The Gothenburg story, part II
Datum: 02.08.2001
autorIn:Tord Björk
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‘Schwarzer Block’/Repression und Verhaftungen nach den Demonstrationen/Debatten um die Perspektiven der Bewegung im Gefolge des EU-Gipfelprotestes. Was passierte in Göteborg, Teil 2. (english version)
The reaction on the police shooting at three people in Gothenburg was a dangerous moment. The first public announcement on the news declared that one person had been shot dead, later changed into severely wounded. The police had already the day before raided the conference center and mass lodging school arresting 250 people continuing the same strategy on Friday by directing a piece of the black block rioters all over the city to a big center for outdoor conferences. A total clash was only avoided after non-violent protesters mass intervention and a university professor negotiating with the police in charge. The only remaining meeting center for the 20.000 demonstrators was Schillerska which also was partly surrounded by the police.
During this night the GBG2001 coordination comittee meeting at Schillerska considered different options. A mass meeting was held in the school that decided on behalf of the present 600 individuals to demand that the police in charge was fired, that all police withdraw from the Western part of the city were the demonstrations were marching but EU Summit not took place and that the containers were removed. This was also recommended by the GBG2001 coordination committee as a proposal for demands that should be discussed also with Attac (Attac participated in the preparations of a big demonstration on Saturday but did not support all demands for the coalition) Negotiators from GBG2001 was sent out from Schillerska to meet Attac and take contact with politicians and the police. After the negotiators left the Schillerska school was totally encircled by the police.
At this time it was not anymore possible to see any rationality in the way the police behaved. Also politicians that for a long period had done a good job to prevent polarisation started to believe or at least spread the most extreme views of the police. Police rumours about extra busses with heavily armed demonstrators coming from foreign countries to help their comrades in Gothenburg was taken for granted by those in political charge. In fact busses arriving for the Saturday demonstration was fully normal as this demonstration since half a year was proclaimed as the biggets international mainfestation in Gothenburg and many arrived for this specific occasion. Of the four busses taken by the police and among them two from Germany especially proclaimed to be dangerous we have been able to fully control afterwards it is also clear that the suspicion against heavily armed protesters that go to any Summit to commit violent crimes was totally wrong. All five persons that was on record for having done illegal acts were all environmental activists from the German and Danish anti-nuclear and anti motorway movement sentenced for such things as painting grafitti on concrete. The state had lost all proportionality in its reaction to protesters and had also started to loose any capacity to differ realities from their own enemy images.
With such an unstable situation the GBG2001 negotiators decided together with Attac and people inside Schillerska to drop the political demands for pragmatic reasons. It was seen as obvious that the state would not listen anyway and thus it should not be possible to create any new political facts by demanding the withdrawal of the police chief.
The main focus was instead put on how to organise the demonstration. It was soon agreed that to cancel the demonstration would not help the situation. At the same time it could be possible that the police attacked any time, at all places were many demonstrators were sleeping, on their way to the demonstration, at the starting point or during the march. Ways to protect the black block who had partly participated in the preparations of the big demonstration under the promises that they would contribute to a peaceful protest was discussed. The conclusion was that all proposals for changes in the original plan was dropped with two exceptions. To hide the black block in the rest of the demonstration would not be practically possible on such a short notice if it was possible at all. Changes in the policy that participants was recommended to wear masks but should not by force be taken out of the demonstration if they did so was also considered as a solution by very few but it was seen as not practical or in principle wrong.
People did not want to go into the city centre were the demonstration would be surrounded by containers and easily attacked by the police. Instead another route was proposed beginning the same way as originally planned but ending outside the containerzone area that stretch far outside the secret zone around the EU Summit venue. It was also decided to rearrange the order of the blocks in the demonstration and keep this totally secret for everyone until the demonstration started to march to protect the black block.
