"Observatory"
on reactions to protests in the EU
The substantive
reaction of the EU to the protests in Gothenburg and Genoa are
contained in the Conclusions of a specially called meeting of
the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on 13 July 2001 (see
"Enemy within" report below). This was followed in
2007 by the adoption of a Security Handbook covering both public
order and counter-terrorism at EU Summits and other international
meetings held in the EU.
ITALY: The
bloody battle of Genoa (Guardian feature by Nick Davies, link)
UK: Police seek
to axe anti-arms trade movie (link to SchNews) and Watching
You in Big Brother Britain (thanks to SchNews): Car of peace protesters
"flagged" on Police National Computer led to them being
stopped and questioned under the Terrorism Act.
ITALY-GENOA 2001: Rete del Sud Ribelle
activists acquitted of "subversive association" charges
EU: Protests: Proposal
to create EU-wide "troublemakers" database, full story
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"We can now see a pattern emerging across the EU where people who exercise their democratic right to attend cross border protests are confronted by aggressive para-military policing, surveillance, preventive detention and expulsion.
This is a reflection of the EU's definition of "security" at international events which is now defined as covering both "counter-terrorism" and "public order".
Back in 2003
the bilateral exchange of information on "suspected troublemakers"
between EU states for international events was agreed. What is
proposed now is not the one-off exchange of information related
to a specific event but a permanent EU-wide database of suspected
"troublemakers", this is utterly unacceptable in a
democratic Europe."
See also: Policing
protests in Switzerland, Italy and Germany
1. Switzerland: Policing of the anti-WEF demonstration in Davos; 2. Italy: Demonstrators convicted for G8 clashes; 3. Switzerland: 200 arrests at peaceful street party; 4. Germany: 60 per cent of G8 investigations dropped
ROMANIA-NATO: Protests repression during the
NATO Summit in Romania: (2 April 2008) One day before the
start of the Nato summit in Bucharest, repression against activists
is increasing. People who look like activists are picked off
the street and detained by the police for no reason. Once detained,
the police appears to construct "offences", such as
interpreting the carrying of a pocketknife as arms possessions.
Every person coming to or leaving the convergence center, set
up for protesters from Romania and other parts of the world,
are in danger of getting detained (some simply for walking to
a nearby shop). The detained are interrogated, photographed and
fingerprinted in police stations, and held for up to 24 hours.
At the Romanian border several groups of activists have been
denied entry into the country. Indymedia
report in German and English
summary
Germany: High Court
rules police raids against anti-G8 protesters unlawful
G8: Summary of the monitoring
of demonstrations at the G8 summit from Grundrechtekomitee (Committee for Fundamental Rights and
Democracy) 10 June 2007
GERMANY-G8: Committee for Fundamental Rights and
Democracy (Komitee für Grundrechte und Demokratie e. V.):
Press Release: The
Rostock police authority - not the demonstrators - are severely
damaging the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany "On 16 May 2007,
the police authority Rostock passed a general decree, curtailing
the right of assembly “on the occasion of the G8 summit
in Heiligendamm”. This means that the fundamental rights
of assembly and freedom of expression are suspended also outside
of the 12 km-long fence – the so-called “technical
barrier” – around Heiligendamm."
See also: German police use Stasi scent profiling on G8 protesters (Guardian, link) and Police raid G8 activists
January 2007 Italy: G8-Genoa policemen's trial
suspended as planted molotov cocktails disappear
January 2007: EU: Public order and counter-terrorism:
Security
handbook for the use of police authorities and services at international
events
(EU doc no: 15226/1/06, 22.12.06, full-text, pdf). The Council
of the European Union (representing the 27 governments) is proposing
that the existing handbooks on public order at EU events and
that on counter-terrorism should be combined:
"The
scope of the manual is now such that it applies to the security
(both from a public order point of view as well as counter-terrorism)
of all major international events, be it political, sporting,
social, cultural or other."
