In Belgium, since early March, more than 450 anti-war demonstrators have been placed under administrative arrest, a form of “preventive” detention lasting up to 12 hours. In the U.K., the Terrorism Act has been invoked in some areas to allow special police powers to “stop and search” people without reasonable suspicion.

Excessive use of force by police against anti-war demonstrators

Since 20 March, millions of people around the world have taken to the streets to protest against the war in Iraq. In seven countries police have used excessive force against demonstrators; in some cases this resulted in deaths - including an 11-year-old child. Some demonstrators have been beaten and thousands arbitrarily detained. Some of those detained have been ill-treated or tortured.

In Sudan, three students were reportedly killed during demonstrations in Khartoum. In Greece, anti-riot police beat Iraqi immigrants and took 38 of them away to check their identities; three of them are still in hospital recovering from their injuries. In Turkey, riot police used batons to disperse about 5,000 people who had gathered after Friday prayers on 21 March to protest against the war outside the Beyazit mosque.