In the morning a meeting took place with the police, local politicians, GBG2001 and Attac. The police proposed as one alternative that the demonstration should march according to the original conditions which included no riot police close to the demonstration but a new route. Their proposal was to march the same way as GBG2001 wanted and then go back to the starting point which was a solution that well fitted with the original demands from GBG2001. At a joint press conference with the police, municipality, Attac and GBG2001 at the EU Summit venue the mass media showed clearly their loyality with the police. No questions were put asking about the condition of the shot activist who might be dead nor any of the other two persons shot by the police, many questions were only asked about the conditions of wounded policemen in spite of that noone of the police was heavily wounded like the person shot by police bullits. The police chief also told mass media the 200 persons in the black block carried sticks but that the police would not interfere before anything happened.
The demonstration committee had many different persons checking the black block. No visitation was carried out by the demonstration committee but when going through the 500 people in the black block it was considered that the police information was false and that very few carried sticks with banners and for the rest so many sticks could not be hidden under clothes. Each block had its own guards. The black block could also count on the biggest block in the whole demonstration going directly behind them consisting of many thousand trade unionists from SAC willing to run forward and prevent violence. Rumours were constantly spread by the police and others. Stones was supposed to have been piled along the demonstration road which was declared as sign showing how demonstrators planned to make riots. The police also declared that they did not guarantee the security of the demonstration and to the public that the whole city centre was dangerous to stay in thus advicing people to not demonstrate. Many demonstrating delegations were very afraid and tensions were great.
The demonstration started marching with seemingly endless amount of people. It became the biggest of all demonstrations during the three days of protests in Gothenburg with 20.000 participants. The feeling when people in groups or alone came walking through a deserted town to the huge gathering in a park turned the whole atmosphere into reawekening of hope. Protest was possible. But how should the day continue?
The GBG2001 demonstration
Attac and environmental organisations were behind the demand against making the public sector and environment into commodities to protest against EU WTO and privatisation politics. The antimilitarisation block and the antirasist block protesting against the militarisation of EU and Schengen. The antineoliberal block had trade unions and others.
The black block demonstration guards constantly reminded the participants that they should not believe in rumours about a coming attack on the black block by the police and if the police attacked they should stay calm. The demonstration walked calmly along the streets were the rumours had said that stones were piled in the side streets for a preplanned riot but nothing happened. Everything seemed okay. But at the central square Jäärntorget riot equipped police moved towards the demonstration contrary to earlier promises. But the provocation was not succesful. The changed order made the riot police coming to late to fully attack or provoce the black block and demonstration guards were able to avoid any violence. The march continued. When a banner accusing AFA (Anti fascist Action) for being nazis was put on a balcony high above the street when the black block came along resulted in a few colourful signal shoots but many reacted immediately against the provocation from the demonstration and the situation was directly calm again.
The demonstrators could peacefully enter the park to end the most non-violent of all big demonstrations during the Gothenburg Summit. Speaches were made by Meena Raman from Third World Network and Friends of the Earth Malaysia against the WTO politics of EU, Lars Johnsen, Norwegian transport workers union against EU privatisation and neoliberal politics, Mette Bloch Hansen from People ́s movement against EU in Denmark, and people from the peace and environmental movement and left and green parties.
Mass repression after the demonstration
After that the demonstration ended peacefully it was raining and people started to walk away. Police now started with random arrests of young people dressed in ways that was suspicious to them. People were kidnapped by anonymous civilian dressed persons in front of bystanders or elderly demonstrators. The Counter Summit organised by GBG2001 should continue with other programme points at Free Forum in four plenary and seminar tents. There were also concerts to be held in Peoples house at Järntorget and other activities. But the atmosphere was not good.
