From: Victoria <vgibb-carsley@canadians.org>
To: "'chapters@canadians.org'" <chapters@canadians.org>
Subject: COC-CHAPS-L Update from Seattle - Day Four
Date sent: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 12:23:37 -0500 

Hello Chapters: This is the latest from our people in Seattle. vgc

Report from Seattle - Wednesday, December 1, 1999 Day Four - Protests and Negotiations

The police-declared state of emergency continued today, and authorities declared the downtown core a no-go area for demonstrators. Protesters would be arrested on sight, we were told, and a police cordon checked ID for all those entering the downtown core, maintaining tight control within this 50-block area. Around the perimeter, and on occasion within it, peaceful protests took place and were met with vigorous clamp-downs. Meanwhile, at the Convention Centre, negotiations began and the process to squeeze out agreement took shape.

Today, despite promises of more transparency, NGOs were supposed to be completely excluded from the plenary discussion. We were told that we could watch it on TV! However, our Trade Campaigner, Morag Simpson, managed to get into the discussion hall and keep a close eye on proceedings. Most of the real negotiations took place between the ministers in backrooms away from scrutiny. Discussions are aimed at getting agreement on a framework of areas for negotiation over the next several years. What makes it onto the agenda, and how it is framed, will be the measures of success or failure for this meeting, and important indicators about the road ahead.

Among the areas that the Canadian delegation today confirmed are under discussion for inclusion are agriculture, subsidies, services, genetically altered foods and investment. There are also discussions on whether to include discussions on environmental protection, labour standards and opening up the WTO to public scrutiny. The delegation tonight repeated the line that health care and education would not be placed on the table by the Canadian government. However, they were slightly less definitive about other social programs, and were rather vague about how they could succeed in protecting any of these areas if they are traded out to other countries.
They were luke-warm on investment, too, saying only that the Canadian government would not voluntarily place investment on the table. This leaves room for other countries to do so, and is far from a definitive statement that Canada would reject an attempt to resurrect MAI-like provisions. The Canadian government took an incredibly poor position on the issue of transparency within the WTO, refusing to call for an opening up of the secretive and binding dispute settlement mechanism. 

An interesting twist emerged today, as the European Union appeared to reverse its earlier position, and indicated support for Canada's suggestion that this issue be discussed. As soon as news reached Europe, five countries distanced themselves from the statement and rejected the proposal. There has been speculation on what trade-off might have been made by the other countries (especially the U.S.) to tempt the EU into such a position.

Outside the trade centre, police enforced a 50-block area of control, with businesses closed and security checks at every intersection. WTO ID was required to pass through the area. As an official NGO delegate, I was allowed through the area to the Conference Centre in mid-morning. While protests were visible outside the secure core, within this zone the dominant forces were city and state police and the National Guard. Each intersection had 6 to 8 dozen police in full riot gear, and ID was checked over and again. Nothing was moving on the streets, except for the occasional bus carrying delegates and armoured personnel carriers driving past the closed stores and twinkling Christmas lights. Overhead, many helicopters passed or hovered. Welcome to the New World Order! Crossing into the Convention Centre, I was immediately surrounded by people who were well rested, well fed and well dressed, and seemed completely out of touch with the world outside.

Steve Staples, our B.C. Organizer, returned from Vancouver after organizing more than 40 buses for the rally yesterday, and a return visit to B.C. for a big anti-WTO rally. In the afternoon, Steve visited a centre of operations for many of the non-violent direct actions. (Steve is being followed by a CBC camera crew, and may be seen on the television Thursday night.) Inside the centre, protestors returning from the constant skirmishes with the police in the downtown core received minor medical care and legal advice if needed. Later, B.C. groups got together with some of the B.C. government members who were down in Seattle, including former premier Glen Clark, who is chairing the B.C. legislature's trade and investment committee.

It was another dramatic day of protests on the streets of Seattle. Around 8:30 a.m. a peaceful march entered the downtown area - designated a protest-free zone by city officials - to express their constitutional right to freedom of assembly. After being blocked by the police several times at different intersections, the 400+ activists settled in on a public square.
The group was quickly encircled by police in riot gear, some armed with machine guns, and arrests followed. Later, as the march continued, the police fired tear gas into the crowd without warning. The group reformed and marched into traffic, where once again the police sent tear gas into the mass of people, cars and buses. 

Overall, the police response today was very strong. The protestors, almost to the last person, were well disciplined, committed to non-violence, and continually repeated 'this is a peaceful protest', often pleading with police to drop their weapons and join them. In the public relations battle, the momentum shifted back to the activists today in that they were entirely peaceful. Police, state troopers and the National Guard were seen stifling legitimate dissent, making no distinction between those engaged in property destruction and those committed to peacefully reclaiming their rights to the streets and free speech. Lost in the frightening imagery of armed vehicles is the fact that more than 450 anti-WTO activists were arrested today in defence of peaceful assembly.

At the start of the curfew, the police again moved to emphasize their control. Protesters were pushed further out of the city centre, and dozens of police motorbikes and police cars buzzed around the streets, sirens and lights blazing, making occupation of the streets impossible. Later, deep within the core, security relaxed a little, and as we walked back to our hotel (a couple of miles from the centre), intersections were policed with only four or five dozen police or National Guards apiece. 


Victoria Gibb-Carsley
National Organizer
The Council of Canadians
vgibb-carsley@canadians.org
1-800-387-7177
Phone: 613-233-4487 ext 228
Fax: 613-233-6776
Website: www.canadians.org