March 15 2001 marks the sixth year of this international day of protest and solidarity against police brutality.

SIXTH INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY
MARCH 15th, 2002

March 15 2001 marks the sixth year of this international day of protest and solidarity against police brutality. It first began in 1997 as an initiative of the Black Flag collective in Switzerland along with the help of COBP (French acronym for Collective Opposed to Police Brutality) of Montreal. Since its first year, the International Day Against Police Brutality (IDAPB) has been a success. This date was chosen because on March 15th, two children, aged 11 and 12, were beaten by the Swiss police.

This day of denouncing police brutality is also an opportunity to create and strengthen ties between groups that work directly or indirectly against State brutality around the world. It permits the creation an indispensable international solidarity in the fight against police forces that collaborate world-wide and are extremely well organized. The IDAPB, which concretely represents this solidarity, should not be overlooked as an element in the development and need to denounce police brutality.

Which "crime" shall be punished or not is left to the police's discretion; which laws shall be enforced, where and at what time, and especially who is forced to respect the law, is decided by the police. In effect, the police, the right arm of the State, abuses its power on a daily basis and exercises its violence with near total impunity. The police continuously and everywhere violate the very laws that they are supposed to uphold. The police check identity, spy, double-deal, hustle, repress, ticket, despise, pursue, arrest, imprison, deport, harass and beat-up; they inflict indignity, they torture and they kill. Their primary targets are the "undesirables of society," (the dangerous classes): the poor, the homeless, people of colour, immigrants and persons with irregular status ("illegal immigrants" and people who work under-the-table), sex workers, activists, the marginalised, student activists, organised workers, queer, gender-based and feminist activists and people who question and don't accept the legitimacy of the authorities.

As well, in the last few years, the world-wide movements and struggles against capitalist globalisation have been met with increasingly violent police repression. Police forces are no longer content in using 'less-than-lethal' weaponry against demonstrators. They are no longer just satisfied with perpetrating abominable acts of brutality, "preventive" arrests (kidnapping), illegal detentions, as well as inhuman jail conditions and torture. The police no longer hesitate to shoot at demonstrators, to kill them, be it in Gothenburg, in Genoa, in Argentina: we now need to count those wounded or killed by bullets. In response to the strength and breadth of anti-globalization demonstrations opposing the fortress of capitalism, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the deepening of this poverty, the generalised misery and deterioration of living conditions, governments invest in their police forces, in order to maintain, at whatever cost, order and social peace.

The September 11 events in the USA have created genuine security craze the world over. Anti-terrorist laws, overtly fascist since they threaten the most fundamental rights, are being pushed through by governments world-wide. Increased and systematic surveillance of all means of communications, tougher border controls (if not their closure), racist and anti-immigration laws that far from effecting potential terrorists directly hit students, asylum seekers, refugees, persons waiting for normalisation documents, families waiting to be reunited, etc. These incidents have also resulted in the sudden increase in budgets and powers given to different police forces at the international level, which clearly signals totalitarian repercussions against all undesirables, 'the dangerous classes.'

Faced with the drift to state fascism, to the rhythm of the jackboot, we have the responsibility to act and support all victims of State force. We keenly invite you to participate in the International Day Against Police Brutality (IDAPB).

Until now, this event has taken place in several forms; street theatre, murals, publications, demonstrations, conferences, postering, workshops, exhibitions, radio and television shows, and cultural events. Some groups have organised more than one activity while others have formed coalitions. All collectives or individuals decide on what type of action, depending on the political climate of their country, the energy and willingness of people to organise an event, the resources available, etc. The key thing is the imagination and the creativity of the people involved.

OUR STRUGGLE HAS NO BORDERS
DOWN WITH POLICE STATES EVERYWHERE
HELP ORGANISE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY

If you can't do something on March 15th, try to do something as close to the date as possible.
If you can't or don't want to participate, spread this message.
Translations of this text are very much appreciated.
For questions, commentaries, or to know more about COBP, write us or e-mail us and visit our web site at: http://www.tao.ca/~cobp/index.html

Mailing address:
COBP
c/o The Alternative Bookshop
2035 St-Laurent 2nd floor
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
H2X 2T3

E-mail : c...@hotmail.com or seah...@odyssee.net