By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : At least 19 people were arrested and two police officers injured Saturday in what was largely a peaceful protest demanding an end to the Iraq war and poverty as well as stringent and immediate action on climate change as the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit got underway at Sydney’s iconic Opera House.
An estimated 5,000 people participated in the peaceful rally from Town Hall to Hyde Park, about a kilometre away from the Opera House, where the world leaders were meeting.
The protesters were from diverse fields: there were families with children, representatives of the Vietnamese and Tibetan diasporas demanding that the forum focus on human rights in China, prostitutes calling for rights for sex workers, Free Burma Movement supporters calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under house arrest for more than 10 years by Myanmar’s ruling junta.
Many of the protesters carried placards reading: “End the occupation of Iraq”, “Save the planet”, “Drop Bush, not bombs” and “Put the water cannon to good use, “We are peaceful, Bush is not”, “No race, no war, that is what we’re fighting for.”
Wearing a T-shirt with a mug shot of President of George W. Bush and the words “Wanted for crimes against humanity”, Stop Bush Coalition leader and organiser of the march, Alex Bainbridge, told protesters that the most effective demonstration would be a peaceful one. He said, “It’s been an absolutely fantastic rally, you should all be congratulated.”
Matt Howard, a former US Marine who served in Iraq, told the crowd: “Everywhere he (Bush) travels he has to erect a fortress to protect himself. There wouldn’t be boots on the ground in Iraq if there weren’t oil under the ground in Iraq.” Sydneysiders can heave a sigh of relief as President Bush flies out Saturday night.
The number of protesters was far less than the 20,000 estimated by the organisers due to Friday being declared APEC holiday in Sydney. Sydneysiders were urged to travel to other parts of the state during the long weekend. Also, intermittent rain didn’t help.
Those arrested have been charged with offences including assault, assaulting police, throwing a missile, offensive conduct, resisting arrest, breaching a secure area and hindering police.
Pleased with the police operation, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told reporters: “The police were out there in big numbers. We don’t apologise for that. Is that overkill? I don’t think so. I’d rather be criticised for overkill than not have enough resources.”
Australia has seen violent clashes between protesters and police in the past, most recently at the G-20 summit in Melbourne in 2006.
With leaders of major Asia-Pacific rim countries in town, the Australian government was taking no chances. The A$160 million security measure has entailed the presence of 5,000-odd policemen, police dogs, a new water cannon, snipers, helicopters and a total lockdown of the Central Business District, what Sydneysiders have decried as “an overkill”. Chants of “This is not a police state” echoed throughout the crowd.
Buses, converted into oversized police paddy wagons, were used to barricade streets leading to APEC venues. There has been unprecedented security for the APEC week, the likes of which Australia has never seen before. The Central Business District has been transformed into an impregnable fortress with three metre high steel fences.
Meanwhile, global civic advocacy group Avaaz and progressive political group GetUp members have held events calling APEC leaders for climate change targets in more than 100 countries and today they unfurled a banner on the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.