RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION, BLANKET BANS, AND EMERGENCY POWERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nA range of issues including the environmental crisis, growing inequality and threats to livelihoods, systemic racism and gender-based violence have made collective action ever more necessary. Governments have responded by introducing legislation imposing illegitimate restrictions on the right to protest. For example, we have seen blanket bans on protests, as seen in Greece and Cyprus during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the UK, a new law<\/a> contains provisions providing police officers with wide-ranging powers, including the ability to ban \u2018noisy protests\u2019, while in Senegal<\/a>, political demonstrations in the centre of Dakar have been banned since 2011, precluding protests near government buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGovernments of all kinds are also increasingly using emergency powers as a pretext to clamp down on dissent. This was seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in countries including Thailand, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a government-imposed \u2018state of siege\u2019<\/a> has provided military and police officers with extensive powers to restrict protest in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu since May 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/isaidotorgstg.wpengine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/HRA-right-to-protest-course-update-with-PtP-VI-30-1024x736.png\")
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA man runs from rocks and teargas during a protest that erupted due the voting of a new anti-terror bill in Dakar on June 25, 2021, that opponents think might be used to stop protests against the government on the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/h2>\n\n\n\nDEMONIZATION OF PROTESTORS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Governments across the world are justifying restrictions by arguing that protest constitutes a threat to public order and by stigmatizing protesters; branding them \u201ctroublemakers\u201d, \u201crioters\u201d, or even \u201cterrorists\u201d. By casting protesters in this light, authorities have justified zero-tolerance approaches: introducing and misusing vague and draconian security laws, deploying heavy handed policing, and taking pre-emptive deterrent measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This approach was witnessed in Hong Kong, where the National Security Law<\/a> and its expansive definition of \u201cnational security\u201d have been used arbitrarily, among other things, to restrict protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd, in India, the anti-terror Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act (UAPA)<\/a> and the crime of \u201csedition\u201d, have been used repeatedly against peaceful protesters, journalists, and human rights defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/isaidotorgstg.wpengine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/HRA-right-to-protest-course-update-with-PtP-VI-31-1024x736.png\")
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPolice move people on as they gathered in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong on June 4, 2021, after police closed the venue where Hong Kong people traditionally gather annually to mourn the victims of China\u2019s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 which the authorities have banned citing the coronavirus pandemic and vowed to stamp out any protests on the anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MILITARIZATION OF POLICING<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhile governments have long relied on aggressive tactics to police protests, security forces have increased the amount of force they use in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So-called less lethal weapons, including batons, pepper spray, tear gas, stun grenades, water cannons, and rubber bullets are routinely misused by security forces. And, since the early 2000s, Amnesty International has documented a trend towards the militarisation of state responses to protests, including the use of armed forces and military equipment. In countries including Chile<\/a> and France<\/a> security forces in full riot gear are often backed by armoured vehicles, military-grade aircraft, surveillance drones, guns and assault weapons, stun grenades and sound cannons.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring the mass uprising that followed the 2021 coup in Myanmar<\/a>, the military used unlawful lethal force against peaceful protesters. More than 2,000 people have been killed, according to monitors, and more than 13,000 arrested since the military seized power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/isaidotorgstg.wpengine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/HRA-right-to-protest-course-update-with-PtP-VI-27-1024x736.png\")
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nProtesters hold banners and shout slogans while Myanmar military soldiers who arrived to guard the Central Bank overnight place barbed wire barricades on February 15, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar told Americans in Myanmar to \u201cshelter in place\u201d in an announcement after military movements and reports of possible interruptions to telecoms overnight. Armored vehicles were seen on the streets of Myanmar\u2019s capital, but protesters turned out in force despite the military presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/h2>\n\n\n\nINEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPeople who face inequality and discrimination, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, occupation, social, economic or migratory status are also more affected by restrictions on their right to protest and face harsher repression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, women, LGBTI and gender-non-conforming people are facing different types of gender-based violence, marginalization, social norms and legislation. In countries including Sudan<\/a>, Colombia<\/a> and Belarus<\/a>, women have been sexually assaulted for participating in protests, while in Turkey<\/a>, for example, Pride marches have been banned for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOur campaign comes at a critical juncture. The precious right to protest is being eroded at a terrifying pace, and we must do all we can to push back,\u201d said Agn\u00e8s Callamard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCountless protesters have been killed in recent years, and it is partly on their behalf that we must now raise our own voices and defend our right to speak truth to power through protests in the streets and online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/image.png\")
