RIGHT TO PROTEST GUIDE: Mechanisms of protection, guarantee and advocacy to the European Union and the Council of Europe

Guide Right to Protest: Protection, Guarantee and Advocacy Mechanisms in the European Union and Council of Europe is part of the RIGHT2PROTEST – Defence, advocacy and training for civil and political rights in Europe project, funded by the Barcelona Provincial Council.

RIGHT2PROTEST develops in a two-year timeline (2019-2021), and seeks to create a channel for the exchange of experiences and strategies to defend the right to protest among representatives of civil society in Germany, France, Hungary, Poland and Spain.

The project stems from the need to deal collectively with the regression in civil and political rights that are occurring in various European countries as well as in other latitudes. In recent years, two major trends have been detected in Europe, entailing the securitization of public space and the criminalization of protest: on the one hand, an inappropriate use of force and riot gear by the police; on the other hand, the approval of criminal and administrative norms which upgraded the punitive apparatus of States to contain social criticism?

This guide is intended as a useful tool for civil society organizations which carry out their work in the European territory, especially with regard to the defence of the Right to peaceful assembly and association as well as freedom of expression and information.

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