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(Saken ble 14. desember 2009 sendt i radioprogrammet “Sånn er livet” på NRK P2.)
No clue what I’m saying? Read the English version below.
Scenariene for COP15 var mange og fantasifulle. Demonstranter skulle trenge seg inn i Bella Center og kuppe møtet; delegatene skulle sperres inne i konferansesenteret og tvinges til å komme frem til en ambisiøs avtale; COP15 skulle markere kapitalismens fall.
Slik gikk det ikke. Det lykkes de danske myndigheter å avholde et klimatoppmøte som gikk uforstyrret hen. Likevel er det lite begeistring å spore for resultatene.
Det jeg først og fremst kommer til å huske fra COP15 er hvor lista ble lagt fra myndighetenes side. Aldri før, i noe annet land, har jeg vært redd for å bli preventivt tilbakeholdt fordi jeg befant meg på et visst sted til et visst tidspunkt. Jeg er ikke en politisk radikal person, men det har sjokkert meg at myndighetene i så stor grad har vist seg villige til å begrense borgernes rettigheter for å forhindre forstyrrelser.
Tusen preventive tilbakeholdelser på én dag. Det er først og fremst dette møtet kommer til å bli husket for. Det er et ettermæle som er skitnere og mer skamfullt enn noe voldelige demonstranter kunne klart å skape på egen hånd. Og det ligner slett ikke det åpne demokrati vi ønsker å leve i.
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The scenarios for COP15 were imaginative and plentiful. Protesters would get into the Bella Center and take over the meeting; the delegates would be prevented from leaving the center and thus forced to reach an ambitious agreement; COP15 would mark the fall of capitalism.
None of this happened; the meeting went by uninterrupted. Yet there is little enthusiasm for the results.
What I’m going to remember from COP15 is how the police and the politicians chose to deal with dissent. Never before, in any other country, have I been afraid of being arrested because I was in a certain place at a certain time. I’m not a politically radical person, but it shocked me that the authorities to such an extent were willing to restrict citizens’ rights in order to prevent interference.
A thousand preventive arrests in one day. I believe this is more than anything what COP15 will be remembered for. It is a legacy more dirty and shameful than violent protesters could have created. It is not something that belongs in the sort of open democracy we wish to live in.
We’re getting up at 4:30 to catch a flight to San Francisco for the holiday tomorrow morning (that’s in two hours). I’ll post a little wrap-up of what I’ve learned these last few days and my thoughts about the summit, activism and the police in about a week or so.
Until then – good night and good luck.
Danielle writes about our experiences in Copenhagen these last few day at her blog Indexicality.
As I write this, protesters are approaching the Bella Center with the intent to get in. Probably won’t happen. But you can see what happens at this live stream from Ekstrabladet.
EDIT: Indymedia has a timeline of the events in English.
Tadzio Müller was arrested today, after giving a speech at the Bella Center. Müller is one of the leaders of Climate Justice Action, and one of the speakers at the event in Christiania last night, which was followed by close to 200 arrests. The lawyer Thorkild Høyer says to Politiken that there is no case against him, and that he therefore will probably be released after the twelve hours “Lømmelpakke” allows him to be withheld. Yesterday, at the talk, Müller and Naomi Klein emphasized the importance of non-violence in tomorrow’s planned action against the Bella Center.
EDIT: Müller will be withheld for another 72 hours, according to Ritzau (reported ca. 3:00pm, 16.12)
So-called “war-bikes”, bikes rebuilt as tools for the demonstration on Wednesday, have been confiscated from Bolsjefabrikken. See one of the bikes at DR.
In other news, I passed a burnt-out and melted garbage can on the corner earlier. Must be from last night. Whatever happened there, we slept through it.
Politiken has a video report from the riots in Christiania last night, which I write about below.
My good friend Ronan talks about his experience being arrested on Saturday, in Modkraft (in Danish only). Ronan is studying library studies with my wife, and has been great help to me in the process of making my radio piece.
We went and saw Naomi Klein and Michael Hardt speak at Christiania, in an event put on by Climate Justice Action. Therefore, the event was to a large extent about Climate Justice Action’s action on Wednesday, when they’re planning to enter the Bella Center area. The most interesting part of the discussion was when Klein and Hardt emphasized the importance of non-violence in the action. Statements that were met not only with applause, but also “booooos” by the audience. This triggered som interesting impromptu replays especially by Klein, about how a violent response to the police’s actions might in turn be a less effective response than a non-violent one. I think she showed impressive argumentation while faced by the most real pressure I can imagine: boos from a crowd.
The other interesting thing that happened was that we luckily got out just in time. As I’m writing this, the police are arresting close to 200 people inside Christiania, and police have closed off the area – after fireworks were shot and some barricades were lit on fire. I’m so glad we changed our minds and brought our bikes with us when we left Christiania to go to the bar.