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nED JONES\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters hold placards and shout slogans during a march on the anniversary of the death of George Floyd, in Brooklyn, New York on May 25, 2021. \u2013 The family of George Floyd appealed on May 25 for sweeping police reform on the anniversary of the African American man\u2019s murder by a white officer, as they met President Joe Biden at the White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/h2>\n\n\n\nBACKGROUND<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe briefing, Protect the Protest!: Why we must save our right to protest, is available here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
International human rights law protects the right to protest through a number of separate provisions enshrined in various international and regional treaties which, taken together, provide protests with comprehensive protection. Even though the right to protest is not codified as a separate right in human rights treaties, when people engage in protests, whether individually or collectively, they are exercising a variety of rights, which can include the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Document for download<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u0e1b\u0e01\u0e1b\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e17\u0e18\u0e34\u0e43\u0e19\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e0a\u0e38\u0e21\u0e19\u0e38\u0e21\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e17\u0e49\u0e27\u0e07! \u0e40\u0e2b\u0e15\u0e38\u0e43\u0e14\u0e40\u0e23\u0e32\u0e08\u0e36\u0e07\u0e15\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e23\u0e31\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e17\u0e18\u0e34\u0e43\u0e19\u0e40\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e35\u0e20\u0e32\u0e1e\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e0a\u0e38\u0e21\u0e19\u0e38\u0e21<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPROTECT THE PROTEST! Why we must save our right to protest<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e39\u0e49\u0e40\u0e1e\u0e34\u0e48\u0e21\u0e40\u0e15\u0e34\u0e21\u0e40\u0e01\u0e35\u0e48\u0e22\u0e27\u0e01\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e40\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49<\/a>
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Governments of all kinds are also increasingly using emergency powers as a pretext to clamp down on dissent. This was seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in countries including Thailand, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a government-imposed \u2018state of siege\u2019<\/a> has provided military and police officers with extensive powers to restrict protest in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu since May 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A man runs from rocks and teargas during a protest that erupted due the voting of a new anti-terror bill in Dakar on June 25, 2021, that opponents think might be used to stop protests against the government on the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Governments across the world are justifying restrictions by arguing that protest constitutes a threat to public order and by stigmatizing protesters; branding them \u201ctroublemakers\u201d, \u201crioters\u201d, or even \u201cterrorists\u201d. By casting protesters in this light, authorities have justified zero-tolerance approaches: introducing and misusing vague and draconian security laws, deploying heavy handed policing, and taking pre-emptive deterrent measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This approach was witnessed in Hong Kong, where the National Security Law<\/a> and its expansive definition of \u201cnational security\u201d have been used arbitrarily, among other things, to restrict protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, in India, the anti-terror Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act (UAPA)<\/a> and the crime of \u201csedition\u201d, have been used repeatedly against peaceful protesters, journalists, and human rights defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Police move people on as they gathered in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong on June 4, 2021, after police closed the venue where Hong Kong people traditionally gather annually to mourn the victims of China\u2019s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 which the authorities have banned citing the coronavirus pandemic and vowed to stamp out any protests on the anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While governments have long relied on aggressive tactics to police protests, security forces have increased the amount of force they use in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So-called less lethal weapons, including batons, pepper spray, tear gas, stun grenades, water cannons, and rubber bullets are routinely misused by security forces. And, since the early 2000s, Amnesty International has documented a trend towards the militarisation of state responses to protests, including the use of armed forces and military equipment. In countries including Chile<\/a> and France<\/a> security forces in full riot gear are often backed by armoured vehicles, military-grade aircraft, surveillance drones, guns and assault weapons, stun grenades and sound cannons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the mass uprising that followed the 2021 coup in Myanmar<\/a>, the military used unlawful lethal force against peaceful protesters. More than 2,000 