Press release

Over 100 arrested as WTO protestors call on Kamal Nath to protect farmers and industrial workers

NEW DELHI, March 12, 2007: Over 100 protestors, including 20 women, were arrested on the first day of two-day talks designed to save stalled WTO negotiations in Delhi .

The talks, Saving Doha and Delivering on Development, addressed by Pascal Lamy, the Director General of the WTO, are taking place in advance of the meeting of G33 group of developing countries to be held in Jakarta later in March. Organisers include the Ministry of Commerce and UNCTAD.

The protestors, many under the banner People's Caravan for Justice, Dignity and Sovereignty, including trade unionists, rag pickers, migrant labourers, farmers and NGO workers, gathered outside the meeting, shouting 'Save Farmers and Poor People, Not Doha', 'Pascal Lamy - Shame Shame', 'Pascal Lamy go home!'

"We are seriously concerned that this closed door meeting is an attempt to manufacture consensus and push poor countries to compromise their positions on agriculture and industrial tariffs," said Subrato De, ActionAid's food and livelihoods programme officer.

"We are calling on the government to defend poor people's interests in WTO negotiations. There should be no attempt to dilute G33 commitments to protect the world's poorest farmers and industrial workers."

" India is already facing a crisis in agriculture with indebted farmers turning to suicide. In the name of Saving Doha, the Indian government should not be striking deals destroying livelihoods.

"Millions of farmers, craft people, agricultural and fish workers could be affected. At such a critical moment. Why was an open forum not held where all these groups could raise their concerns?

"India is a major power broker but the government has not yet declared its agenda for G33, nor revealed what was discussed in bi-lateral meetings with the EU, the US and Brazil.

“We are calling on commerce minister Kamal Nath to defend poor people’s interests in WTO negotiations. There should be no attempt to dilute G33 commitments to protect the world’s poorest farmers and industrial workers“.

ENDS

Notes

The People's Caravan for Justice Dignity and Sovereignty is a platform of over 700 groups in India , including trade unions, agricultural and migrant labourers, women workers, farmers, indigenous and dalit groups, NGOs and academics. It came together to protest the anti-poor framework of the WTO in advance of the 2005 Summit in Hong Kong .

Saving Doha is being organised by India 's Ministry of Commerce, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, Oxfam, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and UNICE - the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe.