African efforts to tackle human rights violation relating to demonstrations
In light of the almost daily stories of violations of the rights of people exercising their freedom of assembly, developing guidelines for policing demonstrations is a highly relevant initiative that will help safeguard one of the main pillars of democracy.
Since the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) started to cooperate with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on policing and human rights, the collaboration has emphasised the crosscutting nature of policing or, to put it differently, that policing has an impact on the enjoyment of most human rights.
“Among the freedoms dramatically impacted by policing is the freedom of assembly. This is the case in Africa as all across the globe. The police must facilitate the exercise of freedom of assembly by not putting obstacles in place for individuals and organisations wanting to hold a demonstration. And when a demonstration is under way the police must find a way to protect the rights of both the demonstrators and the bystanders. But, as can be seen e.g. from recent events in Kenya, far too often the police focuses mainly on shutting down demonstrations, in some cases using means that lead to serious physical injury, including death”, says Ulrik Spliid, Programme Manager Africa at the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The African Commission is very much aware of this issue, having adopted Resolution 281 in 2014 on the Right to Peaceful Demonstrations, highlighting, among other things, the need for states to desist from using arbitrary arrests and disproportionate use of force against demonstrators. In this light, APCOF and DIHR have established a cooperation specifically with the two most relevant Special Rapporteurs of the African Commission, being the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, to develop guidelines on the policing of public assemblies. This is taking place during 2016 and 2017 with the financial support of the European Union.
When policing of assemblies goes wrong, no one wins: police officers become victims, protestors become victims, and the country is the ultimate victim.
The first presentation of the project took place during the 58th Ordinary Session of the African Commission 6-20 April 2016 in The Gambia. During a panel discussion generally on policing of assemblies, both panellists and participants on the floor highlighted some of the main concerns and expressed much support for developing guidelines on the policing of assemblies.
Commissioner Reine Alapini-Gansou, the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders in Africa, highlighted the importance of the freedom of assembly for human rights defenders, and how female human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable for violations by police.
A much appreciated panellist was Police Commissioner Rabiatou Ganda from Niger, representing the West African police human rights platform POLI.DH; she was able to highlight some of the practical challenges facing police officers when policing assemblies, such as lack of proper training and outdated laws and operating procedures. Hopefully the guidelines being drafted can help with respect to the latter point.
As part of the work to prepare the guidelines on policing of assemblies a study has been made on the situation in six countries considered representative for Africa, being Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. And 20-22 June 2016 a small group of experts, led by APCOF’s Executive Director Sean Tait and APCOF Programme Manager Louise Edwards, will prepare a draft zero of the guidelines, to be used for broader Africa-wide consultations. DIHR will be represented by its expert on policing and human rights in Africa, Philippe Draut. The African Commission will also be represented as will the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions, the East African Police Chiefs’ Cooperation Organisation and POLI.DH. The MENA programme of DIHR has facilitated the representation of the Egyptian National Human Rights Institution, thus ensuring North African representation.
“Having detailed and practical guidelines, taking into account the African context and the point of view of civil society, state actors, human rights institutions and, not least, police, and given the stamp of approval by having been discussed and adopted by the African Commission will have a great impact. I worked extensively with the African Commission on preparing the Guidelines on Guidelines on Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention, adopted in 2014, and later on rolling out these Guidelines, and already now we can see how the Guidelines are used all across Africa by all actors and used as a yardstick for measuring good performance in this area”, says Sean Tait, Executive Director of APCOF, “Guidelines on the policing of assembly will have a similar impact”.
The Danish Institute for Human Rights have cooperated with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for more than 20 years, currently focusing on improving human rights with respect to policing. A new project supports the development of guidelines on the policing of public assemblies.