Swiss City of Geneva Braces for Violence as G8 Leaders Gather May 29 (Bloomberg) http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=ahoWmUYBmBbk&refer=europe Geneva, the Swiss lakeside city that's home to a 10th of the world's private wealth, is bracing for violent protest as leaders of the Group of Eight countries meet in the nearby French resort of Evian-les-Bains this weekend.
``Geneva's in a state of siege,''About half the bank's cash machines will be closed in the city. Residents have been urged to stock up on food and cash ahead of the meeting. Switzerland estimates its preparations will cost at least 39 million Swiss francs ($30 million). France, which is hosting the G8 meeting, has agreed to compensate the alpine nation of 7.3 million people for a maximum of 12 million euros ($14 million)
Lake Geneva region braced for G-8 summit (big article) swissinfo May 27, 2003 7:58 AM http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=3879406 Geneva and Lausanne are poised for a flood of anti-globalisation protesters during the G-8 summit in Evian, due to start on Sunday. Some 10,000 soldiers and police officers are to be deployed in the lakeside region in the heaviest security operation since the Second World War.
Watered down Guardian Tuesday May 27, 2003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,7369,964191,00.html G8 leaders meet in Evian, France, next week to discuss developing world debt, Africa ... and the planet's drinking water supplies. Gideon Burrows finds progress lacking
Bush presence to fuel anti-G8 protests in France Jon Boyle - PARIS, May 26 (Reuters) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26487521.htm Anti-capitalist protesters plan a mass blockade of this weekend's G8 summit, fired up by the presence of President George W. Bush on a continent where millions demonstrated against the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Tens of thousands of protesters aim to bottle up leaders of the world's seven biggest economies and Russia inside the French town of Evian, using to their advantage the narrow approaches to the Lake Geneva resort and the surrounding mountains.
40,000 demonstrators expected for G8 25th May AFP - via Business Day http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1354057-6078-0,00.html GENEVA - Anti-globalisation protesters are expecting between 30,000 and 40,000 people to take part on June 1 in a demonstration to coincide with the G8 summit of industrialised countries in Evian-les-Bains, France, local Swiss newspapers reported yesterday. It is understood the recent massive pensions protest in France has reduced the numbers expected to protest against the G8.
Humiliated Swiss ask Germans to police G8 protest Ian Traynor Saturday May 17, 2003 -The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalisation/story/0,7369,957961,00.html The Swiss government has taken the unprecedented step of inviting hundreds of German riot police to safeguard Geneva during large anti-globalisation and anti-American protests expected next month.
French town under siege before G8 summit http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3501272&thesection=news&thesubsection=world 12.05.2003 CATHERINE FIELD Herald correspondent PARIS - Evian-les-Bains is a little bit of European heaven. On one side, the serene, dappled-grey waters of Lake Geneva, with the twinkling lights of Switzerland beckoning in the distance. On the other, the exhilarating backdrop of the Alps, whose snow-fed mineral water sustained Evian's economy long after the aristocrats who had made the resort one of Europe's playgrounds left town. Today, anyone living in Evian or even venturing within a couple of kilometres of it must think they have set foot in some earthly purgatory.
Press reports say that security is invasive and pervasive, and not too far removed from the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner. For months, they say, spies from the French equivalents of Special Branch and MI5 have infiltrated the population of Evian, discreetly photographing faces and noting names, observing changes in neighbourhood routines and asking shopkeepers questions about newcomers.
Preventive war has arrived with a vengeance at the placid shores of Lac Leman - or Lake Geneva. The Group of Eight (G8) summit starts this Sunday in Evian, of mineral-water fame.
By a splendid twist of history, this will be the place where the conqueror of Iraq, George W Bush, will set foot on "enemy" French soil - or continent for that matter, since in an overwhelmingly anti-war Europe millions of people bothered to display their displeasure with US foreign policy during mass demonstrations on February 15. This is also the first G8 summit in Europe since an Italian police officer shot dead Italian student Carlo Giuliani during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001.
