Activists criticise civil society 'restrictions' at WTO meeting in UAE
28/02/2024 16:28
By Emma Farge, Rachna Uppal and Alexander Cornwell
ABU DHABI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Civil society
organisations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in
the United Arab Emirates this week have criticized restrictions
on their participation, including alleging that some of their
members had been briefly detained at the talks.
Our World Is Not For Sale (OWINFS), a network of civil
society groups, said on Wednesday it had complained to WTO
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala over several incidents of
"detainment, confiscation of materials, and heavy-handed
restrictions on lobbying by civil society" groups.
The WTO, in a statement, said the director-general had met
with civil society representatives on Tuesday to discuss their
concerns and had since spoken with the host chair of the talks
to identify solutions.
The office of Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Trade
Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, who is chairing the talks, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaints.
The UAE government media office did not respond either.
While past WTO talks have seen protests, there have been
none so far at this year's event, which is being held in a
country where the right to assembly is essentially banned.
Some civil society participants at the WTO talks have drawn
comparisons to the United Nations COP28 climate conference held
in Dubai last year. Limited protests were permitted at the COP28
site, but they were largely confined to a section of the site
controlled by the U.N.
At least four activists were briefly detained at the WTO
talks, which is been held in an exhibition centre in Abu Dhabi,
said civil society sources, who declined to be named, fearing
repercussions by authorities.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told reporters on
Wednesday that she was aware of the allegations.
"We have raised those concerns with the WTO Secretariat,"
she said.
"There is an important, critically important, role for civil
society. In fact, this is an area where the WTO needs to grow."
Officials from Norway and New Zealand told Reuters they had
formally raised concerns about the matter with the WTO.
A civil society participant, who declined to be named, told
Reuters of being detained more than an hour after filming a
heated exchange between another civil society member and
security at the conference centre hosting the talks.
"It was a really scary experience; they were pretty
aggressive," said the participant who had been detained.
Civil society organisations allege that they are facing
restrictions unlike at past WTO talks, including not being able
to distribute statements, display banners or film.
"This is my 11th MC (ministerial conference) and I've never
seen anything like this level of repression," said Deborah
James, facilitator of the OWINFS network.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Rachna Uppal and Alexander Cornwell;
Editing by Paul Simao)
((rachna.uppal@thomsonreuters.com;))