Seoul braced for anti-G20 protests

SOUTH Korea is braced for massive protests agains the neoliberal G2 circus when it rolls into town this week.

The Korea Herald reports that 50,000 police officers are currently deployed around the COEX, the summit’s venue, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

It adds: "The highest number of police officers ever mobilized in a single G20 summit was 19,000 in Toronto this June."

Say organisers of the impressive anti-G20 coalition: "The G20, originally formed to respond to the global financial crisis, is attempting to set itself up as the authority responsible for directing the world economy and defining world governance.

"While completely excluding most nations from decision-making, the G20 is attempting to make the world ‘safe’ for neoliberal capitalism by forcing emerging economies to shoulder part of the burden of the crisis, promoting trade and investment liberalization dressed up 'in new robes', negotiating weak financial reforms that largely allow financial speculation to go on unchecked, and reviving the ailing IMF and other IFIs.

"This agenda is being pursued despite the fact that neoliberal capitalism is clearly a failed model, which only increases poverty and inequality around the globe."

A protest was held on Sunday and the main march and rally is planned for Thursday November 11.

Korean radicals to battle against G20

A 'GREAT transformation' could sweep across the world as a result of radical action against the neoliberal G20 in South Korea this November.

That's the hope of the anti-capitalists who are planning masssive protests against the neoliberal summit as the global financial elite clamps imposes its will on communities across the world.

Writes Barb Dwyer on IndyBay: "While thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets during past G-20 Summits in North America and Europe, South Korean workers and activists have a long history of being even more militant in their struggle against the destructive policies of globalization than their counterparts in the Northwest hemisphere.

"In December of 1996, the South Korean parliament passed a new labor law which began a 'structural adjustment' austerity program on behalf of the IMF and World Bank.

"These programs require countries to make debt repayment a priority, and as a consequence forces them to cut essential social services such as health, education, and development, thus lowering their standard of living. These programs also open the door to the privatization of natural resources, such as ancient forests and public water supplies, to be exploited by multinational corporations.

"In the days that followed, 12 million South Korean workers went on strike to counter the new undemocratic labor law. In the years that followed, South Koreans continued to protest against the destructive policies of neoliberalism, most notably the WTO in 2003, World Economic Forum in 2004, APEC in 2005, and numerous other occasions.

"As the G20 approaches, the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has announced it is planning to hold a rally and march on November 11th, the first day of the Summit. According to their website, '...the KCTU will do everything in our power to stage a massive anti-neoliberalism struggle that will gain attention of people and workers around the globe. To this end, we will prepare to hold People’s Action and be a leader of a great transformation.'

"South Korean workers have often utilized the direct action tactics of resistance, such as strikes and factory takeovers, to large street demonstrations. It is not uncommon that the workers are also armed with slingshots, molotov cocktails, and sticks.

"Often times, in an act of more desperate resistance, workers commit suicide outside of their factories, sometimes through self-immolation. South Korean police on the other hand, much like their counterparts around the globe, have also demonstrated their willingness to continually brutalize their own citizens to quell public dissent of these policies.

"It is a well documented and common tactic for South Korean police to scrape the bottom of their metal shields on the concrete in order to sharpen the edges into a blade before they thrust their shields into the throats of protesters. Over the years, this brutal police tactic has led to the horrific deaths of many South Korean workers.

"All this comes at a time when the fallout from past G-20's are still fresh in the air. During the 2009 G-20 Summit in London, Ian Tomlinson was beaten to death by police. On July 21st, 2010, his wife and nine children learned that the London police would not investigate his death, despite video and photographic evidence.

"None of the officers went to the aid of Tomlinson, who stumbled 100 yards down the road before collapsing and dying in front of thousands of demonstrators. In Canada, the police have begun an old-fashion witch hunt for the people they suspect are responsible for the property damage that occurred during the G-20 in Toronto.

"Up to 17 people are being charged with conspiracy and at least 4 individuals still remain in jail. In the wake of the Pittsburgh Summit, many cases still remain in court regarding criminal charges against activists, as well as the excessive use of force by police."

TSG are 'shock troops of repression'

THE POLICE unit that killed Ian Tomlinson are "the shock troops of repression" and effectively immune from prosecution.

That is the conclusion of an article by the weekly direct action newsletter SchNEWS following the shock news that no charges are to be made over the 2009 G20 protest death in London.

States the article: "As SchNEWS has witnessed, this kind of casual dishing out of violence is completely normal for police in this situation - but not always seen by millions on film.

