[Onthebarricades] Germany G8 Blockades 6 - socialist reports/coverage

[Andy]

http://www.chinaworker.info/en/content/news/200/

Demonstrators blockade G8 meeting
Fri, 8 Jun 2007.
State repression will not stop peaceful anti-globalisation demonstrators
Niall Mulholland, CWI Contingent, Rostock
A huge repressive police apparatus is mobilised against tens of thousands of 
peaceful protesters in and around the G8 summit, held near the east German 
town of Rostock. While the G8 leaders are wined and dined for two days, many 
thousands protesting their anti-poor and anti-working class policies face 
water cannons, riot police and armoured cars.
Starting very early on Wednesday, 6 June, thousands of protesters made their 
way as near as possible to the fortified G8 summit venue. The protesters' 
intention was to blockade roads to the summit to disrupt the gathering of 
world powers. The CWI organised a contingent and with thousands of others, 
managed to get past the first lines of police.
There was jubilation amongst protesters, although they faced more lines of 
police and police hardware. CWI members from different European countries 
made speeches to several thousands in their part of the protests and sold 
socialist newspapers and anti-G8 badges. Some of the protesters were able to 
get to the huge summit wall, constructed at the cost of millions of euros to 
keep G8 leaders from opposition voices. It was reported that several police 
agent provocateurs, dressed in black clothing, wearing face masks, and 
acting extremely aggressively, were exposed by genuine protesters on one of 
the blockades. Subsequently these police agents ran away from the 
demonstration.
Later in the evening, the police moved against the blockade protests. Dozens 
were injured and arrested when police forced an ending to two of the 
protests. At 6pm the police claimed that protesters at one of the blockade 
points around Heiligendamm were arming themselves with molotov cocktails and 
that they had removed several blockades. This was a complete fabrication and 
was even exposed by a number of journalists reporting on the events, much to 
the embarrassment of the police.
Also on the evening of 6 June, hundreds of riot police completely surrounded 
the main protesters' campsite, Camp Rostock, which holds around 6,000 
people, including the CWI camping contingent. The police gave no warning for 
their imtimidatory actions. Most protesters were at the summit blockades or 
other anti-G8 events, and not at the campsite. But many of those left 
behind, including arents with very young children, were ery worried about 
their safety. Rostock CWI councillor, Christine Lehnert, went to the police 
camp encirclement o protest. There were reports the police intended to raid 
the campsite to look for 'weapons'. Camp organisers challenged the police 
and found they did not have a legal permit to enter the camp. Finally, the 
police decided to withdraw.
The police have a continual presence near the different protesters' camps, 
and last weekend they organised another large presence at the main entrance 
gates of Camp Rostock, until camp organisers finally managed to negotiate a 
police withdrawal.
On 6 June, German courts also banned a planned anti-G8 demonstration from 
Rostock to the G8 Summit, scheduled for 7 June, claiming it was likely to be 
violent. In a separate case, the legal courts also banned a Rostock 
demonstration by the neo-Nazi NPD party, also set for 7 June. Police made 
the outrageous implication that anti-G8 protesters and fascists are the same 
and both their events have to be forbidden by courts.
During Wednesday, CWI supporters also participated in the Alternative Summit 
in Rostock, selling socialist papers and literature. A CWI meeting at the 
Alternative Summit, 'Is Chavez the new Che Guevara?' attracted nearly 60 
people, and several said they were interested in joining the CWI. Another 
CWI meeting on 'What is Trotskyism?' was also successful. Despite police 
harassment at Camp Rostock, members from several European CWI sections ran 
stalls and held, appropriately, a public meeting on, 'The State and 
Revolution'.
The Rostock G8 summit has seen a massive show of strength by the German 
state and a direct attack on democratic rights. This is the only response 
the Merkel government and the other world leaders have to the mass 
protesters valid demands for an end to global poverty, imperialist wars, 
environmental destruction and class exploitation. For millions around the 
world following events in Rostock this week, it will be clear who the real 
violent criminals are and that we need to overthrow the bosses' system they 
represent.

