Nadia Hadad
INFID
Indonesia
15 Sept 06
163 Organizations from Around the World in Solidarity with Those Banned & Deported
Civil society organizations today announced a boycott of all official events at the IMF-World Bank Meetings in Singapore.
The boycott has been endorsed by 163 organizations from all parts of the world, and includes many organizations that have long assumed prominent roles in civil society interactions with the international financial institutions.
This call comes in response to news that the Singapore government has barred entry to a number of civil society representatives, including many who had already been accredited to attend the meetings by the IMF and World Bank.
About 20 people have been deported or “refused entry” to Singapore. The Singapore government also pressured the Riau Province (Indonesia) government to cancel alternative events on the neighboring island of Batam, but the Indonesian government has allowed them to proceed.
“Our boycott is a response to egregious hypocrisy,” said Ana Maria Nemenzo, President of the Freedom from Debt Coalition, Philippines, and one of those informed in advance that she would not be allowed into Singapore despite receiving accreditation to the meetings.
“While World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz prepares to launch his new good governance and anti-corruption initiative, he fails to promote those very principles for his own institution as it meets in Singapore. Civil society has long been unsatisfied with their marginalization by these institutions, but this takes that problem to a new low. The events of the last week, including the blacklisting of 28 pre-accredited civil society representatives and an unknown number of others from around the globe, expose the Bank’s failed commitment to transparency, accountability and basic civil rights. ”
Both Wolfowitz and IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato have said they are unhappy with the Singapore government’s actions, but the civil society organizations, which had planned on using the space in Singapore to advocate for reduced IMF/World Bank involvement in economic policy-making and in dubious infrastructure development projects, have been far from satisfied with the response.
“These institutions are most comfortable in countries without respect for civil liberties and human rights,” said Sameer Dossani of 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice. “They came under fire the last time they held the meetings outside Washington – in Dubai in 2003 – and could not have been in the dark about Singapore’s track record when they chose it.
Certainly the announcement in January that protesters would be caned made clear the sort of atmosphere that would surround these meetings.”
While 163 organizations have formally endorsed the boycott, a number of other organizations are supporting the effort in different ways.
Many civil society groups not on the list of endorsers, for example, have cancelled meetings that had been scheduled with the IMF and World Bank.
“The World Bank and IMF cannot escape their complicity in this draconian crackdown,” said Shalmali Guttal of the pan-Asian organization Focus on the Global South. “Not only did they knowingly choose Singapore, but Singapore’s attitudes perfectly reflect the global economic system they impose and oversee — one that benefits a few elites while condemning millions to the everyday structural violence of poverty.
Dissent and civil rights threaten elite control. Indeed, World Bank and IMF support for despotic regimes has a long, sordid history, and includes massive aid to Marcos in the Philippines, Soeharto in Indonesia and Mobutu in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo).”
Despite the Singapore government’s efforts to cancel it, the International People’s Forum Against the World Bank and IMF opens today at the Asrama Haji Center in Batam, Indonesia and continues through the 17th.
CALL FOR THE BOYCOTT OF WORLD BANK-IMF ANNUAL MEETINGS
September, 2006
We the undersigned representatives from civil society organizations and social movements call for a boycott of the official programme at the World Bank and IMF 2006 annual meetings in Singapore.
In order to stifle dissent and any possible protests at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings, the Singapore Government has resorted to draconian security measures. These include the Singapore Government’s statement in January that protesters at the IMF and World Bank meetings would be caned, and the special surveillance measures in public and private spaces that the government has put in place specifically for the Annual Meetings.
In recent days, the Singapore Government has also applied pressure on the government of Riau Province in Indonesia to cancel the International People’s Forum scheduled to take place in Batam.
The government has also drawn up a “blacklist” of individuals who will not be allowed access to Singapore. These include civil society representatives who have already been accredited by the World bank-IMF to the Annual Meetings, as well as those who have already obtained visas, or require no visa to enter Singapore . The Singaporean government has advanced no clear or valid reason for denying these people access, nor has it publicly released the “blacklist.”
The IMF and World Bank cannot escape responsibility for recent developments.
