Right to protest

Cabinet has tasked Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha with identifying three suitable locations to hold protests. These sites are expected to provide all facilities such as water and sanitary facilities for protests. Discussion also suggested Galle Face Green, a ground near the Parliament and another location in Pettah for the purpose. 

When daily protests become the norm, it is understandable for the public to feel exasperated by the constant inconvenience caused by endless marches over a multitude of issues. But what gets lost in the heat of the moment is that these marches are for legitimate grievances that demand the attention of elected representatives. Policymaking is the most crucial role of any Government and if they are not paying attention to matters that affect thousands of people, then it is the right of citizens to demand they be heard.  

The right to protest is something that any self-respecting democracy should at least pretend to uphold. In most civilised societies, the right to peaceful protest is a manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association and the right to freedom of speech. In Sri Lanka, it is recognised as a fundamental right. While there is an argument to be made that the Government shouldn’t cower in the face of politically motivated protests that are clearly organised to inconvenience the ruling party, this Government, which came into power on a platform of good governance, should at least on the surface appear to recognise the people’s right to take to the streets.

Historically, protests have often inspired positive social change and the advancement of human rights, and they continue to help define and protect civic space in all parts of the world. Protests encourage the development of an engaged and informed citizenry. They strengthen representative democracy by enabling direct participation in public affairs. They enable individuals and groups to express dissent and grievances, to share views and opinions, to expose flaws in governance and to publicly demand that the authorities and other powerful entities rectify problems and are accountable for their actions. This is especially important for those whose interests are otherwise poorly represented or marginalised.

The Government and public too often treat protests as either an inconvenience to be controlled or a threat to be extinguished but the reality is the right to protest formally involves the exercise of numerous fundamental human rights, and is essential for securing all human rights. Participating in protests enables all people to individually and collectively express dissent and seek to influence and strengthen governments’ policymaking and governing practices, as well as the actions of other powerful entities in society.

The right to protest embodies the exercise of a number of indivisible, interdependent and interconnected human rights, in particular the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the right to strike, the right to take part in cultural life, as well as the rights to life, privacy, liberty and security of the person and the right to freedom from discrimination. It’s high time we remembered that and ensure these rights are not hidden away.