[mobglob-discuss] Fw: [ftaa] EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED! PROTECT FREESPEECH!
Graeme Bacque
gbacque at colosseum.com
Wed Sep 24 14:25:09 PDT 2003
FW: [LivRiv] Fw: [ftaa] EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED! PROTECT FREE SPEECH!
----- Original Message -----
From: <bennyrizzo at revolution.gq.nu>
To: <ftaa at lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 2:42 AM
Subject: [ftaa] EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED! PROTECT FREE SPEECH!
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!
This THURSDAY, SEPT. 25, the Miami City Commission will most likely pass an
ordinance banning the use and possession of a variety of items related to
peaceful protests, demonstrations and protest marches. This includes
puppets and other props; street theater masks; signs on sticks; cameras
(still and video; used to record the actions of overzealous police); padded
clothing (for protection against police truncheons and dogs); bullhorns;
gas masks of any kind, including bandannas (used for protection against
tear-gas and other dangerous chemical agents often used indiscriminately
and recklessly by police), and much more.
The ordinance, which will take effect when passed and expire on Thursday,
Nov. 27, is clearly aimed at stifling the voices of the tens of thousands
of people - students, union members, activists, peasant farmers and many
other types of individuals - from around the Americas and the world who
will be coming to South Florida to protest at the FTAA (Free Trade Area of
the Americas) meeting to be held from Nov. 17-21 in Miami.
This ordinance is an outrageous abridgment of democratic rights and civil
liberties, including the right of free speech, the right to protest and the
right to assemble. The ACLU and protest leaders have pointed out that the
"proposed ordinance ... is so broadly written that it may allow police to
clamp down on constitutionally protected, peaceful protest activities."
(The Miami Daily Business Review, "As Miami plans to prevent disruptions
during trade talks, protest groups warn of First Amendment breaches," Sept.
19, 2003)
The undemocratic nature of this ordinance is in keeping with the
undemocratic nature of the FTAA itself. If the treaty creating it,
eventually is ratified by the 34 nations participating in the Miami
meeting, each country's sovereignty and that of its people will be
seriously compromised. Under the rules that would be imposed by the FTAA,
decision-making power on economic, social and cultural policies, as well as
national development plans will be transferred to transnational
corporations and investors located in North America.
It's important that concerned citizens immediately contact Miami city
officials to voice their opposition to this draconian, unconstitutional
measure. Although the ordinance seems destined for approval, these
officials need to know that the eyes of the world are upon them and that
their action will be protested rather than allowed to happen quietly.
Please take a moment to e-mail them, or if you can afford to, call them.
Tell them you're contacting them to express your opposition to this
ordinance which strips away free speech rights - refer to it the parades
and demonstrations ordinance; if they ask what you mean, tell them it's
item J-O3-772 on the Sept. 25 City Commission agenda, which would add
section 6.1 to Chapter 54 of the City of Miami municipal code. Be succint
and polite, but make sure they understand how you feel.
MIAMI CITY OFFICIALS CONTACT INFORMATION
(below this is an article on this issue and the FTAA, along with a list of
web resources on the FTAA)
Mayor Manuel A. Diaz:
mannydiaz at ci.miami.fl.us
(305) 250-5300
District 1 Commissioner Angel Gonzalez:
agonzalez at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5430
District 2 Commissioner Johnny L. Winton:
jwinton at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5333
District 3 Commissioner Joe M. Sanchez:
jsanchez at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5380
District 4 Commissioner Tomas P. Regalado:
tr at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5420
District 5 Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr.:
artteele at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5390
City Manager Joe Arriola:
jarriola at ci.miami.fl.us
(305)250-5400
City Attorney Alejandro Vilarello:
law at ci.miami.fl.us
(305) 416-1800
***
Civil Rights
Law and order
As Miami plans to prevent disruptions during trade talks, protest groups
warn of First Amendment breaches
September 19, 2003 By: Steve Ellman
Miami Daily Business Review
Miami hopes to be more successful than Washington, D.C., was in 1998 at
preventing violence
Two months before thousands of demonstrators are expected to descend on
Miami to protest high-level international trade talks, civil liberties
activists and anti-globalization groups say police are interfering with free
speech rights.
Protesters and their attorneys claim police officials are stalling the
issuing of permits that would allow rallies and parades in the downtown area
to oppose a planning conference for the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
"Permit requests have languished with the Police Department for two months,"
said Miami ACLU leader Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, who has been counseling a
coalition of environmental and peace groups that plan to protest. "We're
getting the runaround."
The ACLU and protest leaders say that a proposed ordinance aimed at
preventing violent protests is so broadly written that it may allow police
to clamp down on constitutionally protected, peaceful protest activities.
