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To Lee Mordecai, Kalan
Kawa Karim was just another asylum seeker, a target
for drunken racism. Mordecai could not have known
that behind the young Iraqi Kurd was a story of
courage and conviction.
Mr Karim had once been a political activist fighting
Saddam Hussein's tyrannical regime. In his hometown
of Dohuq, his skill and vigilance had earned him the
nickname of Hoshyar, or "Awake". But eventually his
luck ran out and he was caught after being shot in
the leg. For three years he suffered ill treatment
and torture in an Iraqi jail and had to have his leg
amputated.
The moment Mr Karim was released in 2002, he fled to
Britain, seeking asylum in a country where he could
finally use his name openly instead of an alias. In
Swansea he found a city surrounded by hills
reminiscent of his homeland and, granted refugee
status, he moved into a ninth-floor flat with his
brother, Nazar, and friends.
Hampered by his prosthetic limb and poor command of
English, he struggled to find a job and would often
spend his days at language lessons or at the Swansea
Bay asylum-seekers support group drop-in centre,
watching friends play football.
Until the early hours of 6 September he was just
another anonymous face among the city's 180 or so
Kurdish refugees. Then a drunken Lee Mordecai
attacked him in a darkened alleyway and hit him in
the back of the neck, leaving him dying on the
pavement.
In death, Mr Karim's name became synonymous with
what the local papers dubbed Swansea's first
racially motivated killing. His case inspired
marches and shed light on the repeated racist
attacks on the city's Kurdish community.
Yesterday Mordecai, 26, who had previously denied
murder, admitted manslaughter, pleading guilty at
Swansea Crown Court to a crime which prosecutor Paul
Thomas QC described as "cowardly, underhand and
racially motivated". The case has been adjourned for
sentencing until next month.
Mr Karim and a friend had gone to King Pin Pizza in
Kingsway, an area of Swansea packed with pubs and
clubs. returning home with their pizzas, the pair
battled their way through the crowds but became
separated as Mr Karim attempted to eat his pizza.
Without warning, he was dealt the fatal blow from
behind.
Mr Thomas told the court the lesser charge had been
put forward after discussions with Mr Karim's
family. Prosecutors had been ready to accept an
admission of manslaughter for a number of reasons,
he continued. "First, there was only one blow, from
a fist or open hand, and there was no attempting a
repeated or second blow. There was no weapon
involved and the death resulted from increased
pressure on the carotid artery in the neck."
He added that Mordecai, of Bonymaen, Swansea, had
been "intoxicated" at the time and there was no
evidence to suggest he had martial arts training or
intended the fatal effect of the blow.
But yesterday's decision has done nothing to appease
a Kurdish community which already feels under siege
from racists in a city where the British National
Party openly campaign. Sarkat Junad, 30, a close
friend of the dead man, said yesterday: "We are not
happy at all. It should have been murder. This is
not justice for Mr Karim. He was a good person, who
never harmed anyone. He was happy here. He was
always saying, 'I like being here, the people are
nice, the people are friendly'."
Within days of Mr Karim's death, hundreds of
mourners held a vigil, laying flowers and observing
a minute's silence. Later, 1,000 people joined an
anti-racist march through the city. But it is clear
the tension that erupted after his killing still
simmers below the surface.
There are approximately 180 Iraqi Kurds in Swansea,
most of whom fled violence and discrimination in the
belief Britain would prove a sanctuary. But although
the police described Mr Karim's killing as an
isolated incident, many Kurds insisted they too had
suffered some form of violence in the city.
As a result, the Home Office took the unusual step
of agreeing to postpone plans to send a group of 90
more asylum seekers in one go. Instead their arrival
was staggered, with around a dozen turning up each
week, so local organisations helping them to settle
could cope. Even now, Mr Junad explained, the
Kurdish community remains in fear. "We all thought
we had come to Britain to be safe. But after what
happens, we don't go out alone any more," he said.
Naz Malik, the director of the Cardiff-based
All-Wales Ethnic Minority Association, acknowledges
that some vulnerable members of the community still
feel threatened today and points to a leafleting
campaign by the British National Party as being
particularly unhelpful. But he insisted many Kurds
live happily in a largely tolerant city. "There are
a lot of positive things in the community but the
challenge still remains," he said.
For Mr Karim, that is all in the past. Weeks after
his death his body was flown home, where it was met
by his parents and his wife. Now he lies in a grave
in Zako Cemetery, Dohuq.
©2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.
http://news.independent.co.uk
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