"The G20 protests were deliberately corralled in a ‘kettle ‘ around the Bank of England. As the day wore on the police became increasingly violent. What happened to Ian was, apart from its tragic consequences, an experience shared by many.

"Immediately after the news of Tomlinson’s death surfaced the Met’s PR machine whirred into motion. We were told by a dutiful mainstream press that a man who had had no violent contact with cops had died of a heart attack while officers attempted to resuscitate him.

"Lies were spread that these life-saving public servants were under a hail of bottles hurled by a filthy anarchist mob. Despite the fact that the media should have learned their lesson during the Menezes affair (see SchNEWS 508, 552, 647), once again they reported the lies verbatim.

" The cop who struck Tomlinson and pushed him over has now been named as PC Simon Harwood, part of the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG).

"This is a specialised forced entry and public order unit of the Metropolitan Police – created the day after the notorious Special Patrol Group was disbanded in the wake of the death of Blair Peach, another man clubbed to death for being on the wrong demo at the wrong time, this time in 1979. The inquiry into his death has never been made public.

"The TSG has gained its own share of infamy as the most macho and aggressive section of the most macho and aggressive police force in the UK. This is the same outfit that Sgt Delroy Smellie belongs to, caught on camera striking out at Nicola Fisher who was brandishing a carton of orange juice at the time. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8597812.stm ).

"It is clear that the casual use of violence is endemic in the unit and others like it. A total of 283 TSG officers had been investigated over 547 allegations of misconduct during the year 2008-09.

"Of these, 159 allegations were of assault. It is of course extremely useful to those in power to have at their disposal these shock troops of repression, and for them to be effective they must be guaranteed immunity from prosecution."

Disgust as police get away with G20 killing

A WAVE of anger and disgust has swept the UK after the authorities announced there would be no prosecution of the policeman responsible for Ian Tomlinson during the 2009 G20 protests in London.

Police originally lied, claiming the newspaper vendor had suffered a heart attack after being caught up in a demonstrating crowd, but video footage emerged clearly showing him being hit by a baton wielded by PC Simon Harwood and pushed to the ground.

Now, 16 months later, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced that there is not enough evidence for a conviction for anything other than common assault, for which the time limit has conveniently expired.

Deborah Coles, of Inquest, called for an inquiry into the actions of all the public bodies involved in the case, reported The Independent.

She said: "The eyes of the world will be looking on with incredulity as yet again a police officer is not facing any criminal charges after what is one of the most clear cut and graphic examples of police violence that has led to death.

"This decision is a shameful indictment of the way police criminality is investigated and demonstrates a culture of impunity when police officers break the law."

The verdict from the public was overwhelming, as witnessed not only by the 1,000 plus comments in The Guardian and on Twitter, but on mainstream media websites.

For instance, one comment on Sky News stated: "OMG! A man commits a criminal offence, it's caught on camera, a man dies, another man is under review for being incompetent at his job, 15 months pass by and at the end of all that the cops decided no one is reponsible for anything! Here's me a week or so ago wondering how idiots can support Mr Moat."

Wrote another: "This is an absolute disgrace! Had it been the other way round, and it had been the copper pushed to the ground, only to die minutes later, you can bet your life the book would have been thrown at the one doing the pushing. Another nail in the coffin that is justice in this pathetic excuse for a country."

A reader of London's Evening Standard commented: "Placing the Police above the law shows why there is such contempt for them. If you start with the basics, there is a clear case for common assault, if it had been the other way around, who would be in jail at the moment?

"The Police are no longer servants of the People, but are instead the instruments of control of an Authoritarian State."

Added a Daily Mail reader: "All this does is undermine public opinion to an even lower level, I never thought I would fear the police as I do now. No longer public servants but licensed thugs that can literally get away with murder."

The announcement came five years to the day after the police shot dead innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes on the London tube - a crime they also got away with.

G20 leaders are criminals says author

THE neoliberal leaders who met at the G20 summit in Toronto are nothing more than global criminals.

That's the view of Canadian author and Toronto resident Naomi Klein in her latest column published in The Guardian.

She writes: "My city feels like a crime scene, and the criminals are all melting into the night, fleeing the scene. No, I'm not talking about the kids in black who smashed windows and burned cop cars on Saturday.

"I'm talking about the heads of state who, on Sunday night, smashed social safety nets and burned good jobs in the middle of a recession. Faced with the effects of a crisis created by the world's wealthiest and most privileged strata, they decided to stick the poorest and most vulnerable people in their countries with the bill.

