Greenpeace United Kingdom puts digital exterior advertising at the service of the right to protest

Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson
Persona sujetando una pancarta en un mupi digital

Various British human rights organizations are concerned about police politicization. They consider that the body is abusing the regulations that regulate protests with the intention of intimidating activists and people who manifest peacefully. And to give visibility to the issue they have launched a campaign that puts the outdoor advertising digital at the service of Right to protest.

They release the message “I am protesting here to avoid being arrested out there”

Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and Liberty, in collaboration with the creative agency Elvisthey are using the supports of Ocean Outdoor To host the banners that protesters fear taking to the street for fear of being arrested. They release the message “I am protesting here to avoid being arrested out there.”

Activists appear in videos and graphics in Digital Mupis located in popular commercial areas of London, Birmingham and Manchester, in such a way that they seem to be physically present in the street, as if it were a Virtual manifestation. Each represents a different cause, such as the rights of people with disabilities, the war in Gaza, climate change, racism, plastic pollution or the defense of the public health system.

The campaign counts, to achieve greater visibility and notoriety, with different personalities: Khalid Abdallah, actor and defender of the rights of the Palestinian people; Dr. Helen Salisbury, family doctor and defender of the Keep Our NHS public movement: Andy Greene, activist for the rights of people with disabilities and member of Disabled People Against the Cuts; Andrew McParland, climate activist and member of the Greenpeace Council; Jen Reid, Black Lives Matter activist; Sahanika Ratnayake, academic and environmental activist.

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A shared publication by Greenpeace UK (@Greenpeaceuk)

The campaign starts from a new investigation carried out by Greenpeace that reveals that the Metropolitan Police has arrested the protesters regularly When there is an extremely low probability that they are finally accused. The organization indicates that between 2012 and the end of 2018 there were 67 arrests and 8 positions for conspiracy to cause public discomfort -of the law collected in the Law of Police, Crime, sentences and courts of 2022 -, compared to 638 arrests and 18 charges since 2019, which is an increase of almost ten times in the arrests. In addition, the proportion of arrests that ended in charges fell from 12% to 3%.

The fact that the police are systematically drawing to the street protesters for a crime with which they almost never accuse them constitutes an abuse of power and an attack on the right to protest“Aeeba Hamid, executive co-director of Greenpeace United Kingdom, said in a statement.”Arresting respectful people of the law for being politically uncomfortable is an alarming development in any democracy and reflects the government’s tendency to silence freedom of expression and prevent citizenship from defending causes that care deeply care

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A shared publication by Greenpeace UK (@Greenpeaceuk)

The right to express disagreement with the government is a fundamental proof of whether you live in a free and democratic country”; Said Khalid Abdallah, actor and defender of the rights of the Palestinian people.”I did not expect it to be in the United Kingdom where the police would investigate me for participating in a public protest. For six months I lived with the threat of being accused, until it was confirmed that no additional measures would be taken. It is clear, according to these statistics, that my case is not isolated

The campaign is also a call from Greenpeace and the other organizations to the Minister of the Interior so that Rest the measures against protests included in two laws approved since 2022. They also claim the Government to eliminate clauses related to protests in the bill on crime and police that are currently discussed in Parliament.

The British government seeks to boost measures such as prohibiting the use of masks in protests or enhancing powers to deport protesters with temporary visas if they receive a police warning. Given this, the campaign encourages citizens to contact their representatives in the institutions to defend the fundamental right to protest.