Tortured to death, A Tribute

Today, June 26th, 2014, is the International Day for the Victims of Torture.

"At a time when the legitimate aspirations of people in many regions of the world for greater freedom, dignity and a better life are too often met with violence and repression, I urge States to respect the fundamental rights of all people.  Torture and other forms of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment and punishment, wherever they occur and whatever the circumstances, can never be justified."

-Un Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

What is torture?

Amnesty International defines torture as "a deliberate and premeditated attack on a person's psyche, body and dignity, done by a public official or other person acting with governmental acceptance".

Testimonies and documents testify that behind what is portraied as a system to protect children and ensure their rights, lurks a very different reality.

A large number of witnesses tell about intimidation, harassment, slander, systematic mental abuse, lies and tactics of psychological torture and techniques defined as brainwashing methods. The terror is directed towards family members of all ages, including children, conducted by child welfare staff, county appeal board members, police, judges... even the witnesses' own lawyers.
Children witness having been told that they'll never see their families again, and normal parents are told never more to meet their children.
Child welfare staff and supervisors who laugh at weeping family members and children screaming in fear when they are forcibly dragged away from their loved ones, are unfortunately not isolated incidences.
Families who are caught in this web of serious abuse of power, are forced through painful legal processes, where the chances to win are small, as employees of the county appeal board, as well as judges often choose to ignore actual evidence in favor of the families, for the benefit of the child welfare's often unfounded and undocumented assertions about future neglect, lack of inherent parenting skills, low mental capacity (low IQ), etc.

Many feel that there is being beproduced "evidence" against them, under the direction of conversations with the so-called experts of the social services, and by arbitrarily pointing out facts in the victims' life-long medical history.
Many children in state custody are subjected to isolation- tactics, as being told that their families do not care about them, when it is far from the case.

Many people who live in Norway today, find themselves demonstrably under indescribable and unbearable fear, a situation created by the government and funded by tax money.

Is a part of the population of Norway today, subjected to systematic assaults on human dignity, in order to spread fear, keep people in check, and to get rid of unwanted groups and political opposition?

The death toll for families exposed to the so-called child protection processes, speak for themselves. Suicide statistics for children in state custody are high, and the same is a fact for other family members.

"Torture is a brutal attempt to destroy a person’s sense of dignity and sense of human worth.  It acts also as a weapon of war, spreading terror beyond its direct victims to communities and societies.  On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we honour the men and women who have suffered, enduring their ordeal with courage and inner strength.  
We mourn, too, those who did not survive." -UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Michael was one of those.

Michael was forcefully separated from his family, and maliciouly denied contact with his loved ones on his birthday. He begged the social services to be with his family ​​on his birthday. You have to learn to be lonely, was the reply, and he was untruthfully told that his family would move away from him and leave him behind at the institution he hated.

The pain was too much to bear for Michael.
He ended his own life.

The shocking message about Michael's death came the day after he turned 16, to the family that was ordered by the social services, not to have contact with him on his birthday.

After the boy was found, Michael's mother tended to the body of her first-born herself, and drove him to the chapel, as a last gesture of motherly care.
A large, extended family, his many friends, mother, girlfriend and brother, supported Michael through the injustice done to him for years, by Norwegian authorities. There was not room for all the people who came to show their last respect to the boy with the warm heart, who gave so much of himself, in the chapel.

Michael was an honest boy with a conscious mind and a strong back-bone, always assisting when someone needed him, was never afraid to speak his mind, or to stand up against injustice. He was interested in music and children's rights, and showed a strongly developed sense of justice. He was an active boy who brillierte on snow-and skateboard-made jewelry and was a king in the kitchen.

The death was investigated, and serious violations by the social services were pointed out.

Yet no one has been made accountable for what was done to the generous boy.

Still the family is is fighting for justice.

It is impossible to imagine the impact that Michael's death has made on the lives of his surroundings, how they have managed to make room for  such an extensive pain in their lives. Family, friends and girlfriend, were left by a tombstone with the same inscription as the song that was written for Michael's funeral, by his friends.

"A loss without comparison. Thinking about all we got to do in unison."

All they have left, is memories of a good boy.
All Michael wanted was to come home to his loved ones.

His last words were: "I cannot take it, I need my mom."

 

 

"He was my firstborn. He was my soulmate." -Ann-Helen, Mother