3 shot at Gothenburg EU Summit
Gothenburg, Sweden 14-16 June 2001
Police shot three protesters and many more have been injured by batons, gas and attacks by dogs and mounted police. 20,000 took to the streets demanding a different future... see WOMBLES reports from Gothenburg >>>
See UK IndyMedia and IndyMedia Sweden
The mountains of unverified, unresearched, unjustifiable and untrue drivel written about us over the last few months by determinedly ignorant journalists continues to amaze us: we read recently in our burrow that we - the Wombles - were the hidden leaders who planned the actions in Gothenburg. To our surprise, we discovered that we also organised the actions in Quebec in April this year!
Show us your evidence! We know that you never will because it does not exist - if only the Wombles WERE capable of plotting such inspiring actions against global capitalism. These cretinous articles confirm you as the liars and state/pig collaborators we have always accused you of being.
To reassure the media - who cannot even get our name right! - we hereby confess to the assassination of President John F Kennedy, the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian empire in Sarajevo in 1914, the Nepalese royal family and Charles I of England. We also confess to the stealing of the Crown Jewels and the kidnapping dog-food murder of the horse Shergar. We admit to inciting Pilate to nail up a carpenter from Nazareth and the explosion of the atomic weapon over Nagasaki. We eat babies and frighten horses.
See UK IndyMedia and IndyMedia Sweden
Mass actions against the EU Summit!
The European Union is holding its major summit in Gothenburg, Sweden: a massive counter-summit will be held to coincide with this summit, and will include three days of actions against capitalism and state authority. Friday June 15th will see the next mass white overalls action, aiming to close down the summit. This gathering of politicians includes the US President George Bush's first major trip to Europe: let's give them the welcome they deserve!
14-17 June: Festival Of The Free Word
Cultural and political activities, debates and parties, concerts, food and info stalls
15 June: Mass action to storm the EU Summit
A mass action styled after the Ya Basta ‘yellow block’ in Prague on S26 will attempt to close down the summit during the opening of the EU meeting on the morning of Friday 15th June. White Overalls groups from across Europe - Finland, Sweden, Britain, Spain, Italy and beyond are mobilising for the actions.
Street party on the evening of Friday 15 June in central Gothenburg, a suitable ending for the first day of the EU summit.
June 16: The large coalition demonstration
The large coalition demonstration ‘GBG 2001’, expecting 25,000 demonstrators: the demo is scheduled to begin no later than 10am.
Nonviolence Network
of Gothenburg
From a statement by The Nonviolence Network of Gothenburg - Newsletter 5:
1. The camp
On June 5th, the Nonviolence Network of Gothenburg erects its base camp close to the Svenska Mässan, where the EU summit takes place. Our goal is to maintain the camp until the summit is over. During this time, there will be a lot of activities going on in the camp, such as political discussions and meetings, musical and theater performances, poetry and fairytale reading etc.
Through our camp we want to call attention to marginalized and oppressed groups in the EU, such as refugees, women, and unemployed and impoverished people. We want to make people aware of how the EU's devastating policies affect people within and outside of Europe. The purpose of camping so close to the conference building is to achieve a contrasting effect, where the difference between the people and the elite; between our open and democratic grass root meeting and the elitist and debarring EU summit, becomes apparent.
We have applied for a police permit for the camp, but this has not yet been granted. We will, however, erect the camp even without a permit, and we will occupy the spot nonviolently if the police want us to leave. Therefore the camp may become a nonviolent civil disobedience action. The camp is a separate action and not connected to The Nonviolence Network's getting-in action. You can therefore participate in the camp and not necessarily be involved in the getting-in action, and vice versa.
We welcome everyone who respects the network's nonviolence guidelines to the camp, which will be very close to the Svenska Mässan, right by the Korsvägen tram stop (take tram 5, destination Torp, or 4, destination Mölndal). Feel free to bring your own tents, stories, poems, songs, political ideas and other nice things!
