Voices in the Streets: Mass Social Protests and the Right to Peaceful Assembly

Freedom House researched cases of mass social protests in 12 countries to glean best practices and determine the causes for failure in promoting and protecting the right of peaceful assembly. This report not only evaluates the role of the executive and law enforcement agencies in enabling or restricting freedom of assembly, but also investigates how government ministries, legislators, courts, political parties, national human rights institutions, think tanks, media, labor unions, civil society organizations, and even businesses respond to the content of protests and affect the peaceful exercise of the right to assemble.
The research was conducted in response to the disturbing global trend of governments cracking down, sometimes violently, on mass protests following the Arab uprisings and some 80+ mass protests worldwide in 2011. FH aims for the survey results to inform new models to assist governments and other stakeholders in designing policies and practices for managing and mediating civic participation, especially at times social tension.