PRESS RELEASE August 3, 2022
++ System Change Camp in Hamburg will take place
++ Ban by Hamburg Assembly Authority unlawful ++
Hamburg, 03 August 2022
The Hamburg Administrative Court has ruled in favour of the urgent application of the alliance organising the large System Change Camp from 9 to 15 August in Hamburg and clarified that infrastructure such as kitchen and sleeping tents fall under the protection of the right of assembly. For this morning at 10, the alliance had invited to a rally in front of Hamburg City Hall under the motto “This is all covered by the freedom of assembly!”.
“We are happy that the court has now also clarified that our protest is protected by the right of assembly,” explains Toni Lux, one of the spokespersons for the camp organisers. “However, the areas offered to us are much too small and not suitable for our protest camp. We won’t let the authorities push us to the outskirts of the city, because our camp is also there to create a place where we can talk to the people of Hamburg.”
The assembly authorities had allocated a smaller and less central area to the protest camp. The administrative court has not made a final decision on this.
Inti from Abya Yala Anticolonial, a collective of Latin American women who continue the struggle against the colonial order, says: “We think it is important that the camp is central and visible to everyone. The problem of climate change affects us all. We are here because you are destroying our territories, our Pacha Mama. Because our voices from the Global South need to be heard, there social and environmental activists are being murdered or criminalised.”
Over 30 political groups have come together for the System Change Camp in Hamburg. It aims to unite the struggles of climate policy movements, anti-colonial and anti-militarist groups. Up to 6,000 participants are expected.
Contact information:
E-Mail : systemchange_camp@riseup.net
Toni Lux, +49 152 13084785
Charly Dietz: +49 163 681 1776
Luka Scott: +49 177 9705757
Website:
https://systemchange.noblogs.org/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SystemChange_C
Participating groups and alliances:
Abya Yala Anticolonial,
Aktionsbündnis Kesselbambule,
Animal Rebellion,
Antifa Hoheluft,
BUNDjugend,
Climáximo,
Colombia Solidaria Hamburgo,
Debt for Climate!,
Ende Gelände,
Extinction Rebellion,
FAU Hamburg,
GasExit,
Gegenstrom Hamburg,
Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie,
Grüne Jugend Hamburg,
Internationale Sozialistische Organisation,
Interventionistische Linke,
Janun,
Klimakollektiv Oldenburg,
Klimatreffen Hamburg,
KLIRR!,
Lützerath Lebt,
Rettet Hamburgs Natur,
Rheinmetall Entwaffnen,
RWE & Co enteignen,
Sand im Getriebe,
Seebrücke Berlin,
Transform LEJ,
…ums Ganze!,
Ung Vänster Göteborg & Bohuslän,
Wald statt Asphalt,
We are Plan C,
Women Defend Rojava
PRESS RELEASE August 1, 2022
++ Administrative authorities in Hamburg try to prevent large protest camp ++ Camp alliance initiates urgent preliminary ruling procedure ++
Hamburg, 1st August 2022
The administrative authority in Hamburg does not want to allow the System Change Camp, which will be set up in Hamburg’s Stadtpark from 9th to 15th August. The camp organisers have initiated an urgent preliminary ruling procedure today in order to take legal action against this restriction of the freedom of assembly. In a decision from 29th July 2022, the administrative authorities declared that the protest camp should be moved to a different location and should be significantly reduced in size. According to the conditions, sleeping in tents as well as the provision of drinking water and food should also remain prohibited.
“It is a scandal how Hamburg disregards our fundament rights. We are expecting several thousand people from all over to come to our System Change Camp. We have prepared a major program for a weel with many different political events. To deny us the necessary infrastructure with sleeping tends, food supply and even drinking water is an affront and a breach of law. It seems as if there are enemies of the constitution in the administrative authorities of Hamburg,” explains Luka Scott, one of the spokespersons from the camp organisers.
Only recently, the Federal Administrative Court granted protest camps special legal protection in a landmark decision. According to this decision, infrastructure and overnight tents are also protected under the freedom of assembly. The Administrative Court of Hamburg ruled in a similar way in May 2022. In this case, a protest camp supposed to take place in Hamburg’s Stadtgarten as well was made impossible by the administrative authorities with restrictive conditions – unlawfully, as the court has now clarified.
The lawyer Nils Spörkel, who is representing the climate justice alliance Ende Gelände in court as a co-organiser in the case, explains:
“Already at the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017, the administrative authorities in Hamburg tried to prevent legitimate protest camps. It is now continuing this inglorious tradition, contrary to the current case law of the Federal Administrative Court on climate camps. In addition, according to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, climate protection is one of the goals of our constitution. Therefore, it should be clear that protest against anti-climate policies is protected by the right to freedom of assembly.”
Charly Dietz, also spokesperson for the camp organisers, adds:
“Interior Senator Andy Grote doesn’t seem to take democracy and the rule of law very seriously. The fact that the Greens as a coalition partner are supporting the Interior Department’s refusal to cooperate, ignoring fundamental court decision and putting obstacles in the way of climate activists is unacceptable. We see it as the duty of the Greens to exert their influence so that this repressive wrong decision is corrected.
