Global Civil Disobedience IS Not Rioting! In Support of the Victims and Protestors Against WTO!Release all the Detained Protestors Immediately! (revised)

To:  全球公民

(please use simplified chinese to read the chinese)

全球公民抗命不是騒亂!

支援WTO的受害者及異議者! 立即釋放被補人士 !

世貿會議在香港舉行，各地民間團體也齊集，發表不同意見，豐富了香港人作為國 際公民社會一員的視野。但作為一個東道主, 香港政府並無堅持「中立」的立場, 反而不斷透過簡化粗陋，純為世貿歌功頌德的電視/報紙宣傳片, 試圖誤導市民，妨礙市民理性認識世貿組織真貌。

12月17日,香港警方也未有遵守最高度克制，及盡力協助世貿異議者充分表達意 見的原則，引發激烈肢體衝突。然而，香港政府卻刻意引導輿論，指責這些衝突為一場「騷亂」。

事實上，示威者一直都恪守爭取進入會議場地，直接跟世貿代表對話的原則，體現 公民抗命(civil disobedience)的精神,因而對員警不合理的封鎖線進行衝擊。 他們所針對的並非普通市民的生命、安全、也沒有破壞任何私有財產, 實在難以稱 為一場「騷亂」。但香港政府卻誘導媒體扭曲示威行動, 實在有損香港身為一個保障言論自由的城市。

世貿運作和決議影響萬千農民與勞工的生計，偏幫發達國家的大財團，漠視分配公 義，和對地球資源的掠奪。貧苦工農身陷絕境，決心反抗，實屬無可奈可。

我們強烈質疑:
1) 香港政府將激烈衝突定性為「騷亂」，是否只用來合理化警方在當中首先挑起 的不必要暴力 (excessive force)？
2) 事件過後，香港警方無理及無必要地長時間扣留大批外來的示威者，是否在於 控制言論自由及集會自由, 讓他們無法在世貿會議期間正常發表意見？
3) 香港警方容許持有香港身份證的人離開集會現場, 卻扣留國際示威者，是否有 針對性的持雙重標準？

我們呼籲:　
1) 香港政府與警方停止抹黑抗議世貿示威的言論和行動。
2) 立即釋放被捕示威者。
3) 向國際社會解釋其雙重標準。
4) 香港市民應繼續盡國際公民的責任，捍衛不同意見的表達權利，瞭解不同的意 見表達方式，並繼續深切認識世貿為跨國財團服務，嚴重影響發展中國家民眾利益 的醜惡一面。

發起的學者:
陸德泉 浸會大學，聯絡電話: 9527-8227 聯絡電郵: tcluk@net1.hkbu.edu.hk
何芝君 理工大學
梁志遠　理工大學
潘　毅 科技大學
陳允中 科技大學
司徒薇 香港大學

….繼續聯署中

Global Civil Disobedience IS Not Rioting!
In Support of the Victims and Protestors Against WTO!
Release all the Detained Protestors Immediately!

During the WTO meeting in Hong Kong, non-government organizations from all over the world gather in Hong Kong to voice their different opinions, and in this manner, enrich Hong Kong people exposure to the international civil society. As a host of this international negotiation, the Hong Kong government should insist on its neutrality and balance in representing the events. Unfortunately, it does the opposite. It constantly supplies the broadcasting and print media with simplified propaganda solely for the purpose of glorifying the WTO, trying in the process to misinform the public and prevent the public from access to the information that would allow them to make rational and truthful understanding of the WTO and its effects.

On December 17, 2005, protestors persisted in their demand to enter the WTO meeting venue in order to directly dialogue with the WTO representatives. This is the actualization of their freedom of _expression and their spirit of civil disobedience, and in this spirit, they challenged the unreasonable blockade of the Hong Kong police. They did not endanger the life and safety of ordinary citizens, nor did they damage any private property or public facilities. Thus, their action cannot in any way be described and understood as a “riot.” The government however, misled the media in unjustly misrepresenting the protest. The government is thus responsible for taking the lead in damaging the image of Hong Kong as an international city that upholds the freedom of _expression.


The operation and decisions of the WTO affects the livelihood of millions of farmers and workers around the world. It is biased in favor of developed countries and multinational corporations while neglecting its direct adverse effects: the unjust redistribution of wealth, and the exploitation and privatization of the world’s natural resources. It is inevitable that farmers in destitution and despair need to fight back.

We strongly question:

1. The Hong Kong government’s deliberate misrepresentation of the protests as riots. Is it only in order to justify the police in its initiation of the conflicts and its excessive use of force?

2. The police’s decision to detain over 1,000 protesters for many hours up to more than 24 hours after the incident. It is absolutely unreasonable and unnecessary unless the purpose of the police is to deny the protesters their rights, and to prevent them from exercising their freedoms of _expression and demonstration during the remaining period of the WTO meetings.

3. The Hong Kong police’s decision to allow the protesters with Hong Kong identity cards to leave the site of the demonstration and detention freely, while detaining foreign protesters. Is this a deliberate use of double standards with discriminatory implications?

We demand that:

1. The Hong Kong government and the police stop negatively misrepresenting the messages and actions of the anti-WTO protesters.

2. The police release all detained protesters immediately.

3. The Hong Kong government and the police explain to the international community its use of double standards in the treatment of local and foreign protesters.

4. The Hong Kong citizens should continue to exercise their responsibility as members of the international civil society to defend everyone’s right to express different opinions, to understand and embrace people’s different forms of expressions, to learn in depth about the other face of the WTO not projected by our government, and to reflect upon the negative effects of the WTO, which is biased in service of the large corporations, and to understand how the WTO affects adversely the livelihood and rights of people’s in the developing countries.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Global Civil Disobedience IS Not Rioting! In Support of the Victims and Protestors Against WTO!Release all the Detained Protestors Immediately! (revised) Petition to 全球公民 was created by OK and written by Tak Chuen Luk (tcluk@net1.hkbu.edu.hk ).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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