Only 10% of residents in Portugal have participated in demonstrations, strikes and parish assemblies since 2018

per Lusa, March 25, 2024

PUB

Only 10% of respondents to an Amnesty International study have participated in a demonstration in the last five years and almost half think these events need to be organized, with 35% advocating the criminalization of civil disobedience.

The investigation by Amnesty International (AI), called “Liberty as a Flag”, is about the right to demonstrate in Portugal and is based on a survey developed in partnership with the Catholic University of 1,001 residents in Portugal over the age of 16 .

“This work integrates the current challenges of this individual and collective exercise, exposing cases of alleged human rights abuses during the enjoyment of the right to demonstrate”, says AI.

The results of the survey show that 90% of people have not participated in any demonstration since 2018, including not only more traditional protests, such as parades and strikes, but also meetings of parish assemblies, for example.

“Participation in this type of events, however, is not equivalent for all social categories in this survey, being much higher among more educated people (17% among those with higher education) than among less educated people (3% ). It is also higher among voters from parties on the left than among voters from parties to the center and right in the Portuguese political spectrum”, the document reads.

On the other hand, almost half of respondents (47%) think that these actions have to be authorized, despite the Portuguese Constitution being clear when it states that “citizens have the right to assemble, peacefully and without weapons, even in open places to the public, without the need for any authorization.”

The reason is related to the fact that legislation from 1974 is still in force, according to which “people or entities that intend to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations or parades in public places or places open to the public must give written notice at least in advance. the president of the city council within two working days”.
Still, 82% said they never felt their rights as a protester were limited.

Among the topics that have motivated the most protest actions, workers’ rights/employment/unemployment (3%), education (2%) and housing (2%) are at the top of the list.

If 84% believe that demonstrations are important for the debate of ideas in a democracy, opinions are divided when the issue is civil disobedience, which includes actions such as blocking roads, blocking planes or painting facades of buildings. buildings.

Proof of this is the fact that almost half of those questioned (49%) understand that acts of disobedience are illegitimate, while 59% defend their criminalization, a position that is most expressed “among the most educated people and aged between 25 and 54 years old.”

Regarding police action, 37% think that “there is partiality in the treatment” of protesters, depending on who organizes the demonstration, and AI’s own investigation includes cases of alleged abuses of authority in relation to activists, especially women.

In conclusion, AI suggests, among ten proposals, the revision of the 1974 decree-law, that the requirements for notification of demonstrations be treated as notices, that all municipalities publish data on the number of demonstrations, that the training of police forces or that policing guarantees the safety of journalists or other observers.