<This page is a merger of from many different sources!.>
November 30th 1999 : International Day of Action against the WTO
On this Page
- Pleas for help from Euston Demonstrators
Other Pages on this Website:
- Why the Demonstrations Against the WTO?
LONDON WAKES UP TO GLOBAL ACTION
In an action designed to raise awareness of capitalism and the WTO, around fifty people gathered in and around Euston station at 9:30am to begin distributing leaflets and stickers to commuters and passers-by. Previous to their arrival the concourse had already been staked out by dozens of police teams and even more media. The assembled crowd was later joined by small autonomous groups from other areas of London, and continued to hand out large amounts of information.
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS SAY NO2WTO
At 12pm the Construction Safety Campaign held a demonstration outside the Canadian Embassy (Canada House) on Trafalgar Square. The construction workers and their supporters were protesting at Canada's attmpt to use the WTO to reverse the decision by several EU countries to ban asbestos use. Under WTO rules on this is seen as a barrier to free trade. Here in the UK, the Institute for Cancer Research expects the current numbers of asbestos related cancers to double in the next ten years.
Like the previous action, the protesters were accompanied by large numbers of police and journalists, and the event passed off peacefully.
Following the demonstration the crowd marched past Downing Street while others briefly blockaded Oxford Street in a sit down protest.
STUDENTS TARGET CITYBANK
The Lewisham branch of Citybank was picketed throughout the afternoon by a small group of students. The bank is one of the major holders of students loan debt. The global trend to underfund and privatise services that accompanies the expansion of free trade has hit education in the UK, with student grants being scrapped in favour of personal loans. This follows the global trend to underfund and privatise services, such as education, as part of the expansion of free trade with student grants being scrapped in favour of personal loans. The latest round of trade talks threaten to expand this trend throughout health and transport.
NIGERIANS PUT THEIR PRESIDENT AND SHELL ON TRIAL
President Obasanjo of Nigeria and Mark Moody-Stuart, of Royal-Dutch/Shell faced a people's court in London to answer a number of charges relating to human rights abuses and environmental devastation in the Niger Delta. This piece of street theatre was performed by Nigerians exiles and British environmental activists outside the Magistrates Court in Covent Garden at 2:30pm Others from different campaigns had also attended to show solidarity.
More from www.oilcompanies.org/trial
RALLY AT EUSTON STATION
Nearly two thousand people gathered at Euston station at 5pm for a rally jointly organised by Reclaim the Streets and the London Strike Support Group designed to highlight the links between the free trade agenda of the WTO and the privatisation of public transport in UK. The event was endorsed by the London Transport Council of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), whose speaker detailed the opposition to Tube privitisation and the real concerns for safety should it go ahead. As banners were hung the rythms of a samba band mixed with speeches from representatives of various campaigning groups. Although the main focus of the rally was transport, there were also speakers covering a wide array of issues linked to the WTO and the system it governs.
Genetic Engineering Network illustrated how free trade rules make it impossible for people to choose what they eat, putting them in the hands of corporations that push GMO's down their throats.
A speaker from Voices in the Wilderness criticised the British and American governments for maintaining heavy economic sanctions against Iraq. The group openly break sanctions to take medical supplies to Iraq, where it is widely accepted the sanctions are causing severe shortages of food and medicines killing thousands, particularly children.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade highlighted the links between politicians
and the global arms market. While admitting it was not the WTO that controlled
the worlds arms production, the speaker went on to place the blame for
the worlds conflicts on companies like the UK's GEC Marconi, the labour
government's so
called ethical arms policy, and the inherent greed for profit that
places money before lives.
There was also support for the plight of American journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, in death row since 1982 as a result of a thorougly rigged trial in which he was convicted of shooting a Philadelphia policeman. A former member of the Black Panthers and the environmental-anarchist community MOVE, he is widely considered a political prisoner.
Talking from Reclaim The Streets another speaker urged the importance of placing the WTO in the context of capitalism and its effects, and cited the growing nature of international solidarity and protest. One of the final speakers called on people to 'Reclaim Mayday' in the year 2000 as part of global day of action.
As advertised the speeches ended at 7pm to resounding cheers with a
final speaker congratulating everyone on a successful day and remarkable
gathering
of issues.
