Saturday 3rd of march around 10 000 people demonstrated in Bologna for the immediate closure of all detention centres for migrants (CPT), against deportations and against all those inner borders wich restrict and repress people’ s mobility.
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Radio correspondencies: [ here ]
The success of the demonstration was evident first of all in its wide partecipation made mostly of young people, migrants, students, precarious workers, activists and citizen of Bologna which followed the demo all its way (about 6 km) till its conclusion. This gets a bigger importance if we consider that the demonstration was self-organised and self-promoted by centri sociali, collectives, anti precarity and anti racist networks and autonomous workers’unions, without the participation of political parties, neither left-wing ones.
The goal was to reach the detention centres in Via Mattei but Police blocked the road and prevent people from getting over. The demonstration tried to pass beyond the Police block using big posters as light shields to protect the demonstrators. The demonstration refused the “offer” to let a delegation through and claimed the right for all participants to get in front of Bologna detention centre to communicate with detainees: “The time for delegation in CPTs is over”, said the activists, “We all want to be outside the CPT now”.
Police started a heavy attack and beated lots of activists, many of them were taken to hospital and reported broken noses. Policemen’ attacks were reduced thanks to the determination of thousands of demonstrators who blocked Police’assault throwing stones, empty bottles, big firecrackers. Centro sociale TPO, which promoted the demo, held a press conference last Monday showing a video prooving Police’s use of unmotivated violence on activists leaning on the floor. TPO says its time Italian Policemen could be identified through an id number put on top of their helmets otherwise they’ll keep on being unpunished. As a response to the denial to reach the detention centre, activists dug the concrete in the middle of the raod to the CPT and installed three big banners saying “concentration camp in mt 200”, “Caution: concentration camp on this road”, “caution: detention camp approaching”.
Together with the huge demonstration in Vicenza last 17th of Febbraury, this demo has showed that on matters such as war and detention centres there is the need from local communities to have an autonomous space in which to act its own practices of conflict, of communication and of participation without institutional spokepeople as mediator of their claims.
This is a very important element for our movement, especially now that those political parties against war and against detention centres belong to a Government coalition which has confirmed both Italian military presence in Afghanistan (and Vicenza military base) and administrative detention for paperless migrants.
Thank you to all those who supported this demonstration!
Centro sociale TPO, Bologna 7 marzo 2007
International call out: back to Genova!
