NGO coalition says summit neglecting welfare issues

Around 1,000 activists from an alliance of non-governmental organizations staged a protest in front of the respective United States’ and Japanese consulate general buildings on Friday to express their concerns over the ongoing ASEAN summits, which they consider are neglecting welfare and human rights issues.

They also protested the exploitation and domination by the US and other advanced countries in the ASEAN free-trade scheme.

In their declaration, the protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights stated they opposed the “exploitation” of Bali through various international events, which failed to take environmental aspects into account. They demanded the enactment of a moratorium on tourism development.

Starting at 10 a.m., the protesters began to march toward the US Consulate General building, which is located near the center of Bali’s administration in Denpasar. They carried banners and posters, criticizing the unfairness in various issues in Southeast Asia.

Dozens of police officers and plain-clothed security officers guarded the consulate general’s entrance to prevent the protesters from gaining entry.

NGO representatives from several organizations, including the Indonesian Peasant Union, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Union of Independent Laborers, took turns in giving speeches to express their concerns with the ASEAN events.

The protesters read out a 10-point declaration, which demanded that ASEAN uphold people’s sovereignty and its political stance in facing the domination of capitalists, as well as stopping the expropriation of agrarian resources behind food and energy programs.

They said ASEAN states should have the courage to demand compensation for ecological and climate debts to advanced countries, and to ensure that the ASEAN zone was free from military intervention and occupation from the US.