From Hillsborough 1989 to Paris 2022
15 April 2023. Today, at Anfield in Liverpool, we gather on The Kop to honour the lives of 97 women, men and children who were unlawfully killed at Hillsborough. While some survivors were seriously physically injured, all were traumatised for life. As a direct consequence many survivors and bereaved family members have died prematurely from that trauma, some taking their own lives. We will never know accurately the number of people whose lives have been cut short as a consequence of the institutional failures: the South Yorkshire Police; the Stadium owners and their architects; the FA; the local authority and the lack of an appropriate safety certificate; the South Yorkshire Ambulance Service; etc. Their collective failure took over two decades to be recognised as a consequence of the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report and the new inquests.
In Paris, 32 years on from Hillsborough, at the European Champions League Final, deaths were narrowly avoided. Ahead of the UEFA commissioned Report we published an independent panel report based on the detailed testimonies of 500 fans and witnesses:
https://law.qub.ac.uk/.../fil.../Filetoupload,1530449,en.pdf It included detailed analysis of significant evidence given by Hillsborough survivors and had a significant impact on the final UEFA Report.
A brief article is to be published in the Haldane Journal later this month: 'One Night In Paris'.
What follows are extracts:
‘Detailed testimonies from fans, many of whom were Hillsborough survivors, or friends and relatives of those who died, testify to the danger they experienced as they approached the stadium: an underpass bottleneck where they were confined and crushed against purposefully parked police vehicles; restricted access to the concourse; compression in the queues; entry gates that closed and reopened without warning; inadequate stewarding and aggressive policing. Women endured inappropriate body searches, some conducted by male stewards clearly constituting sexual assault. Frightened children were subjected to pat down searches. Stewards allowed local gang members into the stadium without tickets ...’
‘The physical and psychological impact of trauma endured by children and parents, women, older people and Hillsborough survivors, is clearly evident in their detailed and moving testimonies. Tear gas, usually a chemical weapon of ‘last resort’, was deployed without provocation to affirm total, authoritarian control. Deployment of riot police and their outright aggression without justification was unlawful, constituting criminal assault. It reflected a collective mind-set, terrorising fans whose expectation had been to enjoy a football match ...’
‘Fans’ awareness of the Hillsborough disaster, and their calmness when faced with assaults by locals and the police, prevented a fatal tragedy. They protected the vulnerable and helped those crushed or tear gassed, some of whom required hospital treatment. Undoubtedly, their self-regulation limited further serious injuries and prevented deaths. In the aftermath, many testimonies recount longer-term psychological harm – anxiety, sleeplessness and nightmares – and Hillsborough survivors have been retraumatised ...’
‘Men, women and children travelling to the Champions League Final, at considerable expense and with great optimism, were impelled into personal and collective danger by negligent management of the event, poorly trained stewards, unprovoked aggressive policing, criminal assaults by local gangs and the police. This has resulted in physical injury and, for many fans, sustained psychological harm.’ Unprovoked, the police deployed systemic, indiscriminate violence against defenceless people regardless of age, gender or disability ...’
‘Assaults by local gangs, at the fan park and at the stadium, were systemic and persistent. Trapped against walls and fences outside the stadium, fans were exhausted from a two-hour wait in the heat of the day. Deprived access to basic facilities, held in confined spaces, the benign crowd of women, men and children was then indiscriminately tear gassed. Distraught and exhausted, many left and did not attend the match ...’
Love and solidarity, as ever, WE never walk alone. Phil and Deena xx Please Share.
