[asia-apec 1557] Security to be tight for Summit of the Americas

[BAYAN]

SECURITY TO BE TIGHT IN QUEBEC;
PROTESTERS VOW TO DISRUPT EVENT
Kevin Dougherty
Friday 8 September 2000
The Montreal Gazette
 
A tight security perimeter will enclose the core of the provincial capital for
three days in April, when the heads of 34 western hemisphere governments meet
for the third Summit of the Americas.

The event will probably be the first international forum outside the United
States attended by the new American president - George W. Bush or Al Gore,
depending on the outcome of the Nov. 7 U.S.election  summit organizers said
yesterday.

While the leaders meet April 20-22 at the Quebec Hilton and in the Citadel, a
fortification dating back to the 18th century, protesters - some peaceful,
others intent on disrupting the gathering - will stage parallel events.

Among the sovereign states in the hemisphere, only Cuba is excluded from the
summit.

Organizers explained that Premier Lucien Bouchard will not attend because only
national governments are participating. The federal government is host of the
event.

The centrepiece of the gathering will be talks on negotiating a Free Trade of
the Americas Agreement, creating a free-trade zone from Alaska to
Argentina, by
2005.

A group called CLAC, the French acronym for Anti-Capitalist Convergence, plans
a “Carnival Against Capitalism” in Quebec City during the summit.

On the Internet, CLAC states that it “adopts a confrontational attitude and
rejects reformist alternatives, such as lobbying, which cannot have a major
impact on anti-democratic processes.

“We intend to shut down the Summit of the Americas and to turn the FTAA
negotiations into a non-event,” CLAC said in an Internet posting.

In a paper titled Anti-Globalization - A Spreading Phenomenon, the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service warns that, “the threat of summit-associated
violence in Quebec City cannot be ruled out.” Jaggi Singh, a self-described
anarchist and one of the organizers of protests against the 1997 Asia Pacific
Economic Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in Vancouver, is
working with the Anti-Capitalist Convergence.

“It’s hard to talk about shutting down a conference when the police are
shutting it down for you,” Singh said from Montreal, referring to the tight
security planned for the event.

“They have declared a security zone where 35,000 people have to undergo
security checks to go to places where they live and work and do business.”

Singh said CLAC has already mobilized “hundreds” of organizers and, while it
intends to disrupt the summit, it does not advocate violence against summit
participants.

The protesters fear the FTAA could erode labour, environmental and
human-rights
protection.

Marc Lortie, who is Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s “sherpa” or chief organizer
for the event, told reporters yesterday that the contents of the FTAA
negotiations could not be revealed because the issues are still being
negotiated.

Lortie added that the summit organization will work with organizers of a
peaceful Peoples’ Summit slated for April 17-20 in Quebec City.

Labour unions, social activists and other groups, considering themselves part
of “civil society,” will participate in the Peoples’ Summit.

But Sebastien Bouchard, who speaks for activist groups in Quebec City, said at
least 10,000 protesters will gather in the provincial capital to demonstrate
peacefully against globalization and the proposed hemispheric free-trade
agreement.

“Nonviolent civil disobedience is being prepared,” Bouchard said, dismissing
the parallel Peoples’ Summit as the “phony alternate summit.”

Rights & Democracy, a federally funded human-rights advocacy group based in
Montreal, which is headed by former Liberal cabinet minister Warren
Allmand, is
among the groups participating in the Peoples’ Summit.

Diana Bronson, of Rights & Democracy, said yesterday that she is worried the
tight security could shut down the peaceful event, noting that during a
preparatory meeting for the Quebec summit held in Windsor in June, security
forces denied access to a meeting hall at the last minute.

“We don’t want to find out the day before that we don’t have a meeting place
for the event,” Bronson said.

Constable Julie Brongel of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the precise
dimensions of the security perimeter have not been determined. She did not say
how many police officers would participate.

In addition to the RCMP, which is responsible for the security of summit
participants and summit venues, the Surete du Quebec, and the municipal forces
of Quebec City and neighbouring Sainte-Foy, will be assigned to the event.

Some bodyguards for foreign heads of state will be designated special
constables, allowing them to bear arms in Canada, Brongel said.

Organizers expect 9,000 people, including as many as 3,400 media
representatives, will attend the summit. That figure does not include
protesters. ###

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