[Gipfelsoli Newsletter] Hokkaido -- Genoa -- NATO

[International Newsletter]

- No-G8 Action: We Firmly Condemn Deportation of Martin Kramer to Russia
- Symposium about the role of Citizens Media in G8 Hokkaido
- G8 Bolzaneto July 2001: Italy’s Guantanamo Bay
- NATO as new target for the anti-globalisation movement?

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No-G8 Action: We Firmly Condemn Deportation of Martin Kramer to Russia

March 14, 2008, Japanese Immigration Bureau refused entry of and deported a
German activist Martin Kramer who came to Japan to participate in anti-G8
summit at Lake Toya held in this coming July.

Martin came to Japan to tell his experience of anti-G8 at Heiligendamm to
Japanese movements and deepen exchange with people who share his anger against
G8.

We, No! G8 Action, condemn unjust response of Japanese government, and demand
the following:

1. State clearly the reason of exclusion of Martin, and apologize officially.

2. Admit Martin to Japan immediately and unconditionally.

3. Back off all refusals of entry on the ground of thought and creed.Admit all
activists who will participate in anti-G8 actions unconditionally.

We, No G8 Action, appeal all comrades who raise protests against human rights
abuse, reinforcement of security/repression, and surveillance society. Express
your will of protest against Japanese government’s deportation of Martin Kramer
to “Russia” towards embassies of Japan andGermany which he came from.

While in Japan, various groups and networks are going to take some actions
against this situation as well as legal groups are going to protest it,and
prepare with steadily for help activists around the world enter toJapan, it is
necessary to develop domestic and international protest actions against
Japanese government for putting over international solidarity in anti-G8
movement in July.

We call on convergence for fight to win our “freedom to move,” “freedom
ofsolidarity.”

NO! G8 Action

http://a.sanpal.co.jp/no-g8


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Symposium about the role of Citizens Media in G8 Hokkaido

A symposium was held last weekend at Hokkaido University to highlight the
contributions of citizens media to summit reporting and the role of media
centers.

The event was organized by the G8 Shimin Media Center Pre-Establishment Working
Group with cooperation from Hokkaido U faculty and the G8 Media Network and had
been announced on the second page of the Hokkaido Shinbun, the major local
newspaper. About 30 people attended, many saying (in a survey) they were
‘highly interested’ in alternative media. NHK, the local public service
broadcasters reported afterwards.

Panelists in the first session talked about definitions and histories of
citizens media, their differences to mainstream media, radio movements in
Hokkaido, and the potential for activating citizens media in Hokkaido.

The second session spoke about alternative and citizens media in summits,
including the Indymedia network and the Association of Progressive
Communications (APC). A participant report of radio activists work at last
year’s G8 in Germany followed, rounded out by a sneak preview of
G8MediaNetworkTV, a video site for not just ‘protest footage’ but background
information. It wants to appeal also to the uninitiated. One of the pieces
shown was a moving interview with an activist anti-G8 activist. The mass media
in Japan paint critics of the G8 as irrational, violent and dangerous. In
contrast, this activist provides a calm and quiet explanation of the reasons
for opposing the G8, and her vision for a meeting that is not just a protest,
but a community showing how politics can be made differently. The camera
lingers quietly on her face, and cuts are softened by dissolves. This piece,
more than any talk answered the symposium question- why do we need citizens
media at summits.

[http://japan.indymedia.org/newswire/display/4270/index.php]


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G8 Bolzaneto July 2001: Italy’s Guantanamo Bay

Prosecutors call for 76 years in prison for police defendants

INDYMEDIA - 12 March 2008. Genova: In a trial that has seen 209 victims, 392
witnesses and 23 defendants, The Bolzaneto G8 ‘Torture’ trial is finishing in a
heated controversial ending.

Monday saw prosecutors Patrizia Petruzziello and Vittorio Ranieri rise to their
feet again and delivered the final damning indictment against the Italian legal
system and the 45 (reduced from 47) Carabineri, GOM Penitentiary police
defendants who have been on trial since late 2005 in a judgment that ran into
1000 pages.

