Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 17:19:06 +0000 From: Judge To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK Subject: Re: [Fwd: Police Raid Seminar on Economic Globalization] (fwd) Can this be verified? Judge Peter Grimes wrote: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 21:18:26 -0400 > From: Barbara Larcom > To: Dave Schott , Erika White , > Frida Berrigan , > Leslie Bilchick , > Lynn Yellott , Peter Grimes , > Walda Katz Fishman > Subject: [Fwd: Police Raid Seminar on Economic Globalization] > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: Police Raid Seminar on Economic Globalization > Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 17:14:36 -0700 (PDT) > From: Njoki Njoroge Njehu > To: 50-years@igc.org > > ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- > Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 13:59:10 +0200 (CST) > From: Andreas Rockstein > To: MAI-not > Cc: AGP/AMP Geneva Dispatch > Subject: Police raid seminar on globalization and resistance (fwd) > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 03:20:15 +0200 > From: AGP/AMP Geneva Dispatch > Subject: Police raid seminar on globalization and resistance > > Tel/Fax: +41 22 3444731 > > FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > > DATE: 27/8/98 > > TO: Information Department > > FROM: International Globalisation and Resistance Seminar > > PRESS RELEASE: > > Police Raid International Seminar > > Early this morning, police raided a seminar being held in Geneva. Officers > illegally searched individuals and private belongings, detaining all 50 > participants at the station. The detainees, from 17 different countries > and including a 6 year old girl from the Ukraine, were held for over 2 > hours without explanation. Most were eventually released without charge. > However, 5 remained in police custody for yet another five hours. Four of > these were then released - the fifth is still in custody. > > The seminar was convened to discuss economic globalisation and its impact > on communities and the environment, as well as peoples' efforts to reclaim > control over their own lives. Speakers include international economists, > journalists, representatives of people's movements, and workers from human > rights and other non-governmental organisations. The world-renowned author > and President of the Observatoire de la Mondialisation, Susan George, > lectured all day on Tuesday 25th, and found, "a group of peaceful and > law-abiding young people". She "deplores the police actions and calls for > the immediate release of those detained." > > Without warning, the participants were rounded up into vans and taken to > the police station en masse, where they were subjected to lengthy identity > checks. This follows a week of close police surveillance. About forty > police officers, in a concerted action, entered the seminar site at 7.30am, > waking the guests, searching their accommodation without a warrant, and > confiscating personal property. They refused to give receipts for the > items, which included videos, notebooks, an artist's portfolio, personal > diaries and photographs, and the organisers' documents. Most of these have > not been returned as yet. > > It appears that the five who remained in custody were victimized as a > result of previous arrests during non-violent activities in May; one for > simply walking down the street. The reason for their detention, and their > location, remained undisclosed. > > When a woman from the seminar asked a policeman, "Isn't what you're doing > illegal?", he replied, "Yes, totally." Police were also overheard making > racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic comments. Taking a passport from the > stack, a policeman said, "Oh, that's the Jew!" A Bangladeshi charity > worker who had just been awoken was singled out for particularly offensive > treatment. > > A British writer said, "I'm still in shock. It seems that discussing our > common experiences about global problems and solutions is now a crime in > Switzerland." Another journalist from the Ukraine commented, "I thought I > was coming to a country that exemplified democracy." A Nepali human > rights worker summed up the group's feelings: "For me it is unthinkable > that such police action in violation of human rights should take place in > the same city as the UN Human Rights Commission headquarters." > > Under the steamroller of neoliberal globalisation, it seems that space for > public criticism faces increasing repression and the denial of civil and > political freedoms. > > -------------- Leaflet: ------------------ > > DETAINED FOR DEBATE > > Police Raid International Seminar on Globalisation and Resistance > > At 7:30 am, Thursday 27th August, about 40 police officers raided the > seminar on Globalisation and Resistance being held in Cologny, Geneva. 50 > participants, from 17 countries, were taken in riot vans to the local > police station. > > In addition, property, including videos, personal notebooks, and > photographs, were confiscated, and only returned a few hours later. > Everyone was detained for over 2 hours without explanation. Amongst them > was a 6 year old girl from the Ukraine. Most were released without charge. > 4 were kept for a further few hours, and were released on condition that > they leave Switzerland within 4 days. A fifth person is still being > detained, and her situation is still unclear. This raid followed a week of > police surveillance including helicopters as well as visits from uniformed > and plainclothes police. > > The 16-day seminar aims at critically challenging the hegemonic consensus > of neoliberal ideology. Neoliberalism elevates free trade to a provider of > great wealth and prosperity for all. The World Trade Organisation's > Director General Renato Ruggiero preaches the virtues of the free market, > with the prophecy of mobile telephones in the remotest parts of the planet. > But this is not the world we live in . > > The world we live in is increasingly coming under the control of > unaccountable, undemocratic, and highly centralised, transnational > institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the > World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the European Union. Powerful tools for > the development of the neoliberal agenda are trade treaties such as the > proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and various other regional > trade agreements. > > Power and wealth are concentrating in the hands of transnational > corporations, such as Shell, Nestle, IBM, and Monsanto. Decision making > shifts further and further from local community control, and into the hands > of corporate lobby groups, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, > and the Geneva based World Economic Forum. > > Far from generating prosperity the world over, globalisation is causing > destruction of environ-ments, and great increases in poverty and misery > across the world. While integrating the world into a single global economy, > free trade is excluding and marginalising the overwhelming majority of the > world's inhabitants. The poor lose control of resources and local > economies. The effects of this are hunger, unemployment, forced migration, > increased marginalisation of women, destruction of eco-systems, cuts in > social services, violence, and general social collapse. > > As people increasingly show their unwillingness to submit to this global > order, nation states are responding with ever more repressive strategies. > Basic rights and freedoms which have been earned by hard struggle are being > rapidly eroded. This process could be seen in the hysterical police > response to the international non-violent actions in May against the WTO > and is now reappearing in this week's police raid. > The seminar has been entirely educational and consists of lectures and > discussions only. Speakers have included well-known people like Professor > Nanjundaswami from the Karnataka Farmers Movement of India and Susan > George, president of the Observatoire de la Mondialisation. We view this > police raid as a violation of basic political freedoms, like the right to > organise freely and to free speech. > > Rather than being intimidated, we would like to extend the seminar to a > wider audience. We invite you to come and participate in the seminar. Come > to the Palais de Justice, on friday 28th 8. at 4 p.m. > > We do so to heat up your adrenaline, to inspire your rage and to strengthen > your hope !!! > > -- > For MAI-not (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and > links to other MAI sites please see http://mai.flora.org/