G8 GENOA 2001
Complete documentation of the events that took place in Genoa during the 27th G8 summit, from July 19 to 22, 2001.
This footage constitutes one of the most comprehensive independent audiovisual testimonies of those four days that profoundly marked recent Italian history.
The material documents the demonstrations of the no-global movement against the summit of heads of state and government of the eight major world economic powers, the clashes between demonstrators and police forces, and the serious episodes of violence that characterized those days.
The material documents:
Thursday, July 19:
Saturday, July 21:
This footage represents a fundamental historical testimony of events that Amnesty International defined as "the most serious suspension of democratic rights in a Western country since World War II."
The documentation includes images that have been used in numerous legal proceedings and have contributed to the historical reconstruction of those days.
This footage constitutes one of the most comprehensive independent audiovisual testimonies of those four days that profoundly marked recent Italian history.
The material documents the demonstrations of the no-global movement against the summit of heads of state and government of the eight major world economic powers, the clashes between demonstrators and police forces, and the serious episodes of violence that characterized those days.
The material documents:
Thursday, July 19:
- Demonstration for migrants' rights (approximately 50,000 participants)
- First day of the counter-summit organized by the Genoa Social Forum
- Preparations and arrival of demonstrators from across Europe
- Marches and demonstrations in the city streets
- Clashes between black bloc and police forces
- Police charges in Piazza Manin against Rete Lilliput demonstrators
- Clashes on Via Tolemaide with the White Overalls (Tute Bianche) march
- Piazza Alimonda: killing of Carlo Giuliani, a 23-year-old Genoese demonstrator, shot by a carabiniere
Saturday, July 21:
- Large march of approximately 300,000 people along Corso Italia
- Piazza Alimonda the day after: vigil and testimonies
- Genoa Social Forum press conference on the events of July 20
- Nighttime police raid on the Diaz school: 61 injured, 3 in critical condition, 1 in coma
- Diaz school the day after: documentation of damage and blood traces
- Conclusion of the G8 summit
This footage represents a fundamental historical testimony of events that Amnesty International defined as "the most serious suspension of democratic rights in a Western country since World War II."
The documentation includes images that have been used in numerous legal proceedings and have contributed to the historical reconstruction of those days.
Dates: July 19–22, 2001
Location: Genoa, Italy
Total Duration: Over 14 hours of footage
Original Format: miniDV
Digitized Format:
Location: Genoa, Italy
Total Duration: Over 14 hours of footage
Original Format: miniDV
Digitized Format:
Historical Context
The 2001 Genoa G8 took place during a period of strong mobilization by no-global movements, which contested the neoliberal economic model and globalization policies. After the protests in Seattle (1999), Davos (2001), Naples (March 2001), and Gothenburg (June 2001), Genoa represented the peak of this season of mobilization.
To ensure the security of the summit, the city was sealed off with an inaccessible "red zone" and approximately 20,000 law enforcement units were deployed. The days were characterized by serious episodes of violence from both sides: devastation and clashes by black bloc groups infiltrated in the demonstrations, and excessive use of force by law enforcement contingents.
Carlo Giuliani was killed on July 20 in Piazza Alimonda. The carabiniere who fired, Mario Placanica, was subsequently acquitted on grounds of self-defense. On the night between July 21 and 22, police forces raided the Diaz-Pertini school, where activists, journalists, and demonstrators were located, causing what was later defined as a "massacre" with
dozens of serious injuries.
Further abuses and torture were perpetrated at the Bolzaneto barracks against those arrested.
The trials that followed led to convictions for some members of law enforcement (many of which expired due to statute of limitations) and to the recognition by the European Court of Human Rights (2015) of serious violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment).
The Italian State was ordered to compensate the victims.
These events profoundly marked Italian public debate on the management of public order, the limits of democratic dissent, and the role of law enforcement in a democracy.
The 2001 Genoa G8 took place during a period of strong mobilization by no-global movements, which contested the neoliberal economic model and globalization policies. After the protests in Seattle (1999), Davos (2001), Naples (March 2001), and Gothenburg (June 2001), Genoa represented the peak of this season of mobilization.
To ensure the security of the summit, the city was sealed off with an inaccessible "red zone" and approximately 20,000 law enforcement units were deployed. The days were characterized by serious episodes of violence from both sides: devastation and clashes by black bloc groups infiltrated in the demonstrations, and excessive use of force by law enforcement contingents.
Carlo Giuliani was killed on July 20 in Piazza Alimonda. The carabiniere who fired, Mario Placanica, was subsequently acquitted on grounds of self-defense. On the night between July 21 and 22, police forces raided the Diaz-Pertini school, where activists, journalists, and demonstrators were located, causing what was later defined as a "massacre" with
dozens of serious injuries.
Further abuses and torture were perpetrated at the Bolzaneto barracks against those arrested.
The trials that followed led to convictions for some members of law enforcement (many of which expired due to statute of limitations) and to the recognition by the European Court of Human Rights (2015) of serious violations of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment).
The Italian State was ordered to compensate the victims.
These events profoundly marked Italian public debate on the management of public order, the limits of democratic dissent, and the role of law enforcement in a democracy.
