The police engaged in overkill

Sep 25, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The police yesterday blocked off a number of busy roads in the city in order to keep protestors away from the precincts of the Ministry of the Presidency. The closure of these roads resulted in traffic jams, gridlock, and great inconvenience for motorists.
The police engaged in overkill. The police caused more inconvenience to the traveling public than the protestors were likely to have caused.
There was no need for the police to take such drastic action. The protestors launched by the PPPC have not been violent. They have not violated the rights of others, and therefore there was no need for them to be prevented from being in front of the government office where the Cabinet meeting was taking place.
The PPPC had held protest demonstrations on the Essequibo Coast on Monday. It was peaceful and did not disrupt public order or the event which was attended by government officials. The protests on Monday night were not violent or disruptive.
The PPPC has had large demonstrations before in the same area. There was no need then to seal off roads as was done yesterday, resulting in thousands of persons being unable to get to work and get about their business on time.
The police action was excessive and unnecessary. The police’s job is not to prevent protest demonstrations, but only to maintain law and order.
Under the Constitution, people have a right to protest. Protest is one way in which people call attention to their problems. At times, it is the only means which they can use to highlight their concerns.
The police, by keeping people so far off from the event which was being targeted, can be accused of suppressing the right of people to protest. In Hubbard v Pitt (1976), Lord Denning in a dissenting decision had this to say:
“Here we have to consider the right to protest on matters of public concern. There are rights which it is in the public interest that individuals should possess, and indeed, that they should only exercise without impediment so long as no wrongful act is done. It is often the only means by which grievances can be brought to the knowledge of those in authority… As long as all is done peaceably and in good order, without threats or incitement to violence, or obstruction to traffic, it is not prohibited.”
The protests by the PPPC are not likely to end soon. The naming of a date for elections does not obviate the fact that the government is considered as being unconstitutional. Opposition parties cannot simply ignore that. They have to protest these constitutional violations in the same way as APNU protested the PPPC’s unwillingness to hold local government elections prior to 2015.
The PPPC is protesting the violation of the Constitution. The Cabinet was supposed to have resigned and elections were to be called within three months. That has not happened and the PPPC is in order to protest what it views as a violation of the Constitution.
The police, in turn, must not use excessive methods to restrict the Opposition to long-distance protests. This would equally be unconstitutional.
There is no such thing as a threat of protests. A protest is not a threat. It only becomes unlawful if it descends into violence.
The public is entitled to free movement, within limitations. The police, in trying to reduce disruption to free movement, must not trample on the constitutional right to protest. They must not, in trying to reduce disruption to the traffic, create greater inconvenience than that which they are trying to prevent.
The police’s job is not to prevent a protest. That is a right, which is guaranteed by the Constitution. The police’s job is to prevent public disorder. Moreover, there was never any need for the excessive preemptive steps, which the police have been taking to restrict the locations at which PPPC protests have been taking place.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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