Global Civil Disobedience IS Not Rioting!
In Support of the Victims and Protestors Against WTO!
Release all the Detained Protestors Immediately!
During the WTO meeting in Hong Kong, non-government organizations from all over the world gather in Hong Kong to voice their different opinions, and in this manner, enrich Hong Kong people exposure to the international civil society. As a host of this international negotiation, the Hong Kong government should insist on its neutrality and balance in representing the events. Unfortunately, it does the opposite. It constantly supplies the broadcasting and print media with simplified propaganda solely for the purpose of glorifying the WTO, trying in the process to misinform the public and prevent the public from access to the information that would allow them to make rational and truthful understanding of the WTO and its effects.
On December 17, 2005, protestors persisted in their demand to enter the WTO meeting venue in order to directly dialogue with the WTO representatives. This is the actualization of their freedom of _expression and their spirit of civil disobedience, and in this spirit, they challenged the unreasonable blockade of the Hong Kong police. They did not endanger the life and safety of ordinary citizens, nor did they damage any private property or public facilities. Thus, their action cannot in any way be described and understood as a “riot.” The government however, misled the media in unjustly misrepresenting the protest. The government is thus responsible for taking the lead in damaging the image of Hong Kong as an international city that upholds the freedom of _expression.
The operation and decisions of the WTO affects the livelihood of millions of farmers and workers around the world. It is biased in favor of developed countries and multinational corporations while neglecting its direct adverse effects: the unjust redistribution of wealth, and the exploitation and privatization of the world’s natural resources. It is inevitable that farmers in destitution and despair need to fight back.
We strongly question:
1. The Hong Kong government’s deliberate misrepresentation of the protests as riots. Is it only in order to justify the police in its initiation of the conflicts and its excessive use of force?
2. The police’s decision to detain over 1,000 protesters for many hours up to more than 24 hours after the incident. It is absolutely unreasonable and unnecessary unless the purpose of the police is to deny the protesters their rights, and to prevent them from exercising their freedoms of _expression and demonstration during the remaining period of the WTO meetings.
3. The Hong Kong police’s decision to allow the protesters with Hong Kong identity cards to leave the site of the demonstration and detention freely, while detaining foreign protesters. Is this a deliberate use of double standards with discriminatory implications?
We demand that:
1. The Hong Kong government and the police stop negatively misrepresenting the messages and actions of the anti-WTO protesters.
2. The police release all detained protesters immediately.
3. The Hong Kong government and the police explain to the international community its use of double standards in the treatment of local and foreign protesters.
4. The Hong Kong citizens should continue to exercise their responsibility as members of the international civil society to defend everyone’s right to express different opinions, to understand and embrace people’s different forms of expressions, to learn in depth about the other face of the WTO not projected by our government, and to reflect upon the negative effects of the WTO, which is biased in service of the large corporations, and to understand how the WTO affects adversely the livelihood and rights of people’s in the developing countries.
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