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Amnesty sees the right to demonstrate under pressure across Europe

Amnesty sees the right to demonstrate under pressure across Europe
Amnesty sees the right to demonstrate under pressure across Europe Keystone-SDA

The human rights organisation Amnesty International sees increasing restrictions on freedom of assembly in many European countries. There is also a need for improvement in Switzerland.

On Tuesday, Amnesty published a report on the situation of the right to protest in 21 European countries. The research paints a picture of a Europe-wide restriction on the right to protest, it concludes.

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According to the report, police violence is a problem in many countries. In addition, peaceful protesters are vilified as “terrorists” or “foreign agents”. Eleven countries already use facial recognition systems, which is tantamount to arbitrary mass surveillance.

+Women’s strike demos held in several Swiss cities

The organisation noted that Switzerland also has some problematic legal provisions. It is particularly critical of the requirement to obtain a permit for small demonstrations, varying regulations between cantons and the tendency to pass on costs to the organisers of demonstrations.

Translated from German by DeepL/amva

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