2. Getting-in action June 15th
During the morning on Friday June 15th, after the Göteborgsaktionen's protest meeting, we will try to enter the EU summit in a nonviolent mass action. We will try to climb over the police barriers using rope ladders or human ladders, or with other imaginative and peaceful methods.
With this action we want to symbolize how we, the people, are being shut out from area where decisions are being made which affect us all. We do not think that our so-called representatives at the EU summit will consider our opinions on Fort Europe, highway projects, the growing police state due to the Schengen deal, the increasing power of transnational corporations, EU militarization etc. When we get into the conference - if we are able to get that far - we will put forward our demands.
During the action we will be divided into several affinity groups. We therefore encourage groups or individuals that want to participate in the action to contact us concerning this. People will also have the opportunity to join an affinity group at our nonviolence training sessions during the week before the action. The last planning meeting for the action will be on Thursday June 14 between 10 am and 1 pm in Annedalsgården (for direction see below). All participating affinity groups are welcome. After the meeting, between 1 pm and 4 pm nonviolence training sessions will be held in preparation for the action.
Our nonviolence guidelines for the getting-in action can be read at the J15 web site (http://www.j15.org ). Note that these guidelines DO NOT apply for the white overalls action.
3. Nonviolence training before the EU summit
What will you do if a fellow demonstrator gets attacked by a policeman? If an activist starts throwing rocks during a peaceful action? Or if your friend flips out and attacks someone? It is simply not enough to claim oneself being nonviolent, and then disclaim all responsibility for other people's actions. In order to be prepared for situations that might easily become violent, we need to train ourselves actively in nonviolence. Our nonviolent training courses are a good preparation for anybody who wants to participate in a civil disobedience action, as well as demonstration officials and demonstrators.
The courses deal with many important things, such as nonviolence theory, peace-keeping, police interrogations, affinity groups, openness, mass action training, the media, police violence, our own violence, arrest, self-defense (general and feminist), and resistance law. So far we have trained over 200 activists in Gothenburg, Umeå, Värnamo, Bergen, Uppsala, Halmstad, Örebro, Hudiksvall, and Luleå. There are only two more weekend courses before the EU summit (to participate in a course, send an e-mail to [email protected]).
June 2-3 Gothenburg (fee 150 SEK)
June 2-3 Linköping
June 9-10 Kampetorp
During the week before the EU summit we will be holding 1-day courses in Gothenburg. Fee will be optional, except on the June 9-10 course. We would appreciate if people let us know that they are coming, but this is not necessary.
June 9: 10 am - 4 pm (fee 75 SEK)
June 10: 10 am - 4 pm (fee 75 SEK)
June 11: 10 am - 4 pm
June 12: 2.30 pm - 8 pm
June 13: 10 am - 4 pm
June 14: 1 pm - 4 pm (civil disobedience only)
The Gothenburg courses are held at Annedalsgården. Address: Karl Grimbergsgatan 52. Take tram 2, destination Högsbotorp, stop Seminariegatan. Turn left and follow the pathway between the buildings for about 200 meters. Annedalsgården is the pink house by the hill on the other side of the park.
4. Upcoming meetings
Everyone is very welcome to all our meetings!
- General meeting with the Nonviolence Network at Friends of the Earth (Jungmansgatan 37, bus 85, stop Jungmansgatan), Sunday June 3rd at 6 pm.
- Base camp opening on Tuesday June 5, at 6 pm.
- Mass action meeting about the getting-in action, Thursday June 14th, at 10 am (AnnedalsgÂrden, Karl Grimbergsgatan 52).
5. Contact us!
Here are the many ways in which to contact the Nonviolence Network of Gothenburg:
e-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 0736-17 96 60
Web site: http://www.ickevald.org
Discussion list: [email protected]
Information list: [email protected]
Mass action list: [email protected]
Info list in English: [email protected]
Göteborgsaktionen web site: http://www.gbg2001.org
*** Reclaim nonviolence! ***
ENDS
Contact: [email protected]