EPAActivists took part in the Global March for Climate Justice and Ceasefire Now protest at the UN Climate Summit in Dubai.
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 22:40
It is a special phenomenon at the climate summit in Dubai: public activism. The United Arab Emirates normally have strict laws on protests, but demonstrations are allowed as usual on the grounds of the climate summit.
The laws of the host country do not apply there, but guidelines from the United Nations (UN) that organizes the summit. Activists use this for all kinds of topics: to draw attention to imprisoned activists to a ceasefire in Gaza.
But they are not as free as other years, says researcher Joey Shea of Human Rights Watch (HRW). In conversation with AP news agency she says activists at the climate summit are facing “a shocking level of censorship”. “While fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression, would be guaranteed at the climate summit.”
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For example, according to the researcher, demonstrators were not allowed to carry signs with the names of the activists during a protest about pro-democracy activists imprisoned in the Emirates and Egypt. They would also be prohibited from “marching from location to location”, while moving between events at the climate summit is normally allowed.
Just before the demonstration in question, participants had to close signs with the names of the prisoners on UN orders, Shea told AP. While they would have already crossed out these names before then. “The absurdity of what happened today in this action speaks volumes,” she said.
Interpretation
Another group demonstrated for climate justice and a ceasefire in Gaza. Chanting the controversial slogan ‘From the river to the sea’ they were forbidden.
Earlier this week the British newspaper wrote The Guardian that there are indications that applications for protest actions have been rejected, including a protest against pollution by the host airline Emirates. In the same article, HRW’s Shea warns that the Emirates is selective in the protests it allows because it is good for its image.
Demonstrations took place in Dubai for the release of pro-democracy activists and a ceasefire in Gaza:
AFP
Activists hold portraits of pro-democracy activists Mohammed al-Siddiq and Alaa Abd el-Fattah during a rare protest at the Dubai climate summit
EPA
Activists participate in the protest called the Global March for Climate Justice and Ceasefire Now at the climate summit in Dubai
AFP
At a pro-Palestinian demonstration, activists are reportedly banned from using the controversial slogan ‘from the river to the sea’
The United Arab Emirates promised ahead of the climate summit that activists would be able to gather peacefully in UN-designated areas to make their voices heard, despite the country’s strict laws. These are locations on the grounds of the climate summit, where UN rules, rather than the laws of the host country, apply.
Although these guidelines regarding protest during this year’s climate summit have not been adjusted compared to previous years, stated Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said this week that it will be made more difficult for activists to organize protest actions this year.
According to her, this has to do with the way UN rules on activism are interpreted in the host country. Emirati officials responded that requests for protest actions were assessed solely by the UN.
Image laundering
“I think there is a risk that Cop28 will be very effective in laundering the reputation of the Emirates if some protests on less sensitive issues continue, while they take a tougher stance on protests on issues such as political prisoners, harm by their own fossil fuel production or rights for migrant workers in the Emirates,” said Shea of Human Rights Watch.
In previous editions of the annual UN climate summit, including those in Dublin and Paris, the summit also led to major protests outside the UN premises. Such demonstrations have not yet occurred in Dubai.
2023-12-09 21:40:01
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