Omasese Lumumba

EDM number 640 in 1993-94, proposed by Graham Allen on 21/02/1994.

That this House notes that it is over two years since the death in Pentonville Prison of asylum-seeker Omasese Lumumba; notes that despite an inquest jury verdict of unlawful killing no prison officers involved in his death are to be prosecuted; calls on the Government to institute a full and genuinely independent public inquiry into this matter and, in addition, to review the use of force and restraint on imprisoned and detained people; believes that the internal prison report into the death of Omasese Lumumba needs to be published; believes further that his death illustrates serious deficiencies in the procedures applied to the detention of asylum-seekers in the United Kingdom; calls on the Government to review these procedures to ensure that all asylum-seekers, including those who are detained, are treated in accordance with the best international standards; considers that reform of the procedures for asylum-seekers should include advising asylum-seekers, in a language which is fully comprehensible to them, of the nature of the procedures and their rights under them; believes that each detained person should be provided with written reasons for the detention and should be brought promptly before a judicial authority where the authorities of the United Kingdom must prove that the detention is both necessary and recognised as legitimate by international standards; and considers that all asylum-seekers should be given access to a lawyer, their families, the UNHCR or any other appropriate body and that each asylum-seeker should be given at an early stage a comprehensive interview by the Home Office Asylum Division official who is dealing with their specific claim for asylum.

This motion has been signed by a total of 44 MPs.