Globalise Not!

G8 Women's Summit Opens in Rome

A Group of Eight conference on violence against women opened in Rome Wednesday with keynote speaker, Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, calling it a crime against humanity.

This crime, she said, was sometimes condoned for tribal or religious reasons, or ''accepted as part of human nature''.

''We do not accept this indifference...we want the whole world to speak out, be outraged, and act,'' she told women's representatives from 25 countries, calling for ''new laws, mass movements,'' and action to raise public awareness.

''We must free our sisters from fear. If a woman is free, if she can love and marry whom she wants, if she studies, if she can work, if she can choose when and if to become a mother, to dress as she thinks, speak out and smile, the whole of society will bloom''. Some 140,000 women worldwide are the victims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse and 50,000 are killed by close relatives each year, Carfagna observed.

In other opening remarks, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said ''chilling episodes of group violence against women of all ethnic groups, from the very young to the less young'' were happening worldwide, even in rich countries like Italy where rights are constitutionally protected''.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called for a United Nations ban on female genital cutting and said Italy would gather ''many countries'' to debate the issue on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this month.

Until Thursday afternoon, women politicians from around the world including an Afghan delegation will meet with representatives from charities, activist groups and international organizations to discuss the causes of violence and look at ways to avert the threat to women.

Rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence, workplace intimidation, abuse during armed conflict and violence against girls are all subjects under discussion. The event, which Italy has organized in its capacity as this year's Group of Eight president, will produce a final document to be submitted to a G8 foreign ministers conference in New York on September 25.

During the course of the conference, the Italian Equal Opportunities Ministry is encouraging politicians and supporters to wear white in order to raise awareness about the conference and issues under discussion. Over 20,000 bracelets emblazoned with the conference's slogan, ''Respect women, respect the world'', will also be distributed at various points around Milan, Naples and Rome.

But a number of activists attending the conference expressed doubts about the event's effectiveness. Opposition MP Marina Sereni, House deputy whip for the Democratic Party, said words were not enough.

''There is a massive need for funds to build structures and to set up prevention and welcome programmes, be they public or private initiatives,'' she said. The Afghan women's coordinator for the international ActionAid agency, Nasima Rahmani, praised the idea of the conference but said it needed more concrete support. ''The next step must be getting the [G8] world leaders to put women's rights on their agenda,'' she said. ''So far, no date has been set for confirming the resources that G8 countries and international organizations are ready to provide in order to fight violence against women''. And the president of a top Italian women's development charity, AIDOS, dismissed the entire initiative as ''futile''.

''Not a single concrete proposal has been put forward,'' said Daniela Colombo. ''You don't fight violence against women by distributing bracelets but through real projects and programs''.

She also implied the Italian government was being hypocritical, noting it had donated ''barely 500,000 euros to UN women's agencies this year ...compared to 50 million euros from Spain''.

Finally, Colombo questioned the Italian foreign minister's call for a UN ban on female genital cutting, suggesting it was a waste of resources that could be spent on more critical issues. The procedure should be ''a private matter for individuals'', she added. Speakers at the conference include UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro of Tanzania, the founder of an association for trafficking victims in Italy, Isoke Aikpitanyi, the US-based Iranian activist Manda Zand Ervins and Burkina Faso's First Lady, Chantal Compaore.

Labels: G8, Italy, Rome

posted by they lied @ 11:56 PM Comments: 0

European court raps Italy over G8 Genoa protests

It took the European Court of Human Rights 9 years to investigate into police brutality that took place during the G8 summit at Genoa in 2001. Again, senior officers got off. This only mean that police brutality will never ever be eradicated.



The European Court of Human Rights condemned Italy on Tuesday for failing to carry out a thorough investigation into the death of a protestor who was shot by police at a G8 summit in Genoa in 2001.

The court awarded 40,000 euros ($57,160) compensation to the protestor's family. But it decided unanimously that the police officer had not used disproportionate force when he fired during an attack by demonstrators on his vehicle.

The Genoa Group of Eight has gone down as one of the most violent summits of the club of rich nations, which frequently faces protests by anti-globalization groups.

As well as the death of the Italian, Carlo Giuliani, more than 231 protestors, many visiting from other countries, were injured and over 280 arrested. Many complained of police brutality.

In November 2008 an Italian court found 13 police officers guilty of beating protesters at the summit, but acquitted 16 others, including the most senior police officials.

The European Court, which looked into the incident at the request of Giuliani's family, found that the Italian official investigating his death had allowed his body to be cremated before a proper analysis and that the investigation was too narrow.

"Italy had therefore not complied with its procedural obligations in connection with the death," it said.

The European court also looked into whether planning for the meeting had minimized the risk of lethal force being used. "There were a number of shortcomings in the organization of the operation," the court said.

Labels: 2001, Carlo Giuliani, European Court of Human Rights, G8, Genoa, Italy

posted by they lied @ 1:17 AM Comments: 0

Italy's minimalist G8 summit

From: BBC

Switching the venue of this year's G8 summit to an active earthquake zone sounded like a hostage to fortune.

Why invite the world's most powerful leaders to perch on the same precarious spot of the Earth's crust which in April killed 300 people and left 60,000 others homeless?

Just think what global chaos would ensue if - mid session - the ground opened up and swallowed them all.

When the town of L'Aquila was rocked by a new - though less powerful - set of tremors last Friday, the summit's prospects began to look decidedly dicey.


In the town centre many buildings were already cracked and cordoned off. On every corner caved-in roofs and ripped-out walls hinted at the prospect of new collapses to come. It felt as though at any minute it could all start to shake again.

I had visions of us journalists stuck, incommunicado and cowering under tables in the so-called media village. Reporters turned refugees, caught in a new disaster zone, while summit leaders were airlifted out to Rome.

But in the event, nothing happened. Not a tremble.

To my surprise earthquake survivors living in local tent camps thought the summit an excellent idea.

What better way to draw attention to the fact their lives had been reduced to rubble, than to pull in the likes of George Clooney and other celebrity hangers-on who tend to pitch up at major summits.

