Human rights organization Amnesty International is critical of mayors and the police because protests are banned or curtailed too quickly. This is what Amnesty director Dagmar Oudshoorn says in conversation with NU.nl, following the disturbances at Malieveld in The Hague last Sunday.
According to Oudshoorn, who previously worked for the police and was mayor of the Noord-Hollandse Uithoorn, mayors are too quick to use all kinds of means that limit the right to demonstrate. She mentions the maximum number of protesters, the designated location of a protest or even banning a demonstration altogether.
“I think there is always a balance to be found between safety, health and the right to demonstrate. The tendency is often to limit the right to demonstrate first. That’s what you have to beware of in a democratic constitutional state,” said the Amnesty director.
Oudshoorn, for example, believes that in Sunday’s protest against cabinet policy, more than two hundred people could have gathered on the Malieveld. “If you are all 1.5 meters apart, there can be more than two hundred people on the field. The same applies to a location such as Jaarbeursplein, there can also be more people within the corona rules.”
Dagmar Oudshoorn wonders whether the police should still use a dog if someone is under control.
Dagmar Oudshoorn wonders whether the police should still use a dog if someone is under control. Photo: ANP
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Amnesty disapproves of violence against police officers
Oudshoorn understands that it is sometimes difficult for mayors to ensure that a demonstration runs smoothly. Certainly because in corona time the right to health is also an important aspect and in some cases there is also a threat towards police officers, for example.
“We strongly disapprove of the much violence against the police, but it seems to be hardening on both sides.” Oudshoorn refers to the violence that police officers used on the Malieveld. Several people were hit on the head with a baton, such as a man lying on the ground while a police dog bit his leg.
“The moment someone is under control, you have to ask yourself whether you should use another dog,” said Oudshoorn. “We find that evaluating and learning from it very important. Sometimes we are told: but police officers must be able to do their job? Yes, only the means must be in proportion to what you are trying to control.”
Letter from Amnesty to OM and The Hague
Amnesty will therefore send a letter next week to the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, with a request to investigate the police action. The Public Prosecution says it is paying attention, but that there is no question of an investigation yet.
“Of course we live in a democratic constitutional state. But that does not mean that you should not react when those rights are nibbled,” says Oudshoorn. “Because it always starts somewhere. The moment you remove some of those rights, it often does not come back.”
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