BY RUSSELL PICKERING
SYDNEY — When 16 solidarity activists, including a number of children, began their occupation of the Colombian consulate on the morning of August 8, they were protesting rampant violations of human rights in the South American country. When they left hours later, they were the subjects of one of the largest police operations in this city's history.
The 16, supporters of the International Committee for Peace and Solidarity with Colombia and the Bolivarian Movement for the Second Independence, moved into the North Sydney consulate building quickly.
They locked the doors, assured staff they were in no danger and were free to leave whenever they wished and then proceeded to contact the Australian media and government officials in Colombia.
But what would otherwise have been an entirely peaceful protest escalated into a full-scale drama, when police chose to treat it as a hostage situation.
By noon, a full-scale anti-terrorist operation had closed down a large section of the North Sydney business district, with staff evacuated from numerous buildings.
After having their power, phone lines and air conditioning cut off and lifts disabled, the protesters looked down from their 12th floor vantage point in disbelief.
Below, wearing bullet-proof vests and toting Heckler and Koch machine guns, three squads from the paramilitary State Protection Group, as well as 30 Operational Support Group officers and numerous negotiators had surrounded the building, while a police helicopter circled overhead.
It was later revealed police believed the protesters had a shotgun, creating the pretext for the intervention of the Protective Security Coordination Centre, an elite and secretive Commonwealth agency that coordinates response to "terrorist" incidents.
"Specialists" from ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, foreign affairs and immigration also gathered as part of a special incident task force to liaise with NSW police.
With police snipers in position, spokesperson for the group Vlaudin Vega, fearful for the group's safety, expressed his concerns by mobile phone: "Please understand that we have no guns here and children [are present]".
By 1.30pm the protesters left the building in handcuffs and were taken to North Sydney police station for questioning — they were later all released without charge.
Protesters were screened after arrest by immigration officials, however, and one Colombian man was found to have an expired bridging visa. He has been taken to the Villawood detention centre and is likely to be deported.
Fearing he may be killed if sent back to his home country, the Colombian community has appealed for help to fight the threat of the man's deportation.
Police were quick to dismiss allegations of overreaction and blamed the media and protesters for not notifying them earlier of the nature of the occupation.
Many activists view the fiasco as a dry run for repression of future protest actions and organisers have condemned the role of the department of immigration in the affair.