Combat aircraft and helicopter gunships will patrol the skies above the French resort town of Evian on the southern shore of Lake Geneva. Anti-missile batteries in the surrounding Alps will scour the skies for any signs of attack.
The French part of Lake Geneva is out of bounds to all but police frogmen and authorised traffic including the ferries that will transport delegates from the Swiss town of Lausanne to the conference venue during the June 1-3 event.
The operation also aims to keep a lid on anti-globalisation protests and avoid a repeat of the Genoa 2001 summit when police shot dead a protester during a riot.
Pilotless drone surveillance aircraft, part of blanket security for a summit of world leaders, buzzed over the airport in Annecy, France, on Monday in test flights overseen by the French air force.
Discretion is the watchword here. Air force officials would not specify the drones' exact mission or say whether they would be used to survey huge anti-globalization protests expected in the nearby town of Annemasse and in Geneva, Switzerland, during the summit
An alternative summit has opened in the south-eastern French town of Annemasse ahead of this weekend's G8 summit of world leaders in nearby Evian. The "Summit for Another World" - known as SPAM under its French acronym - is being attended by groups campaigning for development aid for poor countries, environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, and anti-globalisation organisations. Representatives from various African countries have also been invited. The organisers said alternative proposals for world governance and development worked on during the summit would be handed over to French President Jacques Chirac's delegation in Evian on Monday.
NGO's Prepare 'Summit for Another World' as Reaction to G8 Meeting by Lisa Bryant
Dubbed the Summit for Another World, the alternative gathering will include seminars on issues ranging from downsides of international trade, to the growing problem of water scarcity in many parts of the world.
Such alternative forums have taken place for years alongside the summits of leading industrialized nations. But Bruno Rebelle, director of Greenpeace-France, one of the summit organizers, said many non-governmental organizations have particularly strong grievances this time because of the recent policies of the United States and of other G8 members.
Large anti-G8 protests expected in Europe By Elizabeth Bryant United Press International
Tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of protesters against the Group of Eight summit gathered in France and Switzerland Thursday for an alternative meeting peppered with demonstrations and seminars on ways to end poverty and improve the environment.
Dubbed a "Summit for Another World," the 3-day gathering is being held in the French border town of Annemasse and in nearby Geneva.
As G8 leaders prepare to meet next Sunday in Evian-les-Bains in the French Alps, the fall-out of the diplomatic rift over Iraq is threatening to push Africa to the fringes.
Signs are that squabbles over the Iraq war have profoundly strained relations between France and the United States.
The impact is being felt in the run-up to the annual summit meeting of world's seven major industrial nations and Russia June 1-3.
”While the 'two Titans' indulge in their power struggles and declare that they have 'surrendered to poverty', Africa is being crushed in the fray,” said an African diplomat who did not wish to be named.
About 1,000 police officers were deployed in Lausanne to control the first major demonstration leading up to the summit starting Sunday in Evian, France. Police estimated the number of demonstrators, many of whom arrived by train, as at least 4,000.
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will propose the creation of two new funds to help developing nations when he meets G8 leaders next week, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
"Rich people need to understand that when the third world develops (economically) the first world benefits...through more markets for their companies and products," said Lula, who took power in January.
Thousands of brightly clad protesters marched peacefully through this working-class town on Thursday in the first day of demonstrations against the Group of Eight summit this weekend.
Shouting ''Police are fascists, assassins'' or carrying red and black Communist flags, the anti-globalization protesters beat drums to a samba rhythm in hopes of proving to worried locals that the demonstrators mean no harm. ''We're here to express the anger and frustration that millions of people around the world are feeling, but can't express,'' said a 40-year-old British protester who gave only his first name, Mark.
ANNEMASSE, France (AP) - Hundreds of protesters opposed to the Group of Eight summit threw rocks at a meeting hall Saturday, then clashed with police who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Some 3,000 demonstrators joined a "warm-up" protest outside the United Nations building in Geneva as tens of thousands began gathering for huge anti-G8 rallies set to straddle France and Switzerland. (article 1)
French Police Teargas Anarchists in G8 Eve Clash May 31, 2003 By Jon Boyle
ANNEMASSE, France (Reuters) - French police fired teargas on Saturday to disperse several hundred anarchists in the first major disturbance ahead of a summit of the "Group of Eight" leading industrialized countries.
Tear gas breaks up G-8 blockade (CNN) ?They also looted a construction site for scaffolding and bars, presumably to build the barricades they were constructing on several streets. Rioters ransacked an Esso gas station, stealing candy and cigarettes that they then handed out to people watching the demonstration, and broke into a supermarket.? http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/06/01/summit.protests.ap/index.html
G-8 Protesters So Diverse They Fight Among Themselves (FOX) ?Some like the Socialists are sober-minded activists. Others are loud "revolution" seekers. Most believe in peaceful demonstrations, but a small band of anarchists think destructive protest is more effective.? http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,88283,00.html
ANNEMASSE, France (Reuters) - Anti-G8 protesters have blocked bridges with burning tyres in Geneva and French police have fired teargas at activists who were trying to bar the way to the town of Evian, hours before the start of a summit of world leaders there.
In Lausanne, across Lake Geneva from Evian and another protest hotspot, a few hundred demonstrators, many wearing balaclavas and masks, marched through the Swiss city smashing shop windows and looting two petrol stations.
"No blood for oil," the Lausanne protesters, wearing the trademark anarchist black T-shirts, chanted in a clear reference to the United States' invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Switzerland, Usually Calm, Erupts in Protest of G-8 Talks By ELAINE SCIOLINO NYTimes
This story was reported by Elaine Sciolino, John Tagliabue, Helene Fouquet and Alison Langley and was written by Ms. Sciolino.
GENEVA, June 1 — The protester swathed his face in black and carried a long axe with a bright blue blade. And when he reached Route de Malagnou in the eastern part of the city, he began smashing a brand new bus shelter, destroying one of its shatter-proof glass panels.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" shouted demonstrators who were part of a huge protest against the G-8 economic summit that opened today in the nearby French Alpine town of Évian. But there were no police officers on the demonstration route. And the axe-wielding young man swiftly blended back into the marching crowd.
Switzerland is not a country accustomed to demonstrations and crowd control and police struggled today to respond to protesters who blocked highways, roads and bridges; set fire to barricades; sprayed graffiti on buildings and cars; destroyed property and hurled rocks, bottles and insults at them.
The most violent protests occurred in Geneva and in the city of Lausanne 30 miles away, where heads of state who are not part of the elite group of eight — France, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia — are staying.
Riot police wearing helmets and carrying shields, a common sight in France but certainly not in Switzerland, clashed at several points with protesters. The police, who were under orders not to use force against the protesters, tried to disperse them with masses of tear gas.
In Lausanne, one man was seriously injured and six others, including two police officers, were wounded in a two-hour assault in which protesters smashed windows, destroyed three gas stations, looting one of them as well as a grocery. Vandals also uprooted parking signs, billboards, benches and threw them in the road. They spray painted slogans in four languages along office buildings, shops, bus stops and people's homes.
The police responded throughout the day with tear gas and water cannons. A handful of protesters said they had been beaten by batons. At one point, as the demonstrators were heading back to their camp, the police discharged two or three canisters of tear gas into the city's botanical garden, which was full not only with protesters but also mothers and children.
The police have detained more than 400 demonstrators in an attempt to identify who was responsible for the violence. The seriously wounded man was not identified, but the police said he was a 39-year-old British citizen from London. He and another protester had strung a rope across a bridge in Aubonne, about 15 minutes by car from Lausanne, blocking traffic on a major highway to Geneva. The two then dangled from each end of the rope.
A police officer, attempting to break up the blockade, cut the rope, not realizing two people, not one, were tied to it, said Jacques Antenen, a judge investigating the accident. He fell more than 65 feet. The police officer is being questioned by the authorities, Mr. Antenen said. The Englishman suffered multiple bone fractures, including a break on his left leg and pelvis. He also fractured two vertebrae and was operated on throughout the day. He was conscious, said Dr. Bertrand Yersin, head of the emergency room at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, and in stable condition. He will also be arrested for obstructing traffic, a police spokesman said. His companion, as well as others who helped to occupy the bridge, were arrested, the police said.
