TO ALL MY FRIENDS, MP'S, MEDIA, LEGAL ADVOCATES AND ALL COLLEAGUES, MEMBERS,
(PEER) ADVOCATES, CAMPAIGNERS(ACTIVISTS), EDUCATORS, ADVISORS AND
RESEARCHERS WITHIN THE UK AND GLOBAL( INCLUDING UN DISABILITY CONVENTION),
DISABLED PEOPLE'S, SURVIVORS, NEURODIVERSITY, INDEPENDENT AND INCLUSIVE
LIVING MOVEMENTS CAN YOU PLEASE RESPOND, SUPPORT AND TAKE-ACTION ON BEHALF
OF A DISABLED ACTIVIST, PETER GITAU GICHURA, WHO IS UNDER THREAT OF
DEPORTATION FROM THE UK AS A VULNERABLE DISABLED PERSON.
Yours
Colin Revell, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK
Please Circulate this to your friends
action alert action alert action alert
Disabled activist under threat of deportation -- support Peter Gitau Gichura
Mr Peter Gitau Gichura, a father, a wheelchair user and activist for
disability rights from Kenya, is under threat of being deported on Thursday
23 February, even though he has submitted a fresh claim for asylum.
He is currently detained at Harmondsworth Detention Centre. We are
extremely concerned as he is very ill and as a wheelchair user has been
placed in an inaccessible environment. He is currently fighting to have
access to healthcare, the physical care he needs and his medication which he
has not received since 11.30am. on 20 February.
Please send urgent letters of support calling for Mr Gichura to be released
from detention and allowed to remain in the UK -- see details below.
Background
Mr Gichura became disabled in 1990 due to a fall from a tree while trying to
escape from the police. His spine was severely injured and he broke both
hands, and because he did not receive adequate medical attention he later
lost the use of his legs.
He started to support himself as a street-hawker (street seller) in Nairobi.
With other disabled people, he formed the Mwanzo Disabled Development
Society (MDDS) in 2000, of which he was the chairman, giving advice and
support to other disabled people.
Nairobi Council issued licences to hawk, but would revoke them without
justification. for political gain and vast corruption. Street hawkers with
all types of disability were victims of assault by the police.
The MDDS's campaigns against this violence and discrimination led to Mr
Gichura's life being in danger. On several occasions he was arrested,
detained and beaten.
The MDDS tried to set up projects for people with disabilities on community
land previously allocated to disabled people, but the local authorities
refused to allocate it. As the MDDS became more critical of them, Mr
Gichura became the target of death threats from a senior government official
and immediately after this was detained for a week by the police. He was
released with a warning to stop all campaigns. Threats and arrests
continued from then on, and the persecution became unbearable.
Mr Gichura and all the leading members of the MDDS had to urgently leave
Kenya. On arrival in London, in June 2001, he was sent from one office to
another to which he had to travel on foot, using crutches. At the time he
was interviewed by immigration officials, he was in pain, exhausted and
traumatised and without proper legal representation -- which explains the
minor discrepancies that the Home Office relied on to dismiss his claim and
appeals.
Mr Gichura was refused National Asylum Support Service (NASS) housing and
cash on the basis that they had no accessible accommodation, so ever since
he has had to live without cash - first in a nursing home and then in
inaccessible accommodation subsisting on £28 Tesco vouchers a
week>(abolished for people getting NASS support).
Mr Gichura's health has worsened greatly since he arrived in the UK. He is
now unable to use crutches at all. He developed bladder problems, which
have worsened despite taking antibiotics since 2001. He has unbearable pain
and burning sensations. He suffers from stomach ulcers. He has been unable
to contact his wife and son who are in hiding against persecution.
Despite all the difficulties, Mr Gichura has made a home in London, and
contributes to the community helping others, he is a valued member of our
group Payday men's network based at the Crossroads Women's Centre, as well
as regularly volunteering with Leonard Cheshire, and an active member of the
Church group, Back to God Ministries.
Mr Gichura has now presented a new application for asylum based on the lack
of access to the healthcare he needs to survive, and the fact that he would
be discriminated against in Kenya, where many people believe disability to
be a curse which can result in discrimination in access to healthcare and
other services and sometimes violent attacks from prejudiced people.
A report by Disability Awareness in Action, a worldwide charity previously
commissioned by UNESCO to study obstacles to integration faced by disabled
people, concludes:
'In developing countries ... people with spinal injuries died within two
years of their injuries, not from lack of treatment, but because of their
living conditions. To survive the effects of bowel and bladder dysfunction
(inevitable results of spinal injury), a person with spinal injuries
requires a fully accessible and aseptic home with modern hygienic toileting
and bathing facilities. Without these available on a daily basis the
disabled person is likely to contract uncontrollable infection of the
kidneys, leading to death. . It is my honest and considered opinion that the
return of Peter Gichura to Kenya will result in his death within a short
space of time."Rachel Hurst, Director.
What you can do
*Press the Home Office to cancel the deportation & detention of Mr Gichura
(HO Ref: G1053958):
Minister of State, Home Office, Tony McNulty,
mailto:[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] fax: 020 7219 2417
cc: Malcolm Wicks MP: <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
[log in to unmask]; fax: 020 8683 0179
Annette Elder (solicitor):
mailto:[log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]
fax: 020 7377 6600
Payday: mailto:[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask] fax: 0207 209 4761
*Send this appeal to your friends and the organisations/churches you know.
*Make a donation to help Mr Gichura with phone calls etc. Phone
Payday 0207 209 4751 (see address below)
For more information contact: Payday a network of men working with the
Global Women's Strike
Box 287 London NW6 5QU Tel 020 7209 4751 Fax 020 7209 4761 mobile
07957733106
email [log in to unmask] web www.refusingtokill.net
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