At one formal function, the eyes of a weary Barack Obama glazed over and his shoulders slumped. Not just us hacks, it seems, were getting by on hard mattresses with very little sleep

"My home won't get repaired for another three or four years. The entire tower block fell on top of it. Any publicity is welcome," said one woman, Anna, sitting with her neighbours under a sun parasol outside her blue canvas home.

The pathway between the tents was lined with drying washing and children's bicycles. A hand-painted notice, decorated in big childish crayon, announced it was Butterfly Row.

There was also Cat Alley, and Moon Street, all clearly marked. An air of semi-permanence had set in.

Roughing it?

In keeping with the earthquake tragedy, the summit itself had an air of austerity. So different from the usual lavish attempts to promote a country at its best.

President Putin revamped an entire 18th Century palace in St Petersburg. Tony Blair took over one of Scotland's grandest hotels.

But Italy's Silvio Berlusconi commandeered the local barracks of the Finance Police and required world leaders and their delegations to sleep in dormitories on site.

"How is the accommodation for VIPs?" I asked one UN official.

He sighed and replied wearily: "It's not quite what we're used to."

He was lucky. Some of the journalists unable to find places to stay locally were reduced to begging space among the tents of the earthquake refugees. Our BBC team drove back nightly over the mountains to a village two hours away.

Also minimalist and unpredictable were the communications facilities. It was almost impossible to find out schedules or contact numbers for delegations. The only truly reliable information was the time of the prime minister's late afternoon press conference.

That you could not avoid. On large screens, beaming down at you would be the unmistakable jovial grin of Mr Berlusconi.

And if you did miss it, never mind. It was played over and over again.

Press conferences by those with critical views, like the so-called G5 group of emerging countries (India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico)seemed to occur with almost no prior warning or publicity.

It was almost as though these Asian and Latin American giants were G8 dissidents, deliberately kept to the fringe.

The same world

One morning we arrived at the media centre to find the broadband connection we were using had been cut off. Local Italian technicians claimed it was on the orders of the Italian authorities.

A few hours later it was restored. But in situations like this, you soon start to get paranoid. Was this an attempt to control our output to what could be monitored?

Probably not, but - instead of the usual eagerness for media coverage - it felt distinctly odd to be prevented from telling the world what was going on.

In some ways this new "bare bones" G8 style suits the mood of the moment.

For a change the journalists were not kept 50 miles away from the leaders, or worse - as has happened - sequestered on a separate island.

The summiteers were a short walk away. It felt as though we could keep them under our gaze.

At one formal function, the eyes of a weary Barack Obama glazed over and his shoulders slumped. Not just us hacks, it seems, were getting by on hard mattresses with very little sleep.

This year, in L'Aquila, we were all part of the same world.

Labels: G8, Italy, L'Aquila

posted by they lied @ 11:57 PM Comments: 0

Russia, rest of G8 clash on approach to Iran

Reuters

Group of Eight powers were divided on how to respond to Iran's disputed election on Thursday, with hosts Italy pushing for a strong condemnation of violence and Russia calling the vote "an exercise in democracy".

Western nations at a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Trieste were pushing for tough language in a final communique on Iran, where about 20 people have been killed in demonstrations following the June 12 presidential election two weeks ago.

"We are working on a document that should condemn the violence and the repression and at the same time stress that electoral procedures are an (internal) Iranian matter," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

But he cautioned: "We (the international community) can't recount the vote." The statement is expected on Friday. Delegates to the G8 conference, getting under way with a dinner on Thursday evening, were wrestling over the wording of the statement on Iran to take into account the sensibilities of Moscow, which has already said it considers all issues linked to the election as Iran's internal affair.

Official results handed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory but defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi has said that the vote was rigged.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that Russia was not prepared to sign up to a G8 statement condemning Iran's handling of the election.

"No one is willing to condemn the election process, because it's an exercise in democracy," Lavrov told reporters.

Russia is one of six powers that have been trying to solve a long-running dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Iran says it wants nuclear power to generate electricity but Western powers suspect it of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.


RUSSIA SAYS ENGAGEMENT IS KEY

"We agreed that we will develop a language which would allow us to concentrate on the main task -- to move toward resolving the issues of the Iranian nuclear programme...," Lavrov said after separate talks with Frattini.

"Isolation is the wrong approach ... Engagement is the key word," he said.

Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari said the G8 would express concern over Iran's nuclear programme but added "we want to maintain as far as possible a climate of dialogue".

Events in Iran have cast a shadow over the G8 meeting that should have focused on stabilising Afghanistan and pursuing Middle East peace.

Diplomats had seen the June 25-27 event as a rare chance for the Group of Eight nations to sit down with regional powers like Iran to discuss shared goals for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But Iran declined to answer Italy's invitation to attend.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also absent after hurting her arm.

Speaking in Washington before the meeting, a senior U.S. State Department official said foreign ministers were expected to discuss the impact of the situation in Iran on efforts to engage Tehran over its nuclear programme.

European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner condemned excessive force by Iranian security forces against demonstrators, urged a halt to arbitrary arrests and called a crackdown on journalists unacceptable.

As delegates gathered, a small group of Iranian protesters held up signs condemning the violent crackdown in Iran.

"We want the G8 to exert pressure so Iran allows peaceful protests, free elections, democracy," said Siamak, an Iranian expatriate who fled Iran after the 1979 revolution. He declined to give his last name out of fear for his family still in Iran.

(Additional reporting by Roberto Landucci and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Peter Millership)

Labels: G8, Iran, Russia

posted by they lied @ 9:26 PM Comments: 0

G8 2009 in Abruzzo, Italy

Video: Fight capitalism

Our leaders are traditionally going to hold another G8 summit. We are traditionally going to block it and organize alternative, Anti-G8 meeting. Main events will take place on 7-10 July. The preparations are already advanced in both sites of conflict. Meanwhile, here you can find an unofficial invitation to the protests. Spread it.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ade1NsG64Q4

Luxury liner drops its anchor in earthquake area

The news about moving the G8 meeting to the earthquake region of Abruzzo puts National Security Agency under pressure.