After two hours of destruction on the street, the police followed the protesters back to their official camp, near the University of Lausanne. There, hundreds of police surrounded the camp and began arresting the protesters randomly.
In Geneva, meanwhile, 15 people were taken into custody for questioning. At one point 200 riot police lined up to block access to three streets in central Geneva, backed up by water cannon trucks with flashing blue lights. When a few protesters began throwing stones at the police, the entire unit rushed them, firing tear gas that choked both passers-by and protesters. The protesters were chased down a small side street.
Later, for an hour on the Rue du Marché, a main shopping street in Geneva, protesters faced down a line of dozens of police officers blocking access to a street leading into the historic part of the city. Vandals broke the windows of Franz Karl Weber, a well-known Swiss luxury toy store, and looted both a nearby photo store and the Lacoste sportswear shop a few blocks away. Other protesters threw bottles, iron bars and stones at the police, who at first did not respond, but later fought back with tear gas.
"Police, assassins!" shouted some of the protesters. The police shouted back, "Disperse! Disperse!" In some cases, the police did what they could to avoid any confrontation, even if it meant there was no one to maintain order. On the official Swiss marching route from the English Garden in central Geneva to the French border four miles away, about two dozen protesters in black clothing and hoods, their faces and hands covered, smashed signs, windows and gas pumps at a BP gas station. They stole beer, food and cigarettes from its convenience shop, throwing packs of cigarettes to the crowd.
Several fire trucks arrived, and firefighters set up a makeshift fence around the site. But without a police presence, the vandals got away. A group of protesters in yellow T-shirts who were designated to help keep order were suddenly thrust into a police function, holding hands in a line to keep outsiders away from the site. The marchers met up on the Swiss side of the border with a group of marchers who started from the French town of Annemasse. As the marchers passed through the totally deserted French-Swiss border crossing, they chanted, "No Frontiers, Freedom of Movement."
Both of the officially sanctioned marches were largely peaceful. Anarchist groups marched alongside church groups with rainbow banners reading "peace" in several languages. Parents wheeled their children in strollers. Volunteers distributed free glasses of sugared water along the route. Residents of an apartment building for the elderly even allowed some marchers to use their toilets.
Geneva police said that between 40,000 and 50,000 people took part in both marches, although protest organizers said there were 120,000 marchers, 50,000 on the Swiss side and 70,000 on the French side. On the French side of the border, several hundred demonstrators from Annemasse set out for Évian, which is blocked by heavily armed security forces to all except residents and others with special badges. The protesters were stopped at the village of Saint-Cergues by French security forces who used tear gas and compression bombs.
The demonstrators, mostly French, German and Dutch hardliners, braved tear gas for several hours before finally turning around and heading back for Annemasse. The demonstrators said other groups were trying early this morning to cut roads from Geneva to Évian to prevent delegates, support staff and interpreters from reaching the conference and hence delaying the start. "Looks romantic," said one 29-year-old German film student who declined to give her name as she watched the tear gas clouds wafting over a nearby field. "We can be satisfied, even if we only hindered things just a bit."
Calm has returned to the streets of Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland after police used teargas to disperse rampaging anti-globalisation protesters.
The BBC reports that rioters smashed shop windows, looted luxury stores and wrecked a petrol station.
They were protesting against the G8 summit of the world's richest nations, which is being held not far away in the French spa town of Evian.
The summit has been dominated by the problems facing Africa and the developing world.
South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, said the delegates at the summit agreed that the issue of African debt should be urgently addressed.
"The G8 heads of government recognised that indeed there hasn't been sufficient movement on this quest and therefore one of the decisions they took today was that they will attend to the quest themselves," he said.
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RECENT COLLECTED PRESS REPORTS
29.05.2003 08:43
Swiss City of Geneva Braces for Violence as G8 Leaders Gather
May 29 (Bloomberg)
Geneva, the Swiss lakeside city that's home to a 10th of the world's private wealth, is bracing for violent protest as leaders of the Group of Eight countries meet in the nearby French resort of Evian-les-Bains this weekend.
``Geneva's in a state of siege,''About half the bank's cash machines will be closed in the city. Residents have been urged to stock up on food and cash ahead of the meeting. Switzerland estimates its preparations will cost at least 39 million Swiss francs ($30 million). France, which is hosting the G8 meeting, has agreed to compensate the alpine nation of 7.3 million people for a maximum of 12 million euros ($14 million)
Lake Geneva region braced for G-8 summit (big article)
swissinfo May 27, 2003 7:58 AM
Geneva and Lausanne are poised for a flood of anti-globalisation protesters during the G-8 summit in Evian, due to start on Sunday.
Some 10,000 soldiers and police officers are to be deployed in the lakeside region in the heaviest security operation since the Second World War.
Watered down
Guardian Tuesday May 27, 2003
G8 leaders meet in Evian, France, next week to discuss developing world debt, Africa ... and the planet's drinking water supplies. Gideon Burrows finds progress lacking
Bush presence to fuel anti-G8 protests in France
Jon Boyle - PARIS, May 26 (Reuters)
Anti-capitalist protesters plan a mass blockade of this weekend's G8 summit, fired up by the presence of President George W. Bush on a continent where millions demonstrated against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
Tens of thousands of protesters aim to bottle up leaders of the world's seven biggest economies and Russia inside the French town of Evian, using to their advantage the narrow approaches to the Lake Geneva resort and the surrounding mountains.
40,000 demonstrators expected for G8
25th May AFP - via Business Day
GENEVA - Anti-globalisation protesters are expecting between 30,000 and 40,000 people to take part on June 1 in a demonstration to coincide with the G8 summit of industrialised countries in Evian-les-Bains, France, local Swiss newspapers reported yesterday. It is understood the recent massive pensions protest in France has reduced the numbers expected to protest against the G8.
Humiliated Swiss ask Germans to police G8 protest
Ian Traynor Saturday May 17, 2003 -The Guardian
The Swiss government has taken the unprecedented step of inviting hundreds of German riot police to safeguard Geneva during large anti-globalisation and anti-American protests expected next month.
French town under siege before G8 summit
12.05.2003 CATHERINE FIELD Herald correspondent
PARIS - Evian-les-Bains is a little bit of European heaven.
On one side, the serene, dappled-grey waters of Lake Geneva, with the twinkling lights of Switzerland beckoning in the distance. On the other, the exhilarating backdrop of the Alps, whose snow-fed mineral water sustained Evian's economy long after the aristocrats who had made the resort one of Europe's playgrounds left town. Today, anyone living in Evian or even venturing within a couple of kilometres of it must think they have set foot in some earthly purgatory.
Press reports say that security is invasive and pervasive, and not too far removed from the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner. For months, they say, spies from the French equivalents of Special Branch and MI5 have infiltrated the population of Evian, discreetly photographing faces and noting names, observing changes in neighbourhood routines and asking shopkeepers questions about newcomers.
imcista
G8 behind the barricades
29.05.2003 16:03
By Pepe Escobar
Preventive war has arrived with a vengeance at the placid shores of Lac Leman - or Lake Geneva. The Group of Eight (G8) summit starts this Sunday in Evian, of mineral-water fame.
By a splendid twist of history, this will be the place where the conqueror of Iraq, George W Bush, will set foot on "enemy" French soil - or continent for that matter, since in an overwhelmingly anti-war Europe millions of people bothered to display their displeasure with US foreign policy during mass demonstrations on February 15. This is also the first G8 summit in Europe since an Italian police officer shot dead Italian student Carlo Giuliani during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001.
Full article:
indy
Mini-army to protect G8 leaders at sumit
29.05.2003 16:07
Combat aircraft and helicopter gunships will patrol the skies above the French resort town of Evian on the southern shore of Lake Geneva. Anti-missile batteries in the surrounding Alps will scour the skies for any signs of attack.
The French part of Lake Geneva is out of bounds to all but police frogmen and authorised traffic including the ferries that will transport delegates from the Swiss town of Lausanne to the conference venue during the June 1-3 event.
