‘Amsterdam goes too far with ban on protests during Remembrance Day’

The municipality of Amsterdam wants to take far-reaching measures to prevent the National Remembrance Day celebration on Dam Square from being disrupted next Saturday. One of those measures, the ban on demonstrations, is against the constitution, according to experts.

“The constitution guarantees freedom of expression and prohibits censorship,” says Professor of Legal Science Jan Brouwer (University of Groningen). Four other legal scholars News hour spoke to confirm that the municipality is going too far with the ban on demonstrations.

Mayor Femke Halsema disagrees with the experts, she says News hour. “We are allowed to intervene. We have additional resources to prevent unrest from arising, from disorder, from people panicking.”

With all the tensions and emotions surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas, there are fears of disturbances during Remembrance Day. Halsema: “It is a fragile moment, especially those two minutes at eight o’clock when the whole of the Netherlands appreciates the silence. Then we mourn together and then someone can easily start shouting. We are very concerned that people will become so moved that others become very emotional and riots arise. We have taken as many measures as possible to prevent that.”

Amsterdam only offers room for 10,000 visitors on Dam Square on Saturday instead of the usual 20,000. People must first register online; the maximum number has now been reached. There will be searches at the commemoration. Flags and signs are not allowed, nor are demonstrations.

Halsema, together with the police and the judiciary, is responsible for the peaceful conduct of the commemoration. To legally regulate the measures, an emergency ordinance applies during the commemoration in Amsterdam. “You only do that very exceptionally, that is a heavy authority,” says Halsema.

According to the mayor, she can ban protests with this emergency ordinance. But in doing so she interprets the law too broadly, says Brouwer. “The Municipal Act explicitly states that you may not deviate from the constitution.” Freedom of expression “is one of the most sacred fundamental rights we have.” Banning banners and flags is “absolutely not possible”.

A mayor may ban a demonstration if there are fears of disorder, “but then she must first demonstrate that it is really impossible to prevent such disorder,” says Brouwer. That is not the case now, he says. The other legal experts who News hour spoke, confirm that.

There are no concrete indications that there are plans to disrupt the commemoration in Amsterdam. The police say that there are signals and calls on social media that indicate that the National Commemoration could be disrupted. But the police mainly cite the “increased social tension and a great willingness to protest” as reasons to be prepared for disruptions to the ceremony.

Halsema emphasizes that the police, in consultation with the Public Prosecution Service and the (deputy) mayor, will assess during the commemoration whether intervention is necessary and proportionate. The message that activists preach does not matter, she says. “We make no distinction between the nature of the protest. The only thing that is important to us is that the half hour or three quarters of an hour on Dam Square is dignified and not disrupted. It is a national commemoration, which is of great importance for our entire country.”

Brouwer: “It is a devilish dilemma. But I think it would be wise to allow protest to take place on Dam Square. The reaction to these types of expressions is often worse than simply allowing it to happen in peace.”