RIOT AT EUSTON STATION
At around the same time as the first reports of police violence in Seattle arrived to London, part of the crowd that had been previously attending the rally at Euston station made an attempt to break away towards one of the main traffic arteries in the capital. Although the whole area was surrounded by police, protesters were directly met by a small number of police officers and a confrontation erupted. Police were initially driven back but a line of officers in riot gear rapidly formed and a series of charges and skirmishes on both directions ensued. There were diverse opinions among the protesters about the right course to follow, many openly calling to pro-activelly confront the authorities while others opted for passive resistance and some for withdrawal.
A small group of protesters switched their attention to an unmarked police van and proceeded to turn it over, to a mixture of booing and cheering from fellow protesters. In the following half hour there were several attempts to set the van on fire which on some occasions were thwarted by other demonstrators. Finally, the van caught fire and was surrounded by around 30 photographers, at which moment police decided to clear the station parade, advancing in perfectly structured lines. The van had been left isolated and unattended near the crowd for several hours, with 12ft metal poles attached to its top, in a remarkable flaw of police organisation.
Most of the protestors left the area by 8pm while around 500 people, now roughly divided into three groups, continued to clash with police. The first group was driven towards King's Cross, with several unsuccessful attempts to blockade the road by sitting down. They were finally dispersed after 9pm. A second, smaller, group stayed dancing in front of police lines in Eversholt street and gradually dispersed. The third group was less fortunate and, after some heated physical confrontation, was completely surrounded by a triple line of riot police who identified and photographed all of them before their release. The area was completely clear between 12 and 1am.
The latest reports speak of 38 arrests, 4 of them in connection with the carnival in the City of London on J18, and 7 casualties with different injuries (including a policeman with spinal injuries) none of them life-threatening. Road traffic and public transport were severely disrupted by the events.
PIRATE RADIO BLOCKS YUPPY RADIO
Interference FM, the pirate radio collective that broadcast across London on J18, repeated their feat in protest at the commoditisation of the airwaves. They transmitted on the frequency used by Millennium FM 106.9. This commercial broadcaster prides itself in targeting an A1 audience, those with the highest purchasing power, and fuels values based on greed and profit. The pirates were taken off air at around 4pm in a large operation by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), responsible for enforcing the state control of radio and TV transmissions.
SIXTEEN people protesting against the WTO conference in Seattle, last Tuesday, 30.11.99, were arrested in Halifax, Yorkshire, during a protest at a Nestle factory.
They have been charged with- 'Statutory conspiracy - wording for most offences (099/99 H2007). Contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. Between Sunday 28th November 1999 and Tuesday 30th November 1999 at West Yorkshire conspired together with other persons to commit burglary'.
Their next court appearance is on Tuesday 22 February, 2000. Halifax Magistrates Court, Harrison Road, Halifax.
We wish to have a large turnout of support for the 'Nestle 16' as they have become known. Please, get to the court from 9.30am onward and bring banners and placards, and please forward this email to as many people and organisations as possible. Those arrested come from a wide selection of organisations and of none. They come from Calderdale, Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and Colne.
On Tuesday 30 November at 9am about 50 people entered the Nestle factory and climb on a roof and up a chimney to unfurl banners aimed at the WTO. Their main banner read, 'PEOPLE AND PLANET BEFORE PROFIT'. In short the police were called and 16 demonstrators arrested. The demonstration was non-violent direct action.
They were formally charged with, 'conspiracy to commit burglary'. Even the Prosecution solicitor said at their first court hearing on Tuesday 7 December that the charge was 'over the top', and now the police had to supply the evidence for February 22nd.
The charge seems ludicrous when you consider 50 people turned up in broad daylight with massive banners proclaiming their arrival at the Nestle factory. But if you consider what happened the following day, when Jack Straw announced 'three strikes and you are out' for burglary, with a minimum prison sentence of 3 months for anyone found guilty for a third offence of burglary, then perhaps the 'over the top' charge may seem pretty reasonable to the police!
What you can do -
+ Forward this email
+ Turn up to the court on 22 February
+ Send messages of support to
The Nestle
16
10 Broughton
Street
HEBDEN BRIDGE
West Yorkshire
HX7 8JY
+ Telephone 01422 844710 for more details (ask for Penny
or Billy). Support the campaign with a donation by writing out cheques
to 'Biscuits' and sending to the above address.