The operation also aims to keep a lid on anti-globalisation protests and avoid a repeat of the Genoa 2001 summit when police shot dead a protester during a riot.
Full article:
indy
French Drones to Protect G-8
29.05.2003 16:27
Discretion is the watchword here. Air force officials would not specify the drones' exact mission or say whether they would be used to survey huge anti-globalization protests expected in the nearby town of Annemasse and in Geneva, Switzerland, during the summit
Full article:
indy
Alternative summit opens in France
29.05.2003 16:34
Full article:
Indy
NGO's Prepare 'Summit for Another World'
29.05.2003 16:37
by Lisa Bryant
Dubbed the Summit for Another World, the alternative gathering will include seminars on issues ranging from downsides of international trade, to the growing problem of water scarcity in many parts of the world.
Such alternative forums have taken place for years alongside the summits of leading industrialized nations. But Bruno Rebelle, director of Greenpeace-France, one of the summit organizers, said many non-governmental organizations have particularly strong grievances this time because of the recent policies of the United States and of other G8 members.
Full article:
indy
Large anti-G8 protests expected in Europe
29.05.2003 16:41
By Elizabeth Bryant
United Press International
Tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of protesters against the Group of Eight summit gathered in France and Switzerland Thursday for an alternative meeting peppered with demonstrations and seminars on ways to end poverty and improve the environment.
Dubbed a "Summit for Another World," the 3-day gathering is being held in the French border town of Annemasse and in nearby Geneva.
full article:
indy
Iraq Rift May Harm Africa at G8 Summit
29.05.2003 16:43
Signs are that squabbles over the Iraq war have profoundly strained relations between France and the United States.
The impact is being felt in the run-up to the annual summit meeting of world's seven major industrial nations and Russia June 1-3.
”While the 'two Titans' indulge in their power struggles and declare that they have 'surrendered to poverty', Africa is being crushed in the fray,” said an African diplomat who did not wish to be named.
Full article:
indy
Protesters gather ahead of G8 summit 29/05
29.05.2003 20:21
full article:
indy
Brazil's Lula takes investment plea to G8
29.05.2003 20:26
"Rich people need to understand that when the third world develops (economically) the first world benefits...through more markets for their companies and products," said Lula, who took power in January.
full report:
indy
swiss info on thursdays demo in lausanne
30.05.2003 07:55
swissinfo May 29, 2003 11:27 PM
Protesters gathered in the city of Lausanne on Thursday for the first major demonstration against this weekend’s G-8 summit in neighbouring France.
Around 4,000 demonstrators - far fewer than expected - braved heavy rain as they took to the streets in a vocal but peaceful protest.
The atmosphere during the march was fairly relaxed, with only a few minor skirmishes between riot police and angry demonstrators.
more...
pete
AP via NSMBC on lausanne
30.05.2003 08:08
ASSOCIATED PRESS ANNEMASSE, France, May 29
Thousands of brightly clad protesters marched peacefully through this working-class town on Thursday in the first day of demonstrations against the Group of Eight summit this weekend.
Shouting ''Police are fascists, assassins'' or carrying red and black Communist flags, the anti-globalization protesters beat drums to a samba rhythm in hopes of proving to worried locals that the demonstrators mean no harm.
''We're here to express the anger and frustration that millions of people around the world are feeling, but can't express,'' said a 40-year-old British protester who gave only his first name, Mark.
-
protesters are already making their points
30.05.2003 18:29
wil
Homepage:
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_881656_1_A,00.html
G-8 Protesters, French Riot Police Clash
31.05.2003 15:27
By THIERRY BOINET
Associated Press Writer
ANNEMASSE, France (AP) - Hundreds of protesters opposed to the Group of Eight summit threw rocks at a meeting hall Saturday, then clashed with police who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Guardian
From AFP Press - Anti-G8 Revolt in Geneva
31.05.2003 15:55
and Switzerland. (article 1)
Report and Pics:
Repost
Homepage:
http://uk.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=70056&group=webcast
French Police Teargas Anarchists G8 Eve Clash
31.05.2003 19:02
May 31, 2003
By Jon Boyle
ANNEMASSE, France (Reuters) - French police fired teargas on Saturday to disperse several hundred anarchists in the first major disturbance ahead of a summit of the "Group of Eight" leading industrialized countries.
