[asia-apec 636] Documents Inplicate PM in APEC 97 Crackdown

[Jonathan Oppenheim]

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News Advisory
Wednesday, September 7, 1998

Documents Implicate PM in APEC Crackdown

Documents to be released today directly link Prime Minister Jean Chretien
to the crackdown on dissent which occurred during the APEC Leaders' Summit
at the University of BC and in the weeks leading up to the meeting.  The
evidence against the Prime Minister was gathered by students from
documents which will be submitted before the RCMP Public Complaints
Commission Hearing into APEC.  The students will be releasing the
documents this morning at a 10 a.m. press conference.

The documents reveal that the Prime Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, and
officials in the Federal Government promised General Soeharto, deposed
President of Indonesia, that he would see no sign of protest during the
APEC Summit.  They also reveal that the Prime Minister gave orders to the
RCMP to ensure that there would be no sign of dissent.  The documents
indicate that the PM ordered the RCMP to arrest students who were
peacefully camping out at the site of the Leaders' Summit, and as a
result, six students were charged with mischief days before the meeting
even occurred.  The RCMP considered ridiculous methods to prevent
demonstrations from being seen, including the planting of trees and the
hanging of drapes to block students and their banners from view.

 The students have put the documents on a web page which can be accessed
through http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/fuller/apec_alert.  They are
encouraging members of the public to view the documents for themselves.  

They are also engaged in an attempt to subpoena the PM.  Under the RCMP
Act, complainants have the power to call and subpoena witnesses.   The PM
is expected to give testimony relating to a phone call he made to
Soeharto, as well as assurances he gave to him through various officials.
He is also expected to testify about the orders he gave to the RCMP.

"The Prime Minister should consider creating a motto for the PMO: We put
the Arse in RCMP," said Michelle Bernstein, 26, a student of Art History
at UBC.

"The extent to which Chretien went to appease APEC leaders is absolutely
appalling," said Guy Debord, 27.   "He set the Mounties on students for
the sake of cheap labor in Indonesia.  Our leaders are so insolated, that
they have no sense of what people on the streets are thinking." 

"Of course, we should not just be concerned with what went on during APEC.
While overt suppression makes the six o'clock news, it is the constant,
grinding suppression which occurs everyday which we should be worried
about," Debord added. 

The students will release the documents at 10am at Library Square (300 W
Georgia St.  Lower level, Alma Van Dusen Room) and discuss their
significance.  For more information contact Jonathan Oppenheim at (604)
224-2482, or 822-1393 or email jono at physics.ubc.ca  




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