Ten years ago, the city agreed in a federal court settlement to lift restrictions on demonstrators’ marches and gatherings in public streets and parks, especially those focusing on notable conferences. With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit coming to Honolulu, those seeking to make their voices heard during this influential gathering will face more complicated issues and potential roadblocks.

What makes the matter murkier is the declaration of the APEC conference by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last year as a National Special Security Event. That makes Secret Service the lead agency in the design and implementation of the security plan, relying heavily on local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Of course, there are good reasons for heightened security. In the past, APEC gatherings have attracted large protests, some of them violent, requiring a heavy police presence. It’s reasonable to expect that the city, and the Honolulu Police Department, will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the delegates and the public.

Nonetheless, security concerns cannot trump the First Amendment. The APEC conference is only a month away and the city needs to make every effort within its authority to ensure that meaningful, peaceful demonstrations are not summarily blocked.

The city has promised "to provide opportunities for the exercise of First Amendment rights" during APEC, and that’s encouraging. So was the agreement after the May 9-11, 2001, Asian Development Bank conference at the Hawaii Convention Center and barely a month following 9/11. Five months after the conference, the city agreed in the future to reduce the time for groups to obtain permits for parade permits from 40 days to five days and public park gatherings from three weeks to three days.

A week before the 2001 banking group convened, and responding to a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, the city made concessions allowing protestors to march, distribute materials and try to converse with bank attendees. The city’s concessions were encouraging in that they followed nasty confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcers at international conventions in Seattle and Quebec City. Even more promising was the post-Asia Development Bank federal court settlement in October 2001 between the city of Honolulu and the ACLU. It contained a series of changes allowing demonstrators to gain timely permits without paying general liability insurance, which the city had required.

Brent White, then-legal director of Hawaii’s ACLU, said that the legally bound promises "should make it much easier for members of the public to exercise their rights to free expression without undue interference by the government."

The ACLU has been engaging in talks with city attorneys about where demonstrations can take place during APEC. ACLU staff attorney Daniel Gluck said the city has made arbitrary changes in its rules and "must end its confusing policy."

Carolyn Hadfield of World Can’t Wait-Hawaii said her group applied several weeks ago to demonstrate at the promenade behind the convention center along Ala Wai Canal, where protestors were allowed to demonstrate in May 2001.

HPD has already requested a permit for the Ala Wai Promenade behind the convention center for use by a federal agency, as well as use of the entire Magic Island parking lot, the ewa half of Ala Moana Beach Park, portions of Ala Wai Community Park and Kapiolani Park, and Kamokila Community Park in Kapolei. No final decisions have been made and the ground rules remain unsettled.

Those rules should be clarified soon, and in the interests of transparency and fairness, as well as safety.

APEC will provide Honolulu with a golden opportunity to present itself as it truly is — a vibrant cosmopolitan city, with a healthy respect for free speech and political debate.