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/2007/490/index.html?id=pp1342.htm

Rostock, Germany
80,000 demonstrate against the G8 summit

G8 demonstration in Rostock, Germany, photo by SAV. SAV is the Socialist 
Party's sister section of the section of the Committee for a Workers' 
International in Germany.

For people watching the television news, the coverage of the anti-G8 
protests has been dominated by reports of violent clashes between police and 
some protesters. It is no surprise that the media chooses to report on this 
rather than on the huge numbers of peaceful protesters, their message of 
opposition to the G8 and their wish to see an end to war and poverty.
Sarah Sachs-Eldridge in Rostock, Germany
The lion's share of the violence in today's world is committed at the hands 
of those very G8 leaders. Over 655,000 civilian deaths in Iraq, 70 wars in 
the last two decades or so, and over $1,000 million spent on arms in 2005 
alone by governments around the globe, mainly by the governments in the G8.
During the G8 clashes on 2 June, over five hundred protesters were injured, 
165 arrested and there were over 400 injuries to police. However, 
demonstration organisers estimated that there were over 80,000 anti-G8 
protesters in total and that the clashes, involving a minority, were not a 
major feature until after the end of the march.
Given the escalation in police repression against anti-G8 demonstrators over 
the last few weeks, columns of police marching down the sides of the 
demonstration and the whirr of police helicopters hovering above were not 
unexpected. However the extent of the police aggression was much greater 
than predicted.
Police intimidation

G8 demonstration in Rostock, Germany, photo SAV

Dozens of water cannon and police vans sped through the streets and the 
sound of sirens was constant. At a protest in Hamburg last week police used 
pepper spray on those protesting outside a meeting of international finance 
ministers.
In the weeks preceding the 2 June demonstration there were raids on the 
offices and homes of left-wing activists across Germany in an attempt to 
limit the expression of anger against the G8 leaders and to discredit 
anti-G8 protesters as 'extremists'.
This appears to have backfired somewhat as following these attacks there was 
a sharp increase in ticket sales for transport to Rostock.
Some of the official demonstration organisers (ATTAC, charities, NGOs etc) 
say that the police are blameless for the violence. There have been reports 
of groups of people blocking a fire truck and throwing stones at the banks 
and the police.
If true, these tactics carried out by small groups are incapable of stopping 
the summit, let alone abolishing capitalism. In fact they can be used by the 
police and the state as an excuse to increase repression and to prevent the 
real message of the need for an alternative to capitalism from being 
communicated.

G8 demonstration in Rostock, Germany, photo SAV

These tactics can drive a wedge between the protesters and the wider working 
class who can otherwise be won to the demands of the demonstration for an 
end to poverty, privatisation and war and also to the need for an 
alternative to capitalism.
Therefore, violent actions by small groups should be condemned, but it is 
necessary to also say that the actions of the police and the state against 
those who oppose the G8 leaders and their policies are the basis for such 
clashes. An estimated thirteen thousand police had been mobilised from 
across Germany. An enormous wall costing e12.5 million has been built to 
'protect' the summit.
Shops and other businesses in Rostock were urged to remain shuttered against 
the risk of damage from the protesters. Such measures have been taken to 
discredit and intimidate those who wish to demonstrate their anger.
Recent mass demonstrations against G8 summits and against the wars and 
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have been almost entirely peaceful. 
Across the world mass anger exists against the G8 and all they represent.
In July 2005 a Make Poverty History march brought a quarter of a million 
people out onto the streets of Edinburgh against a G8 summit. Since then it 
has been made clear to many people that the 'group of eight' has no 
intention of alleviating even the worst conditions.

