dissent! Network Of Resistance

G8-TV is a platform of video activists for the coverage of the Action Days against the G8-summit in Heiligendamm.

Details here!

• G8: Urgent appeal lodged against demonstration ban. If necessary, the ’star-march’ coalition plan to take matters all the way to the federal courts.
• G8 countries’ foreign policies are given as the reason for the “police emergency”.

Press Release May 18th 2007
[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe | International Press Group]

All demonstrations in the vicinity of Heiligendamm have been prohibited under a General Ban issued by the German Office for Association. The grounds behind the fence and a 4 kilometre area around the perimetre of the fence fall under the ban. With this ban, the protests are to be held at a 6 kilometre distance.

The planned ’star march’ is one of the initiatives that is affected by these measures. With the motto, ‘taking the protest to Heiligendamm’, the star march is intended to end with a closing rally in Heiligendamm. Today, the star march coalition is lodging an urgent appeal against the ruling. A decision is expected at the end of next week. “If necessary, we will have our right to protest confirmed by the federal courts”, a speaker for the star march coalition said. The prohibited area stretches from the camp in Reddelich almost all the way to the camp in Wichmannsdorf. A speaker of the BAO “Kavala” has declared that a congregation of 3 people within this area is illegal under the ruling. “This means that we can’t even leave the camp in groups of 3 and walk next to one another without the police breaking us up”, says a camp participant of the WomenLesbianTransgender Network. The rationale for the ban, according to “Kavala”, lies with the foreign policies of the G8 countries. A “latent threat situation” exists for the representatives of the G8 countries because of the wars in “Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine”. Even the German Government is perceived as endangered, because of its “increasing engagement in conflict regions”. What is meant is the war in Afghanistan.

Hanne Jobst of the Gipfelsoli Infogruppe finds this reasoning absurd: “Protest is forbidden because it would have negative effects for foreign decision-makers. The G8 makes decisions that affect the lives of millions of people every day, without the legitimacy to do so, yet inthe opinion of the police, the G8 should not have to be subjected to these people’s anger”.

Even popstar Herbert Groenemeyer has to admit this: “There is real anger”, he explained in the German newspaper ‘taz’ the day before yesterday.

Conicidentally, this week in Scotland, charges against five activists who were arrested and detained on their way to a closing demonstration at the conference hotel in Gleneagles during the 2005 G8 summit, were dropped. “As always during summit protests the police use arbitrary and often illegal measures to prevent protest from reaching those it seeks to criticise”, Gerda Achterhuis of the Dutch Dissent network argues.
“The move to ban the demonstration does not surprise us. However, we will not let ourselves be intimidated and will continue to mobilise for the star march and all other actions against the G8 meeting.”

Gipfelsoli Infogruppe: +49 0160 95314023
International Press Group: +49 160 92437902

Background:
Public statement of the police department Rostock (detailed justification for the ban, 23 pages): gipfelsoli.org

In the last two weeks more and more people asked for a compilation of basic info (German protest culture, demonstrations, police forces and repression).

You can download a .pdf file from dissentnetzwerk.org which hopefully answers most of these questions.

Also this for hitchhikers…

Is it legal to hitchhike in Germany, and if not, will you actually get stopped?

It’s legal and there are always people who do it.

Do you hitchhike the same way, by standing between an offramp and the highway and sticking out your thumb and holding a sign saying Berlin?

That’s what some people do. Some also try to get to a motorway service area (Raststätte) and ask people if they can give them a ride. That makes it more easy for both sides to estimate the others.

Is there a better way to go than hitching?

At that level of expense: no. Going by train is really expensive. Another option is to go with others in a car. There are places in the www where you can find people. Usually you share the cost with others in the car then. But I think the websites for that are all in German.
Try Google: www.google.de/search?q=mitfahrgelegenheit
Also check out the Car Sharing & Travel Forum

Are there radical spaces in Frankfurt… or radical people even?

You might find more information here: club-voltaire.frankfurt.org
(Kleine Hochstraße 5, 60313 Frankfurt am Main).
There seems to be a squat called “AU” (In der Au 14 - 16): www.au-frankfurt.org

What is the address and phone number of the Convergence Centre in Berlin?

There’s a flyer (in German) which has the email address: mail.cc_berlin(at)nostate.net

It’s illegal to stand/walk/sleep/have sex or whatever on motorways, keep that in mind. The best way to get through Germany is to try to get on a motorway and stay on it, let people drop you on big gas stations. Always try to let people drop you BEHIND big intersections or cities, because then you are sure a lot of people are heading in the direction you want to go. In that way you can travel through Germany in less than a day (autobahn). Ask truckers, its still legal in Germany to take you with them. In Spain its prohibited for example (only for Spanish truckers, others can still take you).

Try www.hitchhikers.org to get a ride in advance.

7pm, Thursday 17th May

RampART Creative Social Centre, 15 Rampart Steet (off Commercial Road), London E1 2LA

How to get there?

