Protesters threaten chaos at Commonwealth summit Sophie Hares (Reuters) Sydney, September 23
Thousands of anti-globalisation protesters are threatening to wreak havoc at next month's Commonwealth leaders summit as security is beefed up in the aftermath of the devastating attacks in the United States. Activists linked to violent protests in Genoa and Seattle hope to shut down the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) of 54 countries, one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders since the U.S. attacks.
Unbowed by the prospect of heightened security, activists say growing concern over possible retaliatory strikes by the United States and its allies against those seen as responsible for the attacks has become a potent rallying call.
"We're going to widen the movement to be much more than CHOGM, a new movement that's fighting for peace, freedom, land and against all forms of terrorism and violence," Brian Laver, spokesman for the anarchist CHOGM Free Zone, told Reuters.
The Stop CHOGM Alliance, an umbrella group of environmental, Aboriginal, human rights and gay activists, says concern about military activity could prove a magnet for a rally it plans outside the October 6-9 meeting in tropical Brisbane.
"People who weren't thinking about coming to CHOGM may do now. For us CHOGM will be a massive protest against war," a Stop CHOGM Alliance spokeswoman said.
Protest groups insist rallies will be peaceful but are stockpiling medical supplies and setting up makeshift emergency rooms to treat demonstrators hurt in confrontations with police.
PROTESTERS WATCH POLICE
Stringent security measures will be in place for the meeting with about 1,600 police and troops, backed by army helicopters, mobilised to protect leaders including Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony Blair and Canadian and Indian leaders Jean Chretien and Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Police operations will be watched over by human rights group Amnesty International, which monitored July's Group of Eight summit in Genoa where one protester was shot dead and more than 231 injured in two days of clashes between police and anti-globalisation demonstrators.
Amnesty International plans to lobby Commonwealth delegates to uphold human rights, particularly if their countries back US plans to target Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden,
Washington's prime suspect in last week's attacks.
"The events in New York and Washington were massive human rights violations, and the underlying grievances which fuel terrorism are often human rights grievances as well," director for Amnesty New Zealand, Ced Simpson, told Reuters.
While the US attacks and retaliation are likely to dominate the agenda for many protest groups, human rights, third world debt, refugees, and free trade will remain core issues.
The cancellation of this month's International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington makes Brisbane the main focal point for many anti-globalisation protesters ahead of a World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Qatar in November.
"We've got a dual focus...but it's also a sister protest to Seattle and Genoa," said Karen Fletcher, spokesman for CHOGM Action Network, which expects up to 10,000 people to attend a peaceful march to highlight the plight of Australia's disadvantaged Aborigines.
Anti-globalisation protests have grown since riots erupted at a World Trade Organisation meeting in the northwest US city of Seattle in 1999.
SPOTLIGHT ON MUGABE
Protesters also plan to single out Commonwealth leaders they say are responsible for human rights abuses.
Security around Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will be particularly tight if he attends. Mugabe has been named as a prime target for activists who accuse him of inciting violence against white farmers, political killings and homophobia.
Militant gay activist Peter Tatchell is urging Australian Attorney-General Daryl Williams to arrest Mugabe in Brisbane on torture charges, but has ruled out repeating an attempt he made in Brussels in March to make a citizen's arrest of Mugabe.
"If the Australian authorities refuse to arrest Mugabe then I might seek a court order to have him arrested," Tatchell, who was beaten by Mugabe's bodyguards in Brussels, told Reuters by telephone from London.
Australia, which has considered barring internationally renowned protesters to prevent violence at CHOGM, has yet to grant Tatchell a visa to enter the country.
Other groups want to hijack the media spotlight to raise awareness of causes outside the Commonwealth, which is largely comprised of former British colonies.
A handful of Falun Gong practitioners are trekking more than 1,000 km (621 miles) from Sydney to Brisbane to highlight the plight of the spiritual movement's followers in China, where the group is outlawed as an evil cult.
"We just want to raise awareness of the situation in China, where innocent people who practise Falun Gong have been killed, tortured and persecuted," Patrick Kuang, told Reuters by phone as the group approached Coff's Harbour, its halfway mark.