World G8 Japan 2008 Newswire Archive

A Polish delegation to the European Social Forum at Malmoe starting today sufferd a crack-down by Swedish police after entering the country. Motives for police intimidation, aggresive behaviour, violent damage to luggage and the denial of basic civil rights of detained persons are not entirely clear.

Air supply needed in downtown London
despite increase in bicycles.

Joint Statement on the 34th G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan

Last Friday, July 4th, a group of activists occupied the building where the Japanese Embassy was located on a 6th floor, in Lisbon - Portugal. Holding a 6 metres where it read “G8 at the table, One Planet starving”, with the objective of exposing the real consequences of the anti-democratic neo-liberal policies of the G8, and their fake recipes for the current world crisis: food, climactic and social..

The G8 summit will be held from July 7 to 9 of this year, at Toya-ko lake in Hokkaido (Japan). In solidarity with the worldwide plan of actions held against the kind of globalization promoted by G8 and the repression of Japanese police against activists, an action also took place in Reykjavik yesterday (5th July).

Below is the statement of more than 100 international, regional, national, and local organizations and individuals, challenging the G8 governments to acknowledge their responsibility for the food and climate crises and the continuing problem of debt, and take decisive action to:

Facing what is arguably its most serious crisis since the end of the Second World War, the global capitalist economy has never been in greater need of co-ordinated policies from the world’s major national governments.

Activists and organizers are asking local groups and individuals to call, e-mail, visit and protest at Japanese embassies over the unjust arrests, detentions, deportations, and repression occurring around counter-G8 mobilization in Japan.

No Borders ... World Development Movement ... Bicycle Sound Systems ... Hillbilly Music

Lates from reuters re people detained in Japan

Later today James Hansen will address the the United Nations University, slides attached, and he has also written a letter to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, also attached, which contains the following dire warning, which, of course won't be heeded -- "business as usual at any cost" appears to be the motto the worlds "leaders" and this is what they intend to follow even if it leads to planetary death.

Last night (June 27), three Hong Kong citizen journalists who have
been registered with the Citizens' Media Center (Sapporo) were
detained by Immigration, and were on the verge of being deported.
This morning, Susan George (ATTAC France) was stopped and questioned
at the airport. Ms George is 74 years old, and her detention
demonstrates a lack of humanity on the part of authorities.
[japanese edition: g8medianetwork.org/ja/node/183]

Saturday 5 July 2008, is the global day of action against the G8. A few days later, the G8 summit in Japan will start. In the Netherlands, you will also be able to help beat the system on that day, by participating in the collective game 'Enter Fortress Europe'. People abroad can also join in...

Over the past week and a half, an unprecedented political crackdown has been enacted in advance of a series of economic summits around the country. Despite this, the brave workers of Kamagasaki stood up against the stiff security environment in riots against the brutal beating of a day laborer over the past five days. The twin situations of repression and revolt deserve to be examined in more detail.

Here is an update on the situation happening in Osaka, Sunday 15th June.

Over 40 people have been arrested in pre-emptive sweeps of broad left and anarchist groups. Preliminary information available here:

Tabi Rounin, better known as 'Rebel_Jill' has been detained by police on minor charges in the run-up to the G8 in Japan, as the police attempt to investigate his international connections and disrupt his revolutionary activities. This is a known tactic of the Japanese political police, see the 325 magazine website for a similar case (Interview with Comrade 'M') and also see the interview with Tabi/Rebel Jill.

After leaving Russian FSB detention, left activists is returned to sea by Sapporo authorities

Sapporo-Otaru. 10.03.08 – 13:00 GMT: The German left activist Dr. Martin Kraemer has been refused landing in the port of Sapporo-Otaru. He has been condemned by Japanese authorities to remain stay put on the Panama vessel BM-2, which had brought him from Sakhalin on Friday, 7th of March. “Just released from special confinement by the Russian political police FSB, it’s now the Japanese repressive forces who try to top them.

In Russia, I got kicked and received an official death threat in custody, but this is worse,” says Martin: “Today’s blow against Japanese dignity set in before I could even open my mouth in this splendid country.” The surprising decision by Japanese immigration officers was announced today after receiving central instructions at 16:00 o’clock local time (8:00 GMT). At that time, Dr. Kraemer had already spent 66 hours waiting in the port of Otaru to get landing permission.

german:  http://gipfelsoli.org/Home/Maddalena_2009/4818.html
italiano:  http://gipfelsoli.org/Multilanguage/Italiano/4821.html

For greater security-critical behaviour in Europe - A concrete proposal for the resistance movement against the G8 2009 in Italy


Each protest enables us to draw conclusions of how to do things better next time. In the same way, we can draw conclusions from the mobilisation against the G8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm on how to achieve successful and broad resistance. Apart from three large self-organised protest camps and an international infotour in the months leading up to the summit, there were attempts to have international exchanges and establish networks beyond Germany. The decision was made not to respond to the G8 climate debate but to frame the protests in terms of other self-determined topics the movement was focussing on: migration, antimilitarism and global agriculture.

Looking ahead to the G8 2009 in Italy, this text takes up these points to propose a campaign against the new “European Security Architecture“. We outline some developments in police cooperation on a European level and call for a kind of antirepression work that goes beyond a simple critique and a scandalising police violence, and that is coordinated on a European level. Such political antirepression work would have to take new forms of social control seriously as an integral reference point for radical movements.

Unique opportunity to listen to and talk with Japanase anti-G8 activist in the run up to the G8 in Japan this summer

Talk 8pm, Hot vegan food for donations 7pm

Wednesday 27th February
Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone St, Nottingham

From 22nd to 28th February, Japanese activists are coming to UK to do an information tour about the anti G8 mobilisations this year in Japan.

An article reposted from the mainstream media about immigration regulation for G8 in Japan 2008

The G8 Summit will take place between the 7th and 9th of July. Our action days will begin on the 1st of July. There will be a series of themed demos in Sapporo during succeeding four days. July 5th shall be the day of mass rally and demo in Sapporo. We propose to make it the international day of action, calling a simultaneous protest in different cities of the world. During the three days of the Summit we are planning mass direct action at sites near Lake Toya.

Groups of anti-authoritarians like us are calling for a large network of movements. Meanwhile in May, at the anti-Asian Development Bank protest, anti-US Base movements, labor unions, ATTAC, and NGOs gathered and made an agreement to develop a coalition for the anti-G8 struggle in 2008.

There has been a series of arrests in Osaka against the homeless liberation movement. Several activists, including anarchists, have been detained on serious charges. These arrests follow a number of attacks by Osaka city against homeless people and their supporters.

A short history of the G8...