international police conference

about the methods used to combat activism at neoliberal summits

The Dutch police are organising an international conference about the methods used to combat activism at neoliberal summits. It would take place from 3 to 5 October 2001 in The Hague. The conference is postponed because of the attacks on New York and Washington. The original program can be found on the website: www.burojansen.nl/documenten/DenHaagConferentie.htm (it's an activist website, as usual we are more public than the state...)

The organisers claim that the goal of the conference is to prevent 'unnecessary damage' to both sides, but it's clear that they will be discussing a wide variety of methods of combatting resistance, actions and demonstrations. As the official program reads: "It will be a closed forum. Senior police officers from the capitals and other major cities of most European countries, North America, Australia and New Zealand are being invited to attend. There will be presentations on the events in Seattle, Melbourne, Prague and The Hague."

Among the stated goals for the conference the official program reads:

1. To acquire greater insight into the phenomenon of "global civil society".
2. To share information and successful tactics for maintaining order during summit conferences.
3. To build up an international network of police experts.
4. To set up a permanent interchange of expertise and to intensify international cooperation in this area.

The program continues:
" The ultimate goal is to achieve a situation in which it remains possible to carry on holding summits without this leading to
serious public order disturbances and riots, and in which at the same time the democratic right to demonstrate can be exercised as a legitimate means of influencing international political and financial decision-making.(...) ".

By the way; as one can read in the official program, the organisers have invited someone to give a speech from the
viewpoint of 'civil society'. We are in (good) contact with this person, and he is still in doubt as to whether he should collaborate or not. If he does, he will tell them loud and clear which atrocities police-forces have been committing and will not colaborate with them in any other way.

Activist groups in the Netherlands are keeping a close watch on this conference, and discussing different options for dealing with it. At the moment various ideas for debate, awareness-raising and action are being developed.

One of the things we have agreed on is that we would like to use this as an opportunity for activists to gather information about the means and methods that police (and other repressive forces and intelligence services) have been using against internationalist demonstrators/activists. We are therefore keen to receive information on this topic as well as related experiences concerning so-called anti-globalisation activities from 'Seattle' onwards. We are especially interested in analyses of the tactics employed by police and other state forces at different events and summits. We also welcome any comprehensive reviews of these and similar events containing details of numbers of arrests (and ultimate prosecutions) and wounded, 'illegal' police methods, actions, etc.

We also plan to organise a modest debate for activists about various forms of repression, present and future. More information on this event will be distributed later. For the longer term, we would also like to discuss ways of establishing more structured form of information-sharing around this issue. You can contact us by email at: kh@xminy.nl If you want us to keep you informed, let us know. We will be posting new information on the website of the Dutch 'Copwatch'-group
Buro Jansen en Janssen: http://www.burojansen.nl/. More background information is also to be found on the website of Statewatch: http://www.statewatch.org

A SEED Europe
Post Box 92066,
1090 AB Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.
Tel: +31-20-668-2236
Fax: +31-20-468 2275
aseedeur@antenna.nl
www.aseed.net

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