i'm all for stomping some hippies, but this is scary....
The Erosion of "Rights": a quick descent a few highlights for serious consideration
by Maya Rolbin-Ghanie →Politics, →Toronto News, →Dominion Stories
Groups of undercover police were repeatedly identified by protesters at marches occurring between Monday and Wednesday. Some were reportedly wearing black baseball caps, bandanas with marijuana leaf-designs on them, and patches with Che Guevara on them. When asked by journalists if they were police, none denied it. Several arrests were made each day, habitually after the days' demonstrations had dispersed and people were leaving the scene.
On Thursday we all discovered that a regulation created by the authority of the Public Works Act had been passed in secret on June 2nd, which essentially allows for anyone within five metres of the G20 security fence (even if they happen to just be walking by), to be searched eithout reason, asked for their ID, detained, and even possibly arrested. Dave Vasey did not wish to show his ID without reason and consequently was the first person to be arrested under this new regulation. He is facing court on July 28. Many other similar searches, detainments, and arrests have been made since.
One woman accused by police of trying to break into a building. When she spoke to the press it was revealed that the building was her place of work and she had been using her keys to get inside.
On Friday morning at 4:45am Police pre-emptively raided 2 Toronto houses where activists were staying. No warrant for arrest was shown. Police kicked people from their beds and made arrests. A tenant residing upstairs in one of the houses awoke to a gun in his face, and was cuffed and arrested, before being released and told that that he had been mistakenly arrested. Later the same morning, police arrested 15-20 organizers from Montreal. A spokesperson for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network was arrested on his way to a press conference to discuss the roundup of activists and organizers by police. Another organizer slated to be at the press conference was picked up by police, driven around for an hour without being told where she was being taken, and eventually dropped off in Mississagua. What many find most significant here, is the pre-emptive nature of these raids (many arrested were the organizers of demonstrations and events yet to take place), and the appalling lack of due process in making the arrests. Bail is being set high for some: between $1000 and $5000. Some are being faced with charges more severe than others, “conspiracy to committ mischief” among them.
In the early morning, 80 workers from Hotel Novotel' s Unite Here! Local 75 went on strike. The strike was triggered after Accor, the French company that owns Novatel, walked away from negotiations without addressing an offer put on the table by the union, which included basic demands for a pension plan and guaranteeing workers enough hours to make a living.
Emomotimi Azorbo, a deaf man unrelated to G20 organizing, was beaten and arrested because he did not hear police commands to stay off the road. Azorbo was handcuffed, preventing him from communicating with officers, who also refused his friend's offer to interpret. Azorbo was refused an American Sign Language interpreter in the temporary jail where G20 arrestees are being held. He is charged with three counts of assaulting police plus resisting arrest.
While trying to film Azorbo's violent arrest, Jesse Freeston, of the Real News Network, was punched in the face twice by police, and had his microphone temporarily confiscated while other media crowded around and yelled for the police to return it.
On Saturday, there was no sign of protester violence, among the 25, 000 plus people who took to the streets, contrary to what many corporate media reports are conveying. A few banks, franchises and corporations had their wondows smashed in symbolic shows of property damage. On the contrary, levels of police violence have been extreme and brutal. Police repeatedly attacked and arrested peaceful protesters and journalists.
A number of police cars which were set on fire. They were abandoned in the middle of intersections beforehand, and stripped of all their equipment by police--the cars were discovered to have been damaged previously, which led to reports that the police had purposefully left the cars there as bait, hoping to tempt protesters into set the cars on fire, in order to justify their own violent acts. Later accounts have led many to believe that the fires themselves were set by undercover police, or agents provocateurs.
One journalist was beaten by police.
Another community organizer was violently thrown around by police and later arrested, with several “severe” charges.
Jesse Rosenfeld, journalist with The Guardian, was punched in the eye, and violently arrested, being told he “talked too much.” At least four more Alternative Media journalists were arrested throughout the day.
A CTV producer and 2 National Post journalists were also arrested.
A family of non-protesters was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were pushed back with police bikes and pepper sprayed. Message recieved by a journalist: “They were pushing my mom and me and throwing punches at my brother and they just kept pushing forward and saying 'move move move' and not really caring who was there. I have cancer and I kept saying "I have cancer, I have cancer,' but they didn't care, they just kept pushing forward.”
Later on in the day, there is footage of police charging out of their lines, about five at a time, and violently arresting peaceful protesters, one by one, dragging them back behind police lines, pushed to the ground and handcuffed.
“Sweeps” of arrests were done, and large numbers of people were arrested who happened to be in the area at the time.
After the violent arrests described above, a university woman was trampled by a cops on horses in Queen's Park, a so-called “Free Speech Zone.” She was among other peaceful protestors in the park at the time, but did not manage to get out of the way fast enough. She was reportedly badly injured. The police arrested her.
