The pandemic has led to restrictions on freedom of assembly around the world. OVD-Info spoke with residents of the USA, Finland, Germany, France, Israel and South Africa about the situation in their countries. Everywhere, these restrictions have caused discontent and are gradually disappearing under the pressure of people who have accumulated reasons for protests.

“The most recent restrictions to be lifted [will be] restrictions or bans on mass gatherings. in an interview with Vesti in early May . said This will be the final point, ” Anna Popova, the chief sanitary doctor of Russia,

Many of the protesters currently being detained in Russia are also receiving administrative punishment for the so-called “violation of self-isolation”: it looks like this will last for a long time. What is the world experience? Has the pandemic led to a ban on political actions everywhere? OVD-Info talked about this with residents of six countries with different, but generally considered democratic political systems.

Finland

As of according to this writing, at least 7,104 people in the country have been infected, 6,200 have recovered, and 326 have died, Johns Hopkins University. The population of Finland is 5 million people.

Finland has been successfully coping with the wave of coronavirus, but there are still quite strict restrictions on street protests. A slight softening occurred only at the end of spring. As Antti Rautiainen, a participant in a number of Finnish anarchist initiatives, told OVD-Info, any gatherings of more than ten people were banned in the country until May 31, and now more than fifty.

These voluntary-compulsory recommendations of the government are fully implemented by the authorities of all regions of Finland, including those where for several weeks they have not recorded a single new case of infection.

Political actions were held in Finland this spring, but there were few of them. For example, activists of the Kurdish diaspora staged a picket without any problems with the police: there were less than ten of them, and they kept their distance. But the action of Finnish nationalists was dispersed by the Helsinki police: for the fact that more than ten people participated in it. In the video of the dispersal, both law enforcement officers and non-obedient activists are without masks. At the June rally in Helsinki against racism and police violence in the United States, no one observed social distancing, thousands of people took to the streets.

Germany

As of this writing, at least 187,518 people in the country have been infected, 172,089 have recovered, and 8,801 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The population of Germany is 83 million people.

As Tatyana Kulbakina, a participant in Russian human rights projects who emigrated to this country, told OVD-Info, before the pandemic in Germany it was forbidden to appear at demonstrations in masks, but now, on the contrary, wearing masks is mandatory.

From mid-March to the end of April, street protests were banned in Germany. Now the demonstrators were ordered to distance themselves by one and a half meters from each other. Those who live together can stand together at shares. Different German federal states have different restrictions on the maximum number of participants. Also in Germany, an unusual rule was introduced: everyone who came to the rally must give their contacts to the organizers. Initially, this information is not intended for the police, but if one of the rally participants is found to have coronavirus, this data is used to trace the contacts of the sick person.

In practice, the restrictions are not very efficient: no one controls those who want to “look at the rally” and no data is collected from them. Accordingly, it may well be that 50 "participants" and, for example, two thousand supposedly "observers" will come to the rally. to the rally in support of the American movement Black lives matter, came 15,000 people with 50 declared. "Participants" are separated from the "observers" by a tape that encloses the place of the rally. At the same time, "observers" can also bring posters and hang them on trees, fences, and even hold them themselves.

Israel

As of this writing, at least 19,121 people in the country have been infected, with 15,389 recovered and 302 dead, according to Johns Hopkins University. The population of Israel is 9 million people.

In the spring, Israel established fairly strict control over the contacts and movements of people. For this, both the police and various electronic tracking systems were involved. restrictions on the number of participants in demonstrations At the same time , there were no . There is only a requirement to wear masks at demonstrations and maintain a two-meter distance.

Social activist Ilya, who lives in Tel Aviv, told OVD-Info that in April this requirement was met (although not at all rallies ), but now it is coming to naught: people in general cease to comply with quarantine rules. For example, there was no “social distancing” at the protests against police brutality on May 30, which took place after the killing of a Palestinian by police in Jerusalem.

Republic of South Africa

According to Johns Hopkins University, at the time of writing, there were at least 70,038 infected in the country, 38,531 of them recovered, 1,480 died. The population of South Africa is 58 million people.

As journalist Dmitry Okrest, who ended up in South Africa at the beginning of the pandemic, told OVD-Info, in southern Africa there is a tradition of vibrant mass political demonstrations, with music and dancing, without separating cordons between protesters and passers-by.

Now there is nothing like this: the country has a strict quarantine, which is only beginning to be lifted, the authorities do not care about freedom of assembly yet. In South Africa, single-person pickets of surfers were held: they stood with slogans written on boards for riding on the waves, demanding that they be allowed to self-isolate in the ocean. Picketers-lovers of sea sports were detained.

Spontaneous meetings of residents arose in the poor suburbs in the spring, at which the threat of hunger and the lack of work were discussed. Such gatherings were dispersed by the police by force, including with the use of water cannons and rubber bullets.

USA

At least 2,094,069 people in the country were infected at the time of writing, with 561,816 recovered and 115,732 dead, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US population is 328 million people.

The United States is the country hardest hit by the pandemic. in the United States due to the coronavirus were canceled In March , rallies planned as part of the presidential race were held in different states . Already in April, car rallies (as a safer option for protest), as well as rallies and demonstrations demanding that quarantine be lifted. Some demonstrators wore medical masks, but not all. The authorities did not interfere with street actions.

Sociologist Anna, who lives near New York, explains this by saying that restrictions on street protests would most likely be declared unconstitutional by the courts. This follows from the first amendment to the US constitution, which prohibits the government, among other things, from restricting "the right of the people to peacefully assemble and petition the government for the satisfaction of grievances."

Now that riots have erupted following the killing of a black man by police in Minnesota, social distancing at demonstrations is all the more out of the question.

France

According to Johns Hopkins University, at the time of writing, there were at least 194,153 infected people in the country, 72,982 of them have recovered, and 29,410 have died. The population of France is 67 million people.

As cases of infection rose in France, the maximum number of participants in gatherings was gradually reduced. Tatyana Dvornikova, editor of Open Democracy Russia, says that formally any meetings of more than 10 people were banned in France, but in fact this ban did not work.

gradually increased In different parts of the country, the number of street actions of "yellow jackets" , doctors demanding more public funding for health care (this campaign began even before the pandemic), and protesting against police violence. In some areas of France, the actions were held without incident, in others, their participants were fined . It depended on the situation with the coronavirus and the policies of local authorities.

On May 30, a demonstration for the rights of migrants (a new “black vests” movement) took place in Paris. Its participants were wearing medical masks, but did not observe “social distancing” during the procession. The police did not disperse her. In early June, mass protests in France continued , and on June 13, restrictions on demonstrations were lifted .