----------
> From: Green Left Parramatta <glparramatta at greenleft.org.au>
> To: adbwatch-hawaii at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: GLW: HAWAII -- No aloha for Asian Development Bank
> Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 3:21 AM
>
> The following article appeared in the latest
> issue of Green Left Weekly (http://www.greenleft.org.au),
> Australia's radical newspaper.
>
> See also http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2001/445/445p26b.htm
> *****************************************************
>
> HAWAII: No aloha for Asian Development Bank
>
> BY NORM DIXON
>
> The Pacific tourist Mecca of Honolulu is to be the next focus of
> demonstrations against the international capitalist financial
> institutions — in this case the Asian Development Bank. The ADB's
> board of governors is to meet at the Honolulu Convention Center,
> May 7-11.
>
> Protest organisers — and the Honolulu Police Department — expect
> that thousands, many from the Asia and Pacific Ocean region, will
> demonstrate on May 9 against the ADB's anti-Third World policies
> and projects.
>
> The May 9 protest, and other activities beginning May 5, is being
> organised by ADB Watch, a broad coalition of groups — students,
> environmentalists, trade unions, indigenous Hawaiians and human
> rights activists — working for social and economic justice in
> Hawaii and around the world.
>
> ADB Watch issued a call to progressive movements across the world
> to come to Hawaii “to create non-violent activities and events
> challenging globalisation and the ADB's record of imposing
> destructive and oppressive policies and projects on communities
> throughout Asia and the Pacific”.
>
> The Honolulu Police Department (HPD), the city council and the
> state government have moved to institute a range of repressive
> measures to deal with the protests.
>
> The HPD's 1900 officers, as well as firefighters, sheriff's
> department officers and the Hawaii National Guard have received
> special training for “handling civil disturbances, dealing with
> crowds and other situations”, reported Honolulu Advertiser last
> December. All police leave has been cancelled during the ADB
> gathering and officers who normally do desk work will be put on
> the streets.
>
> The HPD is demanding an extra US$6-7 million to provide security
> for up to 3000 ADB and government officials, as well as media
> workers, expected to attend the meeting. Among those attending
> will be many finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific region. US
> president George W. Bush may also attend.
>
> In early April, some 5500 members of the paramilitary Hawaii
> National Guard donned flak jackets, face shields and helmets and
> “trained for riot control” before TV cameras and press reporters.
>
> Police have been harassing activists as they hand out leaflets in
> Waikiki and, in one case, a driver with a “Shut Down ADB” bumper
> sticker was stopped and questioned. The HPD has announced that to
> “monitor” protesters, police will be checking airlines' lists of
> arriving passengers and surfing the internet.
>
> The Honolulu City Council has introduced laws to make it easier
> for police to arrest people “camping” in the city's parks and to
> outlaw the wearing of “masks” or “disguises”. The aim of the
> anti-camping measure is to ban protesters' camps and remove
> homeless people from the city during the ADB meeting. The laws
> will remain in place after the ADB meeting has ended.
>
> In another move designed to prevent protesters gathering, the HPD
> and the city council will close several public parks nearest the
> ADB meeting site, claiming they will be needed as “staging areas”
> for police and security forces. Not only will demonstrators be
> banned but also paddling clubs, little league baseballers and
> soccer teams.
>
> Around 4000 protesters greeted the ADB at the bank's last meeting
> in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last May. The ADB meeting was originally
> planned for Seattle but following the 1999 mass anti-corporate
> protests, ADB officials looked for another venue. After heavy
> lobbying by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the meeting was shifted
> to Honolulu.
>
> This has resulted in the unusual situation in which the
> “independent” Hawaii Tourism Authority has become the official
> spokesperson for the authorities. The authority has even diverted
> $500,000 to help the police buy riot gear, in the name of
> “promoting tourism”!
>
> Hawaii Tourism Authority executive director Bob Fishman told the
> February 7 Honolulu Weekly: “We are training and developing a
> police force for a higher level of proficiency that makes Hawaii
> a more attractive place... We will not tolerate excessive
> inconvenience.”
>
> To follow developments, send an email to
> adbwatch-hawaii-subscribe at egroups.com or
> visit <http://hawaii.indymedia.org/>.
>
>