Thesun 2009-08-17 Page12 Tale Of Two Street Protests

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speak up!

“CERTAINLY, the police had to put up with much abuse and missiles, although these were mainly plastic bottles and sprayed beer and cider. Certainly, some demonstrators were bent on agro, but, then again, so were some of the (police) officers… And what does this mean for the future of protesting? Does this mean that anyone wanting to go on a demonstration in the future needs to be prepared to be detained for eight hours, photographed and identified?” Surprisingly, the demonstration referred to in the above paragraph isn’t the one against the Internal Security Act (ISA) held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 1 but the mass protests against the Group of 20 (G20) meeting of world leaders on April 1 in London. During the G20 demonstration, a news vendor, Ian Tomlinson, died. Written by Duncan Campbell, this paragraph also spotlights the dilemma that police in the United Kingdom (and in other countries) face – how to police public protests. Tomlinson’s death, the London police’s initial response and the UK

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Tale of two street protests government’s handling of Second, post mortems this issue reveal striking conducted by two individsimilarities as well as uals can result in different marked contrasts with outcomes. events in Malaysia. The first post mortem First, the initial reidentified the cause of sponse of the police and Tomlinson’s death as a other investigative instituheart attack. However, tions, whether in the UK a second post mortem or in Malaysia, to a loss of established he had died of life is often denial. internal bleeding. Results Initially, the London of a third post mortem MakingSens Metropolitan Police told remain confidential, the by Tan Siok Choo Tomlinson’s family the BBC says. news vendor had died of A major difference is natural causes – a view the UK authorities’ subsechallenged by footage from dozens of quent response. The pathologist who digital cameras and mobile phones. conducted the first post mortem has One video clip by a New York hedge been suspended from the governfund manager, broadcast by the ment register pending two investigaGuardian newspaper, showed Tomtions into his professional conduct, an linson being hit by a police baton. article in the Guardian says.

Altogether, there were four reports on the G20 protests – two by the police and two by Parliament – of which the most noteworthy was by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) whose motto is “Inspecting policing in the public interest.” In the HMIC report, Denis O’Connor said police tactics had been far too focused on tackling violence rather than facilitating peaceful protests. The starting point for policing protests should neither be whether they were lawful nor unlawful, but a presumption of facilitating peaceful activity, he added. “What the review identifies is that the world is changing and the police need to think about changing their approach to policing protests. We live in an age where public consent of policing cannot be assumed and policing, including public order policing, should be designed to win the consent of the public,” he said. Similarly, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, Chris Allison, acknowledged the police have “clear duties under the law to facilitate protest, minimise the impact it has on others and maintain peace on our streets.” What is commendable is Allison’s order of his priorities – it is the reverse of that often expounded by his Malaysian counterparts and by top political leaders in this country. Another notable report was by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Drafted by MPs and peers in the House of Lords, the report said the police became

| MONDAY AUGUST 17 2009

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heavy-handed because they lacked effective communication with protesters. Both protesters and police must share information about their plans for the demonstration, added the joint committee report, a suggestion that Malaysian police and politicians would do well to adopt as a crowd-control strategy. In keeping with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s vision of “1Malaysia, people first, performance now”, the police should adopt suggestions in these UK reports that aim to make human rights the core of modern policing. Some may argue the Malaysian police’s tough approach towards demonstrators is to protect the larger public, including shopkeepers and city residents adversely affected by mass protests. The police should ask themselves two questions. Would the public have benefited if the police had cracked down on demonstrators against the proposed Malayan Union in 1945? Would the US civil rights movement have succeeded – and Barack Obama elected president – if the Malaysian police had been in charge when 250,000 protesters gathered in Washington in 1963 to hear Martin Luther King make his “I have a dream” speech in which he called for racial equality? In the aftermath of the March 2008 general election, the police need to ponder whether they are facilitators or a road block to political progress. Opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the writer and should not be attributed to any organisation she is connected with. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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Be wary of pneumonia I REFER to concerns about Influenza A (H1N1). My five-year-old son is a chronic bronchitis sufferer. We live in Kota Kemuning and experience hazy conditions every day. My son’s life is at stake. And so are many other asthmatic patients, chronic bronchitis patients, young children with low immune system, etc. Each day I search all the newspapers hoping to get some leads as to how I can build as many defence mechanisms as I can for my son. And all I get is the feeling like I am searching for answers in a dark room, helpless and in despair. One person recently gave me an important lead and I am sharing this with as many people as I can. Not everyone who gets H1N1 gets pneumonia but all who died of H1N1 had pneumonia. So, we should focus on how we can prevent pneumonia if we get H1N1 not how to prevent H1N1. For those in the high-risk group,

getting pneumococcal vaccinations is one of the defence mechanism we could use against dying from H1N1. You might still get H1N1 but at least you have a 30% lower risk of dying from H1N1. Studies have shown (see www. latimes.com/features/health/la-scipneumonia4-2009aug04,0,6872284. story ) that 30% of H1N1 pneumonia related deaths are due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Getting yourself vaccinated means you have eliminated 30% of the possible risk of dying from H1N1 pneumonia. Of course, that does not mean you will not get H1N1 but at least you will not die of it. So if the government is serious in preventing H1N1 deaths, it should ensure that all those in the high-risk group get pneumococcal vaccinations. Karen Lee Huey Shyan Shah Alam

Use relief magistrates A COURT sitting was postponed recently because the magistrate fell sick and had to go on medical leave. Such circumstances can be hard to avoid. But can’t the judicial authorities have relief magistrates in such cases, to avoid unnecessary postponements, wasting time and resources. We must also be mindful of others

involved in the trial who are ready to attend the hearing as scheduled. It isn’t fair to them as they may have had to travel long distances. As they say justice must not only be done but seen to be done. Can we have some contingency plans for such instances? Bulbir Singh Seremban