Trafalgar square soundsystem attack

Tux n Geri | 01.05.2006 16:11 | Mayday 2006 | Repression | London

police get heavy handed in trafalgar square.

3.30pm:
Police attempted to seize pedal powered soundsystem from the front of the autonomous bloc despite resistance. Rumour has it that four people were arrested as a result of attempting to defend the sound system. A few missiles were thrown but most violence on the part of the police. Police then briefly penned in the crowd before allowing them to disperse.

3.45: Autonomous bloc penned in outside national gallery. Riot police and ordinary police involved. No copper would say which law was being used to pen in the crowd. Finally allowed to leave after intervention by legal observers.

Tux n Geri

Additions

More info on this...

01.05.2006 18:32

I saw this develop as the police put a line in front of the bloc to prevent them entering trafalger square - they them steamed into the crowd pushing people around in order to pull out a tricyle mounted sound syetem. All in all a pretty provocative move.

The police later explained that there were no sound-systems allowed into trafalger square, which is why they said they acted to prevent one one from possibly being taken into the square.

I didn't see anyone arrested, though there was some pushing and shoving and a few people were 'given a talking to'.

While the bloc was cut off from the square people gathered around the police line shouting "solidarity" and "let them in".

Later when some people from the bloc tried to walk around the top of the square, police moved to surround them, but they weren't really held there as people could leave pretty much as they wished.

Again though all a bit over the top. At least it didn't rain!

Human Rights abuse

01.05.2006 18:39

It seems to me that there might be grounds for a complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/) that the police breached the human rights of those in the autonomous bloc. In previous years, police targeting of anarchist groups could be justified because Mayday events were not "legal". However, this year, because the bloc took part in the official march, the police actions from the beginning of the march could be argued to have been harassment exclusively on the grounds of political opinion (because it was the anarchist part of the march).

Thus, it might be argued that they breached both Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." (

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html) and also Article 2.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status." (

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cpr.html), which the UK has ratified.

The sound system is beside the point, the possible harassment of the bloc was of all members, not just those in charge of the system, and was from the very start of the march when the police apparently showed no interest in shutting it down. The simple fact of the concentration of police presence exclusively around those waving red and black flags could possibly be described as harassment.

Just something to think about (I was just ahead of the Autonomous Bloc in the march).

Donnacha DeLong (personal capacity)
mail e-mail: donnacha.delong@tiscali.co.uk