In memory of Kupa Ilunga Medard Mutombo
For clarity and consequences – Against deadly police violence

Protest on Sunday, 6 October 2024 at 1 pm at Oranienplatz in Berlin

On 14 September 2022, Kupa Ilunga Medard Mutombo was in an assisted living home in Spandau for people who have been made mentally and psychologically ill. He was to be transferred to a hospital. At least 14 police officers were also deployed to transfer him. When Medard opened his door and saw the officers, he panicked. But instead of dealing with the situation with understanding and calm, they forced their way into his room. They used brutal force against the 64-year-old, for example pressing a knee on the back of his neck. They injured him so badly that he fell into a coma and died in hospital three weeks later on 6 October 2022.

His brother Mutombo Mansamba made the fatal police operation public with the help of the ReachOut counselling centre. For two years, he has been fighting for clarification and justice – including through legal means. The course of events so far shows that the police and public prosecutor’s office lack any will to come to terms with the fatal operation. At the same time, the relatives and friends of Medard Mutombo are being left alone by the state.

This is no coincidence. Fatal police violence is systematic in Germany and is trivialised and covered up by those responsible and large parts of society. In the Berlin-Brandenburg region alone, we know of at least 20 people who have died as a result of fatal police interventions since 2016. Overall, the number of unknown cases is much higher, especially when the life-threatening consequences of deportations and prisons are included. In addition to the reversal between offender and victim, perpetrators and accomplices of the police and justice system like to use a suicide narrative to clear themselves of any responsibility.

A seemingly banal intervention ended fatally for Medard. The police officers involved could have behaved calmly and sought support, for example from carers who knew Medard. Instead, they decided to use force and at least accept serious, life-threatening injuries just so that their authority would not be undermined. Had the police not been on the scene that day, Kupa Ilunga Medard Mutombo would still be with us.

On the second anniversary of his death on 6 October 2024, we want to come together at 1 pm at the memorial for the victims of racism and police violence at Oranienplatz. Let us commemorate Kupa Ilunga Medard Mutombo and all others who can no longer be with us today. Let us show that we will not let police violence and its cover-up go unchallenged. With this omnipresent injustice, it is all the more important to support the relatives and all groups fighting against it.

For clarity and consequences. For a better and safer future for all.

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