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UK police accused of misusing terror laws against peaceful protests

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 23, IRNA – An all-party committee of parliamentarians Monday expressed concern that the right to protest in the UK was being undermined by "autocratic" police measures and called for changes in the law and tactics.

A 70-page report by the Joint Human Rights Committee was also critical about the deployment of riot police at protest marches and warned that they “can unnecessarily raise the temperature” among demonstrators.

"The right to protest is a fundamental democratic right and one that the state and police have a duty to protect and facilitate,” said committee chairman Andrew Dismore.

"There is a balance to be struck between the rights of protesters, the police and the public, but the state must not impose restrictions unless it is necessary, and proportionate, to do so,” Dismore said.

"That is a high threshold. The presumption is in favour of protest without state interference. We believe there are changes to the law and practice that are needed to make that presumption a reality," he added.

The call for a review comes after criticism of the police handling of anti-Israel demonstrations during its latest slaughter of more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza, which reportedly included the blocking of marchers in a tunnel that almost caused a stampede.

Last week, British police were also accused of abusing their powers, including using psychological tactics, against thousands of protesters attending a Camp for Climate Action in south-east England last year.

The latest report warned that police are increasingly using "heavy handed" tactics against demonstrations and that legislation designed for other purposes, such as used anti-terror powers, were being "misused" to restrict lawful protest.

The committee said it heard claims from protestors and human rights groups that the police had become more autocratic in recent years, using techniques such as penning in protestors and attempting to collect names and addresses of protestors, which could have the effect of intimidating and deterring protest.

In one instance, the National Union of Journalists said that the police were conducting surveillance of reporters, denying them reasonable access to protests, not recognising press cards, and even assaulting journalists.