Wow... Those videos are brutal Jon... Absolutely stunning how blatant that abuse of power was. That's really horrific.
hardcore trancer
quote:
Lawyers file Occupy complaint with U.N.
A group of Ontario lawyers has filed a submission to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights protesting against the move by some Canadian cities to evict members of the Occupy Movement.
The move against the occupiers by police and municipal governments is in “violation of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association,’’ states the brief by the Law Union of Ontario, a coalition of lawyers, law students and legal workers.
Cities are trying “to elevate the enforcement of municipal bylaws related to park use and maintenance above fundamental civil and political rights,’’ according to the submission from the lawyers, which points to occupy protests already dismantled in Halifax, London and Regina, with evictions threatened in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.
The brief also takes a swing at the federal government for being supportive of the Arab Spring demonstrators but being “silent as to the Occupy protestors’ fundamental human rights, while municipal governments forcibly remove them and terminate their protests.’’
The lawyers are asking that the United Nations’ special rapporteurs investigate and report any abuses to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council.
TORONTO, November 18, 2011– The Law Union of Ontario has today made a submission to the United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This submission asserts that the actions of government officials and police in seeking to remove Occupy Movement protests from Canadian municipalities indicate a widespread disregard for fundamental freedoms such as the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. In these municipalities, government officials seek to elevate the need to enforce municipal by-laws related to park use and maintenance above fundamental civil and political rights. The Law Union states that municipal by-law enforcement does not constitute legitimate justification for violations of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association in international human rights law.
The actions of government officials in Canada stand in sharp contrast to the positions taken by the Canadian government about the human rights of protestors abroad. Canadian government officials have called on foreign governments and security forces to "respect the human rights of protestors and uphold their commitment to freedom of speech and the right to assembly" in the context of the Arab Spring demonstrations. At home, the Canadian government is silent as to the Occupy protestors’ fundamental human rights while municipal governments forcibly remove them and terminate their protests.
In concert with its submissions to the United Nations, the Law Union of Ontario further calls upon Canadian municipalities and police forces to respect the constitutional rights to free expression, assembly and association of those participating in the Occupy protests across Canada. These rights, enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and peacefully asserted, must be balanced against the inconvenience caused to some park users by the protests.
The underlying structural economic issues that have prompted the Occupy Movement are not going to go away without sustained protest. The issues being protested here in Canada and in many other cities around the world have captured worldwide attention because they have global impact. Some inconvenience to local park users is a small price to pay for the larger price being paid by the 99% worldwide in the face of an economic system that privileges the few over the many with disastrous environmental and social impacts. The attainment and protection of civil rights which we now enjoy have historically been won with civil disobedience and protest, and this Movement has arisen in that tradition.
The Law Union is requesting that the Special Rapporteurs draw to the attention of the Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights the disregard being shown by governments in Canada for the fundamental rights to expression, opinion, peaceful assembly, and association, and requests that these violations of international law be included in their annual reports to the UN Human Rights Council. The Law Union further calls upon the relevant Canadian governments to cease and desist all activities undertaken to forcibly deprive peaceful demonstrators of their fundamental rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association.
The Law Union of Ontario, founded in 1974, is a coalition of progressive lawyers, law students and legal workers. The Law Union provides for an alternative bar in Ontario, Canada, which seeks to counter the traditional protections afforded by the legal system to social, political and economic privilege. By demystifying legal procedures, challenging discriminatory and oppressive legislation, arguing for progressive new applications of the law, and democratizing legal practice, the Law Union strives to develop collective approaches to bring about social justice.
Good to see more and more people coming out and wanting to help this movement.
pkcRAISTLIN
a bit of pepper spray and predictable chants from the Great Unwashed = brutal?
would've liked to see a bit of baton action. not because i am necessarily opposed to the occupy movement, but because the percentage of s in such protests is normally pretty high.
you've had your protest, now move on. nothing gives you the right to engage in public disorder 24/7. expect to be peppered when the rest of society grows bored with your public displays of dole bludging.
spitty
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
a bit of pepper spray and predictable chants from the Great Unwashed = brutal?
would've liked to see a bit of baton action. not because i am necessarily opposed to the occupy movement, but because the percentage of s in such protests is normally pretty high.
you've had your protest, now move on. nothing gives you the right to engage in public disorder 24/7. expect to be peppered when the rest of society grows bored with your public displays of dole bludging.
its got to be tough being an all the time. feel for you bud
pkcRAISTLIN
nah its pretty easy. lots of idiots to be mocked with very little effort involved. did you see the grandma that got sprayed? hilarious. if her generation hadn't ed up for so long maybe we'd be in a better position right now. that'll learn you, gran.
Elendil
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
a bit of pepper spray and predictable chants from the Great Unwashed = brutal?
would've liked to see a bit of baton action. not because i am necessarily opposed to the occupy movement, but because the percentage of s in such protests is normally pretty high.
you've had your protest, now move on. nothing gives you the right to engage in public disorder 24/7. expect to be peppered when the rest of society grows bored with your public displays of dole bludging.
Actually, it is pretty brutal. Not really from the perspective of the damage inflicted; that's fairly minor. However, It's brutal for me to watch a person in an unchallengeable position of authority blatantly operating outside of his mandate, in full view of camera's and amongst a crowd of people, and to see that nothing is done about it. I'd have no qualms about it if they'd been up in his face, generally causing mayhem. Spray away. However, they were sitting there. Regardless of whether they were there legally or not, that particular action was in no way justified. They could have simply walked in and arrested them, carrying them off.
ChemEnhanced
The students got exactly what they deserve. They were told to move or they would get pepper sprayed. The police only pepper sprayed the students that were blocking the pathway and not all of the students protesting. Just because people are protesting "peacefully" doesn't give them the right to disobey without consequence. It is much safer for the police officers to move the students when they have been pepper sprayed then it is when they haven't. If anything the cops help prevented the situation from escalating.
ChemEnhanced
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
a bit of pepper spray and predictable chants from the Great Unwashed = brutal?
would've liked to see a bit of baton action. not because i am necessarily opposed to the occupy movement, but because the percentage of s in such protests is normally pretty high.
you've had your protest, now move on. nothing gives you the right to engage in public disorder 24/7. expect to be peppered when the rest of society grows bored with your public displays of dole bludging.
I was hoping for some taser action.
GGM
quote:
Originally posted by spitty
its got to be tough being an all the time.
lol
pluuuuuuus 1
GGM
Just try to tell me that the pepper spraying cop isn't Farva...
