27th G8 summit

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Official group portrait.

The 27th G8 summit took place in Genoa, Italy, in July 2001. The summit was overshadowed by riots in the city after a crackdown by police targeting anti-globalisation groups and the death of a 23 year-old Carlo Giuliani, leading some to talk of a deliberately followed strategy of tension.

1 The Summit
2 Protests
- 2.1 Injuries and deaths
- 2.2 Charges
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] The Summit

The overall theme of the summit was ways to reduce poverty. Topics discussed at the meeting included an evaluation of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative which involved debt forgiveness to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, the Global Health Fund, the global digital divide, the environment and food security. Although the main summit was from July 20th to the 22nd, the summit was preceded by a meeting of the G8 foreign ministers on the 18th and 19th.[1]

[edit] Protests

The Genoa Group of Eight Summit protest, from July 18 to July 22, 2001, was a dramatic protest, drawing an estimated 200,000 demonstrators. Dozens were hospitalized following clashes with police and night raids by security forces on two schools housing activists and independent journalists. People taken into custody after the raids have alleged severe abuse at the hands of police.

Demonstrators accused the police of brutality and denying them their right to non-violent protest. They believe that G8 summits are non-legitimate attempts by eight of the world's most powerful governments to set the rules for the planet at large. Police and many politicians argued that attempting to blockade a meeting is in itself a violent event and an attempt to impede the workings of democratically elected governments. The right-wing Italian government led by Premier Silvio Berlusconi insisted that police used the minimum amount of force necessary to achieve their goals. It claimed that the protesters' claims were exaggerated.

The G8 meeting was held inside a "Red Zone" in the center of town that had been declared off-limits for non-residents and surrounded by a barricade, leaving protesters no chance to communicate with summit delegates. Fears of a terrorist attack at the time had also led to an air exclusion zone around the city, as well as the stationing of anti-aircraft missiles. Only one activist, Valérie Vie, secretary of a French branch of ATTAC, managed to publicly breach the Red Zone barrier, but was immediately arrested by police agents. There were also several border riots ahead of the summit, as police attempted to prevent suspected activists from entering Italy. The Italian government suspended freedom of movement entitled by the Schengen treaty for the duration of the G8 summit, in order to monitor the movement of the many protesters arriving from across the European Union.

[edit] Injuries and deaths

Protesters try to stop members of the G8 from attending the summit during the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy by burning vehicles on the main route to the summit.

Many demonstrators were injured and dozens more arrested over the course of the event. Most of those 329 arrested were charged with criminal conspiracy to commit destruction;^[1]but they were in most part released shortly thereafter because judges declared the charges invalid. Police continued to raid social centers, media centers, union buildings and legal offices across Italy after the summit as part of ongoing investigations. Over 400 protesters and about 100 among security forces were injured during the clashes.

On Friday July 20, a 23-year-old Anarchist activist Carlo Giuliani of Genoa, was shot dead by Mario Placanica, a Carabinieri officer, during clashes with police. Images show he was about to hurl a fire extinguisher into their jeep, or may possibly have been himself holding up the fire extinguisher in a defensive position against attack from within the Jeep. The Carabiniere was acquitted from any wrong-doing, as judges determined he shot for legitimate defense.

Activist Susanne Bendotti was struck by a vehicle and killed while attempting to cross the French-Italian border at Ventimiglia to get to the Genoa demonstration ^[2].

Genoa demonstrator and labor unionist Maria Jose Olivastri was found naked and strangled in Padua shortly after the summit. Her death was not found to be politically motivated [2].

[edit] Charges

In December 2007, 25 demonstrators were condemned for property damage and looting.

Numerous police officers and local and national officials have been ordered to stand trial in connection with the event. In one trial, 28 police officials are standing trial on charges related to the two night raids, charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, use of excessive force and planting evidence. In other proceedings, 45 state officials, including prison guards, police and medics, are being tried for abusing detainees in their custody who were arrested during the raid. Detainees reported being spat at, verbally and physically humiliated, and threatened with rape.

Police conducted nighttime raids upon centers housing protesters and campsites, most notably the attacks on the Diaz-Pascoli and Diaz-Pertini schools shortly after midnight on July 21. These were being used as sleeping quarters, and had also been set up as centers for those providing media, medical, and legal support work. Police baton attacks left three activists, including British journalist Mark Covell, in comas. At least one person has suffered brain damage, while another had both jaws and fourteen teeth broken. In total, over 60 were severely injured and a parliamentary inquiry was launched [3]. It concluded no wrongdoing on the part of police.

Ninety-three people were arrested during the raids. In May, 2003, Judge Anna Ivaldi concluded that they had put up no resistance whatsoever to the police and all charges were dropped against them. During the inquiry, Pietro Troiani, the deputy police chief in Genoa, admitted to being involved in the planting Molotov cocktails in order to justify the Diaz School raids, as well as faking the stabbing of a police officer to frame activists [4][5].

In 2005, twenty-nine police officers were indicted for grievous bodily harm, planting evidence and wrongful arrest during a night-time raid on the Diaz School. The Molotov cocktails were reported in January 2007, during the trial of the policemen, to have disappeared ^[3]

A further 45 state officials, including police officers, prison guards and doctors, were charged with physically and mentally abusing demonstrators held in a detention centre in the nearby town of Bolzaneto.

In 2007, Romano Prodi's left-wing L'Unione coalition voted to create a Parliamentary Commission on the Genoa events ^[4] ^[5] but this commission was refused by Senate's vote.