Cops allowed to use water cannon on XR activists on Hague highway, court rules

The police are allowed to use a water canon on Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists blocking the A12 highway in The Hague, the court in The Hague ruled on Friday. The court will not limit the mayor’s authority to decide when and how to use water canons at future XR demonstrations.

XR has blocked the A12 highway in The Hague, the Utrechtsebaan, multiple times since last year, including daily blockades that started on September 9 and ended last week, in peaceful protests against the government’s climate policy. Several times, the police used their water cannon to disperse the protesters.

The Vrienden van XR foundation filed these summary proceedings, calling the use of the water cannon on peaceful protesters unlawful and asking the court to limit its use.

The court found that the police mostly used the water cannon according to the rules - first asking and then ordering protesters to leave the location of the demonstration, which the municipality had banned. In a few instances, the cannon wasn’t used appropriately. For example, on September 23, police officers aimed a hard stream of water at a protester instead of at the road.

However, according to the court, that is not sufficient reason for it to intervene. “If the judge were to limit the mayor’s powers, this would interfere with the mayor’s freedom of assessment when using this tool. That is only possible if it is sufficiently plausible in advance that the future use of this tool will be unlawful. That has not been shown here,” the court ruled.

“The use of the water canon has so far not conflicted with the right to freedom of demonstration,” the court said. “The use of the water canon on the order with the mayor is in accordance with the law and can be considered appropriate in these circumstances, with the exception of a few incidents.”