DOHA, Qatar – Two years ago, Council of Canadians chair Maude Barlow spent most of the week of the World Trade Organization talks on Seattle streets with tens of thousands of others, helping make the unsuccessful WTO talks a spectacle of opposition.
Last weekend in this controlled Persian Gulf capital, she along with 100 accredited non-governmental organization delegates were restricted to muted protests in the halls of the conference centre where 141 countries met for the latest attempt to launch a WTO negotiation.
They engaged in some guerrilla theatre aimed at challenging what they said was the secrecy and anti-poor bias of the WTO. They stood with mouths taped, held signs denouncing the process and at times chanted “no new round.”
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The demonstrations were short and non-disruptive.
“We have been working hard, both publicly and behind the scenes, but obviously our presence is limited,” Barlow said in a Nov. 11 interview after one bit of political theatre. The NGO presence was limited by cost and a strictly controlled accreditation system.
She said the NGO group met the Qatari crown prince beforehand and won approval for some symbolic and peaceful demonstrations inside the site. Outside demonstrations were not allowed.
“Let’s face it, if we did these things next week, we’d be in a Qatari jail,” said Barlow, an Ottawa-based anti-free trade activist.
With fears of a terrorist incident following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the Qatari government put on a substantial show of security. Armed police were everywhere, soldiers guarded roadblocks and access to the site was limited.
In some ways, the tension was illustrated by the tale of two ships.
In the harbour at Doha, Greenpeace anchored its protest ship, the Rainbow Warrior, within sight of the WTO meeting, created a pirate radio station to broadcast against world trade talks and gained its accustomed attention.
Further offshore, the United States navy parked the USS Peleliu, complete with 2,000 marines ready to swarm ashore at the first hint of terrorist attacks or other chaos that the Qatari soldiers could not handle.
The scene of the Doha WTO meeting will be remembered more for the tight security, plentiful guns, wary guards, body frisks and regular roadblocks than it will be for the scenes of protester street theatre that closed downtown Seattle two years ago.
Despite that, Barlow said the small NGO force was having the desired effect. It was gaining media attention, lobbying delegates and making its presence felt.
