Police|According to Amnesty’s report, there are also signs of restrictions on freedom of assembly in Finland, even though the vast majority of demonstrations go well.
in Finland there are signs of restrictions on freedom of assembly, says the human rights organization Amnesty’s report. According to the study, protest rights are systematically restricted in Europe, says the organization in its press release.
Restrictions have been set without justification in many countries, which, according to Amnesty, indicates discrimination.
The organization studied 21 European countries, all of which have signed key human rights treaties protecting freedom of assembly.
“Our investigation paints an alarming picture of a Europe-wide attack on the right to protest,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard states in the announcement.
According to the report, surveillance technology is also increasingly being used in Europe.
“Throughout history, peaceful demonstrations have been central to achieving many rights and freedoms that are taken for granted today. Still, in various parts of Europe, laws and practices threaten the realization of peaceful freedom of assembly,” says Callamard.
The report according to the disproportionate use of force and restrictive practices by the police against demonstrators in Finland. There have been broken bones and teeth due to protests in France and Germany, serious head injuries in Spain and the loss of an arm in France. According to the report, unnecessary means of force have also been used on children.
“The vast majority of demonstrations in Finland go well and the authorities protect them properly. Finland’s assembly law largely follows international standards”, expert of Amnesty’s Finnish department Anu Tuukkanen says in the announcement.
Tuukkanen according to the Assembly Act, however, gives the authorities a lot of discretion, which is why the actions of the authorities can go more and more in the direction of restrictive European trends.
States have an international legal obligation to protect peaceful assemblies. However, according to the report, many of the studied countries have not implemented human rights treaties protecting freedom of assembly.
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