Report Monitoring of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in Selected OSCE Participating States (May 2011 – June 2012)
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OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Report Monitoring of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in Selected OSCE Participating States (May 2011 – June 2012) Warsaw 9 November 2012 Freedom of Assembly in the OSCE Area Page 3 OSCE/ODIHR Report TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 7 CONSOLIDATED RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................. 12 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 17 ODIHR’s work on the freedom of peaceful assembly and background to the report 17 ODIHR’s mandate .................................................................................................... 18 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 18 Structure of the report ............................................................................................... 21 SECTION I: RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY AND PROCEDURAL ISSUES ............................................................................................... 22 NOTIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS............................... 22 Notification and authorization requirements for assemblies – international standards and good practice ..................................................................................... 22 Notification and authorization requirements for assemblies – ODIHR findings ..... 23 Conclusions and recommendations on notification and authorization requirements for assemblies ............................................................................................................ 26 RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BEFORE ASSEMBLIES.............................................. 27 Restrictions imposed before assemblies – international standards and good practice ................................................................................................................................... 27 Bans on assemblies – ODIHR findings ..................................................................... 29 Content-based restrictions – ODIHR findings .......................................................... 31 Time, place and manner restrictions on assemblies – ODIHR findings ................... 32 Conclusions and recommendations on restrictions imposed before assemblies ...... 35 FACILITATING SIMULTANEOUS ASSEMBLIES AND PUBLIC EVENTS........ 39 Facilitating simultaneous assemblies and public events – international standards and good practice ..................................................................................................... 39 Procedural issues and facilitation of simultaneous assemblies and public events – ODIHR findings ........................................................................................................ 40 Freedom of Assembly in the OSCE Area Page 4 OSCE/ODIHR Report Conclusions and recommendations on procedural issues and the facilitation of simultaneous assemblies and public events .............................................................. 44 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ORGANIZERS ................................. 47 Duties and responsibilities of the organizers – international standards and good practice ..................................................................................................................... 47 Duties and responsibilities of the organizers – ODIHR findings ............................. 48 Conclusions and recommendations on the duties and responsibilities of the organizers ................................................................................................................. 52 SECTION II: POLICING ASSEMBLIES ................................................................... 56 POLICING ASSEMBLIES THAT DO NOT COMPLY WITH LEGAL REQUIREMENTS........................................................................................................ 56 Policing assemblies that do not comply with legal requirements – international standards and good practice ..................................................................................... 56 Policing assemblies that do not comply with legal requirements – ODIHR findings ................................................................................................................................... 57 Conclusions and recommendations on the policing of assemblies that do not comply with legal requirements ............................................................................................. 63 POLICING DEMONSTRATIONS AND COUNTER-DEMONSTRATIONS........... 65 The policing of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations – international standards and good practice ..................................................................................... 65 The policing of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations – ODIHR findings .... 65 Conclusions and recommendations on policing of counter-demonstrations ............ 68 USE OF FORCE, DETENTION, KETTLING AND DISPERSALS .......................... 70 The use of force, detention, kettling and dispersals – international standards and good practice ............................................................................................................ 70 The use of force, detention, kettling and dispersals – ODIHR findings ................... 72 Conclusions and recommendations on the use of force, detention, kettling and dispersal .................................................................................................................... 75 ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION BY THE POLICE WITH ASSEMBLY ORGANIZERS AND PARTICIPANTS ...................................................................... 78 Engagement and communication by the police with assembly organizers and participants – international standards and good practice ....................................... 78 Freedom of Assembly in the OSCE Area Page 5 OSCE/ODIHR Report Engagement and communication by the police with assembly organizers and participants – ODIHR findings ................................................................................. 79 Conclusions and recommendations on engagement and communication by the police with assembly organizers and participants ............................................................... 82 SECTION III: MONITORING FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY: ACCESS AND RESTRICTIONS .................................................................................. 85 Journalists and assembly monitors – international standards and good practice ... 85 Access and restrictions for journalists and assembly monitors – ODIHR findings . 87 Conclusions and recommendations on access and restrictions for journalists and monitors .................................................................................................................... 90 ANNEX I: RELEVANT OSCE COMMITMENTS .................................................... 92 ANNEX II: ASSEMBLIES MONITORED BY ODIHR BETWEEN 5 MAY 2011 AND 9 JUNE 2012 .......................................................................................................... 96 ANNEX III: GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS ............................................................... 99 Freedom of Assembly in the OSCE Area Page 6 OSCE/ODIHR Report LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACLU American Civil Liberties Union ACHR American Convention on Human Rights CPD Chicago Police Department ECHR European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ECtHR European Court of Human Rights ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights IMF International Monetary Fund LAPD Los Angeles Police Department LGBTI Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NLG National Lawyers Guild NYPD New York Police Department NYCLU New York Civil Liberties Union ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OPD Oakland Police Department OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe UN United Nations WEF World Economic Forum WTO World Trade Organization Freedom of Assembly in the OSCE Area Page 7 OSCE/ODIHR Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. This report presents the findings of the monitoring of public events undertaken by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in selected OSCE participating States between May 2011 and June 2012 in line with ODIHR’s mandate to support participating States in the implementation of their commitments on freedom of peaceful assembly. The monitoring exercise focused on specific events on the basis of set criteria. The main goal of the monitoring was to identify gaps and challenges, as well as examples of good practices, in how participating States meet their commitments on freedom of peaceful assembly. The recommendations contained in this report aim to advance the implementation of these commitments in all OSCE participating States, not just those where ODIHR has monitored assemblies. 2. ODIHR is the main OSCE institution concerned with the human dimension of security, tasked with assisting in monitoring the implementation of human dimension commitments (Helsinki 1992). ODIHR’s monitoring mandate is based on a