Police in Kenya arrested 53 anti-globalisation demonstrators on Thursday, keeping them from reaching the venue of a meeting of trade ministers from 30 countries discussing further efforts to liberalise global commerce, officials said on Thursday.
The meeting will discuss a framework accord on future trade rules, which officials hope to conclude by July, ahead of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting set for Hong Kong in December.
Past WTO meetings have drawn protesters who claim a globalised economic system benefits rich nations at the expense of poorer ones. Some of the protests have turned violent.
Police arrested the protesters, all Kenyan, early on Thursday at roadblocks set up to stop demonstrators from reaching a meeting point several kilometres from the beach resort where trade ministers are gathering, said Richard Masinde, the Kwale police station chief.
It was not clear whether the protesters would face any charges.
”We are under firm instructions from our seniors not to allow anybody anywhere near Ukunda for the purposes of protesting against the WTO meeting,” Masinde said.
Police seized banners, some of which read: ”We demand free, fair trade for all” and ”Local entrepreneurs have the right to access international markets”.
They also impounded a bus and a minivan that was carrying the protesters.
The trade meeting in Kenya will focus on yet-to-be-fulfilled commitments, made at a 2001 WTO conference, to pay particular attention to the interests of poorer countries, as the 146-member organisation moves to slash further subsidies, tariffs and other barriers to global commerce.
The WTO’s member governments have been trying to energise the current round of trade talks, which were launched in Doha, Qatar, in 2001.
A conference in Cancun, Mexico in 2003 collapsed amid bickering over investment rules between rich and poor nations, as well as differences on agriculture reforms.
High-level meetings at the WTO headquarters in Geneva last July led to a ”framework” accord, that laid some groundwork on cutting tariffs in agricultural trade, as well as export subsidies that have helped farmers in rich nations and undercut competitors from poor countries.
Trade officials gathering in Kenya will discuss how to cut subsidies that rich nations pay their farmers, which poor countries and development charities say will help millions trade their way out of poverty.
Also on the agenda are rich nations’ demands to developing countries to allow more foreign competition in areas such as communications and financial services. — Sapa-AP