Police must take criticism from UN rapporteur Melzer to heart and not see it as an attack

The recent criticism by the UN rapporteur against torture, Nils Melzer, of the excessive police violence during demonstrations in the Netherlands, unfortunately led to predictable reactions. Instead of discussing the justified concern that was expressed, it was only about Melzer’s tone and wording, which I also found unproductive, incidentally. Arguments included his alleged misunderstanding of the context and of the circumstances in which officers have to do their jobs. And that the workload is extremely high and the police work is complex – which is widely recognized, by the way, also by Amnesty International Netherlands. And that police action usually goes well, and that – it is the standard statement – ​​every application of force is always carefully tested.

Dagmar Oudshoorn is director of Amnesty International Netherlands.

These arguments are used to kill the discussion, instead of looking critically at the police’s own actions and learning from them.

Exactly this line of defense also followed when Amnesty criticized the police action during demonstrations against the corona policy in The Hague on March 14 and the housing protest in Rotterdam on October 17 last year. There was also excessive police brutality. Protesters who did not use violence were beaten on the head.

Criticism of police actions often results in a discussion about incidents and possible consequences for individual officers. While you should look at the rules, the training and the testing and accountability of police brutality. It is about the system in which individual agents have to do their work. The legislature, authorities and police leadership must take criticism from someone like Melzer and from human rights organizations to heart. They must ensure that agents can do their work with respect for human rights. And that’s exactly where it goes wrong.

Public accountability

The official instruction, which elaborates on the rules for the application of police brutality, is not in line with human rights. Agents therefore also do not learn to act in accordance with human rights. Training has been shortened and training time is under pressure. She herself euphemistically describes the way in which the police conduct internal investigations into violations of norms as an improvement task. Public accountability for police brutality is limited to one and a half pages in the annual report. And external evaluations rarely take place. While the monopoly of violence is the most precious asset of the police: the trust and authority of the police depends on it.

Due to the social uncertainty and dissatisfaction with the approach to the corona pandemic, climate emergency and the housing crisis, many people will take to the streets again this year and make use of their right to demonstrate in all kinds of ways. Supervising these protests will demand the utmost of the police. But as long as people organize themselves to collectively draw attention to their concerns and frustrations, that must be cherished. Anything is better than discontent going underground.

Also read: ‘Take criticism of disgusting forms of police brutality extremely seriously’

Mayors and police must therefore make every effort to facilitate protests. Demonstrating is a fundamental human right. If mayors restrict demonstrations further than is strictly necessary or prohibit them on incorrect grounds, this fuels dissatisfaction and increases the risk of escalation of violence between police and civilians. Exactly the fear that prompted UN rapporteur Melzer to react.

I therefore hope that the police will make a change in 2022 and that they will listen to criticism and take recommendations to heart. Tighter rules, better training and systematic evaluation and accountability of police brutality will ultimately lead to less violence. Less violence by the police as well as less violence against police officers.

Human rights standards must be leading in this change. They provide a balanced framework for facilitating protest and the use of police brutality and reduce the chance of demonstrations escalating into violence between citizens and authorities.

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A version of this article also appeared in NRC on the morning of January 12, 2022

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