It is now just over two years since 37-year-old Nzoy from Zurich was shot dead by the police in Morges. Since then, his family and friends have been fighting for a legal investigation into the case. All of the police officers involved are still on duty and carry a weapon.

The public prosecutor’s office in the canton of Vaud is making no attempt to investigate the police officers, as would be their duty on paper. The relatives have to gather evidence on their own, call witnesses and obtain expert opinions. The racist killing is followed by the humiliation of the victims. The Swiss state is displaying the kind of arrogance that we almost always see in cases of racist police violence. They want to sweep the matter under the carpet and mock the victims.

This summer, we saw this again in the case of Mike Ben Peter: We saw how the police officers told outrageous and obviously colluded lies in court. We saw how the public prosecutor let them get away with all this and even withdrew his indictment without cause. And we saw how the court acquitted the police officers on hair-raising grounds. In Mike’s trial, the police, the public prosecutor and the court have once again shown us what a racist system we live in.

The racism of this system has many faces: it shows itself in the everyday racist remarks to which people of color are exposed. It can be seen in the everyday police harassment that Nzoy has experienced throughout his life. It can be seen in the everyday police violence that hits people of color particularly hard. This racism has many faces. And it is closely linked to capitalism, which has produced the greatest misery for centuries and threatens to rob us all of our future by destroying the planet.

But we know that we can look back on a long and rich history of struggles that have stood up to racism. These anti-racist struggles, in their diversity, bring together countless experiences from which we can learn. Let us learn from the Black Panthers, who already knew 60 years ago how to oppose this system. Let us learn from the anti-colonial struggles that go back much further and that have beaten back the racist rule of the Western states on a global scale. Let us learn from the vies volées, in which relatives of victims of racist police violence have been organizing in France for many years and which impressively show the world: Mike, Adama, Nzoy, Herve – of course, none of these are isolated cases. Let us learn from the Black Lives Matter movement, which has inspired struggles worldwide and strengthened the self-confidence of people affected by racism.

Let’s fight together for a world without racism! Our diversity is our strength; our many different experiences that we can bring together to form a common force. Let us take to the streets together on October 21 to give expression to this strength. Let us show solidarity with anti-racist initiatives, here and everywhere. Nzoy lives on in our struggles and in our memory of him!

Together against racism!
Justice4Nzoy!