Teman-teman, Mungkin anda sempat melihat dan mendengar Dunia Dalam Berita di TVRI tanggal 1 Desember kemarin, tentang pembukaan sidang World Trade Organisation. Ternyata pertarungan disana seru antara delegasi resmi pemerintah dan masyarakat sipil.Masyarakat sipil menyuarakan berbagai isu seperti bahwa WTO memiskinkan rakyat, tapi memperkaya MNC, hingga WTO merusak hutan dan ada pula tuntutan tentang standar buruh, dan penolakan terhadap perundingan dagang baru. Gerakan sipil sedemikian beragam dan banyak sampai Presiden Clinton urung datang untuk membuka sidang tersebut. Yang lucu lagi, kabar dari seoarang aktivis sosial Indonesia yang ada di sana adalah bahwa dalam pidato mereka, delegasi negara berkembang mendukung isi dari protes masyarakat sipil di luar. Yang juga perlu jadi perhatian kita adalah bagaimana polisi AS memperlakukan para demonstran, seperti pada artikel yang di bawah ini. Saya menerima berita dari aktivis Indonesia dan NGO luar negeri setiap hari tentang perkembangan WTO dan protes masyarakat sipil. Bagi yang tertarik silakan menjawab email ini. Salam Hira > ********************************************************************* > A Message from the Pacific Rim Forest and Trade List > ********************************************************************* > > > > > > > The battle in Seattle > > Police use pepper spray and tear gas to regain streets, block by block, > from radical anti-WTO protesters. > > Doug Ward and Frances Bula Vancouver Sun > > SEATTLE -- In a day of mayhem and riots this city will never forget, > protesters against the World Trade Organization took over the downtown, > forcing police to use tear gas and enforce a curfew to regain the streets. > Up to 40,000 people opposed to the trade summit marched peacefully. But > thousands of other more radical protesters formed human chains to block > downtown intersections surrounding the conference site. > They refused to disperse until riot police began firing tear gas cannisters > and secured the streets block by block. The protest continued into the > night as police chased groups of protesters through the downtown. > By early evening the mayor of Seattle declared a civil emergency and curfew > and Washington's governor called in unarmed units of the National Guard to > help police today. > Damage, including broken store windows and spray-painted slogans up as high > as the second storey of some buildings, was widespread in Seattle's posh > shopping district. > One group of protesters was hit with pepper spray or gas after starting a > bonfire in an overturned dumpster at an intersection. > One protester claimed police fired rubber bullets point-blank at a group of > non-violent demonstrators trying to enforce the blockade around the > conference site. > "Once they started to fire at us, maybe one or two people threw a bottle," > said the unidentified protester. > The police say the reports referred to the two-centimetre-wide spherical > pellets containing a dry pepper compound. > By evening, with clouds of tear gas and pepper spray still wafting through > downtown, police had arrested 22 people, most on minor property-damage and > disturbance charges. But a couple were charged with felony property damage > and inciting a riot, said a Seattle police spokesman. > The big question here today, with this morning's expected arrival of U.S. > President Bill Clinton, is whether the WTO conference can resume operations > and whether the protesters will attempt again to upset its proceedings. > On Tuesday, although the official opening was cancelled, trade ministers > representing the 135 WTO members went ahead and delivered dry speeches > about their vision for the global trading system. > "I met very pacific individuals who warned me on my walk that there was no > way I would ever get there," said federal Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew, > who heads the large Canadian delegation. > "I walked very near but I realized it was not possible to get in, so I just > walked back." > Many of Tuesday's protesters were led by organizers linked to the Direct > Action Network, an alliance of anarchist and social activism groups, that > has been planning for many months to bring Seattle to a standstill. > They began to take over downtown intersections early in the morning, prior > to the much larger march organized by the principal U.S. labour > organization, the AFL-CIO. > But many of them paid a price by being arrested, struck by night sticks or > hit by pepper spray and tear gas. Police authorities denied reports that > > rubber bullets were used. > Organizers of the large march sponored by labour, environmental and church > groups were delighted with the turnout but watched as their message became > overwhelmed by images of anarchy in the street. > "I think it went incredibly well," said Mike Dolan, one of the key > organizers behind the massive protest. "There was small sproadic violence. > Mostly, it was just a massive mobilization against corporate globalization. > I knew it was going to be big. I didn't know it would be this big." > Dolan said he hoped that the "headlines tomorror aren't about broken > windows, kids getting busted and the tear gas." > They came from everywhere to register their protests in vastly different > ways: longshoremen and nurses from Vancouver, farmers from Alberta and > Saskatechewan, and