Today marks five years as we continue to remember from the day you went missing.
Your death remains a myth and so many unanswered questions still lingering in our minds and the people who believe in humanity. Rita you would have accomplished your dream of bringing up your kids as any other mother would desire, but even after your life was cut short, justice is still far from the reality.
Rita O. “disappeared” on 7 April 2019, on a cold Sunday when there were no buses in Hohenleipisch and she was without her jacket and wallet. The murderer is still at large today. Her burnt body was not found until 3 months after her “disappearance”, just a few metres from her lager. Rita O. had complained to the centre management at the beginning of 2019 about harassment by a male resident.
We have demonstrated and rallied in front of the Cottubus court where the case has been going on and in Potsdam the seat of the Brandenburg state but still our questions on who murdered Rita has not been answered. We don’t know who murdered our sister Rita.
Why did it take the local police so long to find her remains a few meters away from the camp?
Why the camp manager and security could not give an account of Ritas movement yet to enter and exit this lager you have to pass their offices?
To date, all what we get is racist remarks about the murder being a “ritual” performance of a traditional African custom! This coming from a state prosecutor is unacceptable and irresponsible.
The lack of proper investigation in the case of our sister Rita O. and the prosecutor terming the scene of her murder as an “African ritual sacrifice scenery”, is just some of the slurs and stereotypes we are subjected to when one of our brother or sister is killed. Then there is the German police unexplained murders and brutality to African refugees and migrants such as Mariam Sarr and Christy Schwundeck. Oury Jalloh was murdered and the initiative in remembrance of Oury Jalloh has repeated this many times to a system in denial. We do not need rocket science to proof that a chained Oury Jalloh could not have lit a fire-proof mattress to burn and kill himself.
Until when will refugee lives matter in this society? When will the perpetrators of “Rita O” be held in account and be a lesson to the rest those who harbour asylum seeking women* femicide thoughts. We demand change and justice for all those who have died in police hands!
We need answers and justice NOW!!
We will continue to fight for a free, just, solidary and peaceful world – without Lagers and Police. And our voices cannot and will not be silenced!
Refugee Lives Matter!
-That’s why we demand justice for Rita as soon as now and the perpetrator(s) be exposed and charged.
-Closure of the Hohenleipisch lager!!
-No Lager for Women and Children! Abolish all Lagers!!
– Justice for Rita Now!!!