G8 demonstration in Rostock, Germany, photo SAV
In fact conditions have worsened for many as even greater wealth is 
accumulated at the top.
In India, where we are told an economic boom is taking place, the slum 
population has doubled in the last twenty years to 60 million people and far 
from consigning poverty to the history books, worldwide three billion people 
now struggle to survive on less than $2 a day.
It is not only in the poorest countries of Africa and Asia that deprivation 
exists. In the richest country on the planet, the US, 60 million people live 
on less than $7 a day.
Here in Germany, workers and youth have seen their living conditions 
deteriorate massively as huge attacks are made on wages and working 
conditions and there have been massive cuts in public services and social 
security.
We live in a capitalist system which is unplanned, chaotic, anarchic and 
fundamentally incapable of meeting the needs of people and the environment. 
However, among the organisers of the anti-G8 protests were charities and 
NGOs who still ask that we make an appeal to the likes of Bush, Blair and 
Merkel who act in the interests of big business.
This has created a sense of frustration among some layers of youth who, 
angry at the continuation of wars, occupations and poverty, can have an 
impatient and desperate approach to the protests.
This has been exacerbated by the failure of the trade union leaders to 
assume a leadership role in the movement. The absence of the organised 
working class on the demonstration weakened it hugely.
No other section of society has the capability of defeating the G8 and the 
bosses' system they represent. The working class suffers daily at the hands 
of the likes of Bush, Merkel and Sarkozy and yet workers' leaders in the 
trade unions have not drawn the conclusion that a massive fight-back is 
needed.
The German TUC did not mobilise for the G8 protests. Not only was this 
opportunity missed, but the absence of the trade unions on the demonstration 
is in part responsible for the partial breakdown in effective protesting.
A trade union presence, with its method of organisation and struggle would 
have brought an added seriousness and a discipline to the protest.
It also would have served as a link between the wider working class and the 
radicalised youth who tend to be the most vocal opponents to capitalism at 
this stage.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/713/37044

GERMANY
G8 on track for 5 million deaths

Rohan Pearce
9 June 2007

Two years ago we were assaulted with the spectacle of Bono and Bob Geldof 
promising to help "make poverty history". The two pop stars, both well past 
their use-by date, played leading roles in organising the 2005 anti-poverty 
Live 8 concerts and as a result scored a much-reported invite to address the 
July 2005 G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. That summit adopted a 
debt-relief and aid plan for Africa hailed by Bono as a "little piece of 
history". Geldof declared the summit a "qualified triumph" for the world's 
poor. The issue of global warming also featured at the Gleneagles meeting, 
with the G8 resolving to "act with resolve and urgency" to tackle climate 
change.
Even at the time, the hard facts about the Bono-blessed debt-relief plan 
were spelled out in a statement issued by Africa Jubilee South, which said 
that while the cancellation of some of the multilateral debts of some of the 
world's poorest nations was "long overdue", there were conditions attached 
including the "implementation of stringent free market reforms such as 
budget cuts, financial and trade liberalisation, privatisation and other 
reforms that ensure the elimination of impediments to private investment, 
both domestic and foreign".

Similarly, the promises on tackling climate change were largely hot air. 
Tony Juniper, the vice-chair of Friends of the Earth International, argued 
that the G8 "delivered nothing new here and the text conveys no sense of the 
scale or urgency of the challenge".

Two years later, a report issued in May by Oxfam titled The World is Still 
Waiting explained that while there have been some positive steps forward - 
for example the cancellation of most of the debts owed by 22 countries to 
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - things have actually 
gone backwards since Gleneagles.

For example, in the first time in almost a decade, G8 aid to poor countries 
fell in 2006. At Gleneagles, rich countries promised to increase annual aid 
to Africa by US$50 billion over the course of half a decade, however Oxfam 
calculated that based on the trend since the summit the target would be 
missed by $30 billion. The report states that "Oxfam has calculated that if 
this money were available for vital health interventions for mothers, 
children, and those suffering from HIV and AIDS, it could save at least five 
million lives".

On the global warming front, the report notes, "Instead of providing the 
billions of dollars poor countries need to adapt to the impact of climate 
change, [the rich countries] are providing just a few million and diverting 
even these small amounts from existing aid budgets".

Two years on from Gleneagles, the 33rd summit of the G8 (Britain, Canada, 
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States) was held from 
June 6 to 8 in Heiligendamm, Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel 
presided over a meeting that again delivered largely only rhetoric about 
fighting global poverty and taking action on climate change.