Knowing full well the authoritarian character of the Singaporean Government, they appear to have picked Singapore as the site of their Annual Meetings because they wanted to avoid the legitimate and peaceful street protests that have been staged at earlier World Bank-IMF and World Trade Organization meetings.
The choice of Singapore as a venue for the annual meetings has been consistently criticised by civil society organizations, yet the World Bank and IMF went on with their plans.
We condemn the Singapore Government’s repressive actions, and we also condemn the World Bank and the IMF for being complicit in these actions.
In solidarity with those denied entry into Singapore and denied the exercise of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association, we will stay away from all meetings and seminars in the official programme at the World Bank and IMF 2006 annual meetings in Singapore.
We call on all social movements, civil society organizations and networks, and individuals to uphold the rights of peoples to freedom of expression and association, and to honour this boycott by staying away from the official meetings in Singapore.
Signatories:
INFID Indonesia
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) Philippines
Jubilee South
Focus on the Global South
Solidarity Africa Network
Campagna per la Riforma Della Banca Mondiale (Reform the World Bank Campaign) – Italy
World Development Movement, UK
Jubilee USA Network
50 Years is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice
European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD)
Greenpeace
Friends of the Earth International
Oil Change International
The Development GAP – USA
11.11.11 Coordination of the Flemish North South Movement (CNCD) – Belgium
A SEED Europe – Netherlands
Action Aid International
Action Aid International Sierra Leone
Africa Jubilee South
African Forum on Alternatives – Senegal
Altsean – Burma
Amigos de la PAZ en COLOMBIA y en el MUNDO
AMPG – Indonesia
Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS APMDD)
Asia Center for Human Rights
AsiaDHRRA
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
Asia Pacific Resource and Research for Women (ARROW)
Asian Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
Asienhaus – Germany
Association “Green Alternative” – Georgia
ATTAC Japan
BanglaPraxis – Bangladesh
Bank Information Center
BankTrack – Netherlands
BARRIOS, Inc. – Philippines
Blue Planet Project, Canada
Bretton Woods Project – United Kingdom (80 th name)
Burma.Initiative Asienhaus – Germany
Campaign for the Welfare State – Norway
CARAM
CAPPA – Indonesia
CEE Bankwatch Network
CELCOR-FOE – Papua New Guinea
Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence – Austria
Center for Environment and Development (CED) – Cameroon
Centre for Civil Society Economic Justice Project, Durban, South Africa
Centre for Sustainable Agriculture – Sri Lanka
Centre national de coopération au développement (CNCD-11.11.11) – Belgium
Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J.” (CSMM)
Change Maker (Bangladesh)
CHRISTIAN AID– United Kingdom
Coalition for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM)
Community Development Library – Bangladesh
Cordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Mali (CNOP) – Mali
CORE Centre for Organisation Research & Education – India
Creed Alliance – Pakistan
Debt and Development Coalition Ireland
Diakonia – Sweden
Dilena Pathragoda
Documentation for Action Groups in Asia – China
Economic Justice and Development Organization (EJAD) Islamabad – Pakistan
El Grito de Los Excluidos y Excluidas de Bolivia – Bolivia
Environmental Law Center/ “Armon” – Uzbekistan
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth-Nigeria – Nigeria
EQUATIONS – India
Fair Trade and Communication – Italy
Foro Ciudadano de Participación por la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos Programa del INPADE, Argentina
Food and Water Watch – United States
Forest Peoples Programme, UK
FORUM-ASIA
Foundation for Gaia – United Kingdom
Foundation for Media Alternatives – Philippines
Free Burma Coalition, Philippines
Friends of the Earth-France – France
Friends of the Earth-Netherlands – Netherlands
Friends of the Earth-US – United States
Gender Action
German NGO Working Group on the ADB – Germany
Global Concerns India
Global Exchange – USA
Grupo Reflexion Y Solidaridad Oscar A. Romero – Cuba
Halifax Initiative Coalition – Canada
Human Rights Working Group – Indonesia
International Gender and Trade Network – Asia
Indian People’s Tribunal – India
Indigenous People’s Links (PIPLinks) – United Kingdom
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation Branch of Surabaya – Indonesia
Initiative for International Dialogue (IID) – Philippines
Institute for Global Justice (IGJ), Indonesia
International Rivers Network
Jubilee Debt Canpaign, UK and Scotland
Jubilee Kyushu on World Debt and Poverty – Japan
Jubileo Sur Americas
KALAYAAN – Philippines
KEBANI, the other direction, Kerala, India
KAIROS Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives – Canada
La Via Campesina International
Labour Union Of Electricity Generating Authority Of Thailand (LUEGAT), Thailand
Labour Union Of Metropolitan Electricity Authority (LUMEA), Thailand
Labour Union Of Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (LUMWA), Thailand
Labour Union Of Provincial Electricity Authority (LUPEA), Thailand
Labour Union Of Provincial Waterworks Authority (LUPWA), Thailand
Liberia Democracy Watch – Liberia
LOKOJ Institute – Bangladesh
Manasa – India
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra – India
Miembro del Observatorio Control Interamericano de los Derechos de los Migrantes (OCIM)
Migrant Care Indonesia
Mindanao People’s Caucus – Philippines
Minlara Peace Iveaveis
Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) – Sri Lanka
National Center for Advocacy Studies – India
National Fisheries Solidarity – Sri Lanka
National Society of Conservationists/Friends of the Earth-Hungary – Hungary
NGO Forum on ADB
Observatorio de la Deuda – Spain
Odhikar
Officeshyuwa Think Net Field, Tokyo, Japan
Open Space, India
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign – Palestine
PAPDA, Haiti
Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) – Philippines
Peasant Information Centre – Sri Lanka
Perceptions – India
PGFTU – Palestine
Programa Democracia y Transformación Global – Peru
Proyecto Gato – Belgium
PSI-Thai Affiliates Council (PTAC)
PSI-Thai Affiliates Council (PTAC) – Thailand
PSI-Thai Affiliates Council (PTAC), Thailand
Public Utilities Protection Network (PUPN)
Public Utilities Protection Network (PUPN)
Rede Social de Justica e Direitos Humanos – Brazil
REDES-Amigos de la Tierra – Uruguay
Rainforest Action Network – USA
Reseau Foi and Justice, Antenne de France – France
River Basin Friends – India
Rural Reconstruction Nepal
Sanlakas – Philippines
Savisthri Women’s Network – Sri Lanka
South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication -SAAPE
Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) – Kenya
Sri Lankan Working Group on Trade and IFIs, Sri Lanka
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) Malaysia
Sustainable Energy & Economy Network, USA
Svaraj – India
Tanzanian Coalition for Sustainable Development – Tanzania
Terre des Hommes-France – France
The Berne Declaration – Switzerland
The Bretton Woods Project, UK
The Corner House – United Kingdom
The Council of Canadians – Canada
The Ecological Society Green Salvation – Kazakhstan
Think Center , Singapore
Trade Union Centre – Sri Lanka
Trade Union Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Unnayan Shahojogy Team (Bangladesh)
WALHI/Friends of the Earth-Indonesia – Indonesia
Winnipeg Burma Roundtable – Canada
World Economy, Ecology, and Development (WEED) – Germany
World Forum of Fisher People
D R Jayatilake, Peasant Information Centre, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka
Denis Brutus, professor emeritus, University Pittsburgh, Jubilee South Africa, Jubilee South Africa
Hector F. Aguilar, CIRES-ILCIHB República Bolivariana de Venezuela
Herman Kumara, National Fisheries Solidarity, Negombo, Sri Lanka
Linus Jayatilake, Trade Union Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Prof. H Sriyananda, Open University, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Dr. Lionel weerakoon, centre for sustainable agriculture, Sri Lanka
Mailie La Zarr – United States
Maurice Andre – France
Padma Pushpakanthi, Savisthri Women’s Network, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Prof. H Sriyananda, Open University, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Raja Kumar – India
Thomas Kocherry, World Forum of Fisher People
T. Cassidy – United States
Titi Soentoro – Thailand
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163 Organizations
15 Individuals
As of September 13 5:00 pm Indonesia Time