City leaders say the ordinance, which was approved on first reading last
week, is aimed at preventing violent protests such as those at the World
Trade Organization's 1999 meeting in Seattle and other, more recent
international conferences.
The pressure is on city leaders and police to provide a peaceful venue for
the November talks aimed at creating the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
The city wants to impress attendees, because it is in the running to be the
headquarters of the 34-nation free-trade zone that would stretch from
Argentina to Canada.
Protest leaders say a slide show presented by Miami police for business
leaders last week suggested that police may even consider it threatening for
protesters to snap photos of crowd control activities.
"We're just trying to make a statement," said South Florida AFL-CIO
president Fred Frost. "The police are overzealous about the 2 percent of
demonstrators they say are violent."
But Miami Police Maj. Thomas Roell, who will be tactical commander for law
enforcement during the FTAA summit, said, "Law enforcement is just trying to
strike a balance between the protesters' rights and the trade meeting's
rights." He said police "can work with any group that wants to protest in a
lawful way."
State and local leaders want to bolster efforts to have Miami selected as
the site of the FTAA's headquarters. They claim that would bring as many as
90,000 jobs and an additional $14 billion annually to the state's economy.
And protest groups see the event as a platform to build on growing
discontent among U.S. and Latin American workers coping with an extended
recession.
Critics of the FTAA argue that creating a hemispheric free trade zone would
fuel an international race to the bottom on wages and environmental rules,
as nations compete for business investment.
The centerpiece of the meeting is a conference of 34 trade ministers at the
Hotel Inter-Continental on Nov. 20-21.
The protesters' plans include two days of rallies and marches. A national
coalition of organized labor spearheaded by the South Florida AFL-CIO is
scheduled to rally on Thursday, Nov. 20; an environmental/peace coalition,
organized as the Welcoming Committee of the FTAA, is scheduled for Friday,
Nov. 21.
'Out in the boonies'
The labor coalition wants to secure a permit for as many as 30,000 union
members to march down Biscayne Boulevard toward the Inter-Continental. But
the AFL-CIO's Frost said Miami police officials have proposed an alternate
route several blocks away, along Northwest Second Avenue -"out in the
boonies," he calls it.
Frost said the police proposal would block a major goal of the protest march
- getting close enough to the trade ministers' meeting "so that they can see
30,000 working men and women voicing our concerns."
He also said the police route was impractical because of its distance from a
planned rally and teach-in at the Bayfront Amphitheater, which the union has
rented. He said that would make it difficult for the expected large
contingent of seniors and families.
Frost said his group applied for its permit in early August, but was unable
to get a substantive meeting with police representatives until late last
week.
Rodriguez-Taseff said her clients - who call themselves the Welcoming
Committee of the FTAA - were given bogus reasons for their permit delay when
they met with police last week. "They told us they were unable to clear our
application because they still hadn't decided on street closings and traffic
routes for the trade officials," she said.
But Rodriguez-Taseff said that claim was belied by a slide presentation
police officials made to downtown business leaders last week that included
traffic routes.
"We were lied to," Rodriguez-Taseff said.
But city officials insist the plans are still tentative.
City Community Relations Board chair Brenda Shapiro, who is facilitating the
march permit discussions, acknowledged that the discussions between the
police and the protest groups were uncomfortable. But she blamed the
protesters for "sandbagging" the police by bringing ACLU lawyers with them.
"It was tense because the city was misled about who would come," Shapiro
said. "No one's been given a permit because this is still the
information-gathering stage."
Miami Police Maj. Roell said traffic planning would continue to evolve as
new march permit applications arrived. Four permits are currently "in
process," he said. "There is no cut-off date for accepting more."
The various protest groups were scheduled to meet with police again this
week.
Police plan
The police presentations to business leaders last week provide a glimpse
into attitudes and planning regarding the FTAA protests.
It describes three purported types of demonstrators - one "union-based" and
"nonviolent," a second "anti-government" and "anti-establishment," and a
third composed of "fringe elements" that are "mostly nonviolent."
The slide show describes the protests during the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle in 1999 - at which some of the demonstrators were
involved in riots and looting - as "the 'model' for future protests."
Police fears are not without any foundation. Miami New Times has reported
that some anti-globalization advocates like the Pittsburgh Organizing Group
have openly vowed to "materially disrupt" the FTAA. And violence has been a
predictable feature at international trade gatherings for years.
But the slide show offers an extremely broad definition of "protest tactics"
to watch out for. It includes protesters pointing out plainclothes police
officers, providing first aid supplies to injured demonstrators, and taking
photographs. "Protesters create and take advantage of negative photo
opportunities" is the caption under a photo of a young man focusing a
camera.
