2008-07-03
[Gipfelsoli Infogroup | Media G8way]
Press Release July 3rd 2008
[Berlin | London | Sapporo] This coming Monday 7 July is the opening day of this year’s G8 Summit, which will be held at Lake Toya on the Japanese Peninsula of Hokkaido. Following last week’s demonstrations in Japan, there will be protests against the G8 in Europe and other countries world-wide.
Japanese groups have called for a Global Day of Action on July 5th. Countries in Europe that will hold demonstrations and rallies include Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.
In London anti-G8 activists will gather at the Uk Border Agency for a “Plan C”: “It is time to join forces, for freedom of movement, the freedom to protest and equal rights for all!”.
Resistance against the G8 summit is also expected in other Asian countries.
In Japan many activists are currently making their way from Tokyo to Sapporo. Before the major demonstration on Monday there will be daily protests in Sapporo. Tomorrow the “Forum on Human Rights for Women” starts in Sapporo and the global “Via Campesina” network has organised an international forum with seminars on topics such as food security, famine and climate change. Tomorrow is also the last day of the “Indigenous Peoples Summit”. Indigenous groups from across the world were invited by the Ainu who consider themselves to the original people of Hokkaido.
Japanese activists have set up protest camps in Hokkaido. Many protesters have also set up camp in Toubetsu near Sapporo. At the weekend the camps in Toyoura, Da-Te and Soubetsu will be the focus for activists, as they are closer to Lake Toya.
WATCH, a network of critical lawyers, has produced a brochure with legal information for protesters. The brochure informs people that it is not prohibited to wear protective clothing in the case of attacks by the police, and what to do in the case people are unjustly arrested. (During the German G8 in 2007, 1,800 protestors were arrested, but only 3% were ever actually convicted of a crime.) The police are not allowed to take photos of people for no reason. WATCH fears that Japanese police forces will disregard such regulations.
Planned protests in Europe and links