On June 12, 2024, police forcibly evacuated pro-Palestinian protesters who were occupying a building at the University of Groningen (RUG).
The building occupation came a few weeks after Dutch higher education institutions agreed to a new directive stating that student protests are allowed if the protesters follow the rules set by their institutions. In the case of RUG, the university had recently announced 36 new protest regulations. The new rules permit protests inside university buildings, but bar demonstrations after 7pm and mandate that protesters engage in discussion with the faculty board, among other guidelines. The rules state that police may end demonstrations that do not follow the rules.
On the afternoon of June 12, a group of pro-Palestine protesters engaged in a march that ended with the occupation of an RUG building. They hung a banner out of a window with the words, “RUG, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” Shortly afterwards, police arrived in riot gear and asked the protesters to leave the building. Around 7pm, officers ended the building and forcibly evicted the students. Videos posted on social media show police roughly handling student protesters, and the media reported that police used batons. One protester, who spoke publicly during the protest, reported that police had punched her in the head before holding her alone in a room for more than 16 hours and without providing her medical care for six hours. Two protesters were arrested.
Scholars at Risk is concerned by the use of force by police to disperse students exercising their peaceful rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly—conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. State authorities have a responsibility to refrain from restricting the nonviolent exercise of such rights. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, the use of force to restrict or deter nonviolent student expression undermines academic freedom and democratic society more generally.
Sources:
https://ukrant.nl/students-union-condemns-police-violence-against-students/?lang=en
https://ukrant.nl/occupation-ug-building-has-ended-protesters-return-to-encampment/?lang=en
https://ukrant.nl/protesting-in-ug-buildings-is-allowed-but-there-are-rules/?lang=en
https://northerntimes.nl/groningen-student-union-slams-new-rug-protest-rules-its-very-paternalistic/
https://www.jurist.org/news/2024/06/netherlands-dispatch-groningen-student-encampment-dissolved-by-police-but-protests-contine/ (opinion)
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8KpZkVtxtd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8U4u6joXRk/