The latest announcement of Berlusconi, to locate this years G8 meeting, under the responsibility of the Italian presidency, in the earthquake region of Abruzzo instead of hosting it on the Sardinian island of La Maddalena (1) puts great pressure on the National Security Agency.

After 8 months of preparation work for La Maddalena (2) Berlusconi ditched it. The decision has the support of the Italian cabinet. To argue his case Berlusconi said (3) that with the relocation huge costs would be saved and demonstrators would be held away: “I don’t believe that anti-globalisation demonstrators will have the nerve to organize violent demonstrations in this region so hard hit by the earthquakes”.

The new meeting place will be in the customs and tax police “Fiamme Gialle” (Yellow flame) academy “Maresciallo Vincenzo Giudice” in Coppito at the west side of L’Aquila. Coppito is the biggest police academy of Italy.

At a 48 hectare area with 1500 video camera guarded parking places and with modern accommodations and buildings (4) . This facility has a lecture hall for 1500 people, a cantine for 3500 people and a conference hall for 450 people. There are 2.300 sleeping spaces in rooms of 4 beds, 300 single bedrooms and single apartments on top of that.

All types of helicopters can land on the facility. As can fighter jets with short runway take off and landing capacity. A high ranking person, Colonel Paolo Carretta is quoted to say that the US army is impressed by the complex: ”When the marines came here to be educated by the mountain infantry for the war in Afghanistan they told us: ‘if we only had a barracks like this one!’”.

The Coppito complex is regarded to be the only remaining accessible construction after the earthquake. The 50.000 square meter concrete-steel-construction is completely intact after the quake. The central element of the fort is an extended mirror image of the building, build underneath it. In bunkers, accessible by cars, the state keeps its reserves of money. The facility that also holds “combat support reserves” is a main operation centre in case of an attack on Rome, including cyber attacks.

At this stage Guido Bertolaso, chef of civil defence, is located in the barrack along side hundreds of his co-workers, including volunteers as well as 1.300 members of the finance-police. Because of the collapse of a large number of buildings, in which officials were stationed here resides also Prefect Franco Gabrielli and all officials that don’t have offices any more in L’Aquila. An information office has set up camp to document minister and state secretary journeys. “By July the seismic activity should have reduced” said Franco Barberi professor for geo-chemistry and vulcanology at Romes university Tre.

For the G8 meeting that takes place in July in L’Aquila 3.000 delegates, 3.000 accredited journalists and 16.000 police staff are expected. Chief of civil defence, Bertolaso, is convinced that the capacity of the casern in Coppito will be enough.

Nevertheless thought is being given in Italy to accommodating delegates in Rome, amongst other places in the embassy quarter: “We have begun to concern ourselves with that” said a high ranking executive from the department of public safety (5).

The representatives of the G8 would travel the 100 km from Rome to L’Aquila in 20 minutes with a helicopter. However delegates as well as accompanying vehicles, security forces and interpretors will have to travel by road. The roads in question are the A24 and A25, which connect L’Aquila with Rome and Pescara (6).

The cruising liner “MSC Fantasia” which fits 4.000 passengers, equipped with 99 luxury suites, which was supposed to be moored at La Maddalena, will possibly be stationed at the regional capital Pescara, 70 km. away from L’Aquila. The shipping company gives no information out about that.

Re-location of G8 meeting should restore its popularity

On the 23. of April The newspaper Repubblica reported (7), that the decision to relocate the G8 meeting was taken by Berlusconi, government leader Gianni Letta and chief of civil defence Guido Bertolaso when they met on La Maddalena, already one week before it was made public.

Although it is uncertain on who’s initiative this decision was made. At this point the minister of internal affairs, chief of police, the president of the Abbruzzo region, the president of the province, the mayor, the leader of the local government and the commandant of “yellow flame” got informed (8). The Sardinian counterparts were however not informed.

The minister of internal affairs, Maroni, stated that security could be guaranteed. Nine days before the visit to La Maddalena, Berlusconi put the decision for debate in the cabinet, where it was surprisingly well received, despite comments from foreign minister Frattini, just a week before, that re-locating the meeting was simply impossible.

Alteo Matteoli, minister of infrastructure in Berlusconis fourth cabinet vetoed any surprise decision and said: “Re-locating the G8 meeting is not plausible”. Shortly later he was forced to admit through gritted teeth that this had been a political statement.

The ministers of defence and internal affairs immediately began to inspect the region and the re-location of the G8 office also began immediately. The fact that the city centre of L’Aquila has been blocked since the earthquake has proved useful for security planing because the barracks are only accessible from one side.

Sardinian politicians have criticised the governments decision. Rome has assured them that after the 500 million Euro re-construction of La Maddalena, the region will possess a centre for summits and conferences in the Mediterranean which will be unequalled. In an interview with La Repubblica (9), chief of civil defence Bertolaso said that the greatest projects in the area of rejuvenation and tourist improvement will take place on Sardinia.

Through local demonstrations against the meeting in La Maddalena and its relocation in the earthquake ridden area in the middle of Italy, Italy seems to intend to provide the G8 with renewed popularity. In recent years massive protests were regular at the meetings, repeatedly marked by large and wide participation.

In 2001 the demonstrators defended themselves against massive police attacks in a registered demonstration in Genoa. A short while later the 21 year old Carlo Giuliani was shot by a member of the Carabinieri forces. The opposition of the critical movement against globalisation led to far-reaching compartmentalisation and exclusion from large spaces, not specified as protest zones.

The 2009 meeting is supposed to keep an official image, internally and externally, of being “more simple and serious”. First and foremost they want to reduce the number of delegates. In spite of announced (10) moderation, the conference facilities in Coppito will not suffice for all the delegations’ meetings.

Whether the extensive 1000 strong US delegation will be reduced or not is still uncertain. “220 millions will be saved, which had already been intended for La Maddalena” Berlusconi announced, to explain the relocation to L’Aquila. All in all the undertaking of the G8 meeting in La Maddalena was supposed to cost some 400 million Euro.

It is unclear what will happen with the 180 millions left: will they be used to conclude measures already started in Sardinia, or will they in fact serve the victims of the catastrophe as Berlusconi’s government promised?

