In light of the many protests expected in the coming days due to the current situation, we appealed today (11.5.2021) to the Police Commissioner. We called upon him to outright reject statements calling for the Police to intensify its response and use a hard line to “suppress” the protests, and to avoid a disproportionate response that may lead to further escalation. We requested that he send a clear message to all Police forces on the ground to contain the protests and decrease the conflicts between Police and protests to the bare minimum.
In the appeal, Attorney Anne Sucio detailed a list of principles the Police must uphold:
Curb the violence of their forces on the ground
Adhere to the directive that declaring a protest illegal does not merit the use of crowd-control and dispersal means to disperse demonstrations
Show tolerance towards the expected disturbances to daily functions (i.e. street blockages) as long as they do not endanger lives or property
Respond to violent protestors in a focused and pointed manner
Use protest-dispersing means only in strict accordance with guidelines
Maintain a separation between groups of protestors
Utilize undercover officers only on the basis of concrete intelligence
Allow a reasonable time frame for dispersing protests