2023-09-19 01:30:00
Photo by Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)More than 85 countries, including Spain, use violence against protesters
“Authorities around the world are increasingly resorting to illegitimate use of force and repressive legislation to crush protests,” Amnesty International said today as it launched an interactive digital map showing the dramatic rise in repression of protesters. , at the hands of States from all over the planet.
He global map, part of Amnesty International’s global Protect the Protest campaign, maps the numerous human rights violations being perpetrated against protesters around the world. It shows that governments treat protests as a threat rather than a right, and that law enforcement officials believe their role is to suppress and subdue protesters rather than enable them to exercise their rights. As a consequence, thousands of people are illegitimately dispersed, arrested, beaten and even killed during demonstrations. They also face devastating consequences afterwards, just for participating in protests.
“Peaceful protest is a right, not a privilege, and a right that States have the duty to respect, protect and facilitate. However, the right to protest is increasingly threatened, as authorities use illegitimate force against people in more than 85 countries, including Spain.. From the abusive use of force, unlawful arrest and detention, to torture and other ill-treatment, to forced disappearance and homicides carried out by the State, this map sheds light on the enormous repression suffered by those who protest. Worldwide; It’s terrifying,” said Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s Military, Security and Police Researcher.
“For too long, authorities around the world have launched a ferocious attack on those peacefully exercising their right to protest, destroying lives in the process. In Iran, authorities have unlawfully killed hundreds of people and arbitrarily detained tens of thousands, including minors, to crush successive waves of protests across the country. Countless protesters have also been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual violence, in custody, including those sentenced to death after grossly unfair show trials and subsequently arbitrarily executed. In China, it is impossible to protest peacefully without harassment and prosecution, and huge numbers of activists are in prison for expressing their opinion. The list of activists—and countries—under threat continues to grow. “This repression must end now.”
The interactive digital map reveals the number of countries that misuse less-lethal weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and batons to harass, intimidate, punish or disperse protesters, repressing their right to peaceful assembly.
A treaty that regulates the use of these weapons is necessary and Spain must promote it
“Despite the widespread and improper use of less lethal weapons, there is no global control of the production, trade and use of these weapons. It’s awful”Patrick Wilcken continued. “This map highlights the need for an international treaty to regulate trade in policing equipment to ensure that less-lethal weapons do not end up in the hands of abusive police forces.” In fact, Amnesty International is asking the Spanish government to promote this treaty.
In its report from last August, the Committee Against Torture remained concerned about the numerous serious injuries, including eye injuries, caused by the use of rubber and foam bullets in the context of protest management.
Specific, In the last two decades, the rubber bullets still used by the National Police and the Civil Guard in Spain have caused the death of one person, Iñigo Cabacas, and 24 serious injuries, including 11 cases of severe eye injuries.as documented “Stop Rubber Bullets”. The Committee against Torture regretted that the instruction regulating the use of force, weapons and other devices by law enforcement agencies had not been made public. Amnesty International recently requested access to this instruction, something that the Ministry of the Interior denied, claiming that it is protected information. Rubber bullets should be banned because they are inherently inaccurate and highly likely to cause serious injury.
The foam bullets, with which the Ertzaintza and the Mossos d’Esquadra have replaced the rubber balls, have also caused serious injuries, five specifically in Catalonia: two people who lost an eye, two people with severe head trauma and another person who lost a testicle, in addition to other cases of impacts to the legs. Although the Catalan government plans to withdraw the most harmful projectile (SIR-X), the use of all foam bullets must be suspended to evaluate their protocols and technical specifications, detecting possible deficiencies and assessing whether they can be used in accordance with the international human rights standards.
Legislation against the right to protest
In addition to indicating the countries where protesters face abuse and the types of threats they face, the map details current protest legislation, relevant UN publications and international court rulings, and explains how citizens can take action. Updated in real time, it offers a chilling panorama of the daily reality of those protesting around the world.
In the case of Spain, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe noted in May of this year how the application of the Gag Law and some articles of the Penal Code continue to have a negative impact on the exercise of the rights to freedom of assembly and expressionespecially on human rights defenders and journalists, generating a demobilizing effect on citizens.
Since the entry into force of the Citizen Security Law, more than 250,000 people have been sanctioned, many of them activists and journalists, for peacefully exercising their right to protest or trying to document police action. In the report mentioned above, the Committee against Torture expressed its concern about the wide margin of discretion that the Citizen Security Law grants to security forces in certain areas, such as identity checks and body searches in public.
Unfortunately, the previous legislature failed to undertake a reform of this law, a task that Amnesty International calls on the parliamentary groups to return to as soon as possible in the current legislature.
On the other hand, the Penal Code was reformed in December 2022, improving some aspects compared to the 2015 modification. However, the crimes in the Penal Code that affect the right to protest still require a more precise definition so as not to improperly criminalize acts of peaceful civil disobedience, nor impose disproportionate penalties. For example, the crime of public disorder must ensure that only serious acts of violence are punished, without sanctioning the peaceful protest of social movements, such as those defending the right to housing or protesting against the climate crisis.
Right to protest and COVID-19 pandemic
It is widely recognized that andhe right to protest was significantly restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, as gatherings were generally banned in most countries for public health reasons. Some States, however, used the pandemic as a pretext to further limit gatherings or introduce disproportionate restrictions. In the case of Spain, Amnesty International documented the extensive application of the Citizen Security Law by security forces, within the framework of a punitive approach to enforce confinement measures. Protesters and also journalists saw their rights to protest and freedom of information improperly restricted, facing sanctions and arbitrary police actions.
According to Human Rights Measurement Initiative, many countries struggled to recover, something that is also visible in their annual rights record. For example, Angola has a score of 3.4 out of 10 for the right to assembly and association in its 2023 Rights Tracker.
Elizabeth Campos, activist of the Movement for Women in Politics, from Angola, reveals the reality of the protest in her country.
“When we attend protests, the experience is always a near-death experience. We left home, but we are not sure if we will return to our family. It is a country where democracy only exists on paper. Protests can become very violent, so every time I return to my daughters and grandchildren, I celebrate. “In my country we constantly suffer institutional violence.”
Additional Information
According to Amnesty International monitoring, there were credible allegations of unlawful use of force by state security forces against peaceful protesters in 2022 in at least 86 of the 156 countries reviewed. Annual report. In 37 countries, security forces used lethal weapons against protesters despite the fact that firearms are not suitable for crowd control and that police should never use them to disperse a gathering.
In India, for example, authorities have used firearms, tear gas, baton charges, internet shutdowns, and even forced evictions against those protesting against the government. In China, those who dare to protest risk losing their rights to education and housing. Recently, in Peru, the illegitimate use of lethal force by security forces caused 49 deaths during protests. Around the world, Amnesty International’s research reveals that protesters are arbitrarily detained in more than 50% of the countries covered in its Annual Report.
“This global map clearly represents the widespread scale of repression and restrictions faced by protesters around the world. Across the globe, a range of human rights violations are being perpetrated during police action at protests, which is hugely worrying,” concluded Patrick Wilcken.
“Marking human rights violations on a map allows us to visualize and track the global scale of the problem. Additionally, it exposes governments that fail to protect the right to protest and helps hold law enforcement authorities accountable for the alarming abuses they commit in their efforts to crush demonstrations. Amnesty International calls on governments to make a substantial and urgent review of their approach, stop this abhorrent violence and ensure they protect and facilitate peaceful protests.”
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