“In La Maddalena the security costs proposed were 118 millions, where two ships would have had to be rented to host the 3000 accredited journalists. With the relocation to L’Aquila these numbers will be reduced to an amount which will hardly count. The costs which will fall on us, item by item, are for interpreters, promotion, and the light adjustment constructions of Guidice-casern in Coppito. A contract which could lie between 10 and 30 million Euro”. – Bertolaso, Chief of Civil Defence (11).

Approval from participating governments

The relocation of the meeting surprised many. The location of La Maddalena was imposed by Berlusconi’s predecessor, Prodi. After the April 2008 election Berlusconi, well known for his use of symbolic power behind the scenes, tried to move the meeting into a more attractive place. Naples and Milan were mentioned, as well as Berlusconi’s own surroundings of the Costa Smeralda. All proposals were dismissed by the chief of Civil Defence Bertolaso, on security grounds.

In preparation of a security architecture for a major event, in this case the G8 meeting, involves the norms of those countries participating. Regulations from the US delegation are taken especially seriously, in this respect. At the time when La Maddalena was inspected, in order to decide if the relocation of the meeting should be risked, the question of the US president’s security at the originally intended meeting place, was still open.

It had been demonstrated that the ship which was intended to bring together the representatives and the delegates, could not land at La Maddalena due to insufficient depth of waters. Also, facilities for accommodation of the accredited press were not easily available.

American and the UK are supposed to have agreed (12). Lynn Eccles, Downing Street’s speaker, agreed with support: “The decision to relocate the meeting is paid for by the Italian Government. The UK will support Italy in any way needed.” The EU’s foreign commissar, Ferrero-Waldner, saluted the decision as “solidarity with the people hit by the earthquake”; supposedly Japan have also given a green light.

The German government also had no choice but the accept Berlusconi’s coup (13): “We trust that our Italian partner will take the logistic measures necessary for a successful meeting” (14). The German delegations should stay in the Hotel of Campo Imperatore by the Gran Sasso, where Mussolini was under custody for a few weeks in 1943 before he was freed by German combatants.

Militarised Catastrophe Arrangements in Abruzzo

The extraordinary minister cabinet called together on the occasion of the emergency appointed Franco Gabrielli as prefect of L’Aquila (15). Gabrielli started his career at the political police “Digos” in Imperia and later switched place to the central in Rome. At the end of 2002, the Police coordinated an action against the successor organisation of the Red Brigades, under Gabrielli’s administration, after which the two arrested for the death of Massimo D’Antona and Marco Biagi, were held responsible.

After the operation he was made chief of the internationally operating secret services “Servizio Centrale Antiterrorismo”. For a few years he co-wrote a handbook with the current chief of Police, Antonio Manganelli, about investigation procedures.

However the situation in many towns of the earthquake region is highly critical. State support initiatives came late and did not function properly. On the other hand representatives of the government have declared that the measures provided were highly efficient. A handful of towns, which were portrayed as ideal renovation projects, are frequently visited by the media.

This very strong and media-supported care given to the image of efficiency and capabilities is supposed to be related to Italy’s polished image, internationally. The country is among those states considered in danger of bankruptcy in the current crisis. Those voices are also growing in number which see, in Italy’s development, signs of the destruction of democracy.

This seems to be thus interpreted in government circles: In the last weeks the Italian government urged numerous foreign newspapers (16), among those French and German, to cease labelling Berlusconi’s politics as “post-fascist”.

Labels: Abruzzo, G8, Italy

posted by they lied @ 8:34 PM Comments: 0

G8 Hokkaido 2008

Labels: 2008, G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 7:55 PM

Call for Participation - NO! G8 in Hokkaido

Stop by Hokkaido in July? Given the current state of economy and inflation, there has never been a better time to make a difference. Email japang8camp(at)riseup.net for more details.

5th July is International Action Day. To be part of the action, click here if you are in London.


Call for Participation: Towards the Emergence of a New “Alternative Village” space in Hokkaido

“G8 Action Network” Convergence-center / Camp Work Group

• Our Plan
　The G8 will be held in July of this year (200 8) at lake Toya (Toya-ko) in Hokkaido. We expect thousands of people from all over the world will gather in Hokkaido, as individuals and various NGO groups, to take part in a medley of actions. We (Convergence-center/Camp Work Group) look forward to the completion of an Alternative Village, both a hive for the swarm and a place for dialogue.

Action schedule

* 13-14 June (Osaka) Meeting Ministers of Financial Affairs
* 26-27 June (Kyoto) Anti-Foreign Ministers Meetings, Rally and March
* 28-29 June (Tokyo) Anti-G8 Rally and March
* 01-04 July (Sapporo) Themed Actions (Rally and March)
o 01 July (Sapporo) Anti-military base/ anti-war
o 02 July (Sapporo) Anti-WTO, privatization
o 03 July (Sapporo) Anti-neo-liberalism
o 04 July (Sapporo) Farmers’ day, day of AINU

* 05 July (Sapporo) International Action Day
* 05 July (Chitose) Airport Protest
* 07-09 July (Lake Toya) Blocking the G8
* 06-08 July (Sapporo) Alternative Summit

• Convergence-center
The convergence-center will act as your window to a host of knowledge & information concerning the G8; as a studio for printing data & documents; as a studio for creative work & operations; as a meeting place, and as a resting place; as a point of internet access; and as a forum for international exchange. The center will function as an important node, gathering those of us unaccustomed with the land together in order to stimulate collaborative operations, and, at the same time, we will work to ensure that local voices are active in education and discussion.

Facilities for Foreigners

* In Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto – Convergence Centre
* In Sapporo – Convergence Centre, Camp, Independent Media Centre
* Near Lake Toya – Camp, Independent Media Centre

• Camp
The Camp is provided as an area for those of us coming with (I)NGOs and citizens’ groups to pitch our tents.

We are working with you to plan an international kitchen, concerts, film screenings, a world football tournament, workshops on environmental issues and nature conservation, as well as other events to be held in and around the camp grounds. This is ‘another possibility’, “Alternative Village”. “Alternative Village” will be an experimental environment in which every participant builds the space for participation with their own hands. This is the type of space that has been actualized through the participation of many people against the G8 at Évian-les-Bains in France, again at Gleneagles in Scotland, and again at Heiligendamm in Germany. Moreover, the camp and its surrounding activities provide a chance for those from around the world to interchange and build networks with the local residents.

