Protesters, police Groups planning peaceful demonstrations during the Asian Development Bank meeting in May say Honolulu police are going too far to prevent violent protests.
prepare for
ADB meeting
Some say they are
Many feel protests will be peaceful
going too far
Council drops arrest measure By Nelson Daranciang
Star-BulletinPolice are questioning people on the street and even stopped a motorist who had a "Shut Down ADB" bumper sticker on his car, said Carolyn Hatfield of ADBwatch, a local network of organizations and individuals concerned with the ADB's free-trade goals and Third World developmental projects.
"It's creating a real bad climate," she said.
The May 7-11 meeting at the Hawaii Convention Center is expected to attract 3,000 attendees and, according to ADBwatch, between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters opposed to the ADB's policies
Assistant Police Chief Boisse Correa, who is in charge of HPD's security plan for the meeting, said he did not know of any circumstances of police approaching people on the street about the meeting. In fact, he said, officers were instructed not to approach anyone.
Still, to monitor protest groups entering the state, police will be checking airline manifests. Neither police nor the airlines would comment on when those checks would start or if they have already started.
Local and federal law enforcement officers also are surfing the Internet to find out which national and international groups plan to protest in Honolulu and are checking with Hawaii-based organizations on whether they will be partnering with any of those groups.
At a Honolulu City Council meeting last month, Correa said he hopes for peaceful demonstrations from protesters, but still has to plan for the "worst-case scenario."Correa also has asked the council for $750,000 to purchase anti-riot and other security gear and says officers have been undergoing civil disobedience training since last summer. The police measures are designed to prevent a replay of the violence by both police and protesters during 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle which caused $3 million in damage.
Sydney Hayakawa, the state's security plan coordinator for the ADB meeting, said, "We're learning from the experiences on the mainland. (The protesters) come out with new techniques. They train, we train."
"It'll come down to who is more proactive," said Hayakawa, the State Department of Public Safety's deputy director for Law Enforcement.
ADBwatch said it is conducting its own training to prevent another WTO fiasco. Police are trying to identify groups opposed to the ADB so law enforcement hopefully can reach agreements with them for peaceful protests, Correa said.
He attended the 1999 WTO meeting and witnessed some of the tactics some groups used to protest the talks.
In Seattle, security zones police set up collapsed because protesters violated their agreements, said Capt. Ron Griffin of the King County Sheriff Department. Demonstrators chained themselves to cars, poles and buildings to block the flow of traffic to and from the meeting and to try to divert police from other protesters, Griffin said.
When police tried to remove the chains, they were confronted by lawyers and video cameras, he said.
Griffin recommends police form teams to remove obstructions as quickly as possible and have a fallback position beyond which no protests or demonstrations would be allowed.
Meanwhile, ADBwatch has invited the attorney who trained the Seattle protesters to train legal observers here.
ADBwatch is coordinating educational forums and demonstrations for local groups like the indigenous rights organization KAHEA and outside groups like International Forum on Globalization. It is securing the permits for a march from the convention center to a rally at Kapiolani Park on May 9.
The permit application is for a crowd of between 5,000 and 7,000 but at this time no one is sure just how many people are going to take part.
Robert Fishman, executive director of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said if the world sees that Hawaii can allow for peaceful protest and successfully host the ADB, the islands can become a hub for similar international events.
Fifty thousand rioting protesters in Seattle is a scene that keeps replaying in the minds of some Honolulu business owners, especially those near the Hawaii Convention Center. Many business people
By Rod Antone
feel any isle protest
will be peaceful
Star-BulletinStill, many say they expect the five-day Asian Development Bank conference starting May 7 at the center to not lead to the same rioting that rocked the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle.
"I don't think we're going to have that reaction from the public, unless they fly in protesters," said Sunny Keaulana, manager of the Russ K. Makaha Quicksilver Boardriders Club, a Kapiolani Boulevard surf shop across from the center. Keaulana says she can't imagine the same kind of riots here as in Seattle.
