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G8 summit: Irish trade unions call in human rights monitors
Last edited Tue Jun 11, 2013, 10:59 PM - Edit history (1)
Union congress fears erosion of right to protest amid Northern Ireland's largest-ever security operation to guard world leaders in County FermanaghIreland's trade union movement has taken the unprecedented step of asking human rights monitors to oversee the largest anti-G8 demonstration of next week's two-day summit amid fears that the right to protest will be swamped by Northern Ireland's biggest security operation.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is so concerned about the presence of thousands of police, surveillance drones, the establishment of emergency courts and a general lockdown of cities and towns that, for the first time, it has called in a civil liberties organisation to observe how the security forces treat protesters.
The Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) – a group that has highlighted concerns over state repression and human rights abuses from the Troubles onwards – has confirmed it will send observers to the main anti-G8 march in Belfast on 15 June, two days before the main global political and economic summit begins in County Fermanagh.
Dwarfing some of the most dangerous set-piece events of the Troubles, the operation to protect the world's eight most powerful leaders at the picturesque Lough Erne hotel resort will deploy an extra 2,500 police officers from Britain to back up the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). A no-sailing zone will be imposed on the normally busy lough while there will also be a no-fly zone, ensuring that only police spy drones and the helicopters taking the G8 leaders from Belfast international airport will be in the air. In the Republic, the authorities have warned of a temporary shutdown in mobile phone traffic to prevent radical anti-capitalist groups and dissident republicans organising attacks.
More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/11/g8-summit-trade-unions-human-rights?CMP=twt_gu
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is so concerned about the presence of thousands of police, surveillance drones, the establishment of emergency courts and a general lockdown of cities and towns that, for the first time, it has called in a civil liberties organisation to observe how the security forces treat protesters.
The Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) – a group that has highlighted concerns over state repression and human rights abuses from the Troubles onwards – has confirmed it will send observers to the main anti-G8 march in Belfast on 15 June, two days before the main global political and economic summit begins in County Fermanagh.
Dwarfing some of the most dangerous set-piece events of the Troubles, the operation to protect the world's eight most powerful leaders at the picturesque Lough Erne hotel resort will deploy an extra 2,500 police officers from Britain to back up the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). A no-sailing zone will be imposed on the normally busy lough while there will also be a no-fly zone, ensuring that only police spy drones and the helicopters taking the G8 leaders from Belfast international airport will be in the air. In the Republic, the authorities have warned of a temporary shutdown in mobile phone traffic to prevent radical anti-capitalist groups and dissident republicans organising attacks.
£50m for security!? What a bargain; In 2010 $50m bought a lone gazebo in a Conservative MP's riding, and $900m included a fake lake for the rest of the G20.