The Queen's Park Area saw about 20,000 police from all over the country, whether on horse, in cars, in vans, in riot gear, undercover, or in the choppers above. The area was described by many as a military camp, or a war zone.
There have been multiple reports of police following people in the streets and harassment and intimidation. Some people have been detained and harassed for the T-shirts they have chosen to wear, most notably, a shirt that is currently selling 'like hotcakes,' which says "Fuck the G20."
There have been photos taken of individuals being "disappeared" into unmarked, presumably police vans.
A peaceful sit-in staged at Novotel Hotel in support of striking workers was stopped by police and more than 100 arrests were made, without being given an option to leave.
A party of about 130 people who went to the detention centre last night to do jail solidarity work for hundreds of friends and fellow activists still being held there was broken up by riot police, and told that if they left right away they would not be arrested. About 100 left right away, and 30 stuck around to discuss for about 2 minutes. They decided to leave, but were no longer left with a choice, as police surrounded and arrested them. Among those arrested were 2 or 3 legal observers.
On Sunday, at 10am, another group of people went to the detention centre to do jail solidarity. They were reportedly dispersed with tear gas and rubber bullets, and many were beat with batons, as the police charged on a peaceful crowd of over 100, some playing music. At least 20 more arrests were made. A stand-off between police and protesters continues right now, outside of the detention centre.
Many protesters are also currently being hospitalized for injuries from being beaten by police.
After driving by the Alternative Media Centre (AMC) several times the previous night, police showed up at the doors of the AMC claiming that neigbours had issued complaints about people milling around outside. (Many in the meighbourhood have come by the media centre, but only to offer words of support, and to get the news). Police said they could not be sure that those inside the space had broken in or were squatting.
An alternative journalist was arrested for filming police doing searches of everybody at an activists convergence space where many were preparing to return to their home cities. The convergence space is currently being raided by more than 200 police and more than 20 activists have been arrested. The rest of the people there are “still surrounded.” The journalist was ultimately released. There is currently a demonstartion happening outside of the convergence centre.
The majority of arrests made so far have involved giant "sweeps" of peaceful protesters, and have not been made for any identifiably justifiable/ legal reasons, or with due process.
The corporate media continue, for the most part, to focus on “protester violence,” while neglecting to report on rampant police violence or on the issues that the protesters themselves have raised at demonstrations.
The number of arrests since the G20 protests began is now 520+.
Personally, I have never seen anything like this and am appalled at the terrifying political and rhetorical shift that has occurred in Canada's treatment of its community organizers in the last few days. It seems to me that activists are being treated as terrorists of some sort. I cannot imagine any other reason for targeting everybody involved in the organization of events and demonstrations, for targeting journalists and communications people, for rounding people up and locking them away, for raiding their homes, simply for protesting the G20 summit in some form or another.
To your left is an anarchist, to your right a cop in riot gear, and just yards away is a burning police car - it’s chaos. The G20 is holding its annual summit this weekend in Toronto and has certainly sparked an outcry. Rallies have been occurring throughout Canada’s largest city all week, reaching a pinnacle on Saturday with a protest ending in violence. The infamous Black Bloc, who were responsible for most of the violence last year in Pittsburg, along with other protesters surged through downtown throwing bricks through windows and clashing with police.
The Black Bloc paint a dark picture of activism, but most of the protesters actually remained peaceful. Unfortunately though, their messages got lost in the confusion. Here’s an explanation of the real issues, and why the summit has made everyone so upset.
Poverty
According to the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) John Clarke, “The whole process of putting together this grouping has been about impoverishing people, and benefiting the richest members of society.”
Specifically, OCAP is protesting the proposed “two decades of austerity” policy that mandates governments cut back on social program spending and increase user rates and taxes in order to reduce deficits. The policy would be calamitous to social assistance locally and abroad leaving many living in poverty, said Clarke.
The enormous cost of the summit has just added fuel to the flames. The two day summit in Toronto, plus the cost incurred by the G8 Summit in Huntsville, Ontario will set tax payers back more than $1 billion dollars. It’s the priciest G8/G20 summit ever, and the most expensive 72 hours in Canadian history.
“It’s deeply offensive, but in a bizarre sense there’s also something strangely fitting about the representatives of the wealthiest people on the planet getting together to devise an agenda of austerity and dinging us for $1 billion in the process.”
Clarke said the money could cover the cost of social benefits in the province of Ontario for the next five years.
Climate Change
With the failure of the United Nations’ Copenhagen Summit last December, many feel the G20 is now responsible for fighting climate change. But according to many environmentalists, the world leaders are failing.
“They’re not handling it at all,” said Toronto based activist Pieter Basedow. Basedow thinks it’s realistic to come up with a strategy to reduce emissions by 300 parts per million by 2030, and keep temperatures from rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius. “But the governments aren’t paying any attention to that.”
