Civil Society Organisations, including farmer groups from India, have complained of “heavy handed” restrictions on them at the on-going 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi and continued repression, a day after they informed the WTO Director General about incidents of detainment, confiscation of materials and several other restraints.

“On Tuesday, I walked into the venue and met a journalist who I knew. I was giving him a non-political letter my organisation had written to all delegates when suddenly a local police personnel came to me. He caught me by my hand and led me to a room where they stripped me of my passport and phone. They detained me for almost two hours telling me I was not permitted to hand out papers,” KV Biju, Coordination Committee Member, Samyuktha Kisan Morcha, told businessline. Biju is among the several CSO representatives from across the globe who have registered for the conference and are attending in person.

Restrictions

On Tuesday, the CSOs complained to WTO DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala about the unprecedented removal of their rights to freedom of speech and political expression and Biju wrote to Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal about his plight, but they say that restrictions continue.

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Fisherfolk from developing nations such as India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, too, stressed on the need for protection of their livelihood and made a joint call at Abu Dhabi emphasising that support to small-scale fishers should not be “traded away” in the fisheries subsidies pact

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In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the CSOs listed all the activities that were permitted in earlier Ministerial Conferences but were being disallowed in Abu Dhabi. These include distributing informational flyers, handing papers to known reporters, holding signs, displaying banners, chanting about the negotiations, taking photos of their actions, speaking with delegates as they entered negotiating rooms, taking actions in areas where delegates can see and filming according to the instructions.

“I’m a respected policy analyst who regularly meets with officials from my government. I did not expect to be taken and held in a secure room for nearly an hour while local police interrogated me for simply taking a photo in the conference center concourse – which the WTO had stated was allowed. There is no evidence that the WTO Secretariat has lifted a finger to ensure that civil society can participate this process in the ways they have for all past ministerials,” another CSO participant pointed out.

WTO’s commitment

The WTO is firmly committed to its engagement with CSOs, said Ismaila Dieng, Spokesperson, WTO, replying to a query from BusinessLine.  “At a meeting with members of the Civil Society Advisory Group yesterday, she (the DG) was briefed by Members on the challenges reported by some civil society groups. Subsequently, the Director General has liaised with the Chair of the conference to identify potential solutions to address issues raised,” said Dieng.

Participants, especially from developing countries, are fearful of even walking alone in the conference centre now, lest they be unjustly detained and possibly deported, and then unable to secure visas ever again, said Rahmat Maulana Sidik, Executive Director of Indonesia for Global Justice. “This climate of fear should not be the result of advocacy in an institution of global economic governance,” he added.

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