• Our Goals
The aims of the Convergence-center and Camp are not simply to provide an infrastructure for information-exchange and lodging; more broadly, we hope to help architect a shared space in which we can mutually help out and cooperate. This is a space for the creation of ideas & expressions by all its participants; a solid foundation onto which we may build something anew. The establishment of this free, open space takes a large place among our goals.

• We Need Your Participation & Collaboration!
Currently, we are looking for volunteers to help in creating and running the Convergence Center and to participate in the Camp Work Group. Everyone with interest is sincerely invited to contact us at the e-mail address below.

Labels: Alternative Camp, G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 10:18 PM Comments: 0

McCain says Russia should be booted from G8, rebukes China

The US kept quiet on China's handling of the Tibetian Protesters. Everyone has been fine and dandy with the emerging China power due mostly to economic reasons, the French aside. I'm surprised that McCain has actually spoken out against them.


Arizona Sen. John McCain called for free trade throughout the Western Hemisphere, accusing China of trying to exclude the U.S. from foreign markets.

During a foreign policy and international economics speech in Los Angeles, he also said Russia should be booted from the G8, the group of eight largest industrialized and democratic economies, while India and Brazil should be added. Other G8 members are the U.S., Japan, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Canada

The Arizona senator cited Russia's purported cyber attacks against businesses and others in the Baltic state of Estonia.

McCain said China should take part in international boycotts of the Sudan and Burma and criticized the Asian country for sometimes looking to exclude the U.S. from foreign markets.

"China could bolster its claim that it is peacefully rising by being more transparent about its significant military buildup, by working with the world to isolate pariah states such as Burma, Sudan and Zimbabwe, and by ceasing its efforts to establish regional forums and economic arrangements designed to exclude America from Asia," McCain said in his speech.

China, which enjoys a huge trade imbalance with the U.S., is Arizona's third largest export market.

Technorati Tags: G8, China, Russia, McCain and US.

Labels: China, G8, McCain, Russia, US

posted by they lied @ 11:02 PM Comments: 0

Overseas Citizens' Groups Prepare G8 Strategy

Another meeting which bars members from entering the country. Increased negative vibes on the meeting and no real news from the G8 leaders. Join us in our protest


As the Group of Eight summit approaches in July, leaders of overseas citizens' groups got together Friday in Tokyo to prepare countermeasures for the upcoming annual meeting of the major developed countries near Lake Toya, Hokkaido.

The G8 Action Network, holding a press conference in Tokyo, argued that the G8 summit members have only worsened the poverty and debt of developing countries by pushing for global free trade and deregulation.

The network will organize forums and demonstrations during the period of the summit in Hokkaido, the group said at the news conference.

The G8 Action Network currently consists of 32 nongovernmental organizations as well as 141 individuals in Japan, plus overseas groups such as, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions from South Korea, and Migrant Forum in Asia and Focus on the Global South, both from the Philippines.

"We have come here all of us from different movements and organizations from around the world . . . to call for solidarity from the Japanese organizations," said Mary Lou Malig of Focus on the Global South.

"The G8 nations account for just 14 percent of the world's population," Malig said, claiming that its decisions could largely dictate the course of the rest of the world and have worsened poverty and increased insecurity during the past few years.

During the conference, the group also announced that a representative from the Committee for Asian Women was rejected by immigration officials trying to enter Japan on Thursday at Narita airport.

The reason for the refusal was not immediately known as of Friday night.

Technorati Tags: G8 and Hokkaido.

Labels: G8, Hokkaido

posted by they lied @ 9:20 AM Comments: 0

G8: Call for Action

CALL FOR ACTION AGAINST THE G8
Resisting Free Trade, Militarism and Fighting for Real Solutions to Climate Change

The G8 Summit will be held this year from July 7-9 in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan. This will be a culmination of a series of ministerial preparation meeting beginning in March. The G8 Action Network, a network of various Japanese organizations and movements, is calling on all social movements, peasant organizations, women, migrants, urban and rural poor, fisherfolks and civil society from all over the world who are resisting free trade in its many forms, war and militarism, the privatization of essential services and natural resources, illegitimate debt and the domination of global finance, and fighting for and building real people based solutions to global warming, to come and join us in the week of action against the G8 here in Japan.

WHY MOBILIZE AGAINST THE G8?

The G8 nations account for just fourteen percent of the world’s population and yet decisions made at these summits dictate the course of the rest of the world. And now more than ever, the evidence is stark that decisions that these nations have made have brought nothing but worsening poverty, increasing insecurity, deepening indebtedness, militarization and wars and now they are pushing for market based solutions to climate change which threaten to endanger the future of the planet. The host of the summit, the Government of Japan, says that it will make this summit a summit on the climate. This is rank hypocrisy. The reality is that the government, under pressure from Japanese industry, is backing away from mandatory limits to greenhouse gas emissions.

We can no longer let this continue. The time is now for all of us around the world to come together and join forces to make our voices heard and stop the G8 from doing any further damage to the world.

JOIN US IN THE INTERNATIONAL PREPARATORY MEETING

We will also begin preparations to challenge the G8 Summit beginning March. We invite all of you to come to Japan and join in our international preparatory meeting from March 7-11, 2008.

This is our schedule:
March 7, 16:00: Press conference at Parliamentarian building
March 8-9: International Coordination Meeting & G8 Seminar
March 9: evening, Move to Hokkaido by plane
March 10-11: Activities in Hokkaido

If your organization is planning to attend the meeting, please email nag00562@nifty.ne.jp to register your participation. You can also contact this email for more information on the meeting.

WE NEED YOUR SOLIDARITY

As with all struggles, we can only be successful with the solidarity, support and involvement of movements and activists around the world in resisting this G8 Summit. We invite all of you who are with us in the struggle against trade liberalization, corporate globalization, war and militarism and false solutions to climate change and demanding for
cancellation of all developing country debt to sign on to this call. We urge all of you to join us in Japan and to strengthen our struggle and together, build another world.