The record of the G8 isn't just one of criminal inaction, but of helping 
maintain a global economic system that dooms billions to poverty and, 
increasingly, to suffer the effects of the world's environmental crisis - 
the G8's member-nations together are responsible for some 63% of the world's 
GDP and, in 2005, for 45% of global emissions of greenhouse gases, while 
having just 13% of the world's population.

Given this, it is little wonder that the group's summits are targets for 
protests. The German summit was no exception. Despite threats of fierce 
state repression, which included "pre-emptive" raids on protest organisers 
in May, some 80,000 people protested against the G8 in the city of Rostock, 
near Heiligendamm, on June 2.

A June 5 report in the British Socialist Worker by Chris Nineham reported: 
"Demonstrators streamed from two meeting points in the suburbs to the old 
harbour near the city centre.

"There were pensioners groups, climate change campaigners, anti-war groups 
and impressive trade union delegations.

"Local families mingled with student groups from all over the country 
marching alongside mobile sound systems. There were large groups of young 
anarchists, many dressed in black."

"The atmosphere was relaxed, like a huge political festival", Nineham 
reported. However, "scuffling broke out . between groups of anarchists and 
some riot police. Within seconds hundreds of paramilitary police in green 
uniforms poured into the area from three directions.

"A stick, one or two stones and a flare were thrown and the police started 
baton charging the anarchist groups mercilessly. Other protesters were 
pushed over and trampled. One man was thrown out of a wheelchair and beaten 
by a group of about 15 police officers. A young woman held by her mother 
fled past us with blood pouring across her face."

Hundreds of people were reportedly injured, the majority of them protesters. 
Police claimed that large numbers of officers were seriously injured, 
however these claims later turned out to be massively inflated.

Throughout the evening protesters suffered brutal sporadic attacks by 
police. "The police seemed to be trying to give the impression that Rostock 
was under military occupation. But the protesters were defiant, 30,000 or so 
stayed in the harbour to hear the speeches and dance at a concert."

According to Socialist Worker, Focus of the Global South's Walden Bello told 
the final rally: "This protest is more in the spirit of Genoa [in 2001] than 
Gleneagles. We are not asking the G8 to help. We are telling them to get out 
of the way."

From: International News, Green Left Weekly issue #713 13 June 2007.

http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=9495

Thursday, June 07, 2007 at 18:40
Subject: /G8-Demos/Germany/

EXTRA: Protesters: summit blockade to end early Friday

Rostock, Germany (dpa) - The protest coalition overseeing sit-downs outside 
the three-day G8 summit in Germany has said the blockade of the gates will 
end by Friday morning.

The protesters would offer no obstruction when summit officials depart, a 
spokesman for the Block G8 group said Thursday in the nearby port city of 
Rostock.

"We already achieved our big political success yesterday," said spokesman 
Christoph Kleine, referring to the invasion of a no-protests zone around the 
venue and the blocking of roads on Wednesday as the summit began.

Many protesters wanted to leave for Rostock on Friday to attend a dockside 
anti-G8 rally there, he said.

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11901

Protesters defy police to rock the G8 leaders

Tens of thousands of demonstrators converge on Rostock (Pic: » Guy Smallman)

