G8 Call Out
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Latest: 16 May 2005
Text for the G8 call out as to the ssf list:
The G8 in Sheffield - why does it matter?
Many Sheffield people will now be aware that the G8 Interior and Justice Ministers are meeting in Sheffield on 15-17 June 2005 - but what is it all about?
It's not a democratic forum
The G8 is not the United Nations - it is an exclusive meeting of the seven biggest economies in the world, plus Russia. It's rather like the big boys ganging up in a corner of the school playground.
Their agenda
The G8's agenda has never been to solve the problems of hunger and health experienced by three-quarters of the world's population. They meet to make the world safe for globalisation - a process that puts capitalists in control of everything, right across the world.
How they work
Their states support globalisation through privatisation (e.g. of water supplies in Africa, as well as your bus services) and war (e.g. in Iraq, and the threats to Iran and Cuba). This adds to insecurity in the global South, and to migration, as the people just try to survive and prosper.
What will the Interior Ministers be talking about?
They see terrorism as the worst threat, and they have used this as an excuse to:
a.. lock up suspects without a trial b.. increase the state's control by keeping information about everyone c.. play on people's fear of outsiders, and people with different beliefs, appearance or cultures They will be sharing ideas about combating terrorism and controlling the movements of the population.
What it means to Sheffield
Sheffield will see some of their ideas in action:
a.. residents will have to carry a passport to enter and leave their homes b.. armed police will patrol the streets c.. helicopters will hang overhead for days on end d.. your email and phone calls may be intercepted e.. you will be excluded from your city centre while the G8 wine and dine there f.. pubs, t! heatres, clubs and restaurants will have to close, and buses and trams will stop running Your local MP and city council are, in fact, so proud of your city that they are prepared to exclude all citizens from it in order to show it off.
If you would like to add your voice to the protest against this way of running the world, come to the city centre at 5.30 on Weds 15th June, and see [1] for more information.
G8 First Call Out and Translations
Text for the G8 call out as sent to the ssf list:
suggested later amendments to the above in italics
On 16th-17th June, 2005, the G8 justice ministers will meet in Sheffield. They will be discussing how to enforce Bush's 'War on Terror'. They represent the justice of indefinite detention without judicial review, the type of justice that takes you abroad if the local laws won't allow torture, that at Guantanamo Bay treats American citizens one way and everyone else (including British citizens) in another and that believes that presumption of innocence is a dangerous luxury.
They are the people who think that inspiring a lively sense of terror in their subjects makes ID cards for kids ok, and that driving out asylum seekers who were not quite oppressed enough is more important than social justice for their own people. And this will be one in a round of our on-going resistance to the G8 in the UK -- the previous one being on 17th March at Derby--, as we believe that a better world can, should and will be possible if only they will let it.
Coming as this does only three weeks before the main G8 meeting in Gleneagles in July, we invite the movement to look at the G8 justice ministers meeting in Sheffield as part of the road to Gleneagles, the second round in an increasing salvo of protest in the name of civil liberties.
And so the people of Sheffield are calling on the movement for action to be taken and alternatives to be presented to these people. We are offering our support for any groups coming to Sheffield (eg convergence centre for accommodation, communication and legal support), suggesting that the movement should run a week of counter conference events leading up to the summit, and offering the Sheffield Social Forum as a coordinating space for action.
If you want to read draft minutes for meeting held 2nd March:
Translation into Spanish of Call Out
A mediados de junio de este año (16-17 junio 2005)se reunirán en Sheffield, Inglaterra, los ministros de justicia y del interior de las 8 superpotencias en la llamada "cumbre del G8". Son los representantes de los gobiernos que pretenden imponer la soberanía del terror en sus países y en todo el mundo, los que defienden la construcción de más centros de detención para inmigrantes, los que desean abolir el derecho de asilo, los que quieren aterrorizar a la población para mejor someterla y controlarla de todas las maneras posibles, y que para hacerlo no dudan en violar los derechos humanos y en alterar las legislaciones.
Los ministros del G8 siguen su programa y su gira de reuniones en Gran Bretaña: el 17 de marzo próximo se reunirán en Derby (Inglaterra, a pocos kilómetros de Sheffield) los de medio ambiente y desarrollo. Un mes después, estarán en Sheffield. Por último, en julio, empezarán a extraer sus conclusiones en Escocia (Gleneagles), para luego reunirse en EE.UU.
Si, como nosotros, crees que otro (y mejor) mundo es posible,y que para hacerlo no necesitamos más bases militares estadounidenses, ni más aeropuertos en países ya congestionados, ni un carnet de identidad con rastros de nuestro ADN, ni bases de datos para controlar nuestras vidas y las de futuras generaciones desde el momento en que nacen; si rechazas un mundo basado en la violencia, la codicia, los armamentos, las guerras y la destrucción del medio ambiente, acude a protestar, ven a Derby en marzo, o a Sheffield en junio.
Como parte del Foro Social de Sheffield, lanzamos esta Llamada a los grupos y organizaciones progresistas, a los que ofrecemos nuestro apoyo, y proponemos una semana previa de eventos paralelos y alternativos, durante la cual deseamos implicar a la población de Sheffield en particular, llamando su atención sobre ese otro mundo mejor y posible que entre todos aún podemos hacer realidad. El Foro Social de Sheffield realiza esta llamada como espacio para coordinar las acciones. Con este propósito, un grupo dentro del Foro se encarga de buscar un centro de convergencia y de procurar alojamiento, comunicaciones y apoyo legal a quienes quieran visitarnos. Ponte en contacto con nosotros.
[2]
ssf@lists.aktivix.org
Translation into French to follow.
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