More than 30 political groups have joined forces for the System Change Camp in Hamburg. It is meant to unite the struggles of climate justice movements, anti-colonial and anti-militarist groups. Up to 6,000 participants are expected. A rally against the decision of the administrative authorities will take place on Wednesday, 3 August at 10 a.m. at the Rathausmarkt under the slogan “This is all covered by the freedom of assembly!
Contact information:
E-Mail : systemchange_camp@riseup.net
Charly Dietz: +49 163 681 1776
Luka Scott: +49 177 9705757
Website:
https://systemchange.noblogs.org/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SystemChange_C
Freely available photos from past climate camps:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133937251@N05/48101451941/in/album-72157709184037252/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133937251@N05/50382383162/in/album-72157716109531016/
Picture material Photo and video material is available on request.
Participating groups and alliances:
Abya Yala Anticolonial,
Aktionsbündnis Kesselbambule,
Animal Rebellion,
Antifa Hoheluft,
BUNDjugend,
Climáximo,
Colombia Solidaria Hamburgo,
Debt for Climate!,
Ende Gelände,
Extinction Rebellion,
FAU Hamburg,
GasExit,
Gegenstrom Hamburg,
Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie,
Grüne Jugend Hamburg,
Internationale Sozialistische Organisation,
Interventionistische Linke,
Janun,
Klimakollektiv Oldenburg,
Klimatreffen Hamburg,
KLIRR!,
Lützerath Lebt,
Rettet Hamburgs Natur,
Rheinmetall Entwaffnen,
RWE & Co enteignen,
Sand im Getriebe,
Seebrücke Berlin,
Transform LEJ,
…ums Ganze!,
Ung Vänster Göteborg & Bohuslän,
Wald statt Asphalt,
We are Plan C,
Women Defend Rojava
PRESS RELEASE July 21, 2022
++ System Change Camp registered in Hamburg ++ Thousands expected for protest camp against gas and neocolonialism ++
Hamburg, 21.07.2022
For the period from August 9 to 15, a broad alliance of left-wing and environmental activist groups has registered a protest camp in the Stadtpark Hamburg. At the so called ‘System Change Camp’, workshops, lectures and other educational activities will take place there for a week, in which climate politics, postcolonialism and anti-capitalism will be discussed.
“We want to connect with Hamburg’s population and welcome people from backgrounds to our camp,” says Luka Scott of the alliance organizing the System Change Camp, “Our broad workshop program is open to all citizens interested in climate policy, and we look forward to engaging in conversation over meals prepared together.”
The protest camp is explicitly directed against the construction of new terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Amongst those calling for participation in the camp besides environmental activist groups like ‘Ende Gelände’, ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and ‘RWE & Co enteignen‘, there is among others ‘Abya Yala Anticolonial’, a group of Central and South Americans who continue the struggle against the colonial order, and the antimilitaristic group ‘Rheinmetall entwaffnen‘. With the joint political camp, the groups want to explicitly draw attention to the connections between climate crisis, neocolonialism and wars.
Charly Dietz sums it up as follows: “We fight for social, economic and ecological justice worldwide, on an equal footing and hand in hand with the Most Affected People and Areas. This requires a fundamental system change. At the System Change Camp we want to unite different perspectives and struggles to learn from and with each other. This is the only way we can create a climate of justice and solidarity.”
In its fundamental ruling in May 2022, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht granted protest camps special legal protection. The court ruled that infrastructure and overnight tents are also protected under the freedom of assembly. The activists see themselves strengthened by this ruling and are looking forward to the camp in the Stadtpark Hamburg.
And there is more than enough reason to protest: The decision for the expansion of infrastructure for LNG has led to criticism in broad parts of the climate movement. It focuses on its production using fracking technology, which is banned in Germany, and on the emissions generated during the combustion, as well as the production and transport, of LNG. During the period of the camp, there will be calls for action in Hamburg and the surrounding area to oppose the expansion of LNG infrastructure.
Contact details
E-Mail: systemchange_camp@riseup.net
Charly Dietz: +49 163 681 177 6
Website:
https://systemchange.noblogs.org/
Involved groups and alliances:
Abya Yala Anticolonial,
Antifa Hoheluft,
BUNDjugend,
Debt for Climate!,
Ende Gelände,
Extinction Rebellion,
FAU Hamburg,
GasExit,
Gegenstrom Hamburg,
Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie,
Grüne Jugend Hamburg,
Internationale Sozialistische Organisation,
Interventionistische Linke,
Janun,
Kesselbambule Klimacamp,
Klimakollektiv Oldenburg,
Klimatreffen Hamburg,
KLIRR!,
Lützerath Lebt,
Rheinmetall Entwaffnen,
RWE & Co enteignen,
Transform LEJ,
…ums Ganze!,
Ung Vänster Göteborg & Bohuslän,
Wald statt Asphalt