Ottawa Police Service escalates criminalization of Palestinian human rights defenders, arrests PYM organizer
An organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) was arrested in Ottawa on the morning of Sunday November 24.
Instagram video of arrest and reading of charges.
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) media release states: “She has been charged with public mischief X2, obstruction of police, counsel an uncommitted indictable offence of mischief and unlawful assembly.”
For more, see the Criminal Code of Canada sections on public mischief (140), offences relating to public or peace officer (129), counselling offence that is not committed (464), mischief (430) and unlawful assembly (63).
Additional reading: A fifth person charged following downtown pro-Palestinian protest on Nov. 18 (Ottawa Citizen, November 24, 2024).
CCLA: “Protests are intended to cause disruption”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has previously commented: “It’s worth remembering that protests are intended to cause disruption and this is protected activity in a democracy. Strong protections for the right to protest are essential to meaningful and informed political debate and discussion.”
Internationally, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (Harvard Law School graduate Maina Kiai) has also previously commented: “’The free flow of traffic should not automatically take precedence over freedom of peaceful assembly’. In this regard, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has indicated that ‘the competent institutions of the State have a duty to design operating plans and procedures that will facilitate the exercise of the right of assembly … [including] rerouting pedestrian and vehicular traffic in a certain area’.”
In this broader respect, the OPS has only stated: “We recognize the concerns raised by members of the community regarding these arrests. The OPS is committed to ensuring community safety and respecting the lawful right to protest. Any charges related to demonstrations are carefully considered with this balance, and we are focused on balancing the need for public safety with fostering trust and understanding.”
What is criminalization?
Lawyers Without Borders Canada has explained: “Simply put, criminalization is the wrongful use of criminal law. Based on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ interpretation, this means the ‘adoption and misapplication of the law to the detriment of HRDs [human rights defenders] in order to obstruct their activities’ (IACHR, Criminalization of the Work of Human Rights Defenders, 2015, para. 11). It manipulates the punitive power of the State and ultimately, this undermines the rule of law and democracy as it wrongfully persecutes dissidents of the State both legally and politically.”
Peace Brigades International-United Kingdom has also noted: “Criminalisation carries an implicit warning to any defender working on politically or economically sensitive issues that they too might be targeted. Others might think twice before speaking out. Vulnerable groups and individuals who depend on HRDs may also be less inclined to stand up for their rights, fearing legal or violent reprisals to their actions.”
International court decisions
On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts that violate the Genocide Convention in the context of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
On July 19, 2024, the ICJ also ruled that Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful, along with the associated settlement regime, annexation and use of natural resources.
And on November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Israel’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Given international court rulings back the concerns made by the Palestinian Youth Movement at their weekly mobilizations, that these mobilizations have been allowed to be on the streets for more than a year, and the ICC arrest warrants were issued just three days before the OPS arrested the PYM organizer, it is unclear why the OPS has escalated so dramatically and restrictively its policing of PYM mobilizations.
Escalation
The planned march on Monday November 18 to the offices of weapons companies (that arguably are violating the Genocide Convention and Arms Trade Treaty) and the march of Saturday November 23, saw a significant increase in the number of police present, including Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) brought in from out of town.
Questions remain for community members as to why this apparently premeditated and planned escalation has taken place, and whether there are state and corporate actors (with ideological motivations or economic interests) involved in directing this escalation.
There may also be questions about regulations regarding the OPS use of drones, the filming of the protest by OPS officers, and the deployment of an OPP officer who appeared to be armed with an Anti-Riot Weapon Enfield (ARWEN) that is capable of firing tear-gas canisters and large, 37-millimetre plastic bullets.
In 2020, Michelle Bachelet, then the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote: “To be clear, and as the Human Rights Committee has indicated in its general comment on the right to life, even less-lethal weapons [that would include the ARWEN, a supposedly “less-lethal launcher” developed in the UK)] must be employed only when they are subject to strict requirements of necessity and proportionality, in situations in which other less harmful measures have proven to be or are clearly ineffective to address the threat.”
While the ARWEN was not employed/fired, it was deployed (made visible) in a situation that arguably did not meet “necessity and proportionality”.
Police horses by April
As the Palestinian solidarity mobilizations continue, the imminent use of police horses by the OPS is also a concern.
This week, CTV News reported: “Ottawa’s police chief [Eric Stubbs] says the new Mounted Patrol Unit will be a ‘game changer’ for the service in 2025… The Ottawa Police Service expects the first four horses to arrive in the spring [by April 1], with four more horses joining the unit in late 2025 or early 2026.”
That article also notes: “Stubbs says there have been recent protests in Ottawa where he thought a Mounted Patrol Unit would help provide a ‘wedge to separate groups’ or assist with the movement of people.”
The Manchester, UK-based Omega Research Foundation has stated: “Any decision to deploy mounted police must be in-line with the international human rights standards of proportionality and necessity and it must be remembered that horses can react unpredictably when frightened or over stimulated, which may lead to nearby protesters or bystanders being injured. Certain groups may be particularly vulnerable when horses are used to disperse a crowd, particularly those with limited mobility, slow reaction times, or impaired sight (including persons with disabilities, elderly persons, children, pregnant people, for example).”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also expressed this same concern: “People with limited mobility or slow reaction time, including children, may be particularly vulnerable when horses are used to disperse a crowd.”
Video shared by Horizon Ottawa.
This past week, in response to related concerns expressed at the Ottawa Police Service finance and audit committee, Ottawa City Councillor Cathy Curry stated: “I guess I could argue that people could just move out of the way.”
We continue to follow this.
Video and photo: Solidarity rally outside the OPS Elgin station after the arrest of the PYM organizer.
Further reading: Arrest of Palestinian solidarity activists in Ottawa raises concerns about repression of protests against weapons companies (November 21, 2024).
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