PrepCom boycotters hit the street

PrepCom boycotters hit the street

A policeman (above) stands guard as a Greenpeace activist
displays a poster during a rally in front of the Bali
International Convention Center.

Greenpeace is promoting the slogan "Reclaim the earth" at
their rallies in Bali, while other non-governmental organization
activists rallied in other places inside the sprawling Nusa Dua
hotel complex and campaigned for a boycott of the preparatory
committee (PrepCom) meeting on sustainable development in Bali,
as few, if any, of the delegates actually had environmental
issues as there agenda in favor of trade and debt concerns.

Various demonstrations representing various non-governmental
organizations such as laborers, women and an anti-globalization
student group called the UN meeting a farce.

Laborers said they would reject any outcome of the Bali
meeting and boycott the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, later in August and
September.

The women's group lamented the fact that average people had no
say in the final round of discussions of the Bali Commitment.

And the anti-globalization group stated that the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade
Organization (WTO) were capitalists.

Police and Balinese traditional security guards or pecalang
mostly outnumbered the protesters who were denied access to the
Bali International Convention Center (BICC) where the UN meeting
was being held.