"How else can we interpret the G20's final communique, which includes not even a measly tax on banks or financial transactions, yet instructs governments to slash their deficits in half by 2013.

"This is a huge and shocking cut, and we should be very clear who will pay the price: students who will see their public educations further deteriorate as their fees go up; pensioners who will lose hard-earned benefits; public sector workers whose jobs will be eliminated. And the list goes on."

She adds: "Already, workers, pensioners and students have taken to the streets against austerity measures in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Greece, often marching under the slogan: 'We won't pay for your crisis.'

"The G20 is an ad hoc institution with none of the legitimacy of the United Nations. Since it just tried to stick us with a huge bill for a crisis most of us had no hand in creating, I say we take a cue from Martin and Summers. Flip it over, and write on the back of the envelope: Return to sender."

Free the Toronto 500!

AN APPEAL has gone out for people to voice support for the hundreds of protesters arrested during the anti-G20 protests in Toronto.

Says the Movement Defence Committee: "The MDC’s Summit Legal Support Project is appealing to the movements it supports to mobilize a show of political strength and solidarity for the nearly 500 people arrested in the last four days.

"The Toronto Police and the ISU appear to have lost control of their ‘prisoner processing center’, denying arrestees meaningful and timely access to counsel while beating and arresting those peacefully protesting their detention outside.

"Despite assurances to the contrary, only a handful of people have been released, including those held for many hours without charge.

"Arrestees are given incorrect information about the bail process they will be subjected to, and friends and family members gather hours early at the courthouse, located far from the city center and inaccessible via transit.

"Our lawyers call in and are told that there is no one available to make decisions or wait for hours at the detention centre, only to be denied access to their clients.

"Almost 500 people are in custody and we know from experience that the vast majority of those charges will disappear and yet the cell doors remain shut.

"We need to step it up and build a political response. We need many more voices – especially prominent ones – to say that the abuse and incompetence at 629 Eastern Avenue must stop.

"We must demand that all levels of government take control of the police forces under their command. We need to ensure that courts and crown attorneys act to enforce constitutional rights rather than collude in their violation.

"Free the Toronto 500!"

Anti-G20 protests erupt in Toronto

TORONTO in Canada has today erupted with massive and angry protests against the G20 meeting of the global neoliberal elite.

Reports Digital Journal: "What started as a large peaceful protest in downtown Toronto to rally against the G20 summit has suddenly turned violent.

"Police cars have been set ablaze, protesters hurled bricks and golf balls at windows and many Toronto venues are on lockdown.

"A portion of the G20 summit protesters in Toronto clashed with police Saturday afternoon, forcing Toronto Police to take control of downtown Toronto.

"At King and Bay streets, a Toronto Police vehicle has been set on fire. Along Yonge Street, various stores -- such as American Apparel and the Zanzibar strip club -- have had their windows broken by thrown objects.

"The security perimeter on Front Street has not been compromised, Toronto Police say. Now, black-clad protesters have dispersed across Toronto, wrecking havoc on a wide range of Toronto sites.

"The Yonge and College streets area are facing impacting damage; news report say protesters are also moving to University and College streets. Police are reportedly using tear gas right now at the University and College area, the Globe & Mail reports.

"One Globe reporter recently liveblogged: "Huge rubber bullet shot at cluster of photographers and me, missed but close." This is reportedly the first time in history Toronto Police have used tear gar.

"The violent protest has forced Toronto attractions to shut their doors. The Eaton Centre, the Delta Chelsea Hotel, the Sheraton Hotel and the subway system between Bloor and St. George stations have been shut down.

"Also, police headquarters at 40 College Street is on lockdown."

Canadian banks fear G20 protests

CANADIAN bankers are getting increasingly nervous, four weeks before the G20 summit.

CTV News reports from Toronto: "Several downtown banks and a police vehicle were vandalized with anti-G20 graffiti early Friday.

"At least five banks and ATMs were hit with red and black spray painted slogans such as 'Stop the G20'. A police vehicle was also damaged."

A video of the TV news broadcast explains that banks are advising customers to use online banking during the summit and to withdraw valuables from safes in advance as they fear they will be forced to shut by angry protests.

Adds 680 News: "Mayor David Miller is warning residents and tourists alike to do what they can to avoid downtown Toronto during G20 weekend."

The graffiti follows the firebombing of a bank in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, by anarchists.

World leaders descend on Toronto' s Metro Convention Centre on June 26th and 27th.