A total sentence of 76 years and 4 months has been requested for 44 of the
indicted. One defendant, Giuseppe Fornasiere was released. The five doctors and
paramedics on trial also would face another total of 14 years.

However, the court was plunged controversy when the prosecutors declared that
they could not apply the maximum sentence penalty of 10 years against several
of the defendants for ‘Torture’ because the Italian legal system did not
recognise the crime of torture despite Italy being a founding signatory of the
EU convention of fundamental human rights as enshrined by the ECHR and all EU
member states.

The week before the court heard several judgments from the prosecutors who cited
several cases from the European Court on Human Rights. One of them, the
judgement of January 18, 1978, known to have touched on the so-called five
technical harassment in the method of interrogation, described following the
appeal presented by the Government of the Republic of Ireland against the
Government of the United Kingdom. The case concerned ill-treatment had been the
subject of people arrested during riots occurred between'71 and'72. "It emerged
- explained the prosecutor - that those arrested were forced to stand against a
wall in a 'position of power'; were hooded, subjected to continuous noise while
being interrogated, deprived of sleep, food and beverages. "Of the five
treatments examined by the Court and considered inhuman - says the prosecutor -
four were certainly inflicted on Bolzaneto.”

"At least four of the five interrogation techniques used at Bolzaneto that,
according to the European Court on Human Rights called upon to rule on the
suppression of the riots in Ireland in the seventies, constituted" inhuman and
degrading treatment".

“Victims arrested were forced to stand for hours, in inconvenient locations,
beaten, taken around, deprived of food and water. The Prosecutor cited the UN
convention banning torture and the inhumane, cruel or degrading treatment. The
provision against torture, said the magistrate, Italy ratified had in 1989 but
has not yet translated into a criminal law.”

According to the memorandum filed in March 2005 by the Genova Prosecutors
office, Bolzaneto violated Article 3 of the European Convention of Human
Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman and degrading treatment.

The heaviest sentencing penalty was reserved for Antonio Biagio Gugliotta, Chief
police Inspector and Head of Security at the G8 Bolzaneto Police detention
Barracks. He is accused of abuse of office and abuse of authority against
detainees. His sentence request is 5 years, 8 months imprisonment. Other senior
police present were Deputy Police Chief (Turin) Anna Poggi (3 years six months),
Carabineri Commanders Gianmarco Braini (2 years nine months) and Piermatteo
Barucco (2 years and 6 months).

The penalty 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment was also sought in the case
Alessandro Perugini, former 2 of DIGOS of Genoa, one of the most senior
officers present in the Bolzaneto barracks. He is accused of abuse of office
and abuse of authority against detainees as well.

General Oronzo D’oria in command of Penitentiary police at Bolzaneto and who was
responsible for coordinating and organisation of the shift units during G8,
received a sentencing request of 3 years and six months. So did Custody
officers, captain Ernesto Cimino and Captain Bruno Pelliccia who were supposed
to be responsible for the welfare of the prisoners.

Prosecutor Miniati recounted cases after case of the most violent episodes by
some defendants against G8 prisoners. These include the snapping of each finger
and then spraying in the face with teargas against Joseph Azzolina by Massimo
Pigozzi. (Sentence request 3 years 11 months)

Senior police inspector Antonello Gaetano of the GOM mobile team beat French
protester David Larroquelle, fracturing two ribs and forcing him to sign
documents he did not understand. Gaetano was also responsible for one of the
most infamous Bolzaneto torture ‘techniques’. He humiliated Mark Bistacchia by
forcing him to kneel on all fours, bark like a dog and force him to shout ‘long
live Il DUCE’. He receives a sentencing request of 1 year and 4 months.

Turkish prisoner Ester Percivati was ‘waterboarded’ with her head shoved town a
toilet by agent Barbara Amadei. She receives a sentencing request for 10
months.

