Copenhagen police make 1,000 ‘preventive arrests’

It was a great feeling to be one of the 100,000 people from all corners of the world at the Palace Square in front of the Danish Parliament on Dec. 12, the fifth day of the climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

It was reported that 57 nations were represented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), groups like Greenpeace and Vegans, and political parties like the Anti-Capitalist Party from France and the Danish Communist Party.

The Copenhagen climate change summit attracted social activists from all over. Photos: Kit Aastrup

When I reached the square it was already crowded and people were filling the adjacent streets. I walked around to see to see the huge variation of signs and people. Some of the signs said we need to take steps now to stop polluting and save the planet. Some raised slogans demanding a system change, that only a socialist system would be able to provide real change and cut carbon emissions sufficiently. Some signs told us you can save the planet by becoming a vegan. What a sight! The whole world is here.

At 2 p.m. the crowd began to march the four miles to the Bella Center, site of the official COP-15 [15th United Nations Climate Change Conference] negotiations. On this cold December day flooded with bright sunshine, the most powerful, tranquil and colorful demonstration ever in Copenhagen began almost like a parade.

A few weeks earlier the Danish Parliament had passed a new law allowing the police to detain people up to 12 hours without charges. A temporary detention center with cages for 10 people each had been shown on national television. It failed to frighten people away from the gathering. Organizers from different groups had negotiated with the police in an attempt to avoid clashes.

When the march ended two-and-a-half hours later in a field near the Bella Center, it was already dark. My feet were sore from the long march. With no further activities at the end, people headed for the nearest metro station.

I was still high on the event. It had been such a beautiful and peaceful message to send to the politicians. So I thought. But on the train back I heard that the rear of the demonstration had been isolated by the police and 200 had been arrested.

On television that evening I saw how the arrested demonstrators were forced to sit in lines on the cold ground for five hours before they were taken away by buses.

A few of the demonstrators were interviewed on television. Stopped by the police from getting up, some peed in their pants. One told how embarrassing it was to be forced to sit there in the cold with wet pants. One had suffered disabling cramps and was taken away in an ambulance on a stretcher. They were all freezing terribly in the cold weather.

The next day the chief of police apologized on Danish television and said it was a mistake to let them sit there for such a long time.

Photo: Danish Communist Party

At the Peoples Climate Forum the next day I heard that not 200 but 1,000 had been arrested. The police called them all “preventive arrests.” They were released the next day, with only four people actually charged with anything. But the 1,000 who were arrested are all liable to be listed in the Schengen register as “troublemakers,” which can restrict their travel in the European Union.

The following day, it was reported on the radio that a minor demonstration had ended even before it started and another 250 people had been arrested.

Local and international groups have been warming up for the COP-15 for weeks. There had been local demonstrations regarding climate change in the major cities of Denmark before Dec. 12. Buses and trains then brought hundreds more activists to Copenhagen.

For two weeks an alternative Peoples’ Climate Forum for activists and NGOs has been taking place in the center of Copenhagen. Workshops and presentations have been going on nonstop. The atmosphere is very international and you hear many different languages in the streets.

Will this end with an historic agreement in the Bella Center to seriously reduce carbon emissions and reduce rich countries’ exploitation of poor countries? Or will it be business as usual?

Aastrup is a Danish journalist and activist.