"(We're) not boarding up our windows" said Keaulana. "Hawaii is just a more tolerant society." Still, she added, "We'll have a larger staffing that day to keep an eye on things."
Honolulu police are preparing for protests against the ADB, whose support of free trade and industrialization of Third World economies have come under heavy criticism by unions, environmentalists and human rights groups. Protests against similar policies during the WTO led to riots that caused millions of dollars in property damage.
Along the Kalakaua Avenue side of the convention center, Hard Rock Cafe general manager Patrick Syka isn't too worried about the upcoming meeting. "This is Hawaii, not Seattle." Syka says, "It's going to be very different, I think."
While Syka says he will close the restaurant if police insist, he sees the protesters as potential customers. "If they don't give us any trouble, we'll treat them as any other guest." said Syka.
Several store owners said police have contacted them already to let them know there could be road closures during the conference. They say the message from police is that everything will be under control.
"I feel safe because I know they're going to be around." said Laverne "Ipo" Cullen, owner of the You Hungry restaurant across from the convention center on Atkinson Drive. Still, Cullen said, she is prepared to close up shop if protesters present a danger to her staff or customers.
John Walker, part-time manager of Tobaccos of Hawaii across Atkinson Drive from the center, invites people to buy a smoke and watch protests from his window. If protesters try anything with his store, his customers will be ready, Walker said. "They're more like security guards,"he said.
The Honolulu City Council has backed off its plan that would have made it easier for police to arrest homeless people outside the Asian Development Bank conference in May. Council drops
measure on
arresting homelessAn anti-riot package to
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
handle protests at the ADB
meeting in May draws fire
Star-BulletinBut opponents of the international group said the concession does not stop their resolve to fight the package of anti-riot measures being considered in anticipation of the May 7-11 conference at the Hawaii Convention Center.
Bowing to concerns raised by the social service community yesterday, the Council deleted a provision in one of the bills that would have allowed police to instantly arrest anyone camping at a noncamping park who does not have a permit. Instead, police would first need to issue a citation, as is the policy now.
Mata Tiave of the Nanakuli Ahupuaa Council said allowing homeless people to be arrested without first issuing a citation "would criminalize what our families have been doing for generations."
"All of our shelters are full," said Kathleen Hasegawa of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance. "We're facing a looming crisis in our state."
Pat Camara of the Leeward Coast added: "You people have no reality of what it's like on the beach for us."
Council members, in removing the language, said it was not their intention to make the plight of the homeless more onerous.
Members of ADBwatch, a group critical of the city's beefed-up security initiative, said even without the homeless provision, what remains in the bill contains language that makes it easier for police to go after people in city parks.
"It's far more restrictive," ADBwatch member Carolyn Hadfield said after the meeting. "You cannot even prepare to sleep."
About 30 ADBwatch members later demonstrated boisterously in front of Honolulu Hale after the Council meeting, carrying signs condemning the ADB's policies in support of free trade and globalization.
At the Council meeting, ADBwatch members also objected to the three other bills in the package that:
>> Ban "possession with intent to use" of any device capable of emitting an "obnoxious substance."The package of bills was described as "inane, ignorant and irresponsible" by Joseph Boski in his testimony before the Council. "They perpetuate a false stereotype of a violent public.">> Prohibit the wearing of a mask or disguise "in order to conceal oneself while perpetrating a crime or to escape lawful detention or custody."
>> Allow police to arrest people "who deposit any glass, nail, tack, can or other substance that is likely to injure any person, animal or vehicle on the highway."
Assistant Police Chief Boisse Correa said authorities are not out to stifle protest but simply to ensure that any actions are peaceful. "We do not want to scare the community or have them think we're going to take action against them," Correa said. "We're Honolulu police officers. We're here to serve and protect with aloha."
Councilman Gary Okino said the Council needs to take action despite ADBwatch's concerns. "It would be irresponsible for us not to provide these tools to the Police Department in case of the worst-case scenario," he said.