Belgium Police Watchdog Gets 26 Complaints After Over 250 Arrests
The complaints concern alleged police misconduct at demonstrations on Oct. 9 and Oct. 17, Committee P said.
The protests were triggered by austerity measures from the federal government and cuts to French-speaking education. On Oct. 9, the ACV and ABVV trade unions staged a nationwide day of action, joined by student movements.
Police put the number of people involved in the ensuing unrest at about 1,000. Public transport buses, shared vehicles and street furniture were heavily damaged, and protesters hurled bricks and pyrotechnic devices at officers.
Police made 110 arrests that day, 30 of them judicial arrests. Twenty-one people were referred to the public prosecutor’s office over alleged weapons possession, violence and vandalism.
A second youth demonstration on Oct. 17 again descended into clashes with police and widespread property damage. Officers arrested 152 people, 19 of them in judicial arrests.
Rights groups, meanwhile, have alleged that police used disproportionate force. Pierre-Yves Rosset, director of the Service Droit des Jeunes (SDJ), said his organization has collected testimonies describing police violence against minors.
“One minor was hit on the head with a baton. Another had to be hospitalized with a broken collarbone after being struck with a baton,” Rosset said.
SDJ has received multiple accounts of the events of Oct. 9 and Oct. 12, and reports on the Oct. 17 protest are still arriving.
SDJ and the French-speaking human rights organization Ligue des Droits Humains (LDH) have also challenged police tactics, questioning the frequent use of tear gas, particularly at demonstrations attended by minors and children.
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