Human Rights Watch is increasingly alarmed at severe restrictions on and repression of protests around the world, often under the guise of countering terrorism or invoking emergency powers, and the use of excessive and lethal force.
We have documented the brutal repression of protests in Iran, where security forces countrywide have committed massacres of protesters, as well as mass violent arrests and arbitrary detentions, including of children. In Tanzania, security forces responded to protests around the elections with lethal force and internet restrictions.
We remain concerned by long-term restrictions on protests by repressive governments, including in Russia, Türkiye, Egypt and China. But there also has been an erosion of the right to peaceful assembly in some countries that previously enjoyed a more enabling environment.
In the United Kingdom, climate activists have been prosecuted for attending a protest planning call, direct-action protesters held in pretrial detention for over 500 days, and thousands arrested under counter-terrorism legislation for peacefully protesting the ban on protest group Palestine Action, which the UK courts have found is unlawful.
In Australia, authorities have sought to block peaceful marches at a public landmark, and police have used expanded powers and apparent excessive force on demonstrators.
In the United States, federal agents have used excessive force against people protesting, or even just observing, immigration raids and wrongfully shot and killed two people who were engaged in civic action.
Freedoms of expression, assembly and association provide a bedrock for rights-respecting societies. We urge all governments to reverse this alarming downward spiral and promote rather than repress peaceful protest, and hold to account all those who violate these rights, regardless of position or rank.
