International campaign StopMordaza 10th December 2014
Hi
activists
in Spain are calling on citizens to take part in a demonstration on
December the 10th in renewed protests against what they call a "gag
law".
The
controversial Protection of Public Safety act, proposed in 2013, is
now making its way through Spanish Parliament (going to be probably
approved on the 11th of December)
The
bill infringes on the right to protest and it gives more power to the
police force. It also includes the "legalization" of the practice of
"devolución en caliente" (immediate devolution of migrants when caught
at the borders)
15M
groups, No Somos Delito - We are not crime (a platform with more than
70 groups and assemblies) and many other movements are encouraging
international activists to join the twitter campaign on the 10th of
December (there are more than 70 different groups in the platform) in
order to support their action in Madrid (the funeral of human rights)
and the struggle against the "gag law"
What
we ask is to use the hashtag of the campaign also to visibilize
repression and criminalization of the movements all over the world.
****IMPORTANT*****
The hashtag has not to be used before the 10th of december at 11:00 am CET time
Check your local time here:
"........ In Chicago, in Quebec and now in Spain, it has meant the expansion of anti-protest laws.
In 2011, the Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, requested that the city council pass "temporary" anti-protest measures
in response to the planned protests around the Nato and G8 summits.
The laws included a $1m insurance mandate for public protests, heavy
policing and greater obstacles to obtaining a protest permit. By early 2012, the legislation had been made permanent.
Later that same year, as the administration of Jean Charest in Quebec sought
to deal with a tumultuous uprising of students against increased
tuition fees, it passed a piece of emergency legislation named Bill
78. With the support of the state's employers, it imposed severe restrictions on the ability to protest,
including banning protests within 50 metres of a college and giving
the right to change the route of a protest at short notice, with severe
fines for those protesters who did not co-operate.
The "public safety" legislation proposed in Spain
has an essentially similar basis. Demonstrating near parliament
without permission will result in steep fines, while participation in
"violent" protests can result in a minimum two-year jail sentence. In
each case, the logic is to put a chill on protest. It is not just that
it is a protest deterrent; it has a domesticating effect on such
protests as do occur." The Guardian 25/11/2013
Articles in English