students and activists from everywhere. > Even B.C.'s ex-premier, Glen Clark, attended the labour march after taking > time out from a concurrent "private program" for business and government > people to discuss the implications of WTO agreements. > Clark ended up at the front line of a protest group in front of the > Sheraton that was eventually tear-gassed [check this, Justine said she > could see him and thought he was going to be] > "We're seeing a real backlash against globalization here," said Clark, who > looked somewhat incongruous in the crowd with his navy suit, sparkling > white shirt, tie and black topcoat. "Canada has until now been so captured > by the rhetoric of free trade that sometimes they're blind to some of the > downside." > Clark said he, like most union members, welcome trade -- it's where their > jobs come from. > "But most labour groups feel governments need other social variables to be > included when they make decisions." > The day of protest, which effectively shut down not just the WTO's planned > opening meeting in the morning but also downtown Seattle for the day, was > more or less divided into two. > Thousands of younger, special-interest or unaffiliated activists started > gathering at 6 a.m. at two points on the edge of the downtown, then marched > in to the convention centre. > Anyone in a trench coat or business-like apparel who tried to cross the > line into the centre was quickly surrounded by others in the crowd and > turned back. > Eventually, the shut-out delegates, accredited observers and journalists > simply milled around the streets with everyone else. > Jose Molina, representing a farmers' organization from Argentina, wasn't > even that upset, saying the protesters were making the same points his > group was trying to make from the inside. > It didn't take too long for the uneasy peace between protesters and the > police that has existed in this city for days to collapse. Just after 10 > a.m. police used tear gas to disperse protesters at an intersection at > Sixth Avenue and University. > "It was totally unprovoked," said Shelagh Day, a protester from Vancouver. > "The kids weren't doing anything." Day, a feminist activist, said she had > never been hit by tear gas before. "It's very scary. You feel it going into > your lungs and into your eyes." > Through much of the day there was a festive spirit as demonstrators > carrying paper-machier props symbolizing Mother Earth, giant skeleton > > puppets and protesters on stilts. But those activists who decided to sit > down at intersections and form human chains were dead serious. > At Eighth Avenue and Seneca, a group of young protesters sat down in front > of a line of police, and sang "God Bless America." They were given a > 10-minute warning to leave but refused. > The police responded by spraying pepper spray directly into their faces, > reaching over and ripping off gas masks and bandanas to cause greater > damage. The protesters keeled over, were dragged away by the police and > then were treated with neutralizing solutions by groups of supporters. > "They ripped off my bandana and my goggles and sprayed me in the face on > purpose," said Tara Lawson-Reimer, a student from Yale University. > "I didn't think they would be so aggressive. My whole face is completely > burning." > Another protester sprayed in the face, Kaela Economos, said: "They kept > pulling my scarve off and then sprayed. We didn't do anything to deserve > this. We were just making a point against global domination." Kim Hendess, > a young Vancouver protester, was appalled by the pepper-spraying. "It was > extremely disturbing to see the brutality of the police, ripping their > protection away to spray them." > A group of law students from the University of Washington joined the effort > to block the intersection. "We want to show that you need to have > dreadlocks to be opposed to the WTO," said law student Aaron Perrine. > Several stores, including a Starbucks, a jewelery shop and a high-fashion > boutique, had their windows smashed in on Pine and Pike streets, while > others had graffiti sprayed on their windows and walls. > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Anne-Marie Sleeman, Executive Director > BC Environmental Network (BCEN) > 1672 East 10th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Vancouver, BC Canada V5N 1X5 > EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph: (604) 879-2279; Fx: (604) 879-2272 > BCEN Web Site: www.bcen.bc.ca > > Our Mission is: "Working to Ensure a Healthy Future." The BCEN is comprised > of 250 environmental organizations in British Columbia. We are a regional > affiliate of the Canadian Environmental Network (CEN), Ottawa and the > Environmental Fund of BC. > > ********************************************************************* > Forest-Pacrim is an e-mail network of activists working on > PACIFIC RIM FOREST TRADE > To distribute information or questions to the group simply > SEND YOUR MESSAGE to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _____________________________________________________________ > Start the new year off right by referring a list to Topica. > You'll earn $300 and your list owner friends will thank you. > http://www.topica.com/t/9 -= Dual T3 Webhosting on Dual Pentium III 450 - www.indoglobal.com =- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
