[asia-apec 643] Reaction to Canadian APEC Revalations from Aotearoa

[Robert Reid]

AOTEAROA / NZ APEC MONITORING GROUP

MEDIA STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE					10 SEPTEMBER 1998

LID BLOWN ON CANADIAN APEC ABUSES

The lid has been blown on major abuses of the rights of Canadians to
freedom of speech and movement at last year's APEC Leaders Meeting in
Vancouver.

The revelations were made by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on
Monday night and have been followed up by print media over the last few
days.

In a programme entitled The APEC Files, CBC have released the contents of
secret Government files that show that the Prime Minister's Office directed
police operations that went far beyond security matters.  It shows that
hundreds of Canadian citizens were pepper sprayed, beaten and arrested, not
because they had broken the law or were a security risk but because they
may have caused embarrassment to former Indonesian dictator General
Suharto.

"Such revelations are a chilling reminder of what New Zealand citizens can
expect if the APEC Leaders come to Auckland in 1999," said Robert Reid,
spokesperson for the Aotearoa/NZ APEC Monitoring Group.

"The signs are already not looking good for the rights of New Zealanders to
free speech and assembly," he said.

"Already a bungled SIS operation has occurred against a Christchurch
citizen who has spoken out against APEC and its free trade agenda.  This
case is currently before the courts.

"Second, the New Zealand Government is involved in "very delicate
negotiations" with foreign Governments on whether armed security guards
will be able to accompany their Leaders inside New Zealand.  It is well
known that US President Clinton and some other leaders will refuse to come
to New Zealand unless their armed security are allowed into the country. 
Will New Zealand gun laws be weakened simply to appease some APEC Leaders?

"Every city where APEC Leaders meetings have been held have suffered from
restrictions on the freedom of local citizens.  Alternative Press
Conferences were broken up by the military in Indonesia.  Homeless were
removed and the entire Osaka CBD was shut down for days in Japan. 
Thousands of slum dwellers had their homes destroyed and hundreds of
protesters were arrested in Manila in 1996.

"APEC once was the showcase of the so-called Asian tigers.  Now these
tigers have turned to sick cats and Russia, the sickest cat of all has been
invited to join APEC.  New Zealand does not need APEC, and we certainly do
not need the APEC Leaders Meeting in 1999," said Robert Reid.


NOTE TO EDITORS:  The CBC Web site on The APEC Files is:
http://WWW.TV.CBC.CA/national/pgminfo/apec/index.html
It contains a feature story, a video clip of the CBC programme and copies
of the files.