Five doctors and paramedics of the Bolzaneto penitentiary administration,
including the head Provisional prison health of the G8, James Toccafondi were
also sent sentencing requests. Toccafondi is accused of breaching the EU
convention on medical ethics protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
He is also accused of acts of abuse which included several beatings, insults
and violence. He also cut off the hair of the women prisoners and kept their
hair as ‘trophies’. He received 3 years and six months. Aldo Amenta - 2 years
eight months. Sonia Sciandra- 2 years, 8 months, Marilena Zaccardi-2 years 3
months and Adriana Mazzoleni -2 years 3 months.

As their final act for the prosecution case, Italian state Prosecutors Patrizia
Petruzziello and Vittorio Ranieri laid before a court a request that the
defendants pay five million Euros compensation to the victims (what will happen
is that the Italian taxpayer will shoulder the compensation claims with the
defendants paying back this money either in money or sentence).

Many Bolzaneto victims and the Genova Legal Forum stated that there was no
justice in Italy on the question of torture and that Lawyer Dario Rossi would
be applying to the ECHR court for so that ‘torture’ charge could be brought
against several defendants. The victims also cited that the Bolzaneto
sentencing requests were not particularly high given the severity of the
crimes. In the Genova trial of 25 protesters, which delivered its verdicts in
December, some protester defendants were given eight years for breaking a
window or throwing a stone.

The GLF stated that there seemed to be one special kind of G8 law being applied
to protesters which brought heavy sentences for small crimes whilst another
kind of law applied to the police which almost gave them immunity to endanger
and torture G8 victims and prisoners.

Given the severity of the verbal judgment on the issue of torture, calls for the
Diaz parliamentary inquiry were issued by the GLF and most of the Italian left
wing parties. Walter Veltroni, the current left wing candidate for the Italian
elections said in a letter to the Genova Mayor Vincenzi Marta,

“With regard to the need for incorporating italy’s responsibility for the EU
convention against Torture, this issue will be very high on the agenda of the
next parliament”. He also said that “an inquiry must be constituted to discover
which politicians were responsible for ordering the systematic torture at
Bolzaneto and also for us to learn the lessons of the Diaz raid so both
episodes can never happen again”.

In Conclusion, it seems that the Guantanamo torture techniques were practised at
Bolzaneto before 9-11. It also seems clear that the history of these techniques
were invented during the Northern Ireland troubles, probably before. For the
victims involved, the nightmare does not finish even if Bolzaneto does. Its
verdict is due at the end of June whilst the Diaz case final arguments are
scheduled for May/June 2008 with its verdict in October. Only then the Italian
Interior ministry accepts responsibility for Diaz will the civil compensation
claims be activated. It is expected that most of the Bolzaneto defendants will
appeal. The victims will have to wait until Dec 2008 to find out whether any
have been granted. If appeals are turned down, the defendants will start
entering the prison system in early 2009.

Background to the G8 Bolzaneto Barracks trial.

“When we dragged them from the cells inside the Bolzaneto police barracks, we
beat them”. The two penitentiary policemen confessed in January 2004 for
violence against G8 protesters arrested during the G8 summit in 2001. The
moment was a turning point for prosecutors Patrizia Petruzziello and Vittorio
Ranieri Miniati who had been investigating the alleged abuses and torture since
the spring of 2002 and in tandem with its sister trial, the Diaz school raid.

On the 11th of May 2004, 47 GOM Penitentiary police and Carabinieri were
indicted (charged) and sent for trial. As for the confession of the two prison
police, their statements led to General Oronzo D’Oria also being put on trial.
D’Oria was in charge of the shift units on duty during the five day period
where 209 arrested people passed through. None were ever charged and were
released in the days and weeks after the G8.

The charges were:

Abuse of authority
Abuse of office and false ideology
Forgery,
Breach of the penitentiary regulations

Since May 2004 the accusations became heavier with the addition of:

Private violence (common assault)
Personal injury and beatings
Failure to inform authorities, relatives and foreign embassies.
Denial of basic legal rights
EU Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

On 12 October 2005, the Bolzaneto trial officially got underway. Of the
defendants, fourteen are belonging to Police Penitentiary, twelve are
Carabinieri, including commanders Giammarco Braini and Barucco Piermatteo;
fourteen are agents and officials of the State Police, beginning with Deputy
police chief Alessandro Perugini, deputy head of the Digos at Genoa (now on
trial for the assault of a child demonstrator) and the inspector Anna Poggi,
deputy police chief of Turin.