Purchase photos of the protest at Nestle showing protesters
on the roof with banner - one photo costs 1 plus sae A5 envelope, or 5
photos for 5 post free (excellent for xmas/festive cards), send to the
above address with cheques to 'Biscuits'.
UPDATE:
The Nestle 16 are up in court on Feb 22nd at Halifax Magistrates Court, Harrison Road, Halifax at 9.30am. A demo and solidarity actions are planned. Tel: 01268 682820.
Leeds: In Leeds city centre, around 50 protesters were faced by over 300 while they handed leaflets outside scummy companies.
Cardiff: A procession marched through the centre of Cardiff calling for the WTO to be scrapped.
Totnes (South Devon): A disused garage and an old toll house, soon to be "luxury flats" were squatted in Totnes, South Devon.
Oxford: "Mobilisation Against Globalisation" - 100 people joined in a street rally against the WTO. Leaflets were handed out and the public informed of the WTOs real intentions.
Brighton - Street theatre" organised in central Brighton on meeting at East Street (by taxi rank) in the heart of the Lanes, Brighton's commercial area. Action at Sussex Uni?
Liverpool - "PROTEST, DEMONSTRATE, OCCUPY" march from Queen Victoria Monument (outside law courts, City Centre) to castle St/Dale Street - Liverpool's financial and business centre.
Leeds - Meeting at 11am, City Square, Leeds
Yeovil (Somerset) - "UK N30" Buskers Concert etc. Red Squirrel now wanted by AvSomPol and South Somerset District Council for flyposting. Yeovil Bandstand all day. Radio Broadcast via Live 365 of the day with Roland Butter at midnight uk on StarRaft Radio.
Bradford - "Doing It Up North" action. Direct Action occupation?
Manchester - "LET OUR RESISTANCE BE AS TRANSNATIONAL AS CAPITAL". More Info: www.nowto.fsnet.co.uk
November the 30th 1999, marked the day in which thousands of societies, political parties and groups conducted direct action against the excesses of capitalism and the exploitation of the world by multinational corporations. An umbrella group had emerged, intent on demanding the destruction of the the World Trade Organisation, which is perhaps the epitome of all that is wrong with capitalism.
ZeroZeros account of the day concerns events in London only. Despite much supposed planning, many of the events on the day weren't known about until the next day, when they were reported in the newspapers.
Firstly, we made it up to Lewisham to shut down Citibank. We had seen many flyers handed out at the Student Fees demonstration, and we anticipated some good direct action. So did the police. As soon as we arrived we noticed line upon line of police vans. Clearly the police had over-anticipated the number of people turning up for this demo : there were more than enough vans to arrest every single protestor and place each of the protestors in a different police van. This was a little dissapointing for us, but the Lewisham event was clearly conducted on the premise that it was a local event against capitalism. For the Lewisham protestors, the rather retarded level of police presence was a bit of a joke.
After a bit of a caning 'chill' in London, we made it to the Royal Festival Hall which promised shelter for N30 protestors. It seemed that nothing would go right on the day : nobody else was there so we sat down, enjoyed the live music, and drank a few beers which we had bought with us for the day.
We were getting a little dissapointed by this point about the level of support for the demonstrations. We knew that many local demos were taking place. We also knew that it was a working day and many of the people who had attended the J18 demonstrations were at work. Finally, there was the small matter of the rather cold weather...
Luckily, we found that by 5pm at Euston Station, a motley crew of demonstrators had congregated, and this built up to around 2,500 thousand people or thereabouts. Police were literally eveywhere. There were probably around one hundred in the station itself, what looked like thousands outside, and a huge number of police taking photos and video of demonstrators - it was like a police state.
Loud drums worked everyone out of their rather physically cold conditions, and speakers made clear the reasons for the demonstrations. There were talks against the WTO, a speaker fighting to save Mumia Abu Jamal, and there was a RMT speaker promoting safety and nationalisation of the railways and the tube.
As the talks finished, people milled around. There was no coherent plan as what to do. I was keen on direct action against Railtrack House which would have had wide public support, but instead a group of people charged at the police lines outside the station. Police were attacked and a police van was burnt.
