By Naomi McAuliffe
The freedom to protest peacefully and criticise government are vital in a free society, offering people an outlet to challenge injustice, express hope for the future and demand a better world. Amnesty International supports those who speak out peacefully - whether they are school climate strikers, trade unionists exposing poor working conditions or indigenous leaders defending land rights against big business.
COVID-19 has disrupted our lives in every conceivable way, and fundamentally changed the context in which people can legitimately express dissent by participating in protests. Countering the pandemic can justify some restrictions on human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly. In lockdown, when businesses are closed and freedom of movement is restricted to curb the spread of Covid-19, it is reasonable for governments to inhibit gatherings, including protests, but these restrictions must be balanced with our fundamental freedoms, and not be used as a smokescreen to silence dissent.
Security forces have violated international law during the pandemic, using excessive force to implement lockdowns and committing horrific abuses including Angolan police shooting a teenage boy in the face for allegedly breaking curfew; police in El Salvador shooting a man in the leg for leaving home to buy food; South African police firing rubber bullets at people "loitering" after curfew; in Chechnya, video footage showed police kicking a man for not wearing a mask.
The ongoing pandemic means many of the rights we take for granted – such as the right to protest – can be restricted. Our advice for policing during the pandemic in this country includes the need to balance the protection of fundamental rights with public health protection, prioritise de-escalation and ensure responses are proportionate as well as recognising that designated key workers such as journalists and photographers should be able to cover protests without interference. Police interventions can escalate situations, putting both officers and the public at risk of infection. Protests have happened during the pandemic; some safe, socially distanced and without incident, while others neglected basic health and safety, resulting in fines and arrests.
Despite the pressures and health risks police officers face, it is important that interventions do not cause greater harm than they seek to prevent or contribute to the spread of the virus.
The world was shocked by scenes of violence in the US Capitol that put human rights, public safety and the rule of law at grave risk in the United States. Ahead of President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Amnesty International USA wrote to 3,500 US mayors and governors calling on them to protect people from armed groups, denounce incitement and issue emergency special measures to prevent armed white supremacists from intimidating people. We have also asked them to direct police departments to adopt Amnesty guidelines on policing demonstrations, particularly in volatile protest situations, with commitments to ensuring transparent investigation and prosecution of unlawful use of force.
Policing protests in a pandemic is challenging for governments and law enforcement but also an important public discussion we need to have about the balance of rights in a global health crisis
Naomi McAuliffe is Amnesty International Scotland Programme Director
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel