Australia
Riot police attack right to protest
Gothenburg has not been the only example of state attacks on anti-globalisation protestors.
We print this account of police tactics in Australia against a peaceful local action, adapted from a report from Andrew Fernandez which appears on the No Sweat web site.
Melbourne:
Riot-trained police attack Nike protest
More than 250 police and tens horses violently attacked protestors outside the Nike superstore on June 1., the tenth Friday running in which nearly 300 people gathered to highlight Nike’s exploitation of child labour, slave wages and anti-union attacks.
The police contingent included 200 members of the Force Response Unit, established by the Kennett Liberal government to break strikes and smash campaigns against their policies.
The FRU have been responsible for the baton charge of picketers protesting against the closure of Richmond Secondary College in 1993 and the controversial and deadly pressure point tactics used against many anti-globalisation demonstrators in Melbourne last autumn resulting in over 400 hundred injured.
On Friday, as protestors assembled, it became clear that we could expect something different than on previous weeks. Two ambulances and television crews (tipped off by police) were present on the scene.
Brawler vans
Round the corner to the north and south of the protest, brawler vans (used for mass arrests) and bus-loads of police were parked and waiting for the signal to attack.
About thirty minutes after protestors formed a symbolic blockade of NIKE, allowing shoppers in and out at either end of the picket lines), the Police gave their first warning for the crowd to disperse.
By the time of the second warning protestors had agreed to move on. However just as protestors had broken their blockade lines and were assembling to march off, the police moved in with force.
Police attacked indiscriminately, harassing and attacking shoppers, commuters and protestors alike, and forcing the crowd onto the street. The police continued to move in on protestors and the general public who were doing nothing but standing on street corners.
They attacked anyone with a megaphone, violently seizing the equipment from them. They then proceeded to make arrests while periodically charging in waves at demonstrators who were either trying to observe those being arrested or make their way to the other side on the street.
Meanwhile passers-by looked on horror at the sheer thuggery and brutality of the Victoria Police.
In the end five protestors were arrested and charge with "besetting a premises" - law that has been used against union picketers in the past.
The anti-NIKE 5 were forced to sign a bail condition stating that they would not return to the Central Business District (basically the entire city area!).
Once again NIKE has shown that it cares more about profits than child labour, slave wages, union rights and peoples well being.
Three hours of extra trading is obviously worth a few cracked skulls. And once again the police have shown whose side they are really on.
However despite the violent attack, nearly 200 protestors regrouped and held an emergency meeting at which it was unanimously agreed to keep the protests going and to build them bigger and bigger.
All were quick to recognise that the response by Nike and the Police were a direct result of the impact the protests were having. The mood was clearly one of defiance and determination to carry on.
The campaign in now attempting to win massive union and community support for continuing mass action against Nike.
For more information about the campaign internationally, go to:
No Sweat (UK) http://www.nosweat.org.uk/ No sweat! was launched in November 2000 as a campaign against sweatshop labour, both overseas and in the UK.
Panorama had earlier screened an expose of Gap and Nike, two huge rich multinational companies that are building a name as ruthless exploiters of child and sweated labour.