovery when the police stopped him. It is relevant to mention, that he was unknown to the police, had no police record, and was a first-time suspect. He was arrested, transferred to the local police headquarters, where the police evidence unit is based. There, he was chained to a bench by the legs and one hand. Present were two police officers, a medic from the Medical Evidence Seizure Service (
Medizinscher Beweissicherungsdients, a private business that affiliated to the local authority's Institute for Legal Medicine) a body that acts on a fee basis for the police service. He was then forced to drink a dose of Ipecacuana, a medicine that causes vomiting. It is a procedure frequently used to bring up the stomach contents and any suspected drugs. A stomach probe was inserted to speed up the process of vomiting. The detainees condition checked by his blood pressure and blood oxygen level. However, it transpired that the equipment was defective. Only after the patient lost consciousness two hours after the arrest was an emergency doctor called. He failed to revive Laye-Alama and diagnosed "death by drowning".
On 4 January, after the news trickled out that there had been some sort of incident, the Senator for Interior, Thomas Röwekamp (Christian Democratic Union, CDU)) denied the killing and informed the public that the detainee was well. The same day, interviewed on the evening television news, still denying the death, he justified the procedure taken and argued: "he [the victim] only has himself to blame...it is an adequate...and justified procedure,...we must take a hard-line stance against drug dealers and be extremely tough". The following day, the death was finally admitted and the public served with two new explanations: firstly, that the detainee died from poisoning by the drugs that he swallowed (Röwekamp), secondly, that he died due to vomiting that suffocated him (Professor Birkholz). In another interview, Senator Röwekamp argued, "such drug dealers are the most serious criminals, who must reckon with physical disadvantages".
Meanwhile, charges were brought against the police officers and the doctor involved in the incident, and the Chamber of Medicine has brought a further charge against the doctor. Several citizens accused Senator Röwekamp of violating the principal of human dignity and because his comment "who must reckon with physical disadvantage" is covered neither by criminal procedural law (StPO, § 81a) nor constitutional law, but is a violation of the ban on torture. Furthermore, it is felt, that because the Senator argued that drug dealers must take into account such treatment, this appears to be an extra-judicial punishment unforeseen by criminal law. Calls for Röwekamp to resign, on the basis that he lied to the public, that he mislead the public, that he cannot ensure that the police follow the rule of the law and that he - as a constitutional legal expert - undermined the rule of the law, have been dismissed. Laye-Alama C's relatives have brought charges against the Senator for defamation of character. Angry marches and pickets followed.
As yet, the only consequence is that the induced vomiting procedure has been suspended and will be reviewed in six months. For the time being, suspects will be kept on remand until the suspected drugs are naturally excreted. It should be noted that after similar incidents (although not involving the death<