Järntorget
Rumours about a demonstration against police violence started to spread during the afternoon. A trotskyist party (RS that also organised the anticapitalist march) was especially accused for calling to this protests but GBG2001 quickly gathered information showing that this organisation nor any other organisation had called for this demonstration. There was fear for a police trap. If the police had called for the demonstration or it was a spontanous idea by an individual demonstrator it could in both cases result in massive respression from the police. Afterwards there has been claims in the alternatiuve media that it actually was an individual who spontanously called for the demonstration to take place. There was also rumours that GBG2001 and Attac demonstration headquarters that was just one bloc away from the square could be a place to hide for rioters if the police attacked. This would pose even more organisational problems for the already exhausted organisers. It was decided to go out with demonstration functioneers and tell people that the demonstration had not been arranged by any organisation and that GBG2001 advised people to go to the Free Forum instead as the risks were too big. It was also decided to close the demonstration headquarters to avoid a police attach on the organisation center.
At the square some 1.000 people of very mixed groups gathered. Soon came a similar large amount of police with riot equipment, horses and dogs surrounding the demonstrators. Two groups were trapped, one smaller group and one with 500 persons at the square. The situation was very tense. The police ordered everyone to sit down and most people did so. Two negotiators from Attac and GBG2001 were sent into the encircled demonstrators. After a while the tense situation calmed down. The demonstrators were informed of the police orders. Nobody would be allowed to leave the square without being controlled by the police. Those that the police suspected of criminal acts should be taken away, others could go without showing their identification card, only being searched. Those who refused this process would all be put on busses by force and go through the same process somewhere else.
A long period of negotiations started when most of the people did not want to leave in this way and those that on principle refused the police order. Nobody considered that they had done any wrong by being at the square and the police did not present any motivs other than that they wanted to search everybody and take some of the demonstrators away, not because what they had done at the square but at other occasions. One for all was chanted by the demonstrators along with we shall overcome, peace songs and a variety of speaches, negotiating to be able to pie and political statements. When the situation calmed down the police had harder and harder to do their job in a brutal manner. Many press people were also trapped among the demonstrators. Slowly some people started to go voluntarily while others where carried or walking onto the busses to be arrested. At one occasion the police made a violent raid into the crowd telling afterwards that they had taken a suspected person. They were criticised for their violent behaviour and had to continue with their more human slow procedure.
Meanwhile Swedish demonstrators sitting in a restaurant directly in contact with the encircled group of people were surrounded by police according to the weekly Internationalen. The police raid against the peaceful demonstration was especially motivated by the search of a German person that was claimed to be a terrorist by mass media but no evidence was ever put forward that he was. The swedish persons were now suspected of being very dangerous foreign criminals. But when the civil dressed policeman with masks came and identified the persons it became clear that they where not the german suspects. But the police raid motivated by the search for this german person continued anyway in full scale in spite of that it now was clear that it was a mistake from the beginning. Demonstrators outside the police line were singing about one demonstrant demonstrating ending with all verses and all present singing 70 demonstrant demonstrated. Inside the policeline the police did not only have problems with pacifists and present media, the demonstrators started also make speaches to defend the public sector. A special technique from Africa was used for communicating making everybody involved. A person speaking said a short sentence, then everybody repeated the message so everyone could here and say what the message was. We want to see the police smile was one of the messages, another when the defending the public sector against neoliberal politics was to raise the wages of policemen. Hour by hour the then encircled demonstrators were able to tear down the polarisation between them and the policemen standing in their riot gear directly threatening the sitting demonstrators. At the beginning no proposals for making the situation less tense was excepted by the polise, only "negotiators" with the task to tell police orders to people. Proposals to back the police line just five meters making the situation a little bit less frigthening was refused. The police had a clear message, the police should stay there in their full riot equipment until the last demonstrator had been carried away from the square or voluntarily had excepted to be searched and go through the police spy line were those suspected were taken by the police.
But when the encircled demonstrators stayed calm and peaceful while getting in a better and better mood hour by hour singing, talking and having their best time in their political life the policeman could not any longer stand the situation. Two policeman told their boss that the their workers rights and trade union did not allow for more overtime, they took off their uniforms and sat down as civilains at a cafe according to Internationalen. Some policeman were seen giving food to demonstrators. Some even were talking to the demonstraors in spite of that the front line were not supposed to do so. The carrying of people on to the buses became slower with less and less motivated police. The only remaining frightening presence seemed finally to be the five civil dressed policeman in masks that outside the policeline went around and tried to identified people among the sitting demonstrators. But the process that had started at 18.00 continued. At 23.00 there was a direct broadcasting in the TV news from the square. It seemed like the remaining group of 70 people had to give up.
