Protesters fight WTO, police

Protesters at the WTO Convention in Seattle from November 29 through December 5 met much opposition, both from within the protests and from police and delegates. A small group of anarchists from Eugene, Oregon smashed the windows of such corporate downtown establishments as the Gap and Nordstroms in political protest. The violence gained the attention of the media, which attracted several more violent "protesters" to the area. The result was rioting.

Police began launching tear gas canisters at masses of protesters assembled on the streets Monday morning. A few OHS students were present.

Junior Kelly Crow went to march with the Direct Action Network. "The WTO can overturn any law in any nation," Crow explained. "They tried to get the US to repeal national forest acts." Senior Karen Adams participated in a human chain that blocked WTO delegates from the convention center. Adams stated her reason for attending was "mostly environmental." "I feel the WTO is corrupt," she said. "It's a good idea to have someone regulating free trade, but the WTO needs to be demolished and rebuilt from the bottom up."

Both students interviewed experienced the physical effects of police riot control. They were tear gassed, pepper sprayed, and CO-chemical sprayed. "I saw innocent demonstrators shot with rubber bullets and hit by police," Adams recalled. Crow stated, "I got caught in a huge cloud of tear gas on Capitol Hill. It's like pepper spray, but worse. I couldn't walk because I couldn't see."

Crow was also upset by the behavior of police. "They reacted horribly," she said. "It wasn't like normal procedure. Some were punching people. One of my friends had tear gas poured down her pants." This cruelty made Crow glad to hear the police chief stepped down after the convention. "It was the governor and the police chief who initially gave the orders to tear gas us."

Both stressed that the violent anarchists so heavily covered by the media were only a small group. "The rioters made a bad name for us all," Adams said. According to Crow, the anarchists targeted only corporations "to draw attention to their use of slave labor," but after news coverage, "more people went to cause havoc."

* WTO Perspective:

-We strive for free trade at all costs, punishing with high tariffs those countries that create laws preventing free trade.
-Laws regarding the environment, child labor, etc. are often passed in wealthy nations and result in discrimination against trade with poorer nations because these nations cannot afford the standards required by the laws.
· More infomation about the WTO is available from their website at wto.org.

* Protesters' Perspective:

-We strive for fair trade with environmental protection, human rights, decent working conditions, living wages, etc.
-WTO operations are bad because delegates make decisions behind closed doors and do not allow for outside input in decision-making or appeals to their rulings.
· More information on anti-WTO activism is available on the web at gatt.org.

(from The Olympus)