Amnesty International and the World Economic Forum were at loggerheads last night over what Amnesty said was a severe violation of human rights in Davos this weekend.
On Saturday up to 300 demonstrators who were shouting slogans were surrounded and water-cannoned by Swiss police. Many more were denied access to the town.
In an extremely bad-tempered and fractious press conference, Amnesty secretary general Mr Pierre Sane said he was extremely disturbed by the way Swiss police dealt with peaceful demonstrators.
"The arrest and intimidation of peaceful demonstrators and the transformation of the town of Davos into a fortress curtails the right of free assembly. The right to demonstrate and express a view should be protected and guarded," Mr Sane said. "The way Swiss police have dealt with our colleagues is totally unacceptable. The World Economic Forum cannot allow itself to remain silent when human rights are being violated on the streets of Davos."
Amnesty and other civil rights and environmentalist groups participating at Davos have written both to Swiss President Mr Moritz Leuenberger and to World Economic Forum president Prof Klaus Schwab demanding that peaceful demonstration be allowed at next year's meeting.
"The right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression - guaranteed by both the Swiss constitution and international standards - has been severely restricted. We seek for the forum's organiser to work with the Swiss government to ensure the right of public assembly and free speech in Davos for future forum meetings."
However, the normally suave forum managing director, Mr Claude Smadja, was adamant that the organisation would do nothing to influence the courts or police to allow any form of demonstration.
At one stage he attempted to stop Mr Sane from speaking. He repeatedly insisted that the forum would not go to the courts. "It is not for us to support or deny a request for a demonstration. It is none of our business."
"The forum is a private international foundation and we are not responsible for security or actions taken by the Swiss government. Our utmost first priority is the goal of non-violence."
He later added that "there is no alternative".
Ms Lori Wallach of Public Citizen insisted the heavy-handed treatment of the protesters in Switzerland and the deportation of some representatives who were due to speak at a fringe meeting had been responsible for the later rioting in Zurich where cars were burnt out and over 100 arrested.
Mr Peter Eigen of Transparency International said he could not participate if the Swiss government denied people the right to assemble. "There is a real polarisation here between those who are inside the fortress and those on the outside."
