Another camp has been forcibly shut down now in Portland, Oregon. After a stand off between police and protestors attempting to reclaim their encampment, the police started to take down tents and remove them from the area. Protestors held a general assembly meeting in the morning when they were first pushed off the camp ground. Soon they relocated to the street and were told that they could be subject to 'chemical agents and impact weapons' to which their only response was "We are a peaceful protest." Eventually the protestors were cleared out of the street and the police have had the mayor's backing the entire time, he even tweeted a thanks to those who helped get the streets clear.
Human rights violations here encompass the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of peaceful protest, and security of self. Freedom of speech is the ever self explanatory right. If you stop them from Occupying you are stifling their political opinion. Assembly and Peaceful Protest go hand in hand here. It is an inherent human right that people are allowed to assemble in a group as well as protest in a peaceful manner without violence or any inherent harm to those around them. Security of self in this case has to do with the absolute lack of concern shown for these people's heath by the police who threatened to use weapons and chemicals against people who would not fight back. It's just unsavory.
I, personally, believe that as long as the Occupy protestors are not being violent or harming anyone that the police should not be allowed to touch them in any way. It is in their human and constitutional rights that they can gather and express their political opinion. Portland, and any other cities, that have attempted to shut down these movements are not working within their boundaries. it just seems ridiculous to me that they would shut these down so violently. To my knowledge, none of these people have caused harm to police, why are the police threatening harm?
Why are the police and the cities reacting in this way? Is it within the protestor human and constitutional rights to do what they are doing? Can an argument be made that it is not?
I agree that citizens of this country reserve the right to freedom of speech as well as freedom of expression. The people wo were at the Occupy movement in NYC that I saw this past weekend did not seem violent either... however, there were policemen everywhere and multiple streets were being blocked off. People were not allowed to stand on the street surrounding the people who were camped out for too long before being asked to keep moving (myself included). Yet, an argument can also be made against protestors who obstruct streets and roads, making them inaccessible areas to the public. This is not okay and justifies police who force protestors out of areas that are being obstructed.
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