News continues to pour in to CMAQ on a minute-by-minute basis.

POLICE REPRESSION CONTINUES AMID REPORTS OF SUMMIT CANCELATION
Kidnapped activist located, arrests and gassings continue

By Cliff Pearson, co-chair
Green Party of Dallas County
Dallas, Texas USA 75214

(QUEBEC CITY, Quebec) - News continues to pour in to the Quebec Independent Media Center (CMAQ) on a minute-by-minute basis as the CMAQ staffers barricade our headquarters with clothing and blankets to prevent tear gas from drifting into our newsroom.

As of this writing, the protests have resumed at the Grand Theatre near Rene Levesque, scene of yesterday's action in which part of the security fence was torn down. According to eyewitness reports by independent journalists, a dozen or so of the thousands of protesters present attempted to tear down the newly re-constructed fence, and the police responded by launching tear gas.

CMAQ has been able to confirm the arrests of approximately 59 people on various charges since the conflicts began yesterday. Among these confirmed arrests is news that the police are finally admitting to holding Jaggi Signh, the activist reported kidnapped and missing yesterday.

Police have confirmed to CMAQ reporters that Mr. Singh is indeed jailed and is being charged with "participation in a riot," "violation of the conditions of parole," and "possession of a weapon." The weapon was a slingshot. Police confirm that he had not used the slingshot against any individuals. It is unclear why Mr. Singh was on parole, but his friends and associates insist that he has never before participated in property destruction or civil disobedience.

This morning at 10:15 a.m. Quebec time, my traveling companion Mike Moren and I were told by our Canadian host that her roommate, Patrick Deschenes, had been arrested. According to eyewitnesses, Mr. Deschenes was sitting on the curb at Rue Cote d'Abraham at approximately 1:00 a.m. with several other activists. They were said to be doing nothing but watching the police. His hat reportedly blew off and he went to get it. In the process, witnesses say, he came approximately 5 meters (15 feet) from the police.

Witnesses report that the police sprayed Mr. Deschenes with portable cans of pepper spray, beat him with batons, and then drug him, screaming in pain, into a police van. The Quebec Legal Collective, the organization of attorneys donating their services to the protesters, has still not been able to confirm his arrest or detention, and he is still missing.

CMAQ staffers continue to hear from the Medical Center of minor injuries to protesters. Most of the injuries are chemical exposure from the tear gas fired by police. Other injuries are from plastic bullets fired by police at protesers. The total number of gassing incidents since yesterday is unknown but estimated by CMAQ staffers to be in the hundreds. Besides the firing of plastic bullets at activists, the police used water cannons last night.

Additionally, there is an unconfirmed report from mainstream media representives that the FTAA treaty negotiations at the Summit of the Americas have been cancelled. The reason given is because the delegates are allegedly afraid to come out of their hotel rooms, and because delegates who have not arrived for the Summit have reportedly decided not to come.

Some main points to consider when assessing the Quebec City protests:

The mainstream news is noticably biased against the protesters and, as such, cannot be trusted completely. For example, CNN reported yesterday that none of the protesters entered the secured perimeter once the fence came down. This is untrue. I crossed into the secured area myself as did about 400 others. Please contrast and compare the mainstream news you hear with the eyewitness reports I'm providing you and with other IMC reports.

The security perimeter that was torn down was illegally constructed. Numerous Canadian legal experts have said as much and lawsuits about the fence are still pending. So Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's comments to the mainstream news that those who tore down the fence were "undemocratic" are ironic when one considers this. What is undemocratic is holding secret treaty negotiations behind locked doors and military-style barricades -- in open defiance of the will of the people.

The vast majority of the tear-gassing by the police was of nonviolent protesters who had neither torn down the fence nor entered the secured area. I am an eyewitness to police launching tear gas into the crowd of lawfully assembled protesters who had broken no laws whatsoever. This point is being lost by the mainstream press, so please make note of it when listening to mainstream news reports.

The escalation of conflicts could have been avoided very easily by the police. When the young man climbed to the top of the fence yesterday and began shouting for the wall to be torn down, he sat on top of the wall --in plain sight of the riot police -- for nearly 10 minutes. He was shouting for the wall to come down the whole time. This young man was not arrested.

If the police had truly wanted to avoid confrontation they could have, and should have, arrested the young man as soon as he began calling upon others to tear down the wall. If this had been done, there would have been no crowd to control and there would have been no excuse for using tear gas.

Please keep these things in mind as I continue to provide updates.

Reporting from the protest of the Summit of the Americas and the FTAA treaty negotiations, I'm Cliff Pearson, Quebec IMC.