SIGNED:

G8 Action Network, Japan
ATTAC Japan
Consumers Union of Japan
Forum for Peace, Human Rights and Environment
Globalization Watch Hiroshima
Iwate Network for Protecting Article 9
Japan Asia Africa Latin America Solidarity Committee (AALA)
Japan Family Farmers Movement（NOUMINREN）
JAPAN PEACE COMMITTEE
National Coalition of Workers, Farmers and Consumers for Safe Food and
Health, Japan (SHOKKENREN)
No! G8 Action
No to WTO/FTA Coalition
No-Vox Japan
Peoples' Plan Study Group (PPSG)
SPACE ALLIES
The New Communist Association for the Future

IN SOLIDARITY:
(list of organizations outside Japan who sign on)
Alliance of Progressive Labor, Philippines
Anti-Debt Coalition Indonesia (KAU)
Fisherfolk Movement-Philippines (Kilusang Mangingisda)
Focus on the Global South
Global Network Asia
Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU)
Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI)
Institute for Global Justice, Indonesia
Jubilee South - Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD)
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
Migrant Forum in Asia
Stop the New Round! Coalition, Philippines
Transnational Institute (TNI)
WALHI-Friends of the Earth Indonesia
Womyn’s Agenda for Change, Cambodia

Technorati Tags: G8, Mobilization, , CallForAction and Protest.

Labels: Call for Action, G8, Mobilization, Protest

posted by they lied @ 1:19 AM Comments: 0

G8 Leaders: Call for Global Watchdog

Again, the perpetual unanswered call for transparency.


European leaders agreed to co-operate closely in future to help avert another financial crisis spreading across the world.

Mr Gordon Brown said G8 finance ministers would take forward proposals to change the way credit agencies assessed the risk posed by banks and for greater transparency in information published by the banks themselves.

He said: "We are calling for greater transparency to secure better-informed markets. By calling for change in the international institutions we are leading the way for changes that can be made in the course of the year. I am confident we are leading the way for consensus that can be made for big change."

And he warned: "We stand ready to take regulatory action if progress is not made."

The Prime Minister met with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel, Italy's caretaker premier Romano Prodi and EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso for three hours of informal talks.
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Although the group considers the European economy basically sound, they believe that greater supervision of banks and credit-rating agencies is necessary.

Mr Brown is keen to establish a new global financial watchdog which he believes might have proved invaluable during the credit crunch.

Mr Barroso said: "It is clear that the recent turmoil in the financial markets requires vigilance. What is needed now is action that is both targeted and proportionate. We must not be tempted into protectionism."

The meeting came amid growing concerns of an American recession this year. In a bid to shore up the faltering economy, the US House of Representatives yesterday approved an economic stimulus package worth $146bn (£73bn). The bill, introduced by President George W Bush, now moves to the Senate.

Separately, the International Monetary Fund warned that the risks to the global economy remain on the downside as it reduced its growth forecast for the second time in less than six months. In an unscheduled update to its World Economic Outlook in October, the IMF said it now expects global GDP to reach 4.1pc this year, down from 4.4pc.

For the US, the IMF cut its growth forecast for this year by 0.4pc to 1.5pc and lowered the Eurozone's projection by 0.5pc to 1.6pc.

Today, the US Federal Reserve will decide whether to cut US interest rates further.

Technorati Tags: G8, Transparency and watchdog.

Labels: G8, Transparency, Watchdog

posted by they lied @ 11:30 PM Comments: 0

Japan May Protect G8 Site with Missiles

Weapons of Mass Destruction. All in the name of security.

---

Japan may position missile interceptors around the site of the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations, to be held on the northern island of Hokkaido in July, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

Japan introduced its first Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) ground-to-air missile interceptors at the Iruma air base north of Tokyo last March, as part of a shield aimed at protecting the country from ballistic missile attack.

But the interceptors have a range of about 20 km, so they would need to be positioned closer to the summit venue at Lake Toyako in order to provide protection during the conference. The G8 summit brings together the leaders of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Russia as well as Japan.

The Sankei Shimbun quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying that although the chances of a ballistic missile attack on the venue are extremely low, Japan wants to take all possible precautions against air attack.

"We must consider measures to deal appropriately with whatever situations may arise," said a Defense Ministry spokesman, who declined to comment directly on the report.

A "Summit Unit" made up of air, ground and sea troops is also to be set up to respond immediately to any eventuality, the Sankei Shimbun said.

An outer layer of Defense against ballistic missiles is provided by ship-based SM-3 missiles. Japan became the United States' closest missile Defense ally after North Korea fired a ballistic missile across the country in 1998, which landed in the Pacific Ocean.

Technorati Tags: G8, Japan, Hokkaido and Missiles.

Labels: G8, Hokkaido, Japan, Missiles

posted by they lied @ 11:39 PM Comments: 0

December 8: Think Global, ACT LOCAL

Proposal: International Mobilization of Solidarity with the Accused of the Genoese G8.

With the approach of the verdict for the 25 comrades of the G8 trial, the desire to rise to the highest level the forms of solidarity and fight has grown.

The Genoese lawsuit is linked to those of Milan and Turin for the use of the offence of "devastation and looting", which provides ultra-high penalties (8 to 15 years), applied to the expression of dissent and political clash.

The judgment on appeal to the events of March 11th has seen the creation of his first former judicial (6 years, discounted to 4, for the abbreviated rite, for 15 of anti-fascists defendants) projecting a threatening shadow on the imminent outcome of the G8 process.

Saturday November 17th represents an important appointment. The hope is that this is only the first step, which many other initiatives will follow, in a virtuous mechanism in view of the day of judgment. The attempt - to be made the most coordinated way possible by everyone - could be to call a simultaneous mobilization day, December 8th, in many Italian and foreign cities with protests in symbolic places (Law Courts, prisons, embassies, consulates etc).

G8 has been an international issue and, if in 2001, already, the Italian police had shown the political choices made in the management of dissent, which culminated with Carlo's murder, today the judiciary follows in his footsteps with the request of exorbitant condemnations for the demonstrators: the real heads scapegoats, who, according to the hypothesis of the Prosecutor, should "pay for all" with very heavy penalties, up to 16 years in prison. To pay in an exemplary way so that it is an effective warning to all those who, in the future, will they dare to rebel.

On the other side, the two trials for the security forces, for the police massacre at Diaz and tortures at Bolzaneto, are still in the process of hearings and the judgment of first instance will not be issued before the next year.

Verdict that, however it will end, for almost the entire contested crimes, will be just formal, since the prescription will shortly cancel everything.

In Italy the days of July 2001 have represented a watershed in the management of public order and dissent: the police shooting at demonstrators; Carlo Giuliani's murder; the tanks running at a crazy speed against people; "the mexican butchery" at Diaz; tortures at Bolzaneto; indiscriminate beatings of defenceless people; the devastation even of ambulances by the security forces. All of these happened while AN's Honourables, Ascierto and Fini, were visiting the
operating centre of the security forces.

A crucial step towards acceptance of security policies and political repression which, in these 6 years, have changed our cities and attacked the movements through the use of the preventive detention and crimes as "devastation and looting" or subversive association.

The potential international nature of the initiative is given by the fact that the whole anti-fascist and anti-capitalist movement is under charge, movement which, from Seattle on, comes out and sets against the meetings, the last one in Germany, the next one in Japan, and in the 2009 in Italy.

The repression has been deployed even for the mobilization in Rostock, with arrests and trials currently under process. Every situation, national or international, could join with reference to the local context.

Therefore the call is to find a common date for mobilizations, everyone in its own territory, to express the greatest solidarity and complicity with the 25 comrades to the bar.

Never free as long as the last will be slave!

Technorati Tags: Genoese, G8 and Italy.

Labels: G8, Genoese, Italy

posted by they lied @ 1:29 AM Comments: 0

G8 Prisoners

Even after the event, 2 summit prisoners are still being detained.


Red Help Rostock demands to immidiatelly release the last two remaining summit-prisoners, who are still held in custody in Waldeck jail. They were arrested on the big international demonstration at the 2nd of June during the brutal attacks of the police, in which countless protestants were hurt, some severly injured.

They are accused with breaching of the peace and obstructing the police.

One of the prisoners comes from Rostock. He is kept in jail because it is said that taking part in the demonstration at the 2nd of June was a violation of the conditions of his probation. The other prisoner is living in the Netherlands. N.Y. is working at the Institute for International
Culture and Art (VEK-SAV) and board member of the Association of Turkish Workers and Students (TIÖD). In 2002 N.Y. participated in the hungerstrike against isolation prisons and later on fled to the Netherlands. He is an acknowledged political refugee and, traumatized from what he had to experience in Turkish prisons, he had to take an early retirement and
psychological treatment, which has to be continued.

There is no reason to justify further detention of the activists. Doing this it gets clear that the police wants to continue their course of repression and intimidation that we experienced during the days of protest against the G8 summit.

We call all left, progressive forces and organisations to support the prisoners in political and material ways and to do everything in their power to set them free.

Website: http://www.rote-hilfe.de

Technorati Tags: G8, Rostock and Prisoner.

Labels: G8, Prisoner, Rostock

posted by they lied @ 10:33 PM Comments: 0

G8 Gone Again

The G8 has concluded. With nothing much. We have the wrong group of people to analyze and we have the wrong prescription. This has been going on since 1975. Look where this has gotten all of us.

- Climate concerns are being ignored by the 8 people who think that they are in control of everything the moment they sit themselves down at the table.

- More money to Africa. Why isnt Africa the least developed after all these years and all these money?

From the last week, we have been on the news everyday. Footage of our demonstration were shown. Footages that were not shown were the clips of police manhandling individual protestors and the random firing of the water canon so many times.

Remember that we of different color came together and formed a voice far too loud for the incompetent G8 leaders to ignore.

Like what our grandparents would say, don't believe everything you watch on TV.

The G8 still dont care about the climate.

Technorati Tags: G8, Africa and Climate.

Labels: Africa, Climate, G8

posted by they lied @ 7:58 PM Comments: 0

Agent Provocateur Revealed

The German goverment uses instigators to validate police presence


At a G8 summit blockade near Bad Doberan, following repeated media warnings, a so-called "agent provocateur" has been unveiled. This violence provoking state employee has sneaked into the peaceful anti-G8 sit-in action and instigated people to violent deeds.

Apparently, various activists have tried to hold back until this unmasked guy, who showed up and let loose his aggressive temper. He urged people around him to use violence. But eventually some protesters identified this man in black with a policeman.

When the news about this man's identity went round, activists literally mobbed him. The agent provocateur was freed by some Legal Team members from the mess he'd got himself into and he was handed over to his police colleagues.

During the clashes between anti-capitalist globalization protesters and police it had already been cried out that violence by state paid agents provocateurs had massively contributed to the escalation of 2nd June in Rostock.


So far, 200 arrests have been made today, of which 60-70 were arrested in a parking lot near the Rostock Laage airport. Two lawyers were not allowed through but, instead, warned that if they came back they would be arrested. At both detention centres in Ulmen and Industriestr., all lawyers were kicked out of the the lawyers room. An alternative media bus from Amsterdam was seized by police and the driver was physically forced to drive the bus. A Stern photographer was arrested for "inciting violence".

Technorati Tags: G8, Protest, Rostock, Arrest and AgentProvocateur.

Labels: AgentProvocateur, Arrest, G8, Protest, Rostock

posted by they lied @ 11:03 PM Comments: 0

For Global Freedom of Movement

While the rest of the media is focused on the "violence", they did not say that the March for Global Freedom of Movement and Equal Rights was successful and peaceful in spite of the long waiting. The riot police arrived but did not attempt to disrupt the march.

Technorati Tags: G8, Rostock, March and GlobalFreedomOfMovementAndEqualRightsForAll.

Labels: G8, Global Freedom of Movement and Equal Rights for All, March, Rostock

posted by they lied @ 7:34 PM Comments: 0

More Police Brutality and Renewed Ban

1. A convoy of 35 bicyclists was brutally attacked by riot cops near Rostock today. About 6 police vans followed them. When they left Rostock on the B 105 (the street to Camp Reddelich) the police cars switched on their lights.

