Activist Shot And Killed In Genoa - NYC Protest

Activist Shot And Killed In Genoa

NEW YORK CITY DIRECT ACTION NETWORK
http://cdan.org/nyc
nyc-dan@riseup.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Contact: Eric Laursen (212) 620-7615 (917) 806-6452 (cell)

ACTIVIST SHOT AND KILLED IN GENOA; WORLWIDE POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST ANTI-NEOLIBERALISM ACTIVISTS CONTINUES TO ESCALATE; DEMONSTRATION CALLED FOR TODAY

July 20, 2001 - The New York City Direct Action Network condemns the escalating police violence against activists that today claimed another victim at the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy. NYC-DAN has called an emergency demonstration for 4 p.m. today at the Italian consulate, 69th Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan. Press are invited to come and hear the latest reports about the victims of police violence in Genoa.

An activist attending the demonstrations against the G8 Summit was shot and killed earlier today, the Italian Ministry of the Interior has confirmed. While the Ministry has stated that the cause of death is still unknown, according to news accounts from Reuters and CNN, the activist was shot in the head by a paramilitary trooper and then run over by a security jeep.

The incident occurred while a group of demonstrators reportedly were throwing rocks at a Carabinieri van. Occupants of the van responded with gunfire. Another activist is reported to have been seriously injured in the same incident. Police have been using water cannons and tear gas against the activists, the vast majority of whom are unarmed and peaceful. Another police officer is reported by ANN to have fired his pistol in the air in another part of town to force back crowds in a separate incident.

NYC-DAN condemns this latest tragedy in an escalating cycle of violence and death against anti-neoliberalism activists, and calls upon governments around the world - including the United States - to rethink their policies in light of the ominous trend. Two major anti-neoliberalism protests will be taking place this fall in the US - one at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, DC, Sept. 28th, and the other in New York City during the World Trade Organization meetings in Qatar, Nov. 9-13. We call upon the authorities here to learn the lessons of Goteborg, Papua New Guinea and Genoa, and reject "security" measures that can only lead to violence.

While the names of the dead and wounded victims in Genoa are not yet known, they add to the toll that police in Sweden, Papua New Guinea and now Italy have been building up against activists over the past two months. Three activists were shot in Goteborg, Sweden, one nearly killed, in June, and two weeks later four activists were shot dead in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Ironically, while police and authorities blame activists for "riots" and "vandalism" at international summit meetings, it is the police who have consistently put lives at risk and now, taken lives. Around the world, police and state violence is escalating against mass actions opposing the ravages of globalization and neoliberal economic policies. The Genoa G8 Summit, in particular, already represented a new height in exaggerated security measures that increase rather than reduce the potential for violence, including border restrictions, the walling off of large sections of the city, the placement of surface-to-air missiles - and the use of live ammunition by police.

NYC-DAN is one of more than a dozen autonomous direct action networks in the United States and Canada. We are taking the struggle for justice and direct democracy to the streets by organizing and supporting direct actions against corporate and governmental oppressors. As part of the rising movement to combat corporate globalization and bring about a more truly democratic society, we have worked together with unions, activist groups and people of all backgrounds on key actions including the recent protests against the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

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