Full Article:
Indy
CNN / FOX / BBC Links
01.06.2003 09:32
?They also looted a construction site for scaffolding and bars, presumably to build the barricades they were constructing on several streets. Rioters ransacked an Esso gas station, stealing candy and cigarettes that they then handed out to people watching the demonstration, and broke into a supermarket.?
G-8 Protesters So Diverse They Fight Among Themselves (FOX)
?Some like the Socialists are sober-minded activists. Others are loud "revolution" seekers. Most believe in peaceful demonstrations, but a small band of anarchists think destructive protest is more effective.?
Protesters target G8 summit (BBC)
?Tens of thousands of protesters have descended on the summit.?
Guiliani's Hammer
Yahoo - Sunday June 1 09:26am
01.06.2003 12:37
In Lausanne, across Lake Geneva from Evian and another protest hotspot, a few hundred demonstrators, many wearing balaclavas and masks, marched through the Swiss city smashing shop windows and looting two petrol stations.
"No blood for oil," the Lausanne protesters, wearing the trademark anarchist black T-shirts, chanted in a clear reference to the United States' invasion and occupation of Iraq.
william
Corporate pics of G8 demos in Geneva
01.06.2003 17:14
repost
from the new york times
02.06.2003 00:04
Switzerland, Usually Calm, Erupts in Protest of G-8 Talks
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
NYTimes
This story was reported by Elaine Sciolino, John Tagliabue, Helene Fouquet and Alison Langley and was written by Ms. Sciolino.
GENEVA, June 1 — The protester swathed his face in black and carried a long axe with a bright blue blade.
And when he reached Route de Malagnou in the eastern part of the city, he began smashing a brand new bus shelter, destroying one of its shatter-proof glass panels.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" shouted demonstrators who were part of a huge protest against the G-8 economic summit that opened today in the nearby French Alpine town of Évian. But there were no police officers on the demonstration route. And the axe-wielding young man swiftly blended back into the marching crowd.
Switzerland is not a country accustomed to demonstrations and crowd control and police struggled today to respond to protesters who blocked highways, roads and bridges; set fire to barricades; sprayed graffiti on buildings and cars; destroyed property and hurled rocks, bottles and insults at them.
The most violent protests occurred in Geneva and in the city of Lausanne 30 miles away, where heads of state who are not part of the elite group of eight — France, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia — are staying.
Riot police wearing helmets and carrying shields, a common sight in France but certainly not in Switzerland, clashed at several points with protesters. The police, who were under orders not to use force against the protesters, tried to disperse them with masses of tear gas.
In Lausanne, one man was seriously injured and six others, including two police officers, were wounded in a two-hour assault in which protesters smashed windows, destroyed three gas stations, looting one of them as well as a grocery. Vandals also uprooted parking signs, billboards, benches and threw them in the road. They spray painted slogans in four languages along office buildings, shops, bus stops and people's homes.
The police responded throughout the day with tear gas and water cannons. A handful of protesters said they had been beaten by batons. At one point, as the demonstrators were heading back to their camp, the police discharged two or three canisters of tear gas into the city's botanical garden, which was full not only with protesters but also mothers and children.
The police have detained more than 400 demonstrators in an attempt to identify who was responsible for the violence.
The seriously wounded man was not identified, but the police said he was a 39-year-old British citizen from London. He and another protester had strung a rope across a bridge in Aubonne, about 15 minutes by car from Lausanne, blocking traffic on a major highway to Geneva.
The two then dangled from each end of the rope.
A police officer, attempting to break up the blockade, cut the rope, not realizing two people, not one, were tied to it, said Jacques Antenen, a judge investigating the accident. He fell more than 65 feet. The police officer is being questioned by the authorities, Mr. Antenen said. The Englishman suffered multiple bone fractures, including a break on his left leg and pelvis. He also fractured two vertebrae and was operated on throughout the day. He was conscious, said Dr. Bertrand Yersin, head of the emergency room at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, and in stable condition. He will also be arrested for obstructing traffic, a police spokesman said. His companion, as well as others who helped to occupy the bridge, were arrested, the police said.
