Council discusses the right to demonstrate
UU Council members denounce physical violence by Security employees
Photos: UU
‘The university's house rules set out the norms for demonstrations in black and white, even though this is a grey area in legal terms,’ argued Leonie Gerth at the University Council meeting held on Tuesday, June 24. The meeting's agenda included the amended house rules, following a report by the Study & Information Centre for Human Rights (SIM).
Vuur does not see the need for house rules, as there are national laws defining the limits to the right to demonstrate. ‘UU is making things unnecessarily difficult for itself.’
The amended rules allow the occupation of university buildings under certain conditions, such as allowing security staff to have access to the building at all times so that they can assess whether the safety of the occupiers and other people can be guaranteed.
The latter point sparked a debate in the University Council. Lieke Fokker, another Vuur member, said she had heard accounts of physical violence perpetrated by security staff during the last occupation of Drift 25. She wondered whether the security check could also be carried out by an independent body.
University President Anton Pijpers had little sympathy for this comment. ‘I am proud of our security,’ he said. 'They do an incredible amount of work and are trained very precisely to do what they do. They are better than anyone else at assessing whether the situation is safe. I see no need to hire other people.’
Pijpers reiterated that he was angry and disappointed about how activists left the building on Drift. He had already stated this to various media outlets. Not only was there rubbish left behind and graffiti on the walls, but doors had also been blocked and locks forced open. He qualified the incident as vandalism and an unsafe situation.
The Vuur councillors were supported by some staff members. However, most council members saw no reason to change the house rules. The chair of the council added that if physical violence had been used, they could email him or file a formal complaint. However, an attempt by the faction to find the complaints page came to nothing.