As regards public order and cross-border demonstrations it
says that the agencies should: "prevent individuals or
groups who are considered to pose a potential threat to the maintenance
of public law and order and/or security from travelling to the
location of the event" and for those who have entered
make: "The necessary arrangements for a quick and efficient
implementation of the potential expulsion measures"
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments: "Cross-border demonstrations, like those is Gothenburg, Genoa and Davos, where people are exercising their democratic right to protest should never be put in the same bracket as terrorist attacks where the aim is to kill and maim indiscriminately"
UK: Protesters were held unlawfully, court rules
- 120 people prevented from attending demonstration against Iraq
war at RAF Fairford will claim £3,000 each: Fairford (link)
Sweden: Gothenburg police chief acquitted over
events of June 2001: Report
Greece: The "Thessaloniki 5" hunger strike
leads to release: Report
Greece: The
"Thessaloniki 5" on hunger strike transferred to high
security prison: Report
Dutch government
attacks Italian Presidency plan to combat protests: Report
Italian EU
Council Presidency: Plan to put protestors under surveillance
and deny entry to suspected troublemakers: Special Report
German
police raid border camp and arrest 250 activists: Report
G8:
injured activist
released from hospital after one month - new video evidence demonstrates
police negligence: Report
UK: Civil Contingencies Bill: Emergency Powers
- ancient arbitrary powers preserved: Royal perogative and Privy
Council to authorise emergency powers and scope of new law extended
to protect the government, the state and financial institutions: Report
and documents
G8 Summit:
Police raid targets media activists and l'Usine Cultural Centre:
Report
Spain: Legal action against policing of demonstrations:
Report
EU: Legal teams set up for G8, Evian and EU Summit
in Thessaloniki: Report
and contacts
Gothenburg, June 2001: report on the trials: Report
Expulsion from Belgium and Schengen bans
for anti-war protestors: Report
Police to provide the "news" during Danish
EU Presidency: Report
Spain: State agencies put protestors
under extensive internet surveillance: Report
Indymedia centres raided across Italy
- updated 28.2.02: Report
EU: Anarchists to be targeted as "terrorists"
alongside Al Qaeda: Report
EU Presidency present draft Council Decision
to target protestors as "terrorists": Report
Indymedia centres raided across Italy
(Wednesday, 20 February): Report
EU plans to extend the Schengen Information System
(SIS) to:
i) create
EU database to target "suspected" protestors and bar
them from entering a country where a protest is planned; ii)
create EU database of all "foreigners" to remove third
country nationals who have not left within the "prescribed
time frame": Special Statewatch report: The
enemy within II (3.12.01)
Special Statewatch report
on: The
"enemy within" - EU plans for the surveillance
of protestors and the criminalisation of protests which will:
* create
mechanisms for “operational” cooperation for which
there are no legal powers
* legitimise the ongoing surveillance by “police and intelligence
officers” (internal security services) of “persons
or groups likely to pose a threat to public order and security”
* create national databases of “troublemakers” based
on suspicion and supposition without any legal standards or data
protection and allow the unregulated exchange of this data
Report
and full documentation
Proposal to create EU para-military police
units to counter protests: Report
EU to adopt new laws on terrorism: definition
of "terrorism" to cover groups with the aim of "seriously
altering... the political, economic or social structure"
of one or more countries and their institutions and includes
"urban violence": Report and
documents
International meetings cancelled:
Meetings European
Parliament discusses Echelon and Genoa: Reports Civil
society boycotts Hague police conference on public order:
Hague
Genoa protests:
Genoa
Justice campaign: Site
Report by Annelie Buntenbach and Hans-Christian Ströbele,
Members of the German Bundestag, on their trip to Genoa on 25
and 26 July 2001: Report
(Updated 17.8.01) Genoa: 20 of the PublixTheatreCaravan
detainees freed & Germany to challenge Italian "expulsion
orders"? Detainees freed
Demand for the immediate
release of members of the PublixTheatreCaravan. Protest against
miscarriage of justice and for freedom of expression, 12.8.01:
Appeal
Statements by two British people
arrested: Statements
Collection of reports on Genoa from
urban75: Reports
Report from La Repubblica
on police out of control, carried by Global Resistance: Report
Guardian report
says (27.7.01) 220 people still being held: Report
2,093 people refused
entry to Italy to attend Genoa protests: Entry
denied
UK Genoa protestors released:
Report
and statement (Guardian) Statement
Belated call by UK government for
inquiry into police violence: Report
(Evening Standard)
Fair Trials Abroad press statement on Genoa arrests: Genoa
arrests
Independent Media Center reports
on police raids: Report
(1)
Independent Media Center (IMC) on
police raids: Report
(2) (pdf file)
Amnesty International call for inquiry into policing: Amnesty
Genoa, midnight Saturday 21 July:
Police raid
on independent media centre and school - many injured (22.7.01): Report
Events leading up
to the Genoa protests: raids on social centres and left groups
and clashes at the Italian borders: Reports
from the ground
French government stops train going to Genoa - G8 Summit
- update 19.7.01: French government bows to pressure
and lets train go ahead: Genoa
Public order policing in Europe - policy
backlash expected: Public order
Statewatch:
News
online
| Join Statewatch news e-mail list | Support our work |
© Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X.Material may
be used providing the source is acknowledged. Statewatch
does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one,
the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not
responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion
of a link does not constitute an endorsement.