After two hours of destruction on the street, the police followed the protesters back to their official camp, near the University of Lausanne. There, hundreds of police surrounded the camp and began arresting the protesters randomly.
In Geneva, meanwhile, 15 people were taken into custody for questioning. At one point 200 riot police lined up to block access to three streets in central Geneva, backed up by water cannon trucks with flashing blue lights. When a few protesters began throwing stones at the police, the entire unit rushed them, firing tear gas that choked both passers-by and protesters. The protesters were chased down a small side street.
Later, for an hour on the Rue du Marché, a main shopping street in Geneva, protesters faced down a line of dozens of police officers blocking access to a street leading into the historic part of the city. Vandals broke the windows of Franz Karl Weber, a well-known Swiss luxury toy store, and looted both a nearby photo store and the Lacoste sportswear shop a few blocks away. Other protesters threw bottles, iron bars and stones at the police, who at first did not respond, but later fought back with tear gas.
"Police, assassins!" shouted some of the protesters. The police shouted back, "Disperse! Disperse!" In some cases, the police did what they could to avoid any confrontation, even if it meant there was no one to maintain order.
On the official Swiss marching route from the English Garden in central Geneva to the French border four miles away, about two dozen protesters in black clothing and hoods, their faces and hands covered, smashed signs, windows and gas pumps at a BP gas station. They stole beer, food and cigarettes from its convenience shop, throwing packs of cigarettes to the crowd.
Several fire trucks arrived, and firefighters set up a makeshift fence around the site. But without a police presence, the vandals got away. A group of protesters in yellow T-shirts who were designated to help keep order were suddenly thrust into a police function, holding hands in a line to keep outsiders away from the site.
The marchers met up on the Swiss side of the border with a group of marchers who started from the French town of Annemasse. As the marchers passed through the totally deserted French-Swiss border crossing, they chanted, "No Frontiers, Freedom of Movement."
Both of the officially sanctioned marches were largely peaceful. Anarchist groups marched alongside church groups with rainbow banners reading "peace" in several languages. Parents wheeled their children in strollers. Volunteers distributed free glasses of sugared water along the route. Residents of an apartment building for the elderly even allowed some marchers to use their toilets.
Geneva police said that between 40,000 and 50,000 people took part in both marches, although protest organizers said there were 120,000 marchers, 50,000 on the Swiss side and 70,000 on the French side. On the French side of the border, several hundred demonstrators from Annemasse set out for Évian, which is blocked by heavily armed security forces to all except residents and others with special badges. The protesters were stopped at the village of Saint-Cergues by French security forces who used tear gas and compression bombs.
The demonstrators, mostly French, German and Dutch hardliners, braved tear gas for several hours before finally turning around and heading back for Annemasse.
The demonstrators said other groups were trying early this morning to cut roads from Geneva to Évian to prevent delegates, support staff and interpreters from reaching the conference and hence delaying the start.
"Looks romantic," said one 29-year-old German film student who declined to give her name as she watched the tear gas clouds wafting over a nearby field. "We can be satisfied, even if we only hindered things just a bit."
belly of the beast
calm returns to G8 after riots
02.06.2003 05:39
Calm has returned to the streets of Geneva and Lausanne in Switzerland after police used teargas to disperse rampaging anti-globalisation protesters.
The BBC reports that rioters smashed shop windows, looted luxury stores and wrecked a petrol station.
They were protesting against the G8 summit of the world's richest nations, which is being held not far away in the French spa town of Evian.
The summit has been dominated by the problems facing Africa and the developing world.
South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, said the delegates at the summit agreed that the issue of African debt should be urgently addressed.
"The G8 heads of government recognised that indeed there hasn't been sufficient movement on this quest and therefore one of the decisions they took today was that they will attend to the quest themselves," he said.
sean (imc sydney)