media advisory
jubilee south
50 years is enough
infid
Campagna per la Riforma della Banca
Mondiale
Friends of the Earth International
Civil society groups condemn civil
society clampdown for Singapore World
Bank/IMF meetings
September 8 2006 - Civil society groups
worldwide have reacted angrily to the
Singaporean government’s ban on up to 20
delegates who plan to attend Bank/Fund annual
meetings there next week. They have also
condemned the pressure apparently brought by
Singapore’s government on the administration
of neighbouring Batam, Indonesia, where a
major civil society conference will be held
next week. Yesterday it appeared that
permission would not be granted for the
conference, but today, following an
international outcry, official sources in
Jakarta confirmed it can go ahead.
Three years ago when the IMF & World
Bank designated Singapore for their joint
annual meetings civil society groups
predicted these difficulties. Lidy Nacpil of
Jubilee South commented “Singapore’s thorough
restrictions on freedom of expression and
assembly are well known. The sounds of shock
and disappointment from the IMF and World
Bank cannot be taken seriously”. “The IMF and
World Bank are trying to shed their image as
economic disciplinarians and reposition
themselves as civil society-friendly and as
good governance champions, but these events
show how little they have changed”, said
Nacpil.
“Three years ago, we went through a
similar ordeal when the World Bank chose to
have its annual meetings in the Emirate of
Dubai,” said Sameer Dossani of the 50 Years
Is Enough Network. “It seems that the only
countries where the IMF and World Bank feel
secure are those with no respect for human
rights and civil liberties.”
Antonio Tricarico of Campaign to Reform
the World Bank, Italy – one of the
organisations whose staff are banned from
going to the Singapore meeting said “Italian
government representatives in Singapore
contacted me to say that I would not be
allowed entry to Singapore because I am on
some kind of ‘black list’”. Other
organisations known to be on the banned
include list INFID (Indonesia), Freedom from
Debt Coalition (Philippines), FOCUS on the
Global South, (Asia region) and World
Development Movement (UK). These are all
well-known groups committed to non-violent
advocacy on economic justice issues.
The civil society outcry this week has
reversed the announced ban on the
International People’s Forum in Batam,
Indonesia, an island just 45 minutes from
Singapore by ferry. Indonesian lead
organisers INFID confirm that the conference
will go ahead from September 15-17 – just
before the official meetings in Singapore.
“Local and international organizers have been
planning this conference for months,” said
Dian Kartikasari of INFID, an organizer of
the event. “We are expecting over 1000
participants from more than 40 countries
around the world. The conference will be a
space to discuss opposition to neoliberal
economic policies promoted by the IMF and
World Bank and alternative models of
people-centered development.”
Civil society groups chose the location in
Indonesia because of the notorious
restrictions in Singapore and because of
Indonesia’s vibrant network of civil society
groups and its own sour experience enduring
IMF mistreatment during the East Asian
financial crisis of the late 1990s.
As well as the events in Singapore and
Indonesia civil society groups are planning a
week of mobilisation against the World Bank
and IMF in 74 countries between 14 and 20
September.
CONTACTS:
Jakarta (INFID): Nadia Hadad, (INFID)
+62-811-132081
Manila: Lidy Nacpil (Jubilee South) +639
1788 00410
Washington DC: Sameer Dossani (50 Years is
Enough) +1 202 463 2265
Rome: Antonio Tricarico, (Campagna per la
Riforma della Banca Mondiale) +39 328 84 85
448
Amsterdam: Longgena Ginting, (Friends of
the Earth International): +31-642811585
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