Demonstrations espose to the risk
by Daniela Binello
 

7.31.2001  

Genoa - Five thousand metallurgical workers, members of Fiom/Cgil, and trade unionists of many branches of Cgil, arrived in Genoa the 21^st of July to take part in the big international demonstration promoted from the Genoa social forum, the noglobal movement formed of more than eight hundred associations united in protesting against the globalization, which shows clearly, at last, the faults of the “Decision’s Club”. The G8 members, in spite of their ambition to manage the planet governance, don’t seem to heal, as they would, plagues like the poverty of three milliards people, diseases, lack of education, of medicines, drinkable water and telecommunications for many millions people.
Claudio Sabattini, the leader of Fiom/Cgil, with many others regional and provincial unionists from Lombardia, Piemonte, Emilia Romagna, Campania, Puglia, Abruzzo, Molise, Veneto, Lazio, Liguria, Sicilia, arrived in Genoa by special buses and trains together with their respective delegations.
A fiery sun was shining all day long the town, afflicted about the murder of Carlo Giuliani, the boy of 23 years old shot by a carabineer still younger. Carlo was the son of Giuliano, past general secretary of the Liguria and Genoa Public Services/Cgil, and now chairman of some non profit cooperatives specialized in social programmes for young people with strong stories of life, because sometimes the social impact is more difficult for them in relation to the most of their fellows.
For the demonstrators there were black small mourning-bands to put to the arm.
The news about the Carlo’s death have been spread around the world throwing in a dark light the G8 on which the Berlusconi government entrusted its international image. But, when the five thousand workers gathered inside the group of the other demonstrators (nearly 200-300.000 people), nobody knows that this Saturday too will end tragically. The Black Bloc, some borderline groups and professional provokers, as pieces of a foolish puzzle produced of this globalization without any pity towards people with no success, are able to divide in two parts the non violent demonstrators, engaging a riot against the police. The policemen react attacking with tears-gas and truncheons everybody was reachable. 
At the head of the Fiom group of workers taking part to the demonstration there is a Fiat camper with the license plate of Venice. The driver is Giuseppe Turudda. After few seconds of uncertainty, Turudda changes direction and, with the unionist leaders walking around the camper (Sabattini, Mecozzi, Cremaschi, Gallo, Cecconi, Raffo, Rinaldini and others), he makes a detour in a wide avenue opening a new way for all the followers. Just in time to avoid tears gas, bars and truncheons in use both by policemen and provokers. Part of unionists from Lombardia decide to turn back, but they will discover a little later that also at the end of the mass of demonstrators other attacks (Black Bloc riots) have blocking the way reaching Marassi (the area of the stadium where the demonstrators were directed all together). In that area there are also the prisons, but the prisoners have been moved for the G8 to shelter special corps of policemen to defend the “Big Eight”. So, only a part of demonstrators will be able to reach piazza Galileo Ferraris (the meeting point of the demonstration), while the attacks rage in the cross roads of corso Sardegna. After 8 p.m. the situation seems to be more quiet. 
The demonstrators turn back on their own steps, but the truce is very short. At midnight, the police gives assault to the young noglobal camped in the Pascoli school. They are strongly beaten for one hour and a half under the eyes of the Genoa social forum staff inside the Diaz (the school borrowed to the Genoa social forum for its offices and press room), but the police forbids to anyone to interfere. Forced to remain in the street there are unionists, journalists, members of italian Parliament. The police attack in the Pascoli school is called now “the chilean night of Genoa”. After the action, the school is left with open doors to invite the press, national and international, to see. Pools of fresh blood were on the floor and also dragging the walls, lot of girls and boys have been beaten into the radiators. Walking through the school rooms in that mess, people can feel creaking under the shoes pieces of human teeth. During the action, 66 young girls and boys are wounded and 50 arrested.
The following is the immediate opinion of Claudio Sabattini about the G8 of Genoa, a summit that, as everybody knows, produced measures very modest (the final press release of G8 consists in seven pages illustrating the 36 points debated).

Rassegna – What is the meaning of all that violence? Are we on the eve of a new “hot autumn”?

Sabattini - The police attack in the middle of the night can be considered as the advance of what seems to be the repression inspired to the “american way” for any kind of social protest, according to the purpose of our government. We have seen that the rules have been fixed by a political structure, not by a juridical one, making a wide use of discretionary powers. On the one hand, there was the “lark mirror” function of the “Blacks”, acting to provoke and involve all the demonstrators; on the other hand the police was following the end to strangle the noglobal movement in front of the eyes of all.

Rassegna – Do you think the murder of Carlo Giuliani has due to a rash repression against all the demonstrators?

Sabattini - The murder of that boy has due to a reaction of a carabineer without experience, in other words, he was not able enough to face that problem.

Rassegna – Let us know your forecasts for next autumn.

Sabattini - The repressive behaviour of the police in Genoa has been more than a provocation. It can give the idea of what could happen. Twenty years ago one would have said: conflict is alike terrorism. It is a foul idea that we have not enough fought, you can think about, for instance, to the case of Fiat. Now, it’s the cultural context came out in Genoa showing the way in which they think to face the social protests in the next future. 

In the meanwhile, at 6 p.m. of 22^nd of July, a little later the Genoa social forum last press conference, the leader of Sap (independent union of the police), Franco Maccari, made his statement: “We ask to the magistracy to value among all the responsibilities those of Genoa social forum spokesmen too, as protagonists of an eve full of ambiguity and stimulus towards hatred and violence. According to this preliminary attitude, we can observe the actual ravage occured”.
By now to next autumn, all the workers have only few weeks to relax spending their summer holidays. 

From “Rassegna Sindacale” - Italy, the national Cgil (Union) newspaper, n. 29