(Unknown where this picture orginated)
Police attacked everyone and injured anyone who decided to turn up at the protest. There was nowhere to hide or get out of the area - the police wanted to hit everyone they could. It cost more to police this tiny event (3 million quid) than the damage caused by protestors in J18. What a state of affairs? When will Jack Straw implement his master plan from George Orwells 1984?
from: http://www.spc.org/
Overall a little disappointing considering as an occupation of Railtrack house would have had public support, considering the recent rail disaster. We might even have started the ball rolling and stopped their 1 million quid a day profit fatcat machine. Nevermind...keep an eye out for Mayday2000 demonstrations.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.bak.spc.org/N30london/
PLEA FOR HELP FROM LONDON WTO DEMO (contact lostink@usa.net):
IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE TO BE PENNED IN BY THE POLICE OUTSIDE
EUSTON; WHEN EVERYONE WAS BEING SEARCHED AND HAVING THEIR DETAILS TAKEN:
I WAS ARRESTED AT EUSTON STATION AT ABOUT 10:45 PM, YOU PROBABLY SAW
ME BEING
CARRIED BY 4 COPPERS BY MY ARMS AND LEGS. I WAS SCREAMING AND
THERE WAS BLOOD
RUNNING DOWN MY FACE. SEVERAL PEOPLE OFFERED TO BE WITNESSES
FOR ME BUT I
COULD NOT TAKE ANY DETAILS.
I AM A WHITE FEMALE, 20 YRS OLD WITH LONG BLACK HAIR. I WAS WEARING
A BROWN
JACKET AND GREY COMBATS.
WHEN I WAS ARRESTED I HAD AN UNKNOWN # OF COPPERS ON TOP OF MY WHO HANDCUFFED
ME AND LEAD ME AWAY TO EUSTON BTP STATION.
I WOULD PARTICULARLY LIKE TO SEE THE GUY WHO WAS VIDEOING ME AT THAT
POINT, OR
ANYBODY WHO SAW WHAT HAPPENED.
I HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING A PO IN HIS LINE OF DUTY, AND AS
THIS
MEANS MY LIBERTY IS NOW AT STAKE IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO OR KNOWS ANYONE
WHO
SAW WHAT HAPPENED, COULD THEY PLEASE CONTACT ME.
PEACE, LOVE AND RAINBOWS
CLARE
>>URGENT APPEAL FOR PHOTOS, VIDEO FOOTAGE AND WITNESSES.
>>
>>My name is Danny Penman and I¹m a journalist who¹s
been covering the
>movement since the M11 campaign.
>>
>>Last week at the Euston riot I was viciously attacked and hospitalised
by
>the police. My right arm was shattered, and is now held together by
a steel
>plate and a dozen bolts. I also had to undergo surgery and will have
to
>undergo at least one more operation.
>>
>>Do you have any videos or photographs of me being attacked or did
you see
>me attacked by the police? I was wearing bright orange trousers with
a black
>cagoul-style jacket (both sadly from Gap!). I am six foot with short
black
>hair.
>>
>>The attacks took place between 7:00 and 7:15 PM. The first took place
just
>after police first attacked the crowd. I was in the north east corner
of the
>park, by the bus stops and Euston Square. I was then driven out of
the park
>to the bus stop area and then further westwards. After leaving the
park I
>was attacked twice more. I was eventually rescued by Kate Adie, of
all people.
>>
>>You can reach me on 0850 751575 or email orbital@dial.pipex.com
or you
>could channel information via the RTS or GEN offices. If you are worried
>about my authenticity, again, contact RTS or GEN. For legal reasons
it would
>really help my case against the police if you could give me your name
and
>some means of contacting you (even if just via email or an intermediary).
I
>know this maybe a little much for some people but the police may be
able to
>get my case against them thrown out if I don¹t have this info.
>>
>>I really need help on this, the police have deliberately inflicted
a lot of
>pain on me and tried to stop me writing about the issues we all care
about,
>so, if you have any information, please let me know. Please also forward
>this email to any other email lists you think may be relevant.
*URGENT WITNESS APPEAL - Danny Penman is a sympathetic journalist, who has covered such issues as the M11 campaign. He was visciously attacked and hospitalised by the police in Euston, November 30th. You can Call Danny on 0850 751575. *If there are any witnesses from J18, or Euston that may help someones case, call Legal Defence Monitoring Group 0171 837 7557
