Leaders of 150 governments are meeting this week for the UN climate change conference. A huge protest was planned, but was banned.
Twenty-four environmental activists were put under house arrest in France, as the government used new, sweeping powers of detention which were enacted after 130 people were killed weeks ago.
“Juliette Rousseau, the head of Coalition Climat 21, an umbrella group for environmental activists, said the authorities had searched homes and seized computers and other equipment belonging to activists who have no connection to terrorism.
‘There’s clearly an environment to keep activists out,’ she said. ‘The state of emergency is clearly targeting activist movements. This is not justified. These people under house arrest, they don’t have any kind of criminal record…The impression we have is that there is this conference taking place in a sealed-up space, and meanwhile people in civil society are being asphyxiated.'”
Soccer games, shopping and festivals continue; it’s only protests against polluting governments — and presumably, war — which are banned.