Washington, D.C. police have announced they are considering building a nine-foot high wall around the main downtown corrider to deter people from protesting against the world's most powerful financial institutions at the end of September.
The D.C. government is seeking about $30 million from the Bush administration for weapons and security and will erect the wall to create a massive security zone to insulate delegates of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during their meetings Sept. 29-30. The money the district plans to spend to shield the delegates amounts to $15 million per day, or $10,417 per minute. Additional money is expected to be spent by federal agencies, such as the FBI, as well.
Tens of thousands of people from labor unions, anti-corporoate globalalization groups, environmental groups, faith-based groups and community organizations are expected to converge in D.C. for a week of peaceful events and protests. Organizers have announced their intention to file a major lawsuit against the district, calling the security expenditures and wall a massive waste of money and a violation of their constitutional rights to protest. A previously filed lawsuit is still pending against D.C. police for massive civil rights violations during protests againt the IMF and World Bank in April 2000.
The proposed wall would stretch from the financial institutions to the White House, creating a barricaded security perimeter similar to the Wall of Shame erected in Quebec City, Canada during protests in April against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Protestors succeeded in breaching that wall with about five minutes of collective labor.
"The Washington, D.C. police and other authorities, after spending weeks demonizing demonstrators in the mass media, have now announced that they are closing off vast sections of Washington D.C. on September 29 and 30" said Mara Verheyden Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, which represents protest groups. "This zone will be used to try to insulate the IMF/World Bank delegates from the voices of dissent." The protest organizers are asserting that police have no right to turn large areas of the Capital into the private property of the IMF and World Bank. D.C
Police Chief Charles Ramsey said in a press conference he expects the vast majority of protestors to be peaceful, but predictated a certain element will be violent during the events. Also, in a separate press conference, an official from the IMF responded to questions regarding the impact of protests against the financial institutions. Thousands of people, representing a broad range of interests and groups, will converge in Washington, D.C. at the end of September to counter the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
Up to 10 days of alternative events are being planned starting Sept. 23 that will include rallies, teach-ins, protests, workshops, concerts and abandoned housing takeovers. Organizers say their demonstrations and events will be nonviolent and peaceful.
Organizing groups, such as the Mobilization for Global Justice, are issuing calls to action and demands for change. The AFL-CIO has also issued a call to action for America?s unions to unite with activists from around the world to transform the rules and institutions of the global economy to ensure they work for working people. Groups and individuals are organizing against corporate globalization polices that kill or harm people and destroy the environment.
And the mobilization is apparently already making an impact. On Aug. 10, the IMF and World Bank announced that their fall meetings will be scaled back. The institutions had planned to meet from Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 but now plan to meet only two days, from Sept. 29-30. Despite the scaled back meetings, organizers have vowed to continue their massive mobilizations.
For more information, visit: Mobilization for Global Justice Colombia Mobilization International Action Center The People's Repo Anti Capitalist Convergence 50 Years is Enough Network World Bank Bonds Boycott Infoshop
Analysis: A case for staying in the streets
