OSCE-Amnesty International side event participants call on participating States to uphold international human rights standards, OSCE commitments in policing assemblies

The attitude and behavior of the police before and during assemblies greatly influence the course these events take, said participants in a side event focusing on challenges and good practices in the area of human-rights complaint assembly policing held during the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, on 21 September 2016.

Some 50 representatives of civil society and state bodies took part in the side event, which was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Amnesty International the Netherlands (AINL).

The approach used by the police can define whether an assembly proceeds in a smooth and peaceful way or ends up in disorder, violence and the use of force by law enforcement personnel, the participants stressed.

“The police should see their task in facilitating peaceful assembly while maintaining public order,” said Ambassador Eberhard Pohl, chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council. “The ODIHR Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies serves as a valuable tool in that regard.”

The Handbook, developed in collaboration with the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE Secretariat, was released in March.

“It is the duty of the police leadership and of commanding officers to ensure that the policing of assemblies is carried out in a human-rights compliant way, ensuring the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly by all,” said Anja Bienert, senior programme officer of the AINL’s Police and Human Rights Project and member of the ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly. She added that proper planning, preparation, instruction and training were essential in this regard.

In September 2015, AINL published the Guidelines for the implementation of the UN Basic Principles for the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Both the guidelines and the OSCE/ODIHR Handbook focus on providing information and recommendations for authorities on how to uphold human rights standards in the context of public order management and avoid situations in which the use of force is needed.

“We hope that these tools will contribute to improving human rights compliance in the policing of assemblies around the world,” Bienert said.