Undue detainments, confiscations & restrictions: Shut out of normal participation at WTO, civil societies claim

Civil society organisations (CSO) have complained that they have been shut out of normal participation at the ongoing World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. 

A day after filing a complaint to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO director general, about several incidents of detainment, confiscation of materials and heavy-handed restrictions on lobbying CSOs, participants alleged they have faced an “escalation in repression” despite fully complying with the WTO’s guidelines for the conference.

“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 Rahmat Maulana Sidik, executive director of Indonesia for Global Justice.

Read more: Agriculture, fisheries take spotlight at WTO meet in Abu Dhabi

The WTO has failed to ensure the safety and rights of participants that it has registered for this meeting, claimed Sidik. “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,” he said.

“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 for an institution of global economic governance,” Sidik said. 

Deborah James, facilitator of the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network of CSOs has attended 11 ministerial conferences and claimed she has not seen this level of repression at any other meeting. 

“The WTO Secretariat insisted it is working towards clarifying things with the host country. But we see no evidence that the director general — 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,” she said. 

Iweala has billed this ministerial as the most “open, transparent and inclusive process” to date. 

“Yet her institution is failing to assure participants that the guiding information communicated by the WTO, and the prevailing practice with regards to what civil society can do, actually hold for MC13. 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,” said a statement released by a network of more than 50 organisations. 

Read more: For India, the fight at WTO will be about food security

The inclusion of civil society has been mentioned frequently at MC13 as being central to the WTO. However, 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 alleged. 

More than 50 civil society representatives are in person at MC13 working with the global OWINFS network, including farmers, fisherfolk, development advocates, environmentalists and public interest organisations from 21 countries: Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Spain, Switzerland, Uganda, the United States and Zimbabwe. 

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