by Chris Nineham, in Rostock
The German authorities mounted the biggest security operation since the 
Second World War for the G8 at Heilingandamm near the north German town of 
Rostock.
They sent 16,000 riot police to the area, destroyers packed with marines up 
the Wranow Estuary and a fleet of fighter planes to patrol the skies.
Despite this much hyped build up, over 80,000 people travelled from Germany 
and around the world to join the anti-G8 demonstration last Saturday.
Demonstrators streamed from two meeting points in the suburbs to the old 
harbour near the city centre.
There were pensioners groups, climate change campaigners, anti-war groups 
and impressive trade union delegations.
Local families mingled with student groups from all over the country 
marching alongside mobile sound systems. There were large groups of young 
anarchists, many dressed in black.
But perhaps most impressive of all were the massive red contingents on both 
marches organised by the new left party Die Linke.
The party brings together activists who have left the SPD, Germany's 
equivilant to New Labour, radical socialists and the PDS, the remnants of 
the East German Communist Party.
It is currently at 12 percent in the polls and played a vital role in the 
mobilisation for the G8, especially in the final couple of weeks.
A spokesperson for Die Linke estimated there were 6,000 people on their 
contingents.
As well as hyping the threat of violence, the G8 organisers had picked a 
remote part of Germany - its most sparsely populated region - for their 
meeting.
They had widely trailed plans to use the meeting to tackle some of the world's 
most pressing problems, especially the threat of climate change.
The huge and radical demonstration showed once again how many see through 
their rhetoric and oppose their real agenda.
Decline
Rostock is an old port and shipbuilding city in decline and is now an area 
of high unemployment.
The biggest of the two demonstrations marched through miles of monotonous 
housing projects and empty factories, picking up support on the way.
The atmosphere was relaxed, like a huge political festival. As our anti-war 
contingent reached the harbour scuffling broke out some metres ahead of us 
between groups of anarchists and some riot police.
Within seconds hundreds of paramilitary police in green uniforms poured into 
the area from three directions.
A stick, one or two stones and a flare were thrown and the police started 
baton charging the anarchist groups mercilessly. Other protesters were 
pushed over and trampled.
One man was thrown out of a wheelchair and beaten by a group of about 15 
police officers. A young woman held by her mother fled past us with blood 
pouring across her face.
>From that point on throughout the evening there were sporadic attacks by 
police using baton charges, water cannon and tear gas.
There were hundreds of police vans and armoured personnel carriers lining 
all the cities main streets. All other traffic was banned.
The police seemed to be trying to give the impression that Rostock was under 
military occupation.
But the protesters were defiant, 30,000 or so stayed in the harbour to hear 
the speeches and dance at a concert.
Others walked the streets and sat in outdoor cafes and restaurants. On 
Sunday morning
many of the marchers came back in to the centre of the town to join a 
demonstration against genetically modified foods or go to a conference on 
climate change.
Launch
At lunchtime there was an international anti-war assembly in one of the 
cities central squares addressed by anti-war German MPs among others.
The assembly agreed to launch a campaign to pull Nato troops out of 
Afghanistan.
The German movement has called a demonstration against the war in 
Afghanistan on 15 September.
After the demonstration the town of Rostock was almost completely undamaged.
We heard of three cars that had been overturned and set alight and a few 
wheelie bins that had been turned over.
Some of them had been lifted back up. A tiny number of protesters had 
allowed themselves to be provoked by the massive police presence.
But the police's military-style manoeuvres that flashed over the world's TV 
screens appeared to be just that - manoeuvres designed to intimidate.
The media coverage of the G8 protests will have to be challenged by the 
movement around the world.
But the biggest roars of approval in Rostock's harbour last Saturday night 
were for the speaker who said, "We should accept no lectures about violence.
"We are not the ones responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands in 
Iraq, we are not the ones threatening to bomb Iraq.
"We are marching for peace and justice, concepts the leaders of the G8 do 
not even understand."


http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11900

'We're not asking for help. We are telling them to get out of the way'

Police attack a demonstrator (Pic: » Guy Smallman)

There were trade union contingents on the protests against the G8 in Rostock 
last weekend.
Sarah and Klaus were among the demonstrators on Saturday's protest.
Both work for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, north Germany, they came with a 
200-strong delegation from the IG Metall union from the area.
They said, "This is not the first protest we have attended. We go to every 
demo we possibly can get to."
Sarah said, "I am here to remind the politicians we are still here. Our 
opinion is easily overlooked.
"Sometimes you feel that no one listens to you and we just wanted to make 
sure the trade unions had a voice on this demo."
Klaus said, "I am really pleased with the contingent from Wolfsburg and the 
demo is very mixed, young and lively. I'm very happy to be here."
Geoff Brown, the secretary of Manchester trades council, said, "The big 
unions, Verdi and IG Metall were very visible.
"The whole event was very political."
The author and activist Walden Bello made an excellent speech at the final 
rally.
He said, "This protest is more in the spirit of Genoa than Gleneagles. We 
are not asking the G8 to help. We are telling them to get out of the way."

