PHM-Exch> CSOs Shut Out of Normal Participation at WTO's MC13 in Abu Dhabi

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Dr Mira Shiva <drmirashiva1978 at gmail.com>



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2024

Contact: Deborah James, djames at cepr.net, +1.202.441.6917

*WTO Loses Legitimacy as Affected Communities, CSOs Shut Out of Normal
Participation at MC13 in Abu Dhabi*

*Given Unprecedented Repression of Participants, MC13 Should Not Continue
Until Historical and International Standards and Human Rights for
Participation in Global Governance are Restored*

*Abu Dhabi –* A day after filing a complaint
<https://ourworldisnotforsale.net/2024/2024-02-26_L_DG.pdf> to the World
Trade Organization (WTO) Director General about several incidents of
detainment, confiscation of materials, and heavy-handed restrictions on
lobbying by civil society organizations (CSOs) at the Ministerial
Conference, participants 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 country, were detained, allegedly for ‘filming’ within the
convention centre. This continues a disturbing trend for this Ministerial
Conference. The WTO has failed to ensure the safety and rights of
participants that it has registered for this meeting. 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.

If the WTO is currently unable or unwilling to ensure the safety and rights
of the participants, then the meeting should not continue until that is the
case. As they stand, negotiations are proceeding on agenda items without
possibilities of any democratic engagement from affected communities and
civil society.

The WTO Director General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has billed this
Ministerial as the most “open, transparent and inclusive process” to date.
Yet her institution is failing to ensure participants that the guiding
information communicated by the WTO, and the prevailing practice with
regards to what civil society can do, actually holds 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.

"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 in an institution of
global economic governance," said Rahmat Maulana Sidik, Executive Director
of Indonesia for Global Justice.

"This is my 11th MC and I've never seen anything like this level of
repression. The WTO Secretariat has insisted that it is working towards
clarifying things with the host country. But we see no evidence that the DG
– 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.” said Deborah James,
facilitator of the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network of
CSOs.

"It was a long way to Abu Dhabi from my country. I came here to get work
done, and I do not feel safe to do the normal activities that I always do
in Ministerial Conferences. The uncertainty of not knowing if I will be
detained just for giving away my research is paralyzing me from doing what
I am supposed to do,” said Sofia Scasserra, researcher from Argentina with
the Transnational Institute.

CSOs have been told by several delegations, including from Norway, New
Zealand, and the United States, that they have raised this issue with the
secretariat, but there is no evidence that the WTO has taken action.

The inclusion of civil society has been mentioned frequently at this
Ministerial as being central to the WTO, yet 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. There should be nothing agreed about
us at this Ministerial without us.

A comparison between activities at MC13 and previous Ministerials is below.
CSOs previously documented repression, “*NGOs call for free speech to be
restored at WTO Ministerial in UAE
<https://ourworldisnotforsale.net/2024-02-26_R_free_speech>*.”



                *Civil Society Activities*

*Previous Ministerials*

*MC13*

Distributing informational flyers

*YES*

*NO*

Handing a paper to a reporter you know

*YES*

*NO*

Holding signs

*YES*

*NO*

Chanting about the negotiations

*YES*

*NO*

Displaying banners

*YES*

*NO*

Taking photos of our actions

*YES*

*NO*

Speaking with delegates as they enter negotiating rooms

*YES*

*NO*

Taking actions in areas where delegates can see

*YES*

*NO*

Filming according to the instructions

*YES*

*NO*

Wearing traditional Palestinian Kuffiyeh

*YES*

*NO*

More than 50 civil society representatives are in person at MC13 working
with the global Our World Is Not for Sale (OWINFS) network including
farmers, fisherfolk, development advocates, environmentalists, and public
interest organizations, coming 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; two Nigerians were
denied visas.



A directory of civil society experts present in Abu Dhabi for the WTO’s
MC13 can be seen here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DAsp5TwEYNLrowrtCgjg5eCKlb0ja0FJZ5jXcC3AZ7U/edit>.
A summary of What’s at Stake at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial, including links
to letters and analysis from many of the organizations, can be seen here
<https://cepr.net/whats-at-stake-at-the-wtos-13th-ministerial-conference-this-month-in-abu-dhabi/>.




OWINFS is a network of organizations and social movements worldwide
fighting the current model of corporate globalization embodied in the
global trading system of the WTO. OWINFS is committed to a sustainable,
socially just, democratic and accountable multilateral trading system.
www.ourworldisnotforsale.net    #
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