Latest update December 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
Tempers flare at UN Climate Summit
– Police use pepper spray on journalists, protesters
By Neil Marks in Copenhagen
As leaders began to arrive in Copenhagen to hopefully put ink on a new climate deal at the end of the week, the city’s police are being accused of indiscriminately arresting protesters on the cold streets and using pepper spray against journalists.
Sunlight hardly peeped out the black skies of Copenhagen yesterday, but Police have already held around 200 demonstrators near the American embassy.
This follows Saturday’s mass demonstration in which almost 100,000 persons from across the world flooded the streets of Copenhagen to demand an ambitious new climate pact.
Sunday’s group had assembled as part of the “Hit the Production” demonstration. The police, apparently without provocation, charged violently at the crowd and began arrests, forcing people to sit on the ground in below zero degree temperatures while cuffed.
Anyone dressed in all black was rounded up by Police and searched. Some were held. Close to 1, 500 persons were arrested on Saturday.
“I came here to show that the UN talks don’t represent me, that big business and rich governments can’t solve this crisis, and that it’s going to take all of us to avoid climate catastrophe – and the police are responding with pepper spray, batons and indiscriminate arrests,” Ed Thompson, a climate justice activist from the UK, who was at the scene said.
There are reports of the use of batons and pepper spray on journalists as well as protesters. One journalist from Danish news outlet, Ekstra Bladet, had reportedly been arrested. Journalists accredited to the Bella Centre where the talks are held were denied entry to the facility on Sunday.
Journalists have been restricted from reporting at the site of the arrests since 18:00 hrs Saturday. Only journalists with an office in the Bella Centre were allowed entry.
Protesters held have been forced to sit in the cold. They have expressed severe physical discomfort and have no access to water, medical attention or toilet facilities. Many activists are reported to have urinated themselves while detained on the ground.
Helga Matthiassen, who was detained for an hour before being released due to an injury she had recently sustained, said, “Of course we’re angry – people all over the world are angry about being lied to by Governments who are making a corporate deal at the climate talks, and now when we try to protest against this on the streets we are randomly held by police.
“Not only have we been denied the right to protest, but our basic human rights have also been ignored in this ludicrous, staged police exercise. It seems Danish Police have a new motto: ‘why just criminalise protesters, when you can dehumanise them too?’”
Dr Saleemul Huq, from Bangladesh, and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that Copenhagen will be remembered in years to come, not for what happens on December 18, when world leaders meet here, but for what happened on Saturday when demonstrators flooded the streets of Copenhagen.
“This marked the day that people from all walks of life all over the world seized the initiative from our so-called leaders. Regardless of the words these presidents and prime ministers decide in a “protocol” or “agreement” next week, it is the people of the world who have put the writing on the wall!”
He said the leaders who choose to read those words will take us forward. “Those who ignore them will be swept away by the tide of history.”
Dr Huq said that Saturday marked the point when a large part of the world rose up as one to tackle a truly global challenge.
“Although there may be temporary setbacks (like a less-than-ambitious deal next week) the tide has already turned. It cannot be turned back.
“Regardless of how much we achieve next week – and I remain optimistic in spite of the political manoeuvrings this week — we are set on a new and inexorable path. The leaders who understand that may come from the most unexpected of quarters.”
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