End of terrain 2017

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End-of-terrain activists in August 2017

At the end of 2017, there were two major campaigns by a movement for climate justice in the Rhenish lignite mining area , which the constitution protection classifies as left-wing extremist . The action of civil disobedience was directed against the coal- fired power generation of RWE Power AG and, citing climate justice and climate protection, calls for the "immediate coal phase-out". The first campaign period was August 24-29, 2017, the second period was November 5.

The end of the terrain 2017 is a continuation of the end of the terrain 2015 and the end of the terrain 2016 . At the end of 2017, August was part of the “Action Days in the Rhineland”, in which citizens' initiatives and NGOs carried out registered demonstrations as well as actions of civil disobedience and small group actions. At the same time, the climate camp in the Rhineland took place with several thousand participants. The end of the terrain in November was part of the protests and demonstrations on the occasion of the COP23 climate summit in Bonn.

background

End of the terrain was founded in Germany in 2014 as an association of environmental groups and "people from the anti-nuclear and anti-coal movements". The alliance's first action at the end of 2015 was the blockade of RWE's Garzweiler opencast mine . In 2016, the protests took place in the Lusatian lignite mining area in order to prevent Vattenfall's lignite mining area from being sold to EPH / EP Energy and its continued long-term operation. Instead, the aim was to ensure that Vattenfall closes the power plants and opencast mines quickly and in a socially acceptable manner. At an action conference in December 2016, it was decided that Endegebiet would organize actions in the summer of 2017 as part of the "Action Days in the Rhineland".

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the alliance as a "Europe-wide collective alliance of civil-democratic and left-wing extremist" networks; the security authorities warned against the radicalization of peaceful demonstrators.

organization

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Ende Terrain was organized by various groups based in Germany, including local and regional groups from Ende Terrain , the anti-coal group, the interventionist left and countercurrent. The circle of organizers included individuals, local, national and international environmental groups, connections from the anti-nuclear power movement and from the anti-capitalist spectrum. For the end of 2017 there was mobilization across Europe. The participants traveled by bus and on several longer bike tours.

The call to civil disobedience was signed by 92 organizations and 25 individuals who support the form of action and cause. Among them are: 350.org , ATTAC Germany , Green Youth Federal Association , Linksjugend Solid Federal Association and Interventionist Left Federal Association.

The end of the terrain is divided into more than 12 working groups, which divided the various tasks from the journey to the political campaigns, campaign logistics, financing and press work, which enabled smooth organization.

1st end of the terrain campaign 2017 in August

Action days in the Rhineland

The protest against brown coal was supported by broad social circles during the days of action in the Rhineland . The days of action include several camps with their workshop and educational programs.

In the Rhenish lignite district, RWE operates three opencast mines and four power plants that emit around 70 million tons of CO 2 per year.

action

The protests began on Friday, August 25th and officially ended on Sunday, August 27th.

Friday August 25th

On the evening of August 24, 2017 and on the morning of August 25, 2017, hundreds of people broke into an action of civil disobedience in waves. Their goal was to block the coal infrastructure of the Garzweiler opencast mine at various points. The activists successfully occupied the tracks of the north-south coal railway near Vanikum and stopped two RWE trains. The tracks are used to supply the Neurath and Frimmersdorf power plants with lignite.

In addition, activists moved to the camp "Camping for Coal" in the east of the district. A total of around 2,000 people were on the move.

You can see the "red finger", recognizable by the flag.
A group of activists from the end of the terrain in the Hambach opencast mine on their way towards the excavator.

Saturday August 26th, 2017

On Saturday around 1,200 people blocked the operation of the north-south coal railway. The activists sat at three blockade points on the stretch between Vanikum and Rath; a group of several hundred people was surrounded by police in the vicinity. The operation of the railway was stopped on the line. The Neurath power plant could therefore not be supplied with coal from the Hambach opencast mine.

A total of around 6,000 people were out and about on Saturday in the Rhenish lignite district to protest against lignite. Around 3,500 people drew a “red line” against coal mining with a human chain at Hambacher Forst. Around 150 activists from the “Replace Coal” campaign are blocking the factory gates of the Neurath power plant. In the morning the trains of the Hambach coal railway were stopped by a concrete barrel to which two people had chained themselves.

Several hundred people were active at the three climate camps in the Rheinische Revier and support the campaigns.

Reactions and evaluation

In the run-up to the campaigns, various groups reacted to the campaign announcements from Ende Terrain.

Declaration of solidarity from the environmental organizations (NGO)

A joint “declaration of solidarity with the peaceful protest against coal” was signed by 16 groups, including the BUND Bundesverband, Campact , Oxfam , Naturfreunde Germany , the Munich Environmental Institute , Robin Wood , Power Shift and Urgewald . They emphasize that the goals of the Paris climate agreement can only be achieved with the coal phase-out.

The declaration of solidarity continued to be signed by 32 groups in Asia, South America and Europe, including Environics Trust (India), Friends of the Earth (Ireland), Reclaim Power (UK), Bolivian Platform on Climate Change (Bolivia) and the All Nepal Peasants Federation .

Further declarations of solidarity are published by the Pro Pödelwitz initiative from the Leipzig coal district and the Alliance for Welzow initiative from the Lusatian lignite district.

police

In the run-up to the protests, the police warned of "criminal offenses" and overlaps with activists on the occasion of the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017 .

2nd end-of-terrain campaign 2017 in November

Activists from the end of the terrain outside (front) and inside the premises of RWE Power AG (back)

On November 5, 2017 claims to be tried 4,500 environmental activists, again in the open pit of RWE Power AG at Hambach Forest penetrate. For the first time, many activists from regions affected by climate change were also involved, including Fiji , Samoa and other Pacific islands, some of which are already flooded today. Fiji hosted the COP 23 climate summit, but held it in Bonn, Germany, due to the lack of suitable premises. Several thousand activists managed to overcome a ditch and sand wall dug by RWE and came near an excavator. RWE had to stop operating two excavators and a conveyor belt for the day.

The protests in November were themed “for a climate of justice”. A spokeswoman said: “German politicians want to shine internationally as climate pioneers. Without a clear commitment to phasing out coal, however, it is a lie to hold a climate conference 50 kilometers from Europe's largest source of CO2. ”Ende Gele calls for an immediate end to electricity generation from coal.

The day before, a demonstration supported by Endegebiet took place in Bonn . 25,000 participants called for "stop coal - protect the climate".

During the occupation of the open pit, the police recorded personal details and temporarily detained some activists. All activists were at large again on Monday.

Criticism of police violence

Use of pepper spray by police officers against seated environmental activists on November 5, 2017 in the Hambach open-cast mine during the Ende Terrain campaign.

After the action, the police reported that they had to use pepper spray and police horses to attack the activists who had formed a dormant human chain in front of the excavator in order to repel "isolated attacks by activists on the police force". Photo and video recordings by journalists convey the opposite representation: an activist was “brought into a life-threatening situation” when a police officer pushed her in front of a running horse.

Web links

Commons : Endegebiet 2017  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Videos

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/aktuelles/schlaglicht/schlaglicht-2018-08-linksextremisten-instrumentalisiert-klimaschutz-proteste
  2. ↑ Kristian Frigelj, Erkelenz: "Climate camp" in North Rhine-Westphalia: With thousands of bodies against lignite mining. In: welt.de . August 24, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Alexander Fröhlich: Hambacher Forst - How violent are the forest occupiers? , Der Tagesspiegel (online) from September 18, 2018; accessed on September 19, 2018
  4. ↑ Action days in the Rhineland: Action reader: Action days in the Rhineland, 24.-29. August 2017. German Association for the Promotion of Global Green Movements, accessed on August 25, 2017 .
  5. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/ende-gelaende-august-2017-as-it-happened/
  6. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/ende-gelaende-august-2017-as-it-happened/
  7. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/ende-gelaende-august-2017-as-it-happened/
  8. ↑ https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/heute/klima-braunkohle-proteste-gabriel-100.html
  9. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/press-release/pressemitteilung-vom-5-11-2017-1430-uhr/
  10. ↑ Press release at the end of the site, November 5th, https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/press-release/pressemitteilung-vom-6-11-2017/
  11. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/press-release/pressemitteilung-vom-5-11-2017-1430-uhr/
  12. ↑ https://www.ende-gelaende.org/de/news/aktions-twitter/
  13. ↑ Press release of the Aachen police, POL-AC: Occupation of the excavators by the police prevented - sometimes violent actions by the activists against the police officers - measures to establish identity were taken, November 5th, online access last on November 9th, http: //www.presseportal. de / blaulicht / pm / 11559/3779251
  14. ↑ Marlon Gego, Aachener Tagesspiegel, November 8, 2017, http://www.aachener-nachrichten.de/lokales/region/videobeweis-im-tagebau-hambach-polizist-bringt-aktivistin-in-lebensgefahr-1.1756077
Major campaigns by the anti-coal power alliance at the end of the terrain

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