Open Letter to the ADB President - please sign
Anivar Aravind
Dear Friends,
You may recall that the protest events and mobilisation in Hyderabad,
India against the ADB AGM between May 3-6, 2006 faced unprecedented
security measures. Participants were harassed by the police and
certain events were cancelled because the Peoples Forum against ADB
(PFAADB) was not able to get venues and/or time of their choice.
Moreover, Indian and Andhra Pradesh governments' intelligence
officers were posted at the protest venues and places where
participants stayed.
While the Indian Government and the Andhra Pradesh governments were
the ones who implemented the security measures, the ADB officials
definitely enjoyed that hospitality including having the AGM outside
the city itself and miles away from any possible demonnstration.
Thistrampling of democracy was not even objected to by the ADB rather
they seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief.
Please find enclosed an Open Letter addressed to the ADB President
strongly condemning the security measures undertaken and asking for an
explanation. This is being circulated on behalf of PFAADB. The
covering note could be changed depending upon ones' needs.
The Open Letter has been drafted for sign on. Signatures and
endorsement could be sent to souparn...@gmail.com or
forumcoo...@gmail.com
In solidarity
Souparna Lahiri
For Peoples Forum against ADB
July 24, 2006
Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda
President,
The Asian Development Bank
Manila, Philippines
Sub: Security Measures during the Annual Governors Meeting in Hyderabad.
Dear Mr. Kuroda,
We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are writing to you
to register our strong protest against the completely unwarranted and
harsh security measures that were put in place during the 39th Annual
Governors' Meeting (AGM) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in
Hyderabad this May. These measures amount to a violation of the
democratic rights of all those who oppose the policies of the ADB and
reflect extremely poorly on the ADB's claims that it supports
democracy, accountability and transparency. They are a clear
indication to us and to the world that contrary to the ADB's rhetoric,
the ADB is not open or able to accept criticism, and is unwilling to
tolerate dissent with regards to its policies, ideology and
operations.
You may wish to claim that you are not aware of the measures we refer
to. Allow us to remind you. From May 2-6, over 5000 people gathered in
Hyderabad on a broad platform titled the Peoples' Forum Against the
ADB (PFAADB). The aim of this platform was to discuss the nature and
impacts of the development and financing model promoted by the ADB,
and share the impacts of this model on the peoples of the Asia-Pacific
region. The spirit and intention of the PFAADB was non-violent and
peaceful. However, delegates to the AGM and members of the press were
given a completely false impression about the PFAADB, and PFAADB
events and plans were subjected to constant harassment and repression
by State security authorities. These include:
Any and all protests near the Hyderabad Convention Centre—the AGM
venue—were banned.
Barricades and check-posts manned by Hyderabad police were set up in
a radius of 5 kilometers around the AGM venue.
Official delegates to the AGM were advised to travel in official AGM
buses to avoid "security harassment."
The Hyderabad Police imposed Prohibitory Orders under Section 144
throughout the city that prevented the assembly of more than 4 people
at any given time.
Rallies and other events in public spaces were permitted by Hyderabad
Police only along specific scheduled routes, chosen entirely with the
intention of ensuring least publicity to such acts of democratic
expression and especially to remain "unnoticeable" by AGM delegates.
The Hyderabad Police approved only two routes for demonstration
rallies, both of which were on deserted by-lanes of the city.
The Hyderabad police refused the PFAADB a venue of its choice to hold
a candlelight vigil, and eventually compelled it to cancel the event
altogether;
Andhra Pradesh State authorities sabotaged the organization of a film
festival that aimed to screen films on the impact of ADB financed mega
projects on the lives of ordinary people throughout the Asia-Pacific
region; in fact, the management of the state-owned institute where the
festival was supposed to be held said they could not allow "government
premises to be used for anti-government activities;" this was indeed a
big surprise for us since we were not aware that the ADB had become
the Government of India. And that exercising one's Freedom of
Expression, the ground for all democratic functioning, by organizing a
Film Festival, was in itself an "anti-governmental" activity! Clearly
this speaks extremely poorly of the faith ADB has in democracy itself.
Indian Intelligence Department officers were posted at the venue of
meetings organized by the PFAADB and attempted to record the names of
participants in the events, including by video; these officers also
stayed at the same venues where PFAADB participants were staying
without identifying their true identities and recorded the names and
details of all PFAADB participants.
Indian Intelligence officers were present inside the Hyderabad
Convention Center and recorded the names of NGO representatives
attending the NGO-ADB "Question Hour" held with you on May 3rd.
The Hyderabad airport was heavily fortified, as were the route from
the airport to
the AGM venue and the hotels where AGM delegates were staying.
Delegates of the PFAADB were harassed at the Hyderabad airport for
merely holding up anti-ADB placards. However, they had no problem
whatsoever for a plethora of welcome signs and graffiti associated
with your ADB AGM.
The State Police attempted to harass PFAADB organizers by claiming
that the main venue for PFAADB events--Priyadarshini Hall in the
Hyderabad Public Gardens—could not be used for a gathering of such a
large number of people because it was near the State Assembly; this is
despite the fact that prior permission for using the space had already
been granted by Municipal Authorities.
You and the ADB Management will no doubt claim that it was not the
ADB itself that was responsible for the above measures and that these
actions were carried out by the police and security officials of the
Andhra Pradesh State and Indian Government. Legally speaking, this may
be true. However, there no doubt in our minds that the ADB must take
responsibility at the highest levels for creating such a climate of
paranoia and intolerance before and during the Hyderabad AGM. You
cannot win a people by forcing them to be democratically constrained
in their own public spaces.
What happened in Hyderabad was not new to us at all. During the ADB
AGM in 2000 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the AGM venue was heavily
fortified and Thai security agents swarmed all over the alternative
Peoples' Forum events. Paramilitary and police troops were even
brought in from other regions in Thailand to ensure the levels of
security expected by AGM delegates. During the ADB AGM in Honolulu in
2001, snipers were posted on the rooftop of the AGM venue—the Honolulu
Convention Centre--and the Convention Centre was cordoned off from
public passage. In fact so draconian were the security measures that
serious discord broke out between the Honolulu municipality, the
police, and the agencies charged with providing security for the AGM.
The repeated record of extreme and unwarranted security measures
during ADB AGMs that suspend the democratic rights of ordinary peoples
to express dissent openly through protests and other public activities
cannot be a mere coincidence.
We also find it inexplicable that an institution that carries as its
motto "Fighting poverty in the Asia and Pacific" is so scared of any
proximity with ordinary people. As we see it, one cannot fight poverty
from the confines of lavish conference venues and Five Star Hotels,
financed mainly by millions of poor and honest tax-payers the world
over.
Since its founding, the ADB has been responsible for trampling on the
rights and aspirations of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific
region by destroying their livelihoods, natural resources and ways of
life through terribly designed projects and misguided mal-development
policies. There are material and verifiable reasons why communities
and peoples across the region claim that the ADB creates "development
refugees" and are calling for the ADB to quit the Asia and the
Pacific. The experience of the ADB AGMs further demonstrates to us
that the Bank is capable of undermining democracy by its mere presence
in any given place.
We ask you to provide the people of Asia-Pacific, especially those
negatively affected by ADB projects and programmes, with a credible
explanation for why such security measures are considered necessary to
protect the ADB from the constituencies that the Bank is supposed to
be assisting.
We look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
[Signatures]
Anivar Aravind
Dear Friends,
Dear Mr. Kuroda,
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