A recent articles in the British newspaper “The Guardian” reports of struggles between civil rights protestors and British courts. According to the article “dozens of protesters were stopped and searched and one hundred and forty four were arrested.” During a recent four-day civil rights protest. Many protestors involved in this conflict feel that the police powers were misused and that the state’s terrorism acts are guilty as such as well. One protester remarks that the “ draconian powers were being used in a way never intended by parliament.
British law, which is very similar to Canadian law, states that all citizens have the right to peaceful assembly and freedom to protest. This article displays the opinions of people who believe that recent terrorism acts, are an affront to these freedoms, as police can easily abuse these powers effectively denying individuals of their human rights. The Terrorism act gives police the right to detain anyone for up to forty-eight hours without arrest or notification of reasons and gives the police certain power to enact searches on people. These acts were formulated by British state as a measure against terrorism, with hopes that theses searches could accurately root out terrorists and information pertaining to acts of terrorism.
The protesters took this case to a high court and lost, with the judges remarking, “ they (police) need to stop and search people and vehicles because of the threat of terrorism.” Protestors may appeal, as it is a ruling that is not in their favor, as the issue of whether or not their human rights were violated appears to have been answered in a way not to their liking. The director of liberty sums it up the best when he remarks “ultimately the judges gave deference to the police.
The belief that these protestors were unlawfully denied their freedom of protest and assembly while at the same time being denied protection from unlawful search and seizure can be seen as a belief that could be used to further the Marxist theory. As the state acting through the police has deemed it lawful to conduct such searches under the terrioism act, it can be said that the state is acting out of the interests of the dominant class or other unseen agendas. This questionable usage of the terrorism act gives the state power over citizens civil rights and enacts a great deal of control over them. If this power is abused and such cases do imply that they may be, then the state has now gained power to effectively disable protests and protestors from speaking out against issues. Which means that the state could also with a certain justification, force certain opinions out of the public eye therefore quieting their existence. This gives the state full power furthermore to pursue its own interests, whether they be for the dominant class or not, in an easier manner without the threat of major protest.
Claiming that such an occurrence would directly infer that the state is acting completely out of the best interests of the dominant class would be inaccurate, but not completely outlandish. As the appearances of similar cases and other facts would be needed to accurately do depict the state in such a light, however with current acts such as the terrorism act creating such widespread debate, it is hard to believe that no good evidence will come up soon.
While these claims may seem a little unfounded and assumptive, their possibility is something that cannot be denied. It is possible that the state could be using the terrorism act in a manner that it wasn’t intended to be used. It is also possible that the state could be using the act in a manner to help it peruse its own unseen agenda. The possibility of such claims being true and the evidence that could be used to build a case for it simply means that the actions of the state must be monitored. That the modern state may claim to have its foundations built on virtues of freedom and democracy, does not mean that they are always true to those virtues. Holding the state to account for its actions is the role of society, as it must educate itself and inquire into such manners before the assumptions of a few become a reality to all.
Reading assignment #2
Assumptions and realities.
Jason Roti
Student #
For T.A. Valerie Bourget
Political science, intro to democracy 1010