Carolina Delgado, a spokeswoman for South Floridians for Fair Trade and
Justice, worries that police will see photo-taking by demonstrators as a
hostile activity and seek to stop protesters from doing so or even restrain
or arrest them.
"Cameras and video are mainly a way to document our movement," she said.
"But they also safeguard our interest in preventing police brutality and
protecting our rights."
Roell responded that police "have no intention of confiscating cameras from
anyone with a legitimate reason to have one. That's not going to happen."
But Rodriguez-Taseff was unappeased. "This is the kind of wishy-washy
language that gets us all in trouble," she said. "It opens us up to the
unfettered discretion of the police."
Restrictive ordinance
The proposed revision of the city's public demonstrations ordinance raises
other free speech concerns, according to critics.
Calling the proposal "overly broad and restrictive," Rodriguez-Taseff said
the law's expiration date, set just after the FTAA meetings, shows that it
is targeted solely at that event's protesters, a violation of their equal
protection and due process rights. If passed into law on second reading, she
said a court challenge from ACLU was "99 percent certain."
The proposed ordinance would prohibit demonstrators from carrying a wide
range of objects, including golf balls, batteries and "materials or devices
that can be thrown or projected that can or may cause or have the potential
of causing" personal or property damage.
The attitude of police toward the protesters could work against the FTAA,
Rodriguez-Taseff cautioned. "If the FTAA leaders want a successful meeting,
they could do better than to throw down the gauntlet," she said.
Delgado expressed concern that a battle over civil liberties issues could
obscure the protesters' larger political and economic message about the
dangers of the free trade agreement.
"We know how important free speech is," Delgado said. "But we are here to
talk about the threat to labor and the environment and democracy."
Steve Ellman can be reached at sellman at floridabiz.com or at (561) 820-2071.
***
Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America
http://www.asej.org/ACERCA/ftaa
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American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
http://www.aflcio.org/stopftaa
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Citizens Trade Campaign
http://www.citizenstrade.org/ftaa.php
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Communications Workers of America
http://www.cwa-union.org/international/ftaa
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Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas
http://www.sitiocompa.org/English/focusareas/1.htm
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First Hemispheric Meeting Against Militarization
http://www.antimil.org
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Florida Fair Trade Coalition
http://www.flfairtrade.org
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Global Exchange
http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa
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Hemispheric Campaign Against the FTAA
http://www.movimientos.org/noalca
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John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations
http://henningcenter.berkeley.edu/gateway/ftaa.html
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Latin America Solidarity Coalition
http://www.lasolidarity.org
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National Campaign to Stop CAFTA
http://www.cispes.org/english/Campaign_Against_CAFTA_FTAA
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Network Opposed to the Plan Puebla Panama (NoPPP)
http://www.asej.org/ACERCA/ppp/ppp.html
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People's Consultation on the FTAA
http://www.peoplesconsultation.org
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Peoples´ Global Action
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/ftaa
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Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
http://www.citizen.org/trade/ftaa
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Stop the FTAA!
http://www.stopftaa.org
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Witness for Peace
http://www.witnessforpeace.org/tools/tradetools.html
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!
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Action for Community and Ecology in the Regions of Central America
http://www.asej.org/ACERCA/ftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations
http://www.aflcio.org/stopftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
Citizens Trade Campaign
http://www.citizenstrade.org/ftaa.php
------------------------------------------------------------------
Communications Workers of America
http://www.cwa-union.org/international/ftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergence of Movements of the Peoples of the Americas
http://www.sitiocompa.org/English/focusareas/1.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------
First Hemispheric Meeting Against Militarization
http://www.antimil.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
Florida Fair Trade Coalition
http://www.flfairtrade.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Exchange
http://www.globalexchange.org/ftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemispheric Campaign Against the FTAA
http://www.movimientos.org/noalca
------------------------------------------------------------------
John F. Henning Center for International Labor Relations
http://henningcenter.berkeley.edu/gateway/ftaa.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
Latin America Solidarity Coalition
http://www.lasolidarity.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
National Campaign to Stop CAFTA
http://www.cispes.org/english/Campaign_Against_CAFTA_FTAA
------------------------------------------------------------------
Network Opposed to the Plan Puebla Panama (NoPPP)
http://www.asej.org/ACERCA/ppp/ppp.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
People's Consultation on the FTAA
http://www.peoplesconsultation.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
Peoples´ Global Action
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/ftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch
http://www.citizen.org/trade/ftaa
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop the FTAA!
http://www.stopftaa.org
------------------------------------------------------------------
Witness for Peace
http://www.witnessforpeace.org/tools/tradetools.html
==================================================================
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