France, Germany, Australia, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the US are being hard on climate activists, turning to harsh punitive measures to crack down on protests. These countries have time and again criticized other countries mainly China, Russia, and Iran for their draconian tactics, but have tried to cover up their totalitarian measures.
A German court, in August 2024, sentenced a 65-year-old man to 22 months in prison without parole for participating in a climate protest that blocked a road. A young woman in Australia was sentenced to 15 months in prison for a non-violent protest wherein she violated traffic laws.
In the US two protesters smeared a protective case of a sculpture with red and black paint, they were charged with committing an offense against the country and causing injury to the National Gallery of Art exhibit.
Climate activists and protesters have been handed down harsh punishment – disproportionately long sentences of up to five years in jail. Michel Forst, UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders, said long sentences set a very dangerous precedent for environmental and peaceful protests that may or may not align with the interest of the government of the day.
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Climate Activists Are Being Targeted
Climate Rights International report highlighted that Western countries like the US, UK, Germany, France, and Australia have criticized crackdowns on peaceful protests in South countries like Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Iran but are themselves attacking freedom of assembly, expression, and association. It said that some democratic countries are even trying to stop peaceful climate protests before it starts.
A man was arrested in Bavaria, Germany under a controversial law that allows for preventive custody. The police detained him before he left home to join the protest. Similarly, a Dutch climate activist, who had called out fellow protesters on Twitter, was detained for two days before the scheduled Extinction Rebellion demonstration at The Hague.
Furthermore, authorities in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK have implemented blanket bans on protests to disband climate protesters and advocacy groups. However, governments’ crackdowns and hard-handedness have prompted more people to raise their voices and protest against climate change.
