Subject: [cwj 32] CANADA DETAINS AND DEPORTS OIL CONGRESS ACTIVISTS
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 16:29:36 -0700
Seq: 32

Friends-

While this press release does not deal directly with Japan, I think its
appropriate for this list because of the upcoming G8 Summit in Okinawa in
July this year.  Groups organizing for the summit in and outside Japan
should be advised that they should be ready for similar acts of harrasment
and deportation of activists, especially foreign activists, coming to Japan
to protest the G8 gathering.  Legal support should be made available to
make sure that such blatant acts of repression do not ocur in Japan.

I personally have been detained several times by Japanese immigration,
mostly for no other apparent reason except that I am non-white and
non-Japanese.  But I have always been let into Japan.  However, the recent
experiences in the handling of Greenpeace activists in Japan leads me to
believe that the Japanese government will not hesitate in barring activists
from entering Japan for the alternative G8 gathering.

Amit Srivastava

PROJECT UNDERGROUND   www.moles.org
TRANSNATIONAL RESOURCE & ACTION CENTER    www.corpwatch.org

Contacts:  
Amit Srivastava, TRAC cell: 415-786-4327
Carwil James, Project Underground cell: 510-421-0119

CANADA DETAINS AND DEPORTS OIL CONGRESS ACTIVISTS

Update:  June 9, 2000- Both activists have been deported and have arrived
back in San Francisco.

San Francisco, June 8-Bay Area activists set to speak at a teach-in on the
human rights and environmental impacts of the oil industry were arrested by
Canadian immigration officials last night at Calgary's international airport.

The officials told Carwil James of Project Underground and Amit Srivastava
of the Transnational Resource & Action Center (TRAC) that they were
detained because of their involvement in activities critical of the World
Petroleum Congress-a global oil industry gathering.  

"The Canadian government should be ashamed of itself for pre-empting free
speech in such a heavy-handed manner.  It appears that Canada is more
interested in protecting oil corporations than human rights," said Joshua
Karliner, Director of TRAC.

Using a law that apparently allows them to deny entry to individuals with
two or more arrest convictions, Canadian officials detained James and
Srivastava as they arrived for the Counter Petroleum Congress where they
were scheduled to speak.  Both activists have been convicted of
misdemeanors in the past for engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.
Mr. James was most recently arrested at the demonstrations against the
World Trade Organization in Seattle.  Mr. Srivastava hasn't been arrested
in nine years.

Immigration officials used this pretext to read through and copy paper and
electronic documents the activists carried, including Mr. Srivastava's year
long work plan.  

"This detention is part of a systematic government effort at the behest of
oil corporations--something we are more used to witnessing in dictatorships
like Nigeria," said Danny Kennedy, Director of Project Underground.   "With
free trade, corporations move freely across border; people, especially
those critical of corporate globalization, apparently cannot."

Both activists are people of color (Amit is Indian American and Carwil is
African American).  Other white activists with multiple civil disobedience
charges were apparently let into Canada without any problem. "While this
may be coincidence, we are also concerned that they may have been singled
out as activists of color" said Kennedy.

The activists who were jailed over night and transported in chains and
shackles were given two choices:  either fight deportation and risk a
life-long ban from Canada or withdraw their application to enter the
country and leave immediately.  Mr. James is staying and fighting
deportation, working with Canadian immigration attorneys.  Mr. Srivastava
has withdrawn his application. He should be available to interview from 8 pm
PST onward.
--30--

-------------------------------------
Corporate Watch in Japanese
Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC)
P.O. Box 29344
San Francisco, CA 94129 USA
Tel: 1-415-561-6472
Fax: 1-415-561-6493
Email: cwj@corpwatch.org
URL:  http://www.corpwatch-jp.org
-------------------------------------
______________________
The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ)
mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect
activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around
the world.
*
To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to
majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj".  To subscribe to the CWJ
mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text
"subscribe cwj"
*
The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution.  If you would
like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first
contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org
______________________


Return to Index
Return to cwj HOME