See this post

Press release International Press Group

Contact: g8-press-int(at)nadir.org

16th of May

• G8: German police declare a general ban on demonstrations in designated areas around the G8 summit
• Restrictions on the right to demonstrate are heavily criticized
• G8 summit protesters announce law suit

The special police department “Kavala”, responsible for the security of the G8 summit, has issued yesterday evening a so-called General Ban. This was formally communicated to the negotiators of one of the protest marches. In the past, “Kavala” always has denied plans of such a restriction of the right to protest. Even the website of “Kavala” has stated for months that no restrictions would be placed on demonstrations in the area of the fence. Now it is clear that no demonstrations against the G8 will be allowed in an area of several kilometers outside of the fence.

“There are plans for an area outside of the fence as well as the road network around Heiligendamm for the time frame in question that will be subjected to a ban of association”, so the letter of “Kavala”.

The order will most likely be signed by Christiane Röttgers. Röttgers works closely with the governmental presidency in Luneburg and has been a central administrator of General Bans during the regular mass protests against the nuclear Castor transports. Now she is working as head of the “Association Department” at “Kavala”. She is expected to implement the restrictions of the right to protest in Heiligendamm.

“Kavala” has suspended the release of this order for a long time. Such a practice is well-known from the protests against the Castor transports. “The police are playing with time. This will restrict the possibilities for a law suit against the ban”, so the criticism of the protesters.

“All those who officially registered their demonstrations have been misled for months”, says the Infogroup Gipfesoli. For months the Association Department of “Kavala” has not responded to several registrations.

Of concern are above all the plans for the “Star March” which intends to have different thematical strands. This, along with several small demonstrations along the fence in Heiligendamm, were registered for the 7th of June. But also the announced blockades of the military airport Rostock Laage will be forbidden under the ban.

Summit protestors have announced their intention to lodge a formal complaint and begin legal proceedings as soon as possible. This drawn out bureaucratic process was certainly intended by the authorities. However, the right to protest in the vicinity of the adressed institution was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court several times in the run up to the events. The most famous case on this issue in Germany is the so- called “Brokdorf judgement” from the period of intense protests against nuclear energy in 1985.

In response to the repressive police measures, the alliance “Block G8″ has announced to blockade the G8 summit by means of civil disobedience, notwithstanding the general ban.

***
Maps of the fence and the restricted area: gipfelsoli.org

*Important information about the opening of the Convergence Centre “balticseabeach” in Rostock:*

* at the Convergence Centre will be a *two days hardcore festival* on the 25th and 26th of May

* this will be at the same time the opening party for the Convergence Centre in Rostock

*you are all welcome to rock and open up the protests in Rostock

Link for the flyer with all bands:

dissentnetzwerk.org/wiki/Flyer25.5

Link for the Convergence Centre in Rostock:

dissentnetzwerk.org/wiki/ConvergenceCenterRostock

7pm, Thursday 17th May

RampART Creative Social Centre is at 15 Rampart Street, off Commercial Road, London, E1 2LA

How to get there?

Public Transport

Nearest tube stops are Whitechapel, Aldgate East and Shadwell (which includes the DLR and the East London Line). The distance between them and Rampart is about the same. It takes 5-10 minutes to walk to/from those stations. Shadwell DLR has no barriers or ticket inspectors.

Bus routes that stop just at the top of Rampart Street on Commerical Road include 15 and 115. You can also get the 100 to nearby Shadwell which comes from South London. On Whitechapel High Street (about 5 mins walk away), you have the number 25 (the ‘free’ bendy bus) and the 205 among others.

By Car

Why? But yes, Ramparts is outside of the Congestion Zone and parking is not a problem in the evenings or at weekends. The major roads to navigate by are the A11 (Whitechapel Road) and the A13 (Commerical Road). The A13 comes direct from the M25 way out east.

If you are coming from any other direction other than from the east then you will probably want to use the circular. From South of the river that would mean the A100 over Tower Bridge. And from the North it would be the A501 or perhaps the A10.

Your final aim would be to find the junction with New Road which joins both the A11 and the A13. You should be able to figure out the rest from the instructions above.

The new trapese book ‘Do it Yourself : a Handbook for Changing Our World’ is out this week. For more information about the book and contents please go to our website www.handbookforchange.org. If you are interested in helping us to distribute the book around your networks, social centres, friends, families, that would be fantastic, send us an email….
info(at)handbookforchange.org

love and solidarity
the trapese collective

Do It Yourself. A Handbook for Changing Our World
Edited by The Trapese Collective
Out May 2007

“This is a wonderful book. It starts from a simple and brilliant premise. We know that we are heading towards the destruction of humanity, but we don’t know what to do about it…The book offers a simple suggestion: that we should do it ourselves, take our lives into our own hands… I recommend it with enormous enthusiasm.”
John Holloway, author of Change The World Without Taking Power

info(at)handbookforchange.org
www.trapese.org
www.escanda.org
skype: kimbryan9131

You can download everything for free from:

www.dhf.uu.se

Critical Currents no. 1, May 2007

G8 Club Governance
– Power and Politics in a Global World

Since the late 1990s an increasingly critical global movement has come into existence, mobilising against the G8 and its agenda. It questions and challenges the role of this self-formed club, the basis of its governance, the authority it tends to assume and its hegemonic power. The G8 leaders are held responsible by their critics for being, inter alia, decisive actors in creating a global architecture based on a neoliberal paradigm. But often the analysis of the context and its consequences is secondary to political activism.