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=11984

Protesting at the G8 in Kühlungsborn (west of Heiligendamm) and Rostock 
(east of Heiligendamm) online only
by Geoff Brown
I set out early Wednesday afternoon to the alternative summit in Rostock. At 
the station, I was told the train wasn't running - why, they didn't know.
The weather was nice, so I hired a bike to cycle ten kilometres south to the 
station in Kropelin, only to have to clamber over and round various 
barricades - three in all - on the road. At the last barricade, the fire 
brigade were sawing up small tree trunks and throwing them off the road.
I got a train going east to Rostock, though at least one had been cancelled. 
I arrived in Rostock after 5pm and cycled across town to a rather unfocused 
but comradely meeting on trade unions, held in a makeshift tent at the 
convergence centre.
Then it was on to a nightclub by the docks for a much bigger meeting on 
strategy for the movement. Alex Callinicos, John Holloway and Susan George 
provided a serious, well argued set of contributions.
John Holloway developed the idea of a breakthrough from below, organised by 
self-directing groups. Susan George apologised that she is not so much of a 
theoretician and proceeded to give a solid, straightforward assessment for 
the results and prospects for the movement - we have made genuine progress 
but it's only a start.
Alex made a much more political contribution which started from the big 
picture - neoliberalism and war - and argued that the establishment of Die 
Linke, a new left party in Germany with tens of thousands of members, is a 
real step forward. This brought audible dissent from a section of the 
audience.
He described John Holloway as a poet, saying we need more than poetry, a 
fair comment I think. We could have done with more time for discussion.
I gave a lift on the back of my bike to Inez, an art student, across town to 
the station. At Bad Doberan a couple of hundred blockaders, tired but 
cheerful, squeezed on the train and when asked, told a story of 
determination and stamina.
The police in their thousands have been strikingly unsuccessful. No one has 
got through to the G8 meeting in Heiligendamm today except by boat (the 
journalists) or by helicopter (the big wigs and their food).
At Kropelin, Inez started to try to hitch a lift and almost immediately a 
small truck going to the camp near Kühlungborn, Wichmannsdorf gave both of 
us and my bike a lift.
The camp was quite small, hundreds rather than the thousands in Camp 
Rostock. It was superbly organised with braziers to keep everyone warm and 
food was still available. It was a clear night with the Great Bear visible 
overhead. I had a cup of Kraütertee - herb tea - and chat to a group from 
France. The mood was excellent. About half twelve, I cycled the last few 
kilometres home.
On Thursday afternoon, I decided on a bike ride towards the fence. The 
blockaders were coming home having been up at 7am, first in dozens, then in 
hundreds. They were all in good spirits. The police, who were looking tired, 
stopped me at just one point, very politely. There is a largish 'forbidden 
zone' round the fence.
I find an information point, impressively well put together with a bilingual 
bulletin board with hand written reports giving updates through the day on 
progress in the blockades. People added their own reports and we stood round 
discussing things. The ministerial limos got stuck behind the watercannon 
lorries. Overall, it was a "cat and mouse" day and the mice won.
There was a glorious sunset. The TV reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel 
had some success with Bush on climate change, there were some good reports 
of the blockades and the final day of the alternative summit. It is clear 
that the anti capitalists succeeded in putting real pressure on the G8. At 
least they have to be seen to address the big issues - climate change, war, 
poverty, AIDS.

