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Sydney, Sep 8, 2007 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The widely anticipated APEC riots have not ended in mass arrests as predicted by some sources. Hundreds of police and security personnel were present to prevent a repeat of the G20 Summit riots in Melbourne in November 2006.
Armoured police buses blocked off major streets preventing access to the APEC Declared Area, supported by police helicopters, police motorcycle and mountain bike units and police crowd controls detachments.
Police linked arms on George street in anticipation of violent demonstrators charging their lines.
Protesters dressed as US President George Bush holding puppets of John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, were present despite the rainy weather.
Several other APEC leaders came in for criticism with posters of Japanese ex-Prime Minister Koizumi as a whale with a harpoon through his head and Prime Minister John Howard with a Hitler style moustache.
The protest was attended by many protest groups including anti war protesters, unions, human rights groups, anti-whaling groups, sex workers and even pro free trade supporters, who came in for ridicule from the main body of protesters.
A great contingent of attendees were the media, both Australian and foreign, some even from Hong Kong and China Cable TV.
The demonstrations were initially expected to be as violent as the Melbourne G20 riots in November 2006, but were diffused on Thursday when police took the matter to the Supreme Court and prevented protesters from marching down George Street into the APEC Declared Zone.
Protesters staged a sit-down on the corner of Park and Pitt streets to enforce the rights of Australians to voice their opinion. Police watched the protesters in silence and allowed them to peacefully voice their opinions.
Protesters moved on to Hyde Park where several female demonstrators climbed Sydney's Hyde Park fountain with "Stop the War" placards.
The security measures seen at the 19th APEC Leaders Summit in Sydney provide a guildline to Global communities on how to peacefully resolve the potential for violent protest from many discrete political and ethnic groups. This may directly influence how the risk for significant events are monitored and managed in the Asia Pacific region.
About APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC is the only inter governmental grouping in the world operating on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants. Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.
