Sunday 15 November, 11am til late,
SOAS, Central London
A day of workshops to discuss, organise and build solidarity against state violence, injustice, and the criminalisation of protest.
Book on our eventbrite page
WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:
Prevent and the threat to our civil liberties with Moazzam Begg former Guantanamo prisoner Gareth Peirce human rights lawyer and Malia Bouattia NUS Black Students
Undercover policing and the new inquiry Imran Khan lawyer to Doreen Lawrence, Janet Alder sister of Christopher Alder, Rob Evans The Guardian/author Under Cover Surseh Grover The Monitoring Project Jules Carey layer to Inquiry participants
Detention Prisons, border police & migrant solidarity with Antonia Bright of Movement for Justice, Anti Raids Network and London2Calais
Whose communities? Policing the police with London Campaign Against Police and State Violence, Gloria Morrison Joint Enterprise – Not Guilty By Association and Shanice McBean Black Dissidents
The Public Order Act and the criminalisaton of protest with Mike Schwarz protest lawyer, Rachel Harger DtRtP Christopher Hilliard acquitted student protester and other protester defendants
Deaths in Custody - With Aamer Anwar civil rights lawyer, Justice for Sheku Bayoh family members and Marcia Rigg Sean Rigg Justice and Change #BlackLivesMatter
From Legal Aid to the Human Rights Act: defending civil rights against the austerity state with Debalena Dasgupta LIBERTY and Charlotte Haworth Hird Legal Aid Lawyer award for Inquests and actions against the state & INQUEST lawyers Group
Plus * Trade Union Bill * Global austerity and global resistance * and more workshops tba
ABOUT THE DAY:
Global economic crisis and austerity has made society a more unequal and punishing place to be. Politicians invest in border police and barbed wire fences in response to the biggest refugee crisis for decades. Police rough up disability rights protesters in parliament whilst MP’s debate massive cuts to welfare. The Tories plan to ban strikes and slash legal aid whilst driving through a sustained assault on living standards and public services. Gentrification of local areas goes hand in hand with stop and search and racist harassment and the use of new laws to evict housing protesters. New figures show deaths in police custody has increased, a public inquiry is promised – but will anything change? Meanwhile Muslim school students are reported under new counter terrorism legislation for questioning government foreign policy and deemed “extremist”. Islamophobic hate crime goes up. At the same time, this “extremism” label is applied to an ever widening spectrum of views and activites: Cameron warns the new leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn is a “threat to national security” whilst Occupy, environmentalists and student protesters are deemed “domestic extremists” in Prevent briefings –all justifying an enormous expansion of surveillance over our day to day lives.
These are the means by which the establishment are seeking to “police the crisis” –a sustained assault on our civil liberties and racist demonising of “suspect communities”.
This conference will provide a space to discuss with a wide range of campaigns, activists, writers and lawyers active around these issues: to share ideas and experiences and to look at ways we can build a stronger movement.
SPEAKERS SO FAR CONFIRMED
Imran Khan lawyer to Doreen Lawrence
London2Calais
Justice for Sheku Bayoh family members
Moazzam Begg former Guantanamo prisoner
Aaron Bastani Novara Media
Gareth Peirce civil rights lawyer & author Dispatches from the Dark Side on Torture and the Death of Justice
Shanice McBean Black Dissident
Janet AlderJustice for Christopher Alder
Jules Carey police actions & civil liberties lawyer
Antonia Bright Movement for Justice (M4J)
Anti Raids Network
Rob Evans The Guardian and author of Undercover
Malia Bouattia NUS Black Students,
Debaleena Dasgupta Liberty
Nina Power DtRtP
Shelly Asquith NUS
Nadine El-Enany law lecturer and DtRtP
London Campaign Against Police and State Violence (LCAPSV)
Aamer Anwar civil rights lawyer
Rachel Harger DtRtP and trainee Lawyer
Patricia McManus UCU NEC
Mike Schwarz protest lawyer and author Public Order and
Protest
Hannah Dee Defend the Right to Protest
Suresh Grover The Monitoring Group and many others to be announced
Wail Qasim writer and Defend the Right to Protest
Book in advance: help us out by booking in advance and making a contribution to our work and the costs of the conference. (Suggested Donation £3 un-waged, £5 waged, FREE if skint, £10 solidarity donation)
BOOK ON EVENTBRITE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/policing-the-crisis-defend-the-right-to-protest-national-conference-tickets-18713485539