Civil Liberties Australia supports peaceful, non-violent demonstrations, by protesters on either side of the Olympic Games and Tibet issue, or by police with the difficult job of being in the middle. With the torch relay, we’re delighted that many Chinese young people living in Australia are learning how to protest. The Chinese constitution gives them the right demonstrate in China, but they have little used the right in recent times in their home country.
Australia can teach China how protests and protesters should be managed, including by authorities, if the Australian Federal Police avoids violent handling of people. A repeat of the awful scenes during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Sydney, where media people and demonstrators were hurled to the ground by the police, would send out the wrong images about Australia.
We think it’s important for the Canberra community to monitor and report any violence at the protest, by demonstrators for or against the torch relay, or by police and security agents from Australia or China. Civil Liberties Australia will not be protesting: it will be acting as peace monitors, on the lookout for unacceptable violence from anyone.
We urge the Chinese Government before, during and after the Olympics to abide by its own laws, and allow its citizens to enjoy “freedom of speech, of the press, freedom of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration”, as guaranteed by Article 35 of the Chinese constitution.
Dr Kristine Klugman, president, Civil Liberties Australia, Fisher