The 27th G8 summit was held in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, on 19–22 July 2001 and is remembered as a highpoint of the worldwide

anti-globalization movement The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

as well as for human rights violations against demonstrators.

Overview

The

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an Intergovernmentalism, intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non- ...

(G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries:

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

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starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

.Saunders, Doug
"Weight of the world too heavy for G8 shoulders,"
''Globe and Mail'' (Toronto). July 5, 2008. In addition, the

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

has been formally included in summits since 1981.Reuters
"Factbox: The Group of Eight: what is it?"
, July 3, 2008. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's president

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

and West Germany's chancellor

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was the longest ...

as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998)
''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations,'' p. 205.
The G8 summits during the 21st-century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two-or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues, and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development). 2008.

Leaders at the summit

The 27th G8 summit was the first summit for Japanese Prime Minister

Junichirō Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...

and

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

Participants

These summit participants were the current "core members" of the international forum:

Priorities

Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign.

Issues

The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions. The overall theme of the summit was ways to reduce poverty. Topics discussed at the meeting included an evaluation of the

Enhanced HIPC Initiative ''Enhanced'' is a 2019 Canadian-Japanese action film produced, written and directed by James Mark. The film premiered at the 2019 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Plot A sinister government organization hunts down mutants, and one of such is a ...

which involved debt forgiveness to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, the Global Health Fund, the

global digital divide The global digital divide describes global disparities, primarily between developed and developing countries, in regards to access to computing and information resources such as the Internet and the opportunities derived from such access. The In ...

, the environment, and

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

. Although the main summit was from 20 to 22 July, the summit was preceded by a meeting of the G8

foreign ministers In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

on the 18th and 19th. The summit was overshadowed by riots in the city after a crackdown by police targeting

anti-globalisation The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

groups and the death of 23-year-old Carlo Giuliani, leading some to talk of a deliberately followed

strategy of tension A strategy of tension () is a political policy where violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong government. The str ...

. Before the summit, significant controversies and ridicule among local people and media focused on the security plans (such as fences going through streets and inside houses) and image provisions (such as the prohibition to dry up the

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses

Protests

The Genoa G8 Summit protest, 19 to 22 July 2001, was a dramatic

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

, drawing an estimated 200,000 demonstrators. Dozens were hospitalized following clashes with police and night raids by security forces on two schools housing activists and independent journalists. People taken into custody after the raids have alleged severe abuse at the hands of police. Demonstrators accused the police of brutality and denying them their right to non-violent protest. They believe that G8 summits are non-legitimate attempts by eight of the world's most powerful governments to set the rules for the planet at large. Police and many politicians argued that attempting to blockade a meeting is in itself a violent event and an attempt to impede the workings of democratically elected governments.. The G8 meeting was held inside a "Red Zone" in the center of town that had been declared off-limits for non-residents and surrounded by a barricade, leaving protesters no chance to communicate with summit delegates. Fears of a terrorist attack at the time had also led to an air exclusion zone around the city, as well as the stationing of anti-aircraft missiles. Only one activist, Valérie Vie, secretary of a French branch of ATTAC, managed to publicly breach the Red Zone barrier, but was immediately arrested by police agents. There were also several border

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

s ahead of the summit, as police attempted to prevent suspected activists from entering Italy. The Italian government suspended

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...

entitled by the

Schengen Treaty The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

for the duration of the G8 summit, in order to monitor the movement of the many protesters arriving from across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Injuries and deaths

Many demonstrators were injured and dozens more arrested over the course of the event. Most of those 329 arrested were charged with

criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...

to commit destruction; but they were in most part released shortly thereafter because judges declared the charges invalid. Police continued to raid social centers, media centers, union buildings and legal offices across Italy after the summit as part of ongoing investigations. Over 400 protesters and about 100 among security forces were injured during the clashes. On 20 July a 23-year-old activist Carlo Giuliani of Genoa, was shot dead by Mario Placanica, a

Carabiniere The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...

, during clashes with police. Images show Giuliani picking up a fire extinguisher from the ground and approaching the carabinieri's vehicle with it before he was shot and then run over twice by the Land Rover. Placanica was acquitted from any wrongdoing, as judges determined he fired in self-defence and to the sky but a flying stone deflected the bullet and killed Giuliani. The idea that the stone killed Giuliani has been however questioned on the basis of a security video and the stone being covered in blood while the balaclava through which it should have wounded Giuliani was intact. Videos and photos show that the stone was dipped in blood and placed beside Giuliani's head minutes after his death suggesting an attempt to conceal the police responsibility. Later tribunals including the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

confirmed that Giuliani was killed directly by the bullet. Activist Susanne Bendotti was struck by a vehicle and killed while attempting to cross the French-Italian border at Ventimiglia to get to the Genoa demonstration.

Charges

In December 2007, 25 demonstrators were condemned for property damage and looting. Numerous police officers and local and national officials have been ordered to stand trial in connection with the event. In one trial, 28 police officials are standing trial on charges related to the two night raids, charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, use of excessive force and planting evidence. In other proceedings, 45 state officials, including prison guards, police and medics, are being tried for abusing detainees in their custody at

Bolzaneto Bolzaneto is a quarter of the city of Genoa, in northwest Italy, and is part of the Municipality Valpolcevera of Genoa. Geography Bolzaneto was once a hamlet located outside of the city limits in the Polcevera valley, but in the recent centuries ...

