Press Statement on the incidents of violence on June 2 by Debt Campaigners

We, the representatives of movements and organizations working for the cancellation of debt, from Germany and from more than 50 countries and all continents around the world, express our deep concern about the overshadowing of the real issues for which people have gathered here in Rostock as a result of incidents of violence that took place during the March and Rally on the 2nd of June 2007.

We are appalled by the presence of such a large number of security personnel which seem to have taken siege of the city of Rostock. This provocative presence is the primary source of tension, fueling a situation in which the slightest incident can trigger a major outbreak.

Following the statements of the coordination committee for the alternative summit we distance ourselves from sources of violence, and demand that the constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and to protest of the thousands of persons gathered now in Rostock be respected. We deplore the disproportionate use of force by the security forces. It is totally unacceptable that the persons who have been detained have been deprived of their right to due process, including the right to legal assistance due to police harrassment of members of the legal team.

People of the world are assembled in Rostock in order to convey to the G8 leaders, and to the public at large, the urgent need for a just, equitable and violence-free world order. Unfortunately, the attention and focus of the media and the world at large has been cornered by a few unrelated incidents. We call on the media and other civil society reprsentatives to concentrate on the real issues at stake which affect the lives of millions of people around the world, which are being debated in the various forums related to the alternative summit.