Then suddenly some time after 11 o'clock as a miracle the police surrounding the demonstrators started to make a snap noice when their telescope batons was put back out of use, razzling when they picked up their riot shields and sounding like heavy duty soldiers marching away in military style. The wall surrounding the demonstrators fell like in Jericho after five hours of chanting, singing and talking. The wall that should stay in place until every demonstrator was sent away was not there anymore. The crowd burst out in happiness not really believing it was true and so did the bystanders outside the policeline that so long had waited for the end of the the story. But many were put on the buses and arrested already.
The reason why the police finally gave in has afterwards been said to be the result of the police chief in charge at the square. He could not see any law defending the time used for the operation and thus he demanded from his commander an order. If he did not get an order and motiv within 3 minutes to continue the operation he would cancel it. But this is information that has not been confirmed although already at the spot the negotiators got the information that the police had deep trouble in finding excuses for continuing the operation as there was no law allowing the operation to continue for such a long time.
Schillerska under heavily armed attack
While a more rational police behaviour started to avoid the most violent escalations at Jäärntorget it became much worse nearby. As the offical EU Summit ended by 16.00 o'clock the police now had full capacity to act anywhere. At 22.30 the Schillerska school was targeted. This was the school where GBG2001 convergence center with medical teams, mass kitchen and Counter Summit conferences for the final day had moved after the police stormed the first convergence center at Hvitfeldtska. Many people was also living here and a conference with 200 Eastern European participants and Nordic Peoples Parliament should take place here.
The Schillerska school was stormed by special police with automatic weapons threatening people and ordering them to not looking at the police intruders. Face down on the ground outside all people inside were forced to stay for an hour and more if you were a foreigner. Rampenplaan, the ducth collective kitchen team that has for 20 year been serving meals at mass protests in both communist countries and elsewhere at almost any kind of political event was arrested for the second time in Gothenburg. They have never before during their 20 years of activity been arrested. People without shoes and in their underwear and T-shirts were treated like terrorists beaten if they moved any of their body with hands on top of their neck and faces into the mud or asphalt. One more time it was claimed that the police were looking for a German suspected person carrying a gun and one more time they found nothing but scared people.
The arrested people where sent on buses and kept during parts of the night there. Then many were released in the night with nowhere to go.
Although the police raided both Jäärntorget and Schillerska excusing their behaviour with the German suspect they never produced any evidence of his origin or what he had done that made him such a dangerous person. Vague claims that Germans inside Schillerska had said a cop would be killed, on the Friday evening when news told that a demonstrator was killed by police bullits, was the only motiv mentioned in mass media but no witness has stepped forward and claimed being the person behind these loose rumours in media. It was also stated by the police that the German they were looking for had one or more guns but not how they knew this or what kind of guns they were. Frequently the term terrorist was used to legitimise the the police operation but no evidence was ever put forward.
Calm sunday
The day after the police repression slowed down and many people went home. GBG2001 had problems with its final Counter Summit plenaries. How to find the speakers and how to organise a new venue after that Whitfeldtska and then Schillerska had been raided and no longer was allowed to be used by the police. Any locality could be raided again in search for suspected persons. Yet it was important to not let the police stop us from finishing our poilitical task. Free Forum was a possibility but they had no room as all. Teir big tents were occupied by different other organisations. Finally we arranged a new part of Attac programme at a university building nearby. After booking two different rooms the plenary finally could take place and all speakers somehow came from nowhere. The Counter Summit could end the way as planned with a plenary on how to challenge corporation with Adam Ma'anit from Corporate Europe Observatory, Carina Carlströöm from Swedewatch and David Korten from US and then most of the participants from all kind of movements in the final debate. The plenary was full and in total participated some hundred persons but very many missed it as it was hard to get out information.