The bikers stopped to let drive by the cars. But the cops began to beat them from their driving vans, tried to catch them and threw them from their bikes. They pepper sprayed them from less than one meter into their faces.

2. French Activists denied first aid. A car driven by french activists was involved in an accident on the highway at Rostock-West. The car of the french driver was hit by the car of a woman fallen asleep while driving.

Riot cops deployed from the demo in Rostock - arrived and began to threaten the injured french activists. They called them "dirty G 8 opponenents" and did not give them any first help or medical treatment.

They were brought to hospitals by some vans of the red cross. In one hospital the doctor did not give medical treatment. He said it is because "there´s no social insurance security card". He also stated the injuries were from the riots in Rostock - and not from an accident. A woman was begging him for at least some pain-stopping medicine but the doctor refused.

Finally they got first aid in the Camp Reddelich where they arrived by taxi.

Renewed ban on Heiligendamm march: protesters angry

Berlin (dpa) – A renewed German ban on protests within seven kilometres of next week’s G8 (Group of Eight) summit at Heiligendamm brought anger Friday from protesters who had hoped to converge on the venue.

“This is a rebuff to the peaceful protests at the G8 and a black day for freedom of assembly,” said lawyer Carsten Gericke, who had represented demonstrators in a lawsuit against the ban.

An administrative tribunal had upheld Thursday evening a ban on unauthorized marches up to a fence of welded steel mesh erected at a two-kilometre radius around the luxury Kempinski beach hotel.

During their convergence march on June 7, the marchers must stay about seven kilometres away on German federal highway 105, judges in the city of Greifswald ruled.

A tribunal spokesman, Eckhard Corsmeyer, said Friday the ruling reflected the venue geography: marching would block the country lanes down to the beach and obstruct fire and police trucks and ambulances if disaster hit.

Gericke said he was studying if there were grounds to appeal urgently to Germany’s federal constitutional court.

Leftists and groups critical of globalization have already been upset by police scrutiny of their movement, heavy policing at pre-G8 marches and this week by Berlin’s refusal to let 20 leftists attend the June 6-8 summit as reporters.

A Federal Press Office spokesman said 4,700 applications for media accreditation were received and 20 denied after vetting by federal police. He did not say why they were seen as security risks.

German journalists’ unions protested, saying the rejections created the impression that critical reporting was unwelcome.

Technorati Tags: G8, Rostock, Reddelich, Heiligendamm, Police and Brutality.

Labels: Brutality, G8, Heiligendamm, Police, Reddelich, Rostock

posted by they lied @ 8:41 PM Comments: 0

Police Brutality Ahead of Talks

The German police took to the offensive, even before the meetings begin.

Technorati Tags: G8, Germany, Police, Violence and Protest.

Labels: G8, Germany, Police, Protest, Violence

posted by they lied @ 7:40 PM Comments: 0

STOP G8

! YA BASTA! Despite police repression and political propaganda, the summit will face one of the biggest mobilisations ever to shut down the G8.

IMPORTANT

Legal Team Telephone Number

The telephone number of Legal Team during the G8 summit: 0049 - (0)3820 - 4768111

For any legal help during the summit you can contact this number. The lawyers will be informed of your case. Please publicise the number.

Contact Points: The Convergence-Centers in Berlin, Hamburg and Rostock
Latest infos, local maps, legal hints and similar things will be available

To enlarge image, click here.

Protest Line Up

Friday 1st June:
Temporary re-settlement of the "Bombodrom" - Area
(Call and infos | Dissent!)

Saturday 2nd June:
International Demonstration in Rostock (Call) ::
Stop the nazi demonstration in Schwerin (Infos) ::
6pm: Move Against G8 Concert

Sunday 3rd June:
Action Day on Agriculture (Dissent!)

Monday 4th June:
Action Day on Flight & Migration
Morning: Decentralized activities in and around Rostock
1pm: Demonstration to the center of Rostock,
5pm: Concert at the place of the final gathering of the demonstration,
7.30pm: Panel discussion
In general: Activities at refugee camps, deportation authorities, etc.
( g8-migration.net.tf | no-racism.net | No Lager | Dissent!)

Tuesday 5th June:
Action Day against militarism and war
Blockade of the airport Rostock-Laage
(Attention: Most likely this will be changed to June 6th, when the state representatives arrive)
(Call | Freie Heide)

Wednesday 6th June:
Mass blockades against the G8 Summit (Call | Block G8)

Thursday 7th June:
Demonstration from Nienhagen, Kühlungsborn, Bad Doberan, Kröpelin

Get There

There are many buses from several german cities and from Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands going to Rostock. (Overview of ALB) Furthermore Attac has organized three special trains to Rostock. They start in Salzburg (AUT), Basel (CH) and in Bonn (GER).

There are Convergence-Centers in Berlin and Hamburg, where you can try to organize your journey to Rostock, moreover people are planning to make car parades to Rostock, Schwerin or Heiligendamm to be more protected against repression.

The local train operator announced to offer a special Ticket for the time around the summit. It can be used for the public transportation system (2nd to 9th of june, 15 Euros). Tickets can be bought in the ticket selling counters, in regional busses and trains.

Accommodation

The Camp Working Group is trying to organize accommodation for those who come to protest around Heiligendamm. The actual situation is that there will be three camps, one in Rostock, one in Reddelich, and one in Wichmannsdorf. The camp in Rostock is closer to the activities of the first days, the others are closer to the place where the summit takes place.


Map of camps around Heiligendamm (camping-07.de)

The camps have serious financial problems! Please support them with donations if you can.

Donate

The protests against the g8-summit really cost a lot of money and all sectors rely on donations. For this purpose are numerous possibilities and can be found on the single sites of the sectors. The Camp and the Independent Media Centre badly need donations.

This will be updated frequently whenever updates are received. STOP G8!

Technorati Tags: G8, Heiligendamm, Rostock and Mobilization.

Labels: G8, Heiligendamm, Mobilization, Rostock

posted by they lied @ 1:20 AM Comments: 0