Human rights are universally held but unequally protected by governments. When governments fail to safeguard human rights, people have the right to peacefully assemble to demand that protection. The right to protest is an enabling right because it is essential to safeguarding all other human rights by providing a non-violent way to demand change.
The Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association is protected by Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It recognizes the importance of protest, public gatherings, and dissent as protected forms of political expression. People, individually and in groups, are entitled to full protection of this right, as long as they are nonviolent, respect laws that protect public safety and public health, and do not threaten the rights and freedoms of others. Essentially, the right to peaceful assembly allows people to express dissent and to advocate for their human rights and freedoms in ways that respect the rights of others. Human rights are interdependent and the right to peaceful assembly can be exercised fully only if other related rights, like freedom of opinion and information, also are protected.
In September 2020, the United Nations Human Rights Committee adopted General comment No. 37 on the right to peaceful assembly, which provides a detailed explanation of the right to peaceful assembly and its limitations.
Global trends threatening the right to protest include:
- Shrinking civic space and growing authoritarianism
- Militarization of police forces
- Indiscriminate and excessive use of force to repress peaceful protest
- Stigmatization and criminalization of activists
- Restrictions that target marginalized groups.
The United Nations estimates that by 2023, 118 countries have serious civic space restrictions.
Case Studies
International Organizations Protect Protest in 2024
After 7 October 2023, when 1,200 civilians were murdered and hundreds taken hostage in a Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to intense military assault and mass atrocity crimes resulting in the direct deaths of more than 70,000 Palestinians with many more injured and suffering from lack of food and water. The International Court of Justice determined in January 2024 that it is plausible that Israel is violating provisions of the Genocide Convention against Palestinians in Gaza.
International solidarity actions and political protests against the war in Gaza and in defense of Palestinian human rights spread across university campuses in the United States in early 2024. Mass demonstrations and protests, as well as occupations, encampments, and other types of peaceful assemblies were held in countries throughout the world to protest atrocity crimes against Palestinians, including across university campuses in the United States. According to the United Nations, more than 170 camps were established in the first semester of 2024, mainly in university settings in 35 countries worldwide. Higher education institutions responded with mass suspensions, evictions from campus housing, arrests, and in some cases police violence.
An October 2024 report by Gina Romero, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association (FoAA) determined that on-campus assemblies were predominantly peaceful (no use of physical force or serious damage to property) and called for governments to protect human rights, prevent and address atrocity crimes, and called for ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory consistent with international legal rulings. In response, student pro-Palestin solidarity movements faced “systematic and concerted violent attacks of various kinds… from college leaders, other students, staff and faculty and the administration.” The report made 12 recommendations for universities and academic communities - read them all here. These include respecting the importance of youth exercising their pubic freedoms, ending stigmatization, protecting peaceful assemblies by prioritizing negotiation and mediation rather than calling law enforcement, refrain from surveilling or punishing participants in peaceful assemblies for their views, and ensuring independent and transparent investigations in violations of rights.
That same month, international human rights organizations wrote a joint letter to Universities and Colleges reminding them of their responsibility to protect both physical safety and free expression on campus and urging them not to resort to police action to suppress student expression. Instead, they urged universities and colleges to fulfill their human rights responsibilities by facilitating protests and protecting students exercising their freedom of expression and right of peaceful assembly from violence and intimidation and to ensure that these rights are respected, regardless of viewpoint.
Read the full text of the Joint letter to Universities and Colleges: Protect the Right to Protest on Campus authored by the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
Otpor! in Serbia
In a time of political unrest, the Serbian Otpor! movement expressed dissent in a groundbreaking way: through humor. Otpor, meaning “resistance” in English, was founded by a group of college students to resist the Serbian regime’s 1998 university law which limited Belgrade University’s autonomy by replacing faculty and staff members with pro-regime loyalists and restricted freedom of expression. Slowly, though, the protests’ objectives shifted to ousting President Slobodan Milosevic who was attempting to steal a democratic election to remain in power. Instead of large scale demonstrations, Otpor wanted to reshape Serbia’s political culture using creative strategies like street theatre and humor to build up decentralized grassroots opposition to Milosevic’s rule. Otpor took to the streets with passion and comedy, organizing public actions that combated dictatorship with mockