RIGHT2KNOW PROTEST RALLY IN JOHANNESBURG AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY ON
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
To voice our
outrage at increasing police brutality and the growing attacks on the right to
protest, the Right2Know Campaign will hold a protest rally on Saturday, 21
March 2015 (Human Rights Day), at the Johannesburg Central Police Station.
The
Right2Know Campaign is both saddened and outraged at the increasing incidences
of protesters being harassed and killed by the police. The police killings of
protesters around the country are a symptom of the growing attacks on the right
to protest in South Africa, fuelled by the militarisation of the police and
criminalisation of protest.
The right to protest is a
critical dimension of our Constitutional freedoms of expression and assembly.
We must all defend the right to protest with the same passion and vigilance we
give to defending press freedom and other aspects of freedom of expression.
According to reports, the
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) received 6700 complaints
and notifications against members of the SAPS in 2012/13 and 4180 of these
involved torture and assaults of suspects and other people by members of the
SAPS.
On 21 March 2015, Human
Rights Day, we will gather and lay headstones at Johannesburg Central Police
Station to commemorate those who have been killed by the police, including
those murdered at Marikana in August 2012, the at least 44 other people who
have been killed by the police during protests since 2004, and the scores of
people who have experienced brutality at the hands of the police during
protests (see R2K Secret
State of the Nation Report 2014).
We have called repeatedly for the police to stop
their brutality against the community of Thembelihle, and to stop the
harassment of community leaders and activists there. The community of
Thembelihle is in a state of crisis, which is only exacerbated by the actions
of the police. The tactics of the police in Thembelihle are outrageously
heavy-handed, unnecessarily brutal and must stop at once.
WE DEMAND:
·
That the police personnel
implicated in all abuses against protestors, including protest-related murders,
assaults, excessive use of force, illegal use of firearms, be charged and
brought to justice
·
that the people’s right to
protest, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression be respected and
protected by the police
·
an end to the surveillance
and harassment of activists (and their families) by the police, and that the
police respect and protect the right of activists to protest
·
full community and public
inclusion and participation in the review of the policy of the police, and
safety and security
·
that the police must abide
by relevant laws and regulations
·
the demilitarization of the
police, and that the police be trained to deal with peaceful protests and
de-escalate violence
·
the full release of the
Farlam Commission report that is due to be sent to the President by the end of
March 2015.
We will call on the SAPS
Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen. Lesetja J. Mothiba, to accept our list
of demands in person at the Johannesburg Central Police Station on 21 March
2015.
THE POLICE MUST CHANGE!
The growing criminalization
of protests is an attack on freedom of expression and assembly. The right to
protest was at the heart of the democratic struggle for freedom. Mobilising
brute force against unarmed individuals is an insult not just to the freedoms
of expression and assembly enshrined in our Constitution; it is a rejection of
the legacy of the struggle for which thousands paid the ultimate price.
