(Sydney) New South Wales police used apparent excessive force against people protesting Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia, Human Rights Watch said today.
Video footage verified by Human Rights Watch from a rally in Sydney on February 9, 2026, shows police punching protesters lying on the ground, violently dispersing people kneeling in prayer, and charging at and pepper spraying protesters. The New South Wales government should investigate the alleged police use of excessive force and appropriately discipline or prosecute those responsible.
"The New South Wales authorities' adoption and use of unnecessary restrictions on legitimate protest doesn't increase safety, but opens the door to abuse," said Annabel Hennessy, Australia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The police use of excessive force against protesters is a further erosion of rights in Australia."
President Herzog was officially visiting Australia after being invited by the Australian government following the December attack on Jewish holiday celebrants at Sydney's Bondi Beach. The visit sparked widespread protests in Sydney and across Australia against Herzog, whom a United Nations Commission of Inquiry accused of "direct and public incitement to commit genocide" in Gaza. Police enforcing special orders from the New South Wales government prevented the demonstrators from marching, leading to clashes and dozens of arrests.
Human Rights Watch spoke to two journalists who covered the Sydney protest and two legal observers, independent monitors who help protect people's rights during public assemblies. Human Rights Watch also verified videos of the protests posted on social media or shared directly with researchers. The New South Wales government had granted police additional powers in response to planned protests over Herzog's visit, including increased authority to issue "move-on" orders. In December, the state parliament also passed anti-protest laws that restrict protests in most of Sydney's central business district. The actions follow years of successive New South Wales governments restricting the right to peaceful assembly.
The police had sought to prevent protesters from marching following a rally outside of Sydney Town Hall. The Assistant Police Commissioner, Peter McKenna, said that police officers had been "threatened, jostled, and assaulted," and that they needed to enact special powers to direct the protesters out of the central business district. Police said they had arrested 27 people and charged a number of people, including for violating public order and assault. Human Rights Watch has not been able to verify the cases against people who were arrested and charged. However, Human Rights Watch verified footage that shows police punching individuals while restraining them. In two verified videos taken from different angles near the Town Hall, two police officers are seen repeatedly punching a pinned protester in the head and torso. In one video, red marks can be seen on the protester's torso and a voice is heard shouting "Stop it! Stop it!"
Four additional videos posted online and verified by Human Rights Watch show scores of police lined up on Bathurst Street chasing a group of protesters. One officer is seen repeatedly spraying a protester in the face with what appears to be pepper spray.
Two journalists who covered the event said that while the crowd was angry that police were restricting them from marching, they did not observe any protesters committing violence. Nabil Al-Nashar, one of the journalists, said he had covered at least two-dozen protests in Sydney over the past two years and this was the first time he had witnessed this level of police violence. "I'd witnessed arrests at other protests, but they were few and far between and never violent," he said.
The other journalist, Andrew Quilty, who has also extensively covered Sydney protests, said the police were "definitely more aggressive than I'm accustomed to seeing from police in Sydney." He said he saw police using what appeared to be pepper spray but had "not seen any particular physical provocation from protesters that caused them to use it."
Rebecca Payne, a legal observer, said police had pepper sprayed her and others before they charged crowd near Sydney Town Hall. She said she had been videoing the protest when police sprayed the crowd and "started punching, shoving, pushing, and charging" at protesters.
The pepper spray blinded her when police were shouting at protesters to move. They pushed the protesters into an area that was difficult to traverse and required going underneath a physical barrier. She said she ended up sheltering in a convenience store and later received hospital treatment for her eye. She shared footage of the incident and a photograph of her injury with Human Rights Watch. In the video, a police officer is seen spraying what appears to be pepper spray toward Payne and others in the crowd.
Another legal observer, Alison Whittaker, said police had repeatedly punched, pushed and pepper sprayed her. She said a police officer had grabbed her phone and thrown it into the crowd, and removed Whittaker's goggles, worn to protect against pepper spray, and threw those away. Both legal observers were wearing high-visibility vests that identified their role.
The New South Wales government contends that its new laws are necessary for public safety. However, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Ben Saul, has warned that the laws "clearly violate international law" by indiscriminately restricting the rights of law-abiding protesters. He also said the laws impede constructive collaboration between police and organizers that can mitigate risks. Other recent protests in Sydney that the authorities facilitated largely took place without major incident.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Australia is a party, upholds the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Any law enforcement response to protests must meet international standards. The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that security forces should apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force. Where it is required for a legitimate law enforcement purpose during an assembly, only the minimum force necessary may be used.
Pepper spray is a hand-held chemical irritant used to incapacitate a violent assailant or to help arrest a suspect who is violently resisting. According to the UN Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, chemical irritants should only be used when a law enforcement official has reason to believe there is an imminent threat of injury.
"The New South Wales police's use of excessive force in Sydney shows the anti-protest laws are not making the community safer," Hennessy said. "Instead of restricting people's right to peaceful assembly, the New South Wales government should reform its laws to ensure it is meeting international human rights standards."
