[stop-imf] Guardian: Violent protesters face EU travel ban

[Robert Weissman]

Violent protesters face EU

travel ban


Alan Travis and Ian Black in Brussels

Tuesday December 4, 2001

The Guardian


A list of violent demonstrators could be used to

stop them travelling within Europe under plans

being discussed by the European Union council of

ministers.


The proposal to bar "potentially dangerous

persons" who are "notoriously known by police

forces" follows violent clashes between police and

anti-globalisation demonstrators at Gothenburg

and Genoa earlier this year.


The new dedicated database covering protesters

with a record of violence or public disorder is

part of a planned extension of the Schengen

information system based in Strasbourg which

already holds files on 1.3m individuals, mainly

for immigration purposes, and can be accessed

from 50,000 computer terminals around Europe.


Ministers also plan to extend the Schengen

database to include all "foreigners" - third

country nationals - such as illegal immigrants

and rejected asylum seekers who have failed to

leave the EU within "the prescribed time frame".


The anti-protest proposal has been put forward

by Belgium, which currently holds the EU

presidency. It would allow EU countries to bar an

individual from going to a specific event on the

grounds that such a ban would reduce the risk of

public disorder.


The idea will be discussed by justice and home

affairs ministers, including the home secretary,

David Blunkett, later this week. They are also

expected to agree a wider definition of

"terrorism" that includes protests and protesters.


The move extends to violent demonstrators the

current powers of EU countries to ban known

football hooligans from travelling to a specific

match or tournament abroad if there is evidence

that they are out to cause trouble again.


The Belgian paper says the list could work by

"alerts" being flagged on the Schengen information

system on any person who is "notoriously known

by the police forces for having committed

recognised facts of public order disturbance"

when they are moving alone or in a group to a

specific event, if there is evidence they are out to

"organise, cause, participate in or foment trouble

with the aim of threatening public order or

security".


The kind of events from which they are to be

barred is drawn extremely widely, to include

sporting, cultural, political and social occasions.


Statewatch, the European civil liberties

monitoring group, said those whose details are put

on the Schengen database are not told that their

names are on the record until they attempt to

travel. It cited the case of two football fans

wrongly entered on the list of "suspected"

hooligans who found it took years to get their

names removed.


A Home Office spokeswoman said the British

government generally supported an extension of

Schengen to combat organised crime and

terrorism and stressed that the proposal would

not affect the right to peaceful protest by trade

union activists or anti-globalisation

demonstrators.


"Lawful protest is fine. We do not want to catch

trade union activists or peaceful

anti-globalisation protesters," she said.


Finland and Sweden are opposed to the idea, as is

non-EU member Norway, which does participate

in Schengen. Tony Bunyan, editor of Statewatch,

said: "Now we have the frightening prospect that

details of suspected terrorists and dissenters will

be held by the Schengen information system on

one centralised, computerised EU-wide database

and all 'foreigners' in the EU held on another -

and both are to be the subject of 'targeted action

and/or surveillance'."


EU ministers are starting their preparations on

the scheme as up to 30,000 anti-globalisation

protesters, including many from Britain, are

organising to take part in a march for global

justice in Brussels in 10 days' time - the first

major anti-globalisation protest since September

11.