A/HRC/17/28* III. Protecting the right to life in the context of policing assemblies 2 A. Background and rationale 12. Recent events in the Arab world, and in other countries, have again illustrated how easily protests and demonstrations could end in large-scale bloodshed and tragedy. 3 In many instances this occurs where the police do not apply human rights standards. However, this should not be seen, first and foremost, as a problem regarding out-dated policies about the use of lethal force. The broader issue is how to deal with dissent. This illusive problem has plagued humanity throughout history: how should those in power handle contestation? The standards applicable to the use of force cannot be dealt with in isolation. An equally important question is how demonstrations and peaceful assemblies should be managed. 13. If peaceful public protests are managed in such a way that they are less likely to escalate into violent confrontation, the need to decide whether or not to react forcefully will arise less frequently. Ensuring better compliance, at the domestic level, with international standards regarding assembly rights will go a long way towards securing the right to life. 14. Some of the key historical changes during the last century, and earlier, have been brought about by the masses taking to the streets. The human rights movement, itself, owes much of its development to such protests. Most recently, unprecedented and, at least, initially peaceful mass demonstrations changed the political landscape in Tunisia and Egypt, then spread to Bahrain, Libya, the Syrian Arabic Republic, Yemen and other countries. 15. Some of these public demonstrations have dominated the headlines, while many less visible ones have taken, and are taking, place. In some instances, the demonstrations remain peaceful and non-violent, in others, the conflict escalates; in some cases those who are injured or killed are counted in the hundreds. Reports from NGOs and other watchdogs worldwide indicate that worrying numbers of people are killed or maimed in demonstrations; some commentators claim that aggressive policing is on the increase. There are multiple instances where public protest is not considered an option due to fear of the consequences. 16. Obviously, not all protests can be allowed to proceed unrestricted. For one thing, the merits of protest action are not always clear-cut. Indeed, a host of unresolved social issues cause people on all sides to express themselves by joining public gatherings, processions, and sometimes counter demonstrations. Moreover, even where the underlying causes of a 2 3 The following persons commented on earlier drafts and assisted with research: Romi Brammer, Gus Waschefort, Neil Jarman, Erika de Wet and Rufaro Mavunga. Many people assisted with gathering material, in particular on the legal provisions in the individual countries, including human rights Master’s students at the Universities of Pretoria and Oxford, and the Cambridge Pro Bono Project. See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/executions/index.htm for details. On-site discussions with police officers and others involved in policing protests were held in South Africa and Zambia, in addition to long-distance communications with people in a number of other countries, including India and Northern Ireland. This report forms part of a broader, ongoing study that will be covered on the same website. The terms “demonstration,” “assembly,” “gathering,” and “public protest” are used interchangeably in this report to refer to the temporary presence of a number of people in a public space, with the objective of making a collective, mostly political, statement. The mobile version is referred to as a “procession.” 5