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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Feb24/31) Penang, 28 Feb (Kanaga Raja) — A global network of civil society organizations (CSOs) and social movements has voiced serious concerns that civil society participants have faced “an escalation in repression” at the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) currently taking place in Abu Dhabi despite fully complying with the WTO’s guidelines for the conference. According to a press release issued by the “Our World Is Not for Sale” (OWINFS) global network of CSOs at MC13 on 28 February, the WTO risks losing its legitimacy as affected communities, and CSOs are being shut out of normal participation at MC13. The CSOs said that given the “unprecedented repression” of its participants, MC13 should not continue until historical and international standards and human rights for participation in global governance are restored. “Participants, especially from developing countries, are fearful of even walking alone in the conference centre now, lest they be unjustly detained and possibly deported, and then unable to secure visas ever again. This climate of fear should not be the result of advocacy in an institution of global economic governance,” said Rahmat Maulana Sidik, Executive Director of Indonesia for Global Justice. “This is my 11th MC and I’ve never seen anything like this level of repression. The WTO Secretariat has insisted that it is working towards clarifying things with the host country. But we see no evidence that the DG – who is widely known as a person who, shall we say, can get her way when she wants – is insisting on our rights being restored,” said Deborah James, facilitator of Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) global civil society network. “It was a long way to Abu Dhabi from my country. I came here to get work done, and I do not feel safe to do the normal activities that I always do in Ministerial Conferences. The uncertainty of not knowing if I will be detained just for giving away my research is paralyzing me from doing what I am supposed to do,” said Sofia Scasserra, researcher from Argentina with the Transnational Institute. The concerns voiced by the CSOs came a day after they had filed a complaint with the WTO Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonzo-Iweala, “about several incidents of detainment, confiscation of materials, and heavy-handed restrictions on lobbying” by the CSOs at the conference. The CSOs had pointed out that previous WTO ministerial conferences have allowed civil society participants to distribute information and analyses, take photos, display banners, and other forms of engagement. In their letter to the DG on 26 February, the CSOs expressed serious concerns over their ability to effectively participate in the MC13 process. “At other international governance organizations, NGO observers are welcomed into deliberations and permitted to make interventions on the record,” they said. “The WTO has long fallen short in this regard, but the silencing we have experienced thus far in Abu Dhabi is shocking even by the low bar the WTO has set,” they added. “We are representatives of people’s movements, small-scale farmers, fisher-folk, union leaders. We have traveled here from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Spain, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to speak on behalf of millions of people at this meeting of the world’s largest economic rule-making institution,” the CSOs said in their letter to the DG. The communities that will be affected by WTO decisions must be permitted to participate in this process, they emphasized. “The WTO talks of inclusivity, yet what we have seen to date suggests our voices will be silenced throughout this ministerial. We expect you, as the Director-General, to ensure there is space for critical voices to be heard in the ministerial itself,” said the CSOs. In their complaint, the CSOs called on the WTO DG to address their concerns as a matter of urgency. (See SUNS #9955 dated 28 February 2024). Meanwhile, in the press release issued on 28 February, the CSOs said two participants, who have been advised not to release their names publicly while still in the country, were detained, allegedly for “filming” within the convention centre. This continues a disturbing trend for this Ministerial Conference, said the CSOs. “The WTO has failed to ensure the safety and rights of participants that it has registered for this meeting.” According to the press release, this incident happened during a public civil society event where affected community groups – fishers from developing countries – were discussing the negotiations that would directly impact them. If the WTO is currently unable or unwilling to ensure the safety and rights of the participants, then the meeting should not continue until that is the case, said the CSOs. “As they stand, negotiations are proceeding on agenda items without possibilities of any democratic engagement from affected communities and civil society.” The CSOs noted that the DG has billed this Ministerial as the most “open, transparent and inclusive process” to date. “Yet, her institution is failing to ensure participants that the guiding information communicated by the WTO, and the prevailing practice with regards to what civil society can do, actually holds for MC13,” said the CSOs. This is putting the safety of civil society participants at risk, and denying their rights, with little being done to substantively address this extremely urgent and serious issue, they added. According to the press release, the CSOs have been told by several delegations, including from Norway, New Zealand, and the United States, that they have raised this issue with the WTO Secretariat, but there is no evidence that the WTO has taken action. The inclusion of civil society has been mentioned frequently at this Ministerial as being central to the WTO, yet civil society members are being prevented from undertaking their work, advocating for communities affected by the outcomes of the Ministerial, on account of the participants being subject to repressive measures, the CSOs said. “There should be nothing agreed about us at this Ministerial without us,” they emphasized. +
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