Oxfam Canada is rallying to bring awareness to the connection between climate change, women’s rights, and food security. “We can’t look at climate change without seeing that it disproportionately affects women and children,” said former Oxfam board member Rick Julianson. “When a drought or a flood comes, it hits the most vulnerable people first, and that’s the women.”
“A dialogue is always good, but [the G20] are not bringing our voices to the table. It would be much more positive if they would take the expertise at Oxfam and other groups, and said ‘let’s together try to come up with ideas’.”
Gender Equity
Dagmar Werkmeister of Gender Justice, a Toronto group that fights against injustices toward women, queer people, and trans people, hovers over a half a dozen placards on the grass of Allan Gardens, the site of Friday’s much more peaceful rally. The signs contain a wide range of massages from “Love is Not a Crime” to “Access for All.” The scene illustrates the mélange of messages encapsulated by gender equity.
Werkmeister says the G20 doesn’t pay enough attention to queer and trans issues. “It’s illegal to be homosexual in more than seventy countries in the world, and they don’t do anything about that.”
But quickly the conversation shifts to women’s rights - a hot topic in Canada. Outrage has boiled since Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government announced the G8 Maternal Health Initiative that seeks to reduce mortality rates for mothers around the world, yet cuts funding for safe abortions.
“It’s absolutely outrageous to have maternal and child health on an agenda when you’re not willing to talk about family planning,” said Werkmeister. “Women around the world are not going to be given the same rights that Canadian women are given in terms of when I reproduce, how I reproduce, or if I reproduce.”
Leaders from the United States have criticized Harper’s proposal, challenging the long held notion that Canada is the more liberal nation. There’s a lot of concern among women’s groups that these discussions will reopen the abortion issue here in Canada, forty-one years after it was legalized in 1969.
Immigration
Pete Beaulieu of No One is Illegal, an organization fighting for immigrants’ rights with chapters across Canada, explains that the problems immigrants face start with the G20’s neo-liberal agenda. “These policies of exploitation often result in the displacement of people, and at the same time we’re seeing criminalizing of migration and militarization of borders.” That goes for Canada, and the rest of the G20 nations.
Just yesterday on the first day of the summit, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced the adjustment of its 2010 immigration policy to include more economic immigrants. In other words, Canada will be more willing to accept immigrants if they fill the jobs that will help the economy. It’s a trend that is expected to spread through G20 countries.
The concern among activists is that migrants fleeing from humanitarian and climate crisis will face closed doors if they don’t have the desired skills.
* * *
These mesaages barely begin to scratch the surface. Add to the cornucopia of causes: labor rights, socialism, Aboriginal land claims, drug law reform, disability rights, anti-globalization, animals rights, anti-nuclear proliferation, and pacifism. The overload has left many heads spinning, but has also garnered a lot of attention.
“What we’re trying to do is build a movement,” said Clarke. “We certainly want to challenge and disrupt this gathering to the extent that’s possible. But more important than that is what’s on the ground after this is all over.”
After the broken glass and blood is cleaned off the streets, hopefully they’ll be left with something.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:36 am Posts: 2312 Location: Kitchener & Hamilton Ontario Canada Gender: Male
Crazy weekend in Toronto for sure. I watched the whole thing develop Sat and Sunday on Tv. Burning police cars, rubber bullets, tear gas, destroying banks and stores it was pretty wild.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:38 pm Posts: 3644 Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada Gender: Male
I love how leading up to this event all the complaints were about the cost of security and rightfully so. Then the protesters decide to smash windows/cop cars proving a) the security was needed b) idiotic actions only cost taxpayers more money this weekend.
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cutuphalfdead wrote:
I'm not getting stoned with someone who thinks Unthought Known is the best written Pearl Jam song.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:23 pm Posts: 3721 Location: Canada
bart d. wrote:
given2trade wrote:
I find it really hard to be compassionate here.
I would like to fine each person who is jailed for the cost of security.
+ the money lost by businesses who have nothing to do with the G8 + the cost of removing the smell of patchouli and weed from the entire city
I'm with you guys here. But you don't think the police crossed the line a wee bit? I'm not trying to defend those retards who smashed windows and burned police cars. At all. I am defending the peaceful protesters, journalists, and all those people in Queen's Park (the "Free Speech Zone") who got ruffed up and/or detained.
I would like to fine each person who is jailed for the cost of security.
+ the money lost by businesses who have nothing to do with the G8 + the cost of removing the smell of patchouli and weed from the entire city
I'm with you guys here. But you don't think the police crossed the line a wee bit? I'm not trying to defend those retards who smashed windows and burned police cars. At all. I am defending the peaceful protesters, journalists, and all those people in Queen's Park (the "Free Speech Zone") who got ruffed up and/or detained.
youre seeing a few minutes of video from those peace lovers and protesters, i bet the police video is much much different
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