This news is not new that human rights experts are concerned and are actively protesting against the European measure. Human rights experts are continuously highlighting that the European government is trying to silence the voice of climate. Mass arrests, longer sentences, and new laws that restrict the right to protest are the weapons being fueled.
The latest update on this major protest is that many human rights experts expressed concern over this issue. In a concerning development, human rights advocates continue to protest the European measures aimed at stifling climate activism.
A lot of European countries, like Germany, France, and Italy, have cracked down on protest groups more than once. For example, Germany gave the police more power to handle large-scale protests and mass disruption. Dunja Mijatovic, the Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the government does not have “unlimited discretion” to use force and that any limits should be set by law so as not to violate protesters’ rights. Similarly, both Amnesty UK and MP Alison The wliss have said that these rules mean the government is basically violating human rights.
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When it comes to dealing with climate activists, the UK has been the strictest. People say that the Public Order Act 2023 limits the right to protest and makes many more types of protest illegal, like “interfering with national infrastructure” like HS2 and airports. The government said that the problems caused by groups like XR, JustStopOil, and Insulate Britain were reasons to pass this law. Volker Turk, the head of human rights at the UN, said that the Act “weakens human rights obligations” because it limits people’s rights to free speech, assembly, and association, which goes against the UK’s international human rights obligations. Because of this law, the level of disruption is a lot lower than it was before. In other words, protesters are more likely to be breaking the law and run the risk of being arrested when they do so.
In the UK, activists and protesters have also been given long prison terms. Members of JustStopOil, Marcus Decker and Morgan Trowland, were arrested after climbing the QEII Bridge at the Dartford Crossing. This made things difficult for thousands of drivers on the M25. Both were given sentences of two to three years each for making the public nuisance. Under the UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst, there is an “urgent need” to protect people who fight for the environment from threats, intimidation, and harm. He talked about the Strasbourg Principles, which protect people’s rights to help protect the environment.
This ongoing situation reflects a concerning clash between climate activism and legal restrictions.