Bolzaneto victims began to arrive Saturday 21st July 2001. Lega Nord justice
minister Roberto Castelli visited Bolzaneto on that Saturday afternoon with a
group of Allianze Nationale parliamentary members, performed an ‘official
prison inspection’ and then spoke to the GOM and Carabineri men. Prosecutors
believe that it was he who “set the conditions for the torture at Blozaneto”.
Testifying in 2006 and when he was facing the political blame for Bolzaneto,
Castelli told the court that Gianfranco Fini had ordered him to visit
Bolzaneto. Bolzaneto was to process 209 prisoners in the five days it was used
as a transit detention centre. So far, Fini has not been questioned by either
trial into his involvement. Diaz victims maintain he is responsible for
ordering the Diaz raid and arranging the torture at Bolzaneto.

In the early hours of Sunday 22nd and over the next 24 hours, some 81 Diaz
victims were transited to Bolzaneto. Over 50 had been dragged from their
hospital casualty beds despite the protests of doctors and no court order
authorising such removal. Amongst the Diaz victims were four british victims.
They were Richard and Nicola Docherty, Dan Macquillan and Norman Blair. The
fifth victim, Mark Covell was on a life support machine in San Martino
Hospital. Already in poor shape, many Diaz victims were specially labelled and
were then singled out.

Some members of the local Police and Penitentiary State Police including Daniela
Cerasuolo (8 months) and Massimo Solomon (7 months). From their testimonies have
emerged ever more clear details:

A "Welcome" sign greeted prisoners on arrival. They were then taken to the two
wings of Bolzaneto which was reserved for prisoners. As they entered each wing,
two lines of police would deploy and the prisoners were forced to walk the
kickline taking kicks, punches and batons. Injuries were left untreated.

A GOM policeman’s testimony
“I walked into one of the cells which including the wounded, all were forced to
keep their hands raised backed to the wall, the face turned to the wall and
legs apart. After many hours this position created severe pain and cramps, but
anyone who tried to move was beaten by agents guarding the cells.”

Dramatic, in this sense, is what happened to (on 6 November 2007) a disabled
person who was arrested during G8, which was confirmed by several fellow
Italians and foreigners. The victim was 52 years old and had a plastic false
leg. He had been standing for many hours without food or water against the wall
in a stress position when he collapsed onto the floor. Carabineri and
penitentiary police kicked and beat him with batons all over his body until he
was forced to stand up again against the wall.

Others had to undress completely and then forced to do endless press-ups in
front of many police.

Prosecutors were shocked to discover that a dazed polish protester with an
undiagnosed skull fracture was also beaten in Bolzaneto. He had come from the
notorious Diaz raid that had occurred overnight Saturday-Sunday morning, July
21/22nd 2001. Of the 209 prisoners, 81 were from Diaz. Already in poor shape,
many were singled out.

According to Sara Bartesaghie, a 21 year old protester and other prisoners,
teargas sprays was repeatedly used against prisoners inside the cells to
immobilize and to suffocate prisoners. The Bolzaneto directors Enrico Ragosa,
and Gen. Nicola Agnano confirmed that teargas sprays was neither authorized or
supplied to GOM penitentiary police. On 9 January 2007, General Ricci
Mattiello, head of the translation service and the departments of GOM
Penitentiary at G8 said he did not exclude that agents - probably younger – did
use personal teargas sprays.

The defendants testify
One of the main defence arguments was to state that there had been alot of
confusion and that everyone thought it was someone else’s responsibility to
feed the prisoners or look after their health.

The attitude of the defendants, called to testify by the prosecutor and defence
attorneys from the beginning of 2007, was generally 'sealed' and not very
cooperative. Many of the Carabinieri, Police and Penitentiary Police State
stated that they had never entered the cells, or never being in a particular
location for long enough to see abuse or to hear the insults. Others have
openly minimized the facts, describing certainly a situation of tension,
especially among younger officers, but saying they not recall any major event
outside the normal routine.

