My testimony and disbelief at the number of police present and their aggressive behaviour. And how the government distorts the reality of a peaceful protest and reacts against it as if it was war against terrorist criminals.
Today the DSEI started. It is the clear illustration of the double
standard of the United Kingdom government. While, on one side promoting a war in the name of establishing democracy and protecting human rights, on the other side it decided to hold an international arms fair here in London. Besides, as if that was not enough, a gala will be held on no other date than the 11th of September when people around the world will be mourning the victims of the terrible events
of 2001 and 1973, which happened in the US and Chili respectively. Protest was organised and this time I decided to go and have my voice heard.
I was shocked by what I saw.
The right to peaceful demonstration is one of the most fundamental
rights. However, enough police officers that all the police stations of London probably had to shut down for the day were here, in the name of security, but mainly stopping the protesters. I arrived this morning and decided to get off the tube at Custom House, the station for ExCel. On one side was a long queue of smartly dressed, black suits, black ties, delegates coming with their murderer government's money to buy.
On the otherside, was one sight of bright yellow jackets and black helmets and, in the middle, singing, dancing and talking was a small group of colorfully dressed up protesters. The imbalance between the number of police officers present and the number of demonstrators was
increadible.
Amidst nasty looks and silly remarks 'oh she looks lost...' from the yellow jackets I managed to make my way through and walking along a pavement blocked from the road by a row of useless fences, I got to the Indymedia headquarters where a policeman was standing opposite the door taking notes and reporting about every comings and goings.
At 1pm a blockade was organised. We went. Again I could not believe the number of police officers present and was even more shocked by their behaviour. At no moment was there any violent outbreak by the protesters. All the aggressivity however came from the black helmets. They pushed people around, swore at protesters for no reason and basically just looked down upon the demonstrators as if they were criminals. This is actually what it felt like, being seen as a criminal, guilty of exercising one's most basic human rights. And this is no joke. Under the terrorist act that some nongovernmental organisations such as Liberty are fighting against,anybody can be detained with charges of overthrowing the state. It was the stupidity of the all scene that I still find difficult to believe. Dozens of vans, some especially rented for the occasion, full of police officers, bright yellow jackets on motorcycles, black helmets on horses, a helicopter constantly present, all this police army for only a few peaceful demonstrators trying to make their voices heard, opposing an arm fair, in the name of peace.
Thanks to Indymedia I can put in writing my frustration and testify about what I saw today.
standard of the United Kingdom government. While, on one side promoting a war in the name of establishing democracy and protecting human rights, on the other side it decided to hold an international arms fair here in London. Besides, as if that was not enough, a gala will be held on no other date than the 11th of September when people around the world will be mourning the victims of the terrible events
of 2001 and 1973, which happened in the US and Chili respectively. Protest was organised and this time I decided to go and have my voice heard.
I was shocked by what I saw.
The right to peaceful demonstration is one of the most fundamental
rights. However, enough police officers that all the police stations of London probably had to shut down for the day were here, in the name of security, but mainly stopping the protesters. I arrived this morning and decided to get off the tube at Custom House, the station for ExCel. On one side was a long queue of smartly dressed, black suits, black ties, delegates coming with their murderer government's money to buy.
On the otherside, was one sight of bright yellow jackets and black helmets and, in the middle, singing, dancing and talking was a small group of colorfully dressed up protesters. The imbalance between the number of police officers present and the number of demonstrators was
increadible.
Amidst nasty looks and silly remarks 'oh she looks lost...' from the yellow jackets I managed to make my way through and walking along a pavement blocked from the road by a row of useless fences, I got to the Indymedia headquarters where a policeman was standing opposite the door taking notes and reporting about every comings and goings.
At 1pm a blockade was organised. We went. Again I could not believe the number of police officers present and was even more shocked by their behaviour. At no moment was there any violent outbreak by the protesters. All the aggressivity however came from the black helmets. They pushed people around, swore at protesters for no reason and basically just looked down upon the demonstrators as if they were criminals. This is actually what it felt like, being seen as a criminal, guilty of exercising one's most basic human rights. And this is no joke. Under the terrorist act that some nongovernmental organisations such as Liberty are fighting against,anybody can be detained with charges of overthrowing the state. It was the stupidity of the all scene that I still find difficult to believe. Dozens of vans, some especially rented for the occasion, full of police officers, bright yellow jackets on motorcycles, black helmets on horses, a helicopter constantly present, all this police army for only a few peaceful demonstrators trying to make their voices heard, opposing an arm fair, in the name of peace.
Thanks to Indymedia I can put in writing my frustration and testify about what I saw today.
Comments
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More than just the arms fair
13.09.2003 10:35
But also I suspect that there may have been an attempt to clamp down on the amazing movement that has been continuing since the first RTS parties to J18 and a growing acceptance and adoption direct action. Perhaps more than just controlling the protests the cops plan was to make it so difficult to do anything by creating a very repressive and scary atmosphere. In short they didn't just want to control these protests but perhaps they wanted to break the spirit of this movement. They want people to go home feeling powerless and not feeling like coming out again. Examples of this might be the constant photographing of protesters - not just once but over and over again. This goes beyond so called evidence gathering. It's intimidation. And targeting certain activists and blatently following them, sometimes for days is the same thing.
That this failed and in particular with such low numbers on our side is a great testament to the courage of everyone present.
SEARCHED
I got searched to under section 1 of P.A.C.E. (looking for weapons). The cops claimed they were looking for scaffold clips that might have been used to throw at people. The reason given was that me and my mate cycled past two people on foot who were thought to have the said scaffold clips. Pretty weird reasoning.
Things got even more bizarre when they opened up by brand new sealed puncture repair kit. This tiny box is about 2 and half inches long and maybe half an inch deep. How they thought I could have concealed scaffold clips in there I don't know.
When they went to go through my wallet I stopped them by saying there was obviously no scaffold clips in there.
It definitely helps to know the law. But I'm still not sure what recourse one has if one thinks one has been searched illegally - i.e without reasonable cause.
searched