What happened?
Shortly, as a part of the Summer Climate Camp, activists of the Croatian branch of Extinction Rebellion in Omišalj (Krk island) held two protests against the expansion of the LNG terminal on August 25 and 26, 2023. In the first protest, activists used kayaks to try to prevent the LNG ship from entering the port. That protest was stopped by the riot police using strong water cannons.
The second protest was held outside the fence of the terminal, under the careful supervision of the security service, as well as the riot police. Outside the territory of the LNG terminal fenced with wire, there was no contact between protesters and security guards and police. However, a smaller group separated before arriving at the entrance of the LNG terminal and bypassed the fence by walking along the shore and nonviolently entered the territory of the LNG, which two security guards unsuccessfully but also nonviolently tried to prevent. When that group of activists approached the fence in front of the main entrance, where the main protest was being held from the outside, two aggressive security guards appeared and the violence began. These security guards forcibly took some of the protesters away, which they have no right to do. At the same time, the riot police detained 26 activists. Photos and videos show that some of the police officers carried out the arrests against the regulations, very violently, in several cases grabbing the protestors’ genitals. The protesters were taken to the Krk police station. According to the testimonies, the rooms where they were taken were inadequate, below standard, and there continued the violence. All this resulted in physical injuries, as well as psychological consequences. You can read more about it here.
Although the protest was covered by some media reports, that echo remained very limited, both in terms of the number of reports and the one-day duration of the news. Unfortunately, our press release was also met a roaring silence.
In many details of the police response, this protest is irresistibly reminiscent of a very recent protest by Extinction Rebellion activists, who blocked the A12 highway near Den Haag, demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies. Indeed, the similarity of the events in Omišalj with the demonstration of police violence in the Netherlands is more than striking. In both cases the water cannons were used. And in both cases a large number of activists were detained, this time about 2,400 of them.
Our comment
First of all, we hereby clearly and unequivocally express our abhorrence of the violence that the activists of Extinction Rebellion (XR) – Croatia suffered at the hands of the police, private security guards and an unidentified person, during the protest against the expansion of the LNG terminal in Omišalj. It was a peaceful climate protest, which contained many elements common to many other climate protests, completely common in other countries of the European Union, as well as the rest of the world. We, scientists, are deeply convinced that in a democratic society everyone has the right to protest, and the methods of police deterrence must be implemented within the framework prescribed by law. As Scientists for Climate, together with a clear condemnation of violence, we express our full support for this and other climate protests, which we consider an integral and indispensable part of the social dialogue about the already unrolling climate crisis.
The police and security guards showed their complete misunderstanding of the character, message and goals of the climate protest, and in their disagreement they behaved in an extremely unacceptable manner, grossly violating the human dignity of the activists. Unfortunately, recently we are witnessing more and more frequent examples of the use of excessive force, which turns into open police violence, both globally and in the EU, as well as in our country. Such examples indicate the development of such behavior into a kind of new standard of police action, aimed at suppressing certain, obviously unpleasant tones in the democratic dialogue, which we are very resolutely opposed to. In his editor’s note to the summer edition of the Green European Journal, Jamie Kendrick points out:
National politics continues to swing to the right, with green policies a key dividing line in a wider cultural battle. Climate activists are increasingly vilified for their disruptive actions. In an emblematic development, a new movement bankrolled by livestock farming interests upset the Dutch political scene in the spring of 2023. Successfully channelling rural disaffection against mismanaged environmental policies, this force now wields significant influence.
One of the main demands of the increasingly loud and decisive protests, embodied in a wide range of organizations and associations that make up the global climate movement, can be reduced to the message that climate change is a scientifically based fact, which goes beyond all the relativizations that decision makers at all levels are so prone to. The demand for decisive, well-focused and coherent political decisions, which will actually be implemented, is an imperative imposed by the climate (and, in general, environmental) crisis. It is also a request of the youth, as well as of all future generations, who are increasingly anxious about the future, especially the reality of the climate crisis. This is, after all, one of the key demands of the Climate Scientists initiative and we are determined to advocate it, along with others summarized in our Plea for Systematic Climate Action.
However, here we want to specifically express our protest against the multiple levels of violence, which took place during and after the specific protest of Extinction Rebellion activists in Omišalj, which resulted in physical injuries, as well as psychological consequences for several protesters.
The highest, abstract level is the violence inherent to fossil fuels, the violence whose consequences we are increasingly feeling all over the world, including here, especially in the last few years. Patriarchy, colonialism and capitalism, the most fundamental causes of the climate crisis, come to the fore here, embodying themselves in direct, “lower-level” and specific manifestations of violence, both towards the environment and towards people, in this particular case towards activists. The most obvious aspect of the committed violence is that which violated the physical integrity of the protestors. The use of strong water cannons, the aggressive behavior of the intervention police, security guards, as well as an unidentified person, can only be considered a demonstration of excessive force aimed at intimidating the protesters, which resulted in physical injuries. Then we also witness the deprivation of the freedom of peaceful protest guaranteed by the fundamental principles of democracy, i.e. in this case the peaceful expression of opposition to the expansion of LNG terminal capacity. The protest was brutally stopped. According to the testimonies of the participants, some of the protesters were taken to the police station of the city of Krk, in inadequate rooms below any level of civilization, and their human dignity was violated in several ways. It is yet another demonstration of excessive force and overreach of authority, which in this case stems from the state’s entanglement with the fossil fuel industry. Here we clearly point out that we consider this a serious violation of fundamental human rights, as well as the human dignity of protestors. We could characterize the fourth level of violence as sexual and gender-based violence. During the apprehension, namely, the intervention police officers, contrary to the rules of police conduct prescribed by law, took some of the activists from the place of protest by invading the most intimate space, namely grabbing them and hitting them in the genitals.
What we will do?
Finally, a poor coverage of the event in the media is more than striking. Although the protest itself was covered in several media reports, their small number is really striking. But the brevity of the news itself is even more striking, especially when compared to some other recent events. We consider it inadmissible, and we would like to put the events during and after this protest on the agenda of a broad public debate. In every manifestation, violence requires the harshest public condemnation, and the media have an irreplaceable and crucial role.
We, scientists, hereby condemn the violence committed against the activists of the Extinction Rebellion during and after the protest at the LNG terminal in Omišalj, at all levels and in all its manifestations. Accordingly, we do not intend to remain silent about this event. On the contrary, we will be very loud – we will do our best to achieve a satisfactory media coverage, and we will also inform the competent authorities. Ultimately, the climate movement requires the translation of the knowledge of the best available science into quality policies.
We demand a detailed investigation of the events during and after the protest, and that the detailed report by the competent institutions about the results of the investigation to the public.