Follow-up
Now the long work supporting arrested people, taking care of economic consequencies and political follow up started.
At the moment more then ten groups are working on documenting what happened and especially police atrocities, one book made by Manifest publisher is already at the printer with witnesses reporting from the events, another made by Ordfront is also being produced and plans are on the way to organise a tribunal in the autumn. Protests and demonstrations against police brutality in Gothenburg has taken place in many parts of the world. The Government has appointed a commission that will only look upon how police can prevent riots. GBG2001 will organise a evaluation meeting 8-9.9.
Politically there is a focus in the follow up on Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue which take place in Stockholm Sweden in October. Here top politicians and corporations from both North America and the EU will meet to get a more common agenda before the WTO meeting in Qatar. The WTO issue was at the core of many GBG2001 activities. The Counter Summit started with a plenary on how environmental, farmers and worker's movement could unite with WTO as a key common issue. WTO was also a main issue at the Sustainability and Solidarity conference towards Worls Summit on Sustainable Development organised by Friends of the Earth Sweden and Europe and Heinrich Boell Foundation the days before the EU Summit. Also Attac made it the most important issue at their public debates at the Free Forum. Opposing GATS and the privatisation of public sector servicing basic needs and taking WTO out of agriculture are demands that can bring together many moments. Many of the strong international movements were well represented in Gothenburg like Friends of the Earth International with its whole board and many members, 5 persons from Via Campesina in Indonesia, Bangla Desh and Norway and Attac international. Trade unions were also well represented but not from the same international organisation. It was a more fragmented trade union movement from Nepal, South Africa, Siberia and most parts of Europe. There were also others from the third world, in total 30 persons from Third World Network and other WTO critics and others.
Apart from WTO issues GBG2001 Counter Summit also addressed the militarisation of EU. A plenary with representatives from Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Transnational Foundation, Eastern European peace movements and Women for Peace discussed the issue of EU and globalisation of militarism and a common statement was declared. The Counter Summit plenary on Schengen had to be cancelled as it was supposed to take place one block away from the shooting of demonstrators. But a four day Anti rasist forum organised by Network against racism which participated in GBG2001 dealt with the Schengen issues at length. A similarly long trade union conference organised by SAC also took place with many third world participants among them from People's Global Action Against Free trade and WTO.
The GBG2001 attempts to unite EU and globalisation critique and to broaden the antiglobalisation movement including militarisation issues as a main subject in opposing the neoliberal world order remains an unsolved task. So does the attempt to broaden the movement by more strongly uniting broad mass movements like farmers, workers, environmentalists, solidarity movement, and antirasists. In Gothenburg the nationalistic EU opposition was split from the internationalistic EU opposition and it remains a problem how to build a internationalistic politics that can oppose both EU and WTO. So far it is vacation period in Scandinavia and the political discussion has been dominated by the issue of use of violence. Many organisations take a stand against AFA that has not been condemning the rioting on the main Avenue. The autumn will bring also the political issues back to focus when the daily problems in a Sweden and a world were privatisation and lack of solidarity is a common problem for many people.
Meanwhile the arrested people are sentenced to unnormally high terms in prison. Before throwing stones at police has resulted in two months in prison. Now 12 months is the new level decided by the courts with less time if you are young and later expelled from the country. 10 people have so far been sentenced for throwing stones at the police. More people are waiting for their trials in prison on different charges including six years imprisonment for having waved at demonstrators at the start of the riots but not partcipating and carrying any stones abut in this way being accused of being a leader. More people are expected to be accused later by the police. Due to vacation time no investigations and no trials against policemen has taken place. Vacation time has not stopped the courts from fast accusations against demonstrators beginning with the sentence against a German that was shot by the police and accused of having thrown stones.
Kontakt: tord.bjork@mjv.se
Links:
Indymedia Sweden
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