The collection of interventions presented here is part of a bigger volume published in German on occasion of the G8 Summit in June 2007. It deals with topical issues for debate beyond the meeting in the German coastal town of Heiligendamm at the Baltic Sea.

Preface
Henning Melber

The G8 – not the only show in town
Nicola Bullard

Climate Change and Carbon Trade
Kevin Smith

The G8 – geoengineers without borders
Pat Mooney

Profiteering from Death
– TRIPs and monopolies on seeds and medicines
Vandana Shiva

Perils of Elite Pacting
Patrick Bond

The Bamako Appeal
– back to the future?
Peter Waterman

1. Camps / Convergence Centres

There are two camps announced/set up at the moment – Reddelich and one at the fishing port near Bad Doberan.

The camp at Reddelich is about 5km from the fence, and can hold about 3-5000 people. It will be open from 1 June. It is a mixed camp – mixed ‘us’ and NGOs, including Attac. Will use the spokes system to make day to day decisions. Big decisions will be made in an assembly.

The other camp will hold up to 6,000 people. It is also mixed. It is in an industrial area and is perhaps easier to contain by the police.

Also convergence centres in Hamburg, Berlin and Rostock from 25th May onwards.

2.Events

2nd June – Rostock demo – the alliance of radical groups and NGOs. 100,000-150,000 people are expected. There is also an anti-fascist demo about 60km from Rostock, where fascists are mobilising for their anti-G8 demo.(police will also be trying to stop the fascists).

4th June – Day of Action on Migration for the Freedom of Movement - Demonstration and Conference

5th June – actions at the Rostock-Laage airfield, about 15km out of Rostock. Blockades of this airport will merge into blockade of the G8 since delegates will be using this airport to fly in.

6th June – go to the fence star-demo. Groups will start in 4/5 different places, come together at the fence and then spread out along the fence making security difficult. OR actions at another major city in the area. Decision will be made on the 6th June.

Interesting rumour going around that they have already moved the beginning of the G8 meeting forward by the day, shortening the length of the meeting by a day, because of logistical/security problems.
Early success!

3.Transport

a) around Heiligendamm…

Basically – don’t rely on provision there and distances are quite far between action sites – make your own plans. Some bikes are being delivered but not many.

b) Getting there from Britain
www.seat61.com will have train options e.g. £80-90 return to Hamburg.

Hamburg to Reddlich costs €29.

Gullivers – bus service – London – Hamburg €29.

Coaches with Eurolines cost £70/80 London-Hamburg return

Globalise Resistance are putting on coaches – c. £80

www.dutchflyer.co.uk – Howich-Holland, and then a train from Holland to the border (where there will be G8 buses) all for £25.

Recommended to get an open-ended return since you might not know when you can get back!

Might be cheaper to hire transport on the Continent – this would also mean you’d have means of transport there.

4.Border crossing/German police

There is no logistical way for the police to close the German borders. They may do stop and searches on the motorways but not on the borders.

Police are more likely to give an order to leave a particular area, and they don’t need much ground – just ’suspicion’ that you might cause trouble (a bit like Section 14 in the UK). Violating this is a minor offence but it is a way to get arrested.

German police can stop and search anywhere in Germany and it is law to carry ID at all times.

German and UK police are not very well networked, because Britain isn’t part of Schengen therefore they don’t have access to the police databases – they would need to get special systems or agreements.

It’s illegal to mask up or wear protective gear in Germany.

Police use water guns, batons and pepper spray (more common than tear gas).

They can detain you for 24 hours on suspicion that you might do something. But they have to bring you to a judge within that 24 hours who will decide whether to continue to detain you.

Worth looking at www.pigbrother.org for more info

two types of German police – local council police and federal (i.e. Nationwide police) who have heavy equipment

The military are forbidden from carrying out police work e.g. Crowd control. But they can help with logistical support.

5.Coordination/communication between camps

There will be daily meetings.
And infopoint system – in both camps, Rostock train station and Bad Doberan

will be a walkie-talkie relay thing – PMR (personal media radio). These can be bought cheaply in shops like Dixons, recommended to bring an earphone. It was also commented that these ‘are a waste of time’.

Worth bringing a portable radio if nothing else.

London Indymedia – will have an information space in London – come in the evening to hear what’s going on, watch footage, plan actions. London No Borders is also putting on an event on the 8th June at
Ramparts.

Next meeting - 7pm Ramparts, Thursday 17th May