The most striking testimony is from witness protected F. M., now accused of
false testimony by the defence for the statements made in court on 07 May 2007.

This witness was particularly important. He explained during the hearing, of his
constant presence in the three days inside the Bolzaneto barracks as a member of
a Special Police Penitentiary GOM unit and their participation in the events.

The GOM was created in 1997 "to meet the needs arising from the management of
detainees belonging to organized crime", "contribute to the security of
detainees deemed high hazard" and take "appropriate measures to prevent and
stop facts or circumstances prejudicial to the order and discipline of prison.

The teams present at Bolzaneto, led by dall'Isp. Reale, formed up in the
courtyard awaiting the arrival of prisoners. Gen. Mattiello, head of the
service, spoke in court on 09 January 2007 and stated that GOM agents should of
stayed in the courtyard but instead often entered in the barracks and he
remembered the ‘notorious kickline corridor’. He went onto recount the stories
that reveal the extent of the violence.

With the list of prosecution witnesses also finished by the end of February, on
2 March 2007 an inspection of the barracks was carried out by the judges, Genoa
Legal forum lawyers and state prosecutors.

Consultants, doctors and psychiatrists, including Dr. Monaco (12 March 2007)
were called to testify on the stress and amount of violence inflicted. He
explained how the prisoners who had suffered such violence within the barracks
would be dealing with "disturbing post-traumatic stress disorder, similar to
that caused by unpredictable situations such as natural disasters: but the
human violence, the doctor concluded, causes more damage, because the trauma
stems from injury or witnessing fellow human beings in act of abuse and
torture.

On 17 September 2007, Bolzaneto resumed after a summer break and heard 23 of the
47 accused. Among those who had decided to undergo the examination was Dr.
Toccafondi. At the same time of being called to Bolzaneto, he is indicted for
killing a Genova patient in 2006.

Bolzaneto penitentiary police agent Pigozzi also testified. He was placed under
house arrest for raping several young girls at police headquarters in Genoa in
2005. Plaintiffs believe he is the source of threats of rape against women
arrested during the G8.

nessuno

[http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/393665.html]


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NATO as new target for the anti-globalisation movement?

In 2009 NATO is 60 years and it wants to celebrate that at a summit in Germany
or in France [in France; Gipfelsoli]. NATO is a cornerstone of the military
globalisation. Thanks to NATO European troops are in Afghanistan and Iraq and
the US is given a forward post for its military adventures. Reason enough to
make NATO a target of a broad international movement, just like the G8 is.

Economic globalisation also has its military correlary. New York Times'
columnist Thomas Friedman said: "The hidden hand of the market will never work
without a hidden fist. McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas,
the builder of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for
Silicon Valley 's technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force,
Navy and Marine Corps." And this fist is not solely a US phenomenon as Europe
builds its own intervention capacity through the EU or forms a partner with the
US in NATO.

NATO is one of the most important institutions in this military globalisation,
just like the G8 is for the economic globalisation. And just like we said no to
the G8, we have to say no to NATO. NATO membership implies participation by your
country in military interventions all over the world, directly with national
forces or indirectly from military bases or as logistical support for foreign
troops. NATO membership can also mean nuclear weapons or missile defense
installations on your soil.

We invite you for a first international preparatory meeting for a campaign
against NATO with focus point its 2009 summit. This meeting will take place in
Brussels on Monday 24 March, on the conference following the NATO Game
Over-action. Already a lot of activists from Germany and France will be
present, so this is a good occasion to give it a start.

The NATO Game Over-action on 22 March is a mass trespassing-action into NATO HQ
in Brussels. We use the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war to make the
international resistance against military globalisation visible. After the
action a conference is organised in order to strengthen the networking between
anti-militarist activists around Europe. And to plan upcoming actions, like
around the 2009 NATO summit.

For more information, you can contact international at bombspotting.be

For more information on:
- the NATO Game Over-action
- how to participate
- the conference

Please register if you want to come!
You can also read the Peace News supplement !