“Demonstrating is a fundamental right.” Mayors generally open their letters to prospective demonstrators with these words. Yet, these words seem to be losing their meaning in practice. More and more, demonstrators are facing an increasing number of rules imposed on them that hinder them from exercising this fundamental right. Moreover, protesters and their relatives are more than ever under the magnifying glass of authorities. All of this is evidenced by a recently published study by Investico masterclass. Marc Schuilenburg, Professor of Digital Surveillance at Erasmus School of law, is concerned about the insights from the research and the consequences of an inexhaustible urge for security.
For more than six months, the Investico masterclass searched for an answer to the question: how easily can you demonstrate in the Netherlands nowadays? In their search, the researchers requested hundreds of letters from mayors to protesters, collected police manuals with enforcement scenarios and received 67 protesters’ files. All this shows that authorities have been intervening more frequently in demonstrations since COVID-19. For instance, during the pandemic, preventive searches were more frequent, emergency legislation was often used to curtail the right to demonstrate, protests were frequently banned in advance, and demonstrators were arrested more often and more violently. This trend – in which authorities’ actions multiply and harden – has continued since the pandemic.
Restrictions before, during, and after demonstrations
Municipalities and police have a wide range of instruments they can use before, during, and after demonstrations to keep protesters on the right track. A selection of these instruments: some conditions can be imposed for demonstrators to meet, the police can use informants and advanced surveillance to keep an eye on demonstrators – and increasingly on their parents and children as well – and the Public Prosecution Service tries to stretch the penalties for actions during demonstrations.
However, the study also shows that government action is increasingly fundamental and far-reaching. For instance, police records show an image of fear created around peaceful protesters and that they are increasingly easily lumped together with football hooligans. Moreover, the names of several protesters surfaced in the ‘Safety House’ (in Dutch: ‘Veiligheidshuis’), a system that maps ‘complex problem cases’ and allows intervention in their personal lives. In two cases, the action was even more extreme, and it appeared that the police labelled peaceful protesters as potential attackers.
Right to privacy and demonstration at stake
Some of these interventions starkly contrast with protesters’ right to privacy. “It is very simple for the police to look for people faster and earlier due to technology”, Schuilenburg states. According to him, tracing family members of protesters goes too far: “The police should be more cautious about this because it is a fundamental right.”, the Professor of Digital at Erasmus University adds. Moreover, the moment protesters are continuously monitored, the right to demonstrate also comes into question, according to experts in Investico’s study.
From trust to distrust
When did trust in peaceful protesting give way to distrust and an inexhaustible urge for security? Answering this question reveals a security trend that has been developing in the Netherlands for over two decades. “Crime has been declining for years, but the safer a country is, the more hysterically we deal with the last bit of insecurity”, Schuilenburg explains. “Demonstrating is increasingly seen as a potential disturbance of public order. And we then prefer to remove that last risky piece as well.”
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Read the entire investigation of Investico masterclass here (in Dutch).
