BY NORM DIXON
The Pacific tourist Mecca of Honolulu is to be the next focus of demonstrations against the international capitalist financial institutions — in this case the Asian Development Bank. The ADB's board of governors is to meet at the Honolulu Convention Center, May 7-11.
Protest organisers — and the Honolulu Police Department — expect that thousands, many from the Asia and Pacific Ocean region, will demonstrate on May 9 against the ADB's anti-Third World policies and projects.
The May 9 protest, and other activities beginning May 5, is being organised by ADB Watch, a broad coalition of groups — students, environmentalists, trade unions, indigenous Hawaiians and human rights activists — working for social and economic justice in Hawaii and around the world.
ADB Watch issued a call to progressive movements across the world to come to Hawaii "to create non-violent activities and events challenging globalisation and the ADB's record of imposing destructive and oppressive policies and projects on communities throughout Asia and the Pacific".
The Honolulu Police Department (HPD), the city council and the state government have moved to institute a range of repressive measures to deal with the protests.
The HPD's 1900 officers, as well as firefighters, sheriff's department officers and the Hawaii National Guard have received special training for "handling civil disturbances, dealing with crowds and other situations", reported Honolulu Advertiser last December. All police leave has been cancelled during the ADB gathering and officers who normally do desk work will be put on the streets.
The HPD is demanding an extra US$6-7 million to provide security for up to 3000 ADB and government officials, as well as media workers, expected to attend the meeting. Among those attending will be many finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific region. US president George W. Bush may also attend.
In early April, some 5500 members of the paramilitary Hawaii National Guard donned flak jackets, face shields and helmets and "trained for riot control" before TV cameras and press reporters.
Police have been harassing activists as they hand out leaflets in Waikiki and, in one case, a driver with a "Shut Down ADB" bumper sticker was stopped and questioned. The HPD has announced that to "monitor" protesters, police will be checking airlines' lists of arriving passengers and surfing the internet.
The Honolulu City Council has introduced laws to make it easier for police to arrest people "camping" in the city's parks and to outlaw the wearing of "masks" or "disguises". The aim of the anti-camping measure is to ban protesters' camps and remove homeless people from the city during the ADB meeting. The laws will remain in place after the ADB meeting has ended.
In another move designed to prevent protesters gathering, the HPD and the city council will close several public parks nearest the ADB meeting site, claiming they will be needed as "staging areas" for police and security forces. Not only will demonstrators be banned but also paddling clubs, little league baseballers and soccer teams.
Around 4000 protesters greeted the ADB at the bank's last meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, last May. The ADB meeting was originally planned for Seattle but following the 1999 mass anti-corporate protests, ADB officials looked for another venue. After heavy lobbying by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the meeting was shifted to Honolulu.
This has resulted in the unusual situation in which the "independent" Hawaii Tourism Authority has become the official spokesperson for the authorities. The authority has even diverted $500,000 to help the police buy riot gear, in the name of "promoting tourism"!
Hawaii Tourism Authority executive director Bob Fishman told the February 7 Honolulu Weekly: "We are training and developing a police force for a higher level of proficiency that makes Hawaii a more attractive place... We will not tolerate excessive inconvenience."
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