Peaceful demonstrations to protest attack on Ukraine must be allowed unhindered, OSCE human rights office says

WARSAW, 1 March 2022 – Peaceful anti-war protests were able to take place without restriction in the overwhelming majority of OSCE countries following the launch of military action against Ukraine last week, allowing citizens to exercise their right to peaceful protest, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today.

The rights to peaceful assembly and expression are freedoms that lie at the heart of all democratic societies. All OSCE countries have committed to ensuring that “everyone will have the right of peaceful assembly and demonstration”. They have also have recognized that any restriction to this right must be stipulated by law and fully consistent with international standards.

However, ODIHR notes that peaceful protests in Russia and Belarus have been answered by numerous arbitrary arrests and police intimidation, with riot police on some occasions outnumbering protesters. There have also been cases of human rights defenders and journalists being arrested at the protests, or even before they were able to reach them. This often excessive use of force by law enforcement is a grave violation of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, core principles of democracy.

According to independent monitoring data, almost 6,500 peaceful protesters were arrested between 24 and 28 February in 67 cities across Russia, the majority in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Belarus, some 860 people were arrested after anti-war protests broke out in several locations across the country on 27 and 28 February, according to government and other figures.

ODIHR takes note of reports that many of those initially detained have been released. All those who remain in detention in both Russia and Belarus only for their participation in peaceful assemblies should be immediately released, charges dropped against them, and any excessive use of police force swiftly investigated and prosecuted.

ODIHR urges all OSCE countries to observe the commitments they have made to respect the rights of their own people.