http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2007/D37092.htm

June 7, 2007 - No. 92
"The blockades are working!" is the message from activists participating in 
actions against the 2007 G-8 Summit being held in Heiligendamm, Germany.
This success was achieved in spite of massive repression organized by the 
German state in the form of 16,000 police and 1,500 soldiers patrolling the 
summit site and surrounding areas. Police had barred streets and other entry 
points leading to Heiligendamm on Monday and German authorities had banned 
protests in the immediate vicinity of the resort. Nevertheless, 
demonstrators militantly carried on their actions to shut down the G-8. The 
outer  perimeter was breached and some 1,000 demonstrators were able to 
reach the 12 km long 2.5 m high concrete and razor-wire fence surrounding 
the resort town, supposedly out of range of the protestors.
According to reports, the first day of the blockades on June 6 saw virtually 
all of the roads that lead to the Summit blocked by as many as 10,000 
demonstrators. Throughout the day different groups set out to shut off 
access points to the G-8 venue. Many groups used a variety of tactics during 
the day, from sit-down road occupations to construction of barricades to 
breaking through police lines to reach their blockade locations. Despite 
police use of water cannons, mounted police and helicopters to ferry in 
reinforcements, many more than expected made it through the no-protest zone 
to establish blockades right at the G-8 security fences. The full picture of 
the successes scored by the protestors on day one, despite the massive 
criminalization of dissent is still emerging.
A report of the actions on June 7 provides an update:
"Northeast Gate: Peaceful -- more than 1000 people at the blockade. This 
gate is plan C of the delegations. Entering through it is in itself a 
defeat.
"East Gate: Total victory at the blockade. The police can't make a step 
forward without asking permission of the protesters. So far there's no 
report of confrontations.
"West Gate: Big confrontations. Massive police presence. Police are on the 
street, but the protesters are fighting in the field. Some 2000 people from 
[Camp] Reddelich went to support the hundreds [from Camp Wichmannsdorf]. The 
fighting itself is preventing the entrance of the delegations. The 
protesters are trying to regain the street."
As of June 4 the Legal Team's interim report stated that approximately 322 
people had been detained; at least 10, mostly youth, were awaiting trial; 
unlawful prolonged detention was taking place; grave violations of rights 
are reported to have been committed by the police, including against 
lawyers; Kavala, the G-8 special police department, and operational 
commanders wrangled over who has authority: the operational commander 
criticized police tactics during the demonstrations.
June 5, Rostock
June 5 was an Action Day Against Militarism and War. An anti-militarism 
demonstration in Warnemünde started with some 500 participants, but police 
were able to restrict the demo to one lane of the road. At the train 
station, police searched people as they arrived and took their personal 
details.
About 300-400 hundred people gathered at the headquarters of Caterpillar 
which manufactures bulldozers used by the Israeli Occupation Force to 
demolish Palestinian houses and lands. A short rally with some speeches was 
held. Following this, 1500-2000 people participated in a demonstration 
against arms manufacturer European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company 
(EADS) near Rostock where police numbers increased significantly. The mood 
was militant. There were many speeches and police were kept at a distance 
from the rally. In the early evening George W. Bush was expected to arrive 
at the Rostock-Laage Airport where several protests were organized to 
"greet" him.
June 3
On Sunday, June 3, around 5,000 people took part in a demonstration as part 
of the Agriculture Day of Action in the city of Rostock under the theme of 
"Resistance is Fruitful" to denounce the G-8's agricultural policies. 
Farmers, peasants, small producers, landless people and agricultural workers 
from countries around the world, including Canada, Nicaragua, Brazil and 
Nepal, participated strongly represented by, among other groups, Via 
Campesina.
The colourful, peaceful protest of roughly five hundred demonstrators 
gathered near the Departments of Agriculture and Environment at the 
University of Rostock and marched towards downtown. The faculty of these 
departments took part in the march, riding into town in a covered wagon 
towed by a trailer. Enormous puppets in the shapes of carrots and other 
vegetables marched alongside farmers.
Criticizing the G-8's hollow rhetoric of fighting hunger and poverty, the 
march underscored how the wealthiest industrial nations systemically pursue 
neo-liberal policies such as privatization of land and water that are to the 
detriment of land, workers and farmers.
The demo included groups that occupy land, oppose genetically modified foods 
and gather seeds to preserve traditional crops. Protestors stopped along the 
way at LIDL, the German discount store, calling attention to how cheap 
prices are delivered by exploiting farmers who are paid less than the costs 
of production for their milk and by exploiting workers by also underpaying 
them. Additional stops at McDonald's and Burger King highlighted concerns 
about modern mass production of food. After the march, bike rides were 
planned to Gross Luesewitz to protest the agricultural-genetic technology 
there.
Despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration, there were reports that 
police tried to provoke the protestors. Earlier in the day a group of people 
staged a sit down solidarity protest outside the detention centre on 
Industrie Str. where most of those arrested are being kept, and another took 
place later in front of the court on Werder Str.
Life at the Camps
For the past week protesters have been gathering at various camps in the 
areas surrounding Rostock and Heiligendamm. Three camps, one in Rostock, one 
in Reddelich and another in Wichmannsdorf are hosting 3-5,000 protesters 
each. Each camp is self-organized with campers taking on the collective 
responsibility for food, cleaning, security and other daily tasks. Each 
night in large nightly meetings held in huge circus tents campers gather to 
report on the day and to gather volunteers for the many tasks. This is also 
where decisions are made about important questions regarding safety and 
security. Each camp is divided into barrios. The barrios are self organized 
by groups, countries, regions, and political background. Some barrios are 
simply made up of individuals.
On the evening of June 6 independent media reported a heavy police presence 
around the Rostock camp. Legal teams were negotiating. Police wanted to 
search the camp but did not provide a search warrant -- only a request. 
According to independent media reports, there did not appear to be any legal 
basis for a search of the camp reports said. About 100 police cars and two 
water cannons were standing outside the camp, along with some 500 police.
Ban on Demonstrations Found Unconstitutional But Maintained Nonetheless
On June 6 the German federal constitutional court banned the star march 
scheduled for June 7 (a star march is a march beginning at multiple points 
converging on one location). The ban included the three substitute events 
outside both banned areas. The reasons given for the ban were the events 
since the demonstration on June 2 in Rostock and the "defamatory depiction 
of the police," said a news release from the Star March Coalition. However, 
paradoxically, the court declared the general ban and the decision of the 
Higher Administrative Court of Griefswald to be unconstitutional.
The Kavala special G-8 police agency argued in their reasons for the ban 
that delegates could "feel unsettled" by the "emotional proximity" of 
protests. Good relations to other states would be endangered as a result.
A further argument made by the police was a "police state of emergency." 
With 16,000 officers the police claimed to not have enough power to properly 
accompany the march. It was alleged that the Star March Coalition had a 
general intent to blockade.
Together with the organizers it was agreed that the political content of the 
anti-globalization movement would be made visible at the demonstration.
The court took a different view -- neither "the mere threat to public 
order," nor the "sensitivities of foreign politicans" could justify an 
assembly ban it said.
The court described the police's security concept as being explicitly 
"directed against the act of assembly" as from the start freedom to assemble 
had "no prospect of reasonable enactment."
As a precaution in case of a complete ban the Star March Coalition had 
registered substitute protests outside the banned zones.
Due to "security concerns" even these protests were banned. This meant that 
a virtual third banned area has been set up outside the fence and the 
so-called security zone.
"That is an unparalleled and scandalous act against the articulation of 
political opinion," said the organizers who registered the protests. (In 
Germany all public assemblies must be registered in advance with the 
police.)
"The broad international protest against the G-8 clearly shows that a 
substantial part of the population reject the politics of the G-8," stated 
Suzanne Spemberg of the Star March Coalition. "It is political motives that 
want to keep the protest invisible -- or indeed to criminalize them. The 
police implement the decisions, and not unusually in the most brutal 
fashion," continued Spemberg.
The Star March Coalition has decided not to register any further assemblies 
or demonstrations.
"We don't see ourselves anymore as having any reponsibility for the outcome 
of actions and demonstrations. The democratic route has been closed to us," 
Spemberg concluded.
Along with the ongoing "Block G8" coalition blockades, many other 
far-reaching decentralized actions against the G8 have been announced.
Lawyers for the organizers Ulrike Donat and Carsten Gericke stated:
"Even though we deeply regret the outcome as the chance to have a peaceful 
protest has been taken from the organizers, the decision is in form and 
content -- due to the reasons given -- a complete success for freedom of 
assembly and a slap in the face for the authoritarian agenda of the Kavala 
police agency and the Greifswald Higher Administrative Court.
"In any case reality has already outdated law -- freedom of assembly will, 
as it always has in history, occur on the streets and will not be quelled by 
courts. The rigid security concept of the police agency 'Kavala' which 
culpably neglected cooperation with the organizers has completely failed."