people have been killed, according to monitors, and more than 13,000 arrested since the military seized power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protesters hold banners and shout slogans while Myanmar military soldiers who arrived to guard the Central Bank overnight place barbed wire barricades on February 15, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. The U.S. Embassy in Myanmar told Americans in Myanmar to \u201cshelter in place\u201d in an announcement after military movements and reports of possible interruptions to telecoms overnight. Armored vehicles were seen on the streets of Myanmar\u2019s capital, but protesters turned out in force despite the military presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who face inequality and discrimination, whether based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, occupation, social, economic or migratory status are also more affected by restrictions on their right to protest and face harsher repression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, women, LGBTI and gender-non-conforming people are facing different types of gender-based violence, marginalization, social norms and legislation. In countries including Sudan<\/a>, Colombia<\/a> and Belarus<\/a>, women have been sexually assaulted for participating in protests, while in Turkey<\/a>, for example, Pride marches have been banned for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur campaign comes at a critical juncture. The precious right to protest is being eroded at a terrifying pace, and we must do all we can to push back,\u201d said Agn\u00e8s Callamard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCountless protesters have been killed in recent years, and it is partly on their behalf that we must now raise our own voices and defend our right to speak truth to power through protests in the streets and online.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED JONES\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters hold placards and shout slogans during a march on the anniversary of the death of George Floyd, in Brooklyn, New York on May 25, 2021. \u2013 The family of George Floyd appealed on May 25 for sweeping police reform on the anniversary of the African American man\u2019s murder by a white officer, as they met President Joe Biden at the White House. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The briefing, Protect the Protest!: Why we must save our right to protest, is available here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n International human rights law protects the right to protest through a number of separate provisions enshrined in various international and regional treaties which, taken together, provide protests with comprehensive protection. Even though the right to protest is not codified as a separate right in human rights treaties, when people engage in protests, whether individually or collectively, they are exercising a variety of rights, which can include the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Document for download<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0e1b\u0e01\u0e1b\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e17\u0e18\u0e34\u0e43\u0e19\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e0a\u0e38\u0e21\u0e19\u0e38\u0e21\u0e1b\u0e23\u0e30\u0e17\u0e49\u0e27\u0e07! \u0e40\u0e2b\u0e15\u0e38\u0e43\u0e14\u0e40\u0e23\u0e32\u0e08\u0e36\u0e07\u0e15\u0e49\u0e2d\u0e07\u0e23\u0e31\u0e01\u0e29\u0e32\u0e2a\u0e34\u0e17\u0e18\u0e34\u0e43\u0e19\u0e40\u0e2a\u0e23\u0e35\u0e20\u0e32\u0e1e\u0e01\u0e32\u0e23\u0e0a\u0e38\u0e21\u0e19\u0e38\u0e21<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n PROTECT THE PROTEST! Why we must save our right to protest<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u0e40\u0e23\u0e35\u0e22\u0e19\u0e23\u0e39\u0e49\u0e40\u0e1e\u0e34\u0e48\u0e21\u0e40\u0e15\u0e34\u0e21\u0e40\u0e01\u0e35\u0e48\u0e22\u0e27\u0e01\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e41\u0e2d\u0e21\u0e40\u0e19\u0e2a\u0e15\u0e35\u0e49<\/a> The right to protest is under unprecedented and growing threat across all regions of the world, Amnesty International said today, as the organization launched a new global campaign to confront states\u2019 widening and intensifying efforts to erode this fundamental human right. From Russia to Sri Lanka, France to Senegal, and Iran to Nicaragua, state authorities are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":0,"_hero_title":"","_hero_content":"","_hero_cta_text":"","_hero_cta_link":"","_hero_alignment":"","_hero_background":"","_hero_size":"","_hero_show":"","_hero_type":"","_hero_embed":"","_hero_video_id":0,"_hero_hide_image_caption":true,"_hero_hide_image_copyright":false,"_nav_style":"","_disable_share_icons":false,"_disable_sidebar":false,"_display_author_info":false,"_hide_featured_image":false,"_hide_featured_image_caption":true,"_maximize_post_content":false,"_reduce_content_width":false,"_sidebar_id":0,"_stretch_thumbnail":false,"byline_context":"","byline_entity":"","byline_is_author":false,"disable_related_content":false,"download_id":0,"download_text":"","show_published_date":true,"show_updated_date":true,"term_slider":"","amnesty_index_number":"","recipients":"","recipients_refresh":"","recipients_refreshed":"","amnesty_umbraco_data":"","document_ref":"","amnesty_updated":"","footnotes":""},"category":[1585],"location":[1588,1587,1589],"resourceType":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-2253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","location-southeast-asia","location-thailand","location-world"],"datePosted":"July 19, 2022","mlpRelationships":{"1":3115,"2":2253},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=2253"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=2253"},{"taxonomy":"resource-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourceType?post=2253"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amnesty.or.th\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
DEMONIZATION OF PROTESTORS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMILITARIZATION OF POLICING<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
INEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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