As ageing rock stars Bono and Geldof were praising the G8 leaders for their aid and debt promises and Geldof was shouting down anyone who dared to criticise the summit's outcomes, African civil society groups gathered in Gleneagles were singing from a very different hymn sheet. They have issued a joint statement condemning what they regard as a 'disappointing' deal well short of their minimum expectations.
The G8 Legal Support Group has released an initial statement on the policing of the G8 protests in Scotland in early July and it makes grim reading. The group claims that during the protests, police detained or arrested more than 700 people, of which some 366 people were charged with one or more offences. The statement goes on to criticise the "draconian bail conditions" imposed by Scottish courts on protesters, which not only barred their further involvement in any demonstrations but also "forced those not resident in Scotland to leave at an impossible speed, making the conditions impossible to comply with. As a direct result of this tactic, some people were rearrested for breach of bail." The most alarming aspect of the Legal Support's Group report is its assertion that those people unable to give a UK address "have been remanded in prison, even though in all the cases we are aware of, none faces serious enough charges to result in a prison sentence even if convicted." See the G8 Legal Support website for the full statement.
Although our hearts and minds are elsewhere, Red Pepper has been working hard to maintain our live coverage of the G8 summit and its aftermath. Below you will find a large number of links to statements and press releases issued by NGOs, social movements and other campaigning organisations to Friday 8 July’s controversial G8 communique. This page will be constantly updated over the next weeks - we are particular interested in responses from Southern civil society groups and the UK's African diaspora. SH
Friday
8 July. Stuart Hodkinson in Edinburgh. When the news of the bombs
hitting London broke on our campsite in Craigmillar, we all
immediately reached for our mobile phones in the hope that friends
were ok. In that moment, the G8, Africa, the protests and the police
all became irrelevant. As good news filtered through, political
minds inevitably began to drift back to the wider political implications. "This
will definitely mean ID cards,” one sighed. "Iran will be next for the neo-cons,"
said another. "And Muslims are going to be hammered." Debates and
disagreements broke out but on one thing everyone was agreed: this
was “a good time to bury bad news”. And yesterday's announcement
of the G8 deal on Africa and climate change contained a lot of bad news,
whatever those idiots Geldof and Bono say.
Gabriele Zamparini. London, the city where I live, has been attacked. Ordinary people are paying the price, once again. Killing innocent people is an infamous act, never legitimate. Never justified. Never. But if we want to understand what’s going on without hysteria, we must look at the full picture. Again, not to apologize. But to understand. And hopefully to do something to build a better world.
Natasha Grzincic in London. Following explosions that have paralysed London, prime minister Tony Blair announced that the G8 leaders have no intention of cancelling the summit.
In a live national broadcast from Gleneagles Hotel at 12.05GMT, Blair said it was the will of the G8 leaders to carry on as usual.
'All the leaders share our determination to defeat this terrorism,' said Blair.
Gabriele Zamparini, The Cat's Dream.
Live8 organiser Bob Geldof has been nominated for the 2006 Nobel
Peace Prize. Why not? Look at these recent statements in the media:
Sir Bob Geldof has warned an unnamed
American musician not to criticise US President George W Bush during
the American Live 8 concert next month. (...) The mystery singer, who
is anxious not to be named, was told by an angry Geldof, "Please
remember, absolutely no ranting and raving about Bush or Blair and
the Iraq war."
Stuart Hodkinson. Tuesday, 11am. On the
eve of discussions on Africa at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, a range
of leading campaigners and activists from across Africa today
gathered together in Edinburgh to launch their own highly critical
response to Tony Blair's Commission for Africa (CfA).
'The Alternatives Commission on Africa'
contains statements, analyses and perspectives from African civil
society voices previously silenced by the Geldof-Government-Oxfam
coalition that is running the Live8/Make Poverty History axis.
John
Hilary, Campaigns & Policy Director, War on Want. Heading up to Gleneagles tomorrow for the
demo, but we've spent much of today number crunching so as to work out exactly
what the G8 are preparing to serve up as their answer to global poverty - and
also to work out how on earth the government has managed to get the good press it
has when it is offering such derisory crumbs from the rich man's table. So, specially for Red Pepper readers, this is what we know.
Gabriele Zamparini, The Cat's Dream I felt dizzy when I read about Bono and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz talking about poverty in Africa. But the worst had still to happen. I wanted to laugh – but I couldn’t – when I heard George W. Bush talking about the great generosity of US Government to help the developing countries. But the worst had still to happen. I felt sick when I saw Tony Blair and Sir Bob Geldof flirting and preaching on TV about Make Poverty History. But the worst had still to happen.