who were arrested during the raid. Detainees reported being spat at, verbally and physically humiliated, and threatened with rape. Police conducted nighttime raids upon centers housing protesters and campsites, most notably the attacks on the Diaz-Pascoli and Diaz-Pertini schools shortly after midnight on 21 July. These were being used as sleeping quarters, and had also been set up as centers for those providing media, medical, and legal support work. Police baton attacks left three activists, including British journalist Mark Covell, in comas. At least one person has suffered brain damage, while another had both jaws and fourteen teeth broken. In total, over 60 were severely injured and a parliamentary inquiry was launched. It concluded no wrongdoing on the part of police. Ninety-three people were arrested during the raids. In May 2003 Judge Anna Ivaldi concluded that they had put up no resistance whatsoever to the police and all charges were dropped against them. During the inquiry, Pietro Troiani, the deputy police chief in Genoa, admitted to being involved in the planting of Molotov cocktails in order to justify the Diaz School raids, as well as faking the stabbing of a police officer to frame activists. In 2005, twenty-nine police officers were indicted for grievous bodily harm, planting evidence and wrongful arrest during a night-time raid on the Diaz School. The

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

s were reported in January 2007, during the trial of the policemen, to have disappeared. In 2007,

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

's left-wing '' L'Unione'' coalition voted to create a Parliamentary Commission on the Genoa events but this commission was refused by Senate's vote. On 14 July, 13 Italian Carabineri, GOMPI Mobile and prison police were convicted for abuse of authority, abuse of office and uniform. Other charges include abuse and negligence. Two medical staff were also convicted. None will go to jail due to statute of limitations. On 13 November an Italian court cleared 16 of the most senior police officers of any wrongdoing in the incidents of the 2001 G8 summit. Thirteen police officers were convicted of their various crimes during the Diaz raid including Vincenzo Canterini (four years), the commander of the 7th Mobile unit. None will go to jail due to statute of limitations. However, on appeal in 2010, many of the findings were overturned, and several more senior police officers received prison sentences and disqualifications from public office. Twenty-five of the 27 original defendants were finally convicted. In statements during the trial, the prosecution cited "the terrible injuries inflicted on defenceless people, the premeditation, the covered faces, the falsification of statements by the 93 anti-globalisation protesters, the lies about their alleged resistance o arrest" The Italian government was later brought to trial in the

. In April 2017 the case for Bolzaneto station was dismissed as Italy and victims made an off-court refunding deal with the Italian government paying €45,000 per victim and acknowledging the extreme use of violence. In October 2017, the European Court issued two sentences against Italy, the first time declaring that torture was clearly used against the contestants on the Diaz school case, and the second time inflicting a penal fee to Italy for lacking a Torture Law in its penal code, meaning that the Genoa events could not be properly sentenced at the time as unmotivated violence leading to torture.

TV/Video

* A documentary of the events called '' Berlusconi's Mousetrap'' was made by Indymedia.ie. * An episode of the anthology television series'' Tutto in un Giorno'' was filmed during the event * A documentary of the events called ''

Bella Ciao "Bella ciao" () is an Italian song dedicated to the partisans of the Italian resistance, who fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany and the collaborationist Fascist forces during the liberation of Italy. The exact origins are not ...

'' was made with footage from different sources. * A German documentary, "Gipfelstürmer - Die blutigen Tage von Genua" won the German broadcast television award (''Deutscher Fernsehpreis'') as the best documentary of 2002. * An Italian documentar
"Black Bloc"
featuring interviews with seven activists who experienced the Diaz raid. It was shown at the 2011 Venice Biennale. * A feature film of the events at the Diaz schools called " Diaz - Don't Clean Up This Blood" was made as a Romanian - Italian co-production by

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...

Mandragora Movies ''Closer to the Moon'' () is a 2013 comedy-drama film written and directed by Nae Caranfil, and starring Vera Farmiga, Mark Strong, Harry Lloyd, Joe Armstrong (actor), Joe Armstrong, Tim Plester, Christian McKay and Anton Lesser. Based on the tru ...

, Le Pacte production, in association with Sofica A Plus, Image 3, shown in 2012 Berlinale. * Genova G8 2001 - Video Archive - curated b
Documenta/Film

Business opportunity

For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the official ''G8 Summit'' magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998. Capitalizing on the publicity which attended the Genoa summit, the Commercial Office of the Italian embassies and the consulates joined others in promoting investment in southern Italy.

Gallery of participating leaders

Core G8 participants

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Gerhard Schroeder,

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, rotating Council President

Notes

References

* Bayne, Nicholas and

Robert D. Putnam Robert David Putnam (born January 9, 1941) is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. ...

. (2005)
''Staying together: the G8 summit confronts the 21st century.''
Aldershot, Hampshire, England:

Ashgate Publishing Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

. ; * Reinalda, Bob and Bertjan Verbeek. (1998)
''Autonomous Policy Making by International Organizations.''
London:

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. ; ;

External links

* Official G8 website
Genoa summit, 2001
n.b., no official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 -- ''see'' the

21st G7 summit The 21st G7 summit was held on June 15–17, 1995 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The venue for this summit meeting was Summit Place in Halifax. It was labelled by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as a "Chevrolet Summit", using a utilitarian autom ...

. *

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

: G8 Research Group
G8 Information Centre
*

Italy G8 'brutality' trial opens

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 12 October 2005
British Witnesses recall bloody G8 police raid
January 2006
Video
from

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

news of Italian police beating and arresting people during the summit.
G8 summit police lied, says report
BBC article regarding the release of the Genoa prosecutors report on the Diaz raid.
Article documenting the violence directed towards protestors by the police

Supervideo Diaz
{{DEFAULTSORT:27th G8 Summit

G8 summit The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, formed by incorporating Russia into the G7. The G8 became the G7 again after Russia was expelled in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The forum ...

G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

July 2001 in Italy Police misconduct in Italy G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001 G8 summit 2001 Protests in Italy Protests in the European Union G8 summit 2001 2000s political riots