Police unions file complaint against UN rapporteur who alleged officers used excessive force

Police unions filed an official complaint against UN rapporteur Nils Melzer who spoke out critically on Twitter against the actions of Dutch officers during a Covid protest. President of the police union ACP said that Melzer is biased and, therefore, no longer credible.

The police unions ACP, ANPV, Equipe and NPB said on Tuesday that Melzer is drawing premature conclusions. "These kinds of statements are harmful to everyone involved. Only when everything has been thoroughly investigated can a judgment be made," the police unions responded in a joint statement. The unions now wrote to the United Nations with an official complaint.

Melzer called the image of officers beating anti-Covid measures protester who was lying on the ground "one of the most disgusting examples of police brutality since George Floyd." Floyd was a Black American man murdered in 2020 in Minneapolis when white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly ten minutes. His killing sparked international outrage and drew attention to police brutality, particulary against Black people.

Melzer's comments were related to a video of a man's arrest during a protest on the Malieveld in The Hague last year. The Pubic Prosecution Service (OM) is prosecuting two officers involved in the incident. The OM said that the violence used to arrest a man on the Malieveld on March 14, 2020, was "disproportionate." It is not yet known when the officers will appear in court. The OM said it is possible that more officers will be held responsible.

The protest on the Malieveld got out of hand after protesters did not heed the mayor's orders to leave. The riot police had to intervene. The protestor who police injured was holding a jumper cable which he refused to drop, chased police horses with and eventually threw at one of the officers. Riot police arrested the man using a police dog and batons.

Meltzer called in a second tweet for "victims, witnesses and NGOs to submit verifiable evidence" of human rights violation before his official visit to the Netherlands later this year. Police unions accused Meltzer of not knowing the context. "This is a researcher and he should do his work ethically, without prejudice. He already prepared his conclusions before he came to the Netherlands," Van de Kamp said. "It is fine that an investigation is conducted into the police's actions, but it must be done honestly. Disinformation is used everywhere; it is a very one-sided story."

Professor Melzer is the Human Rights Chair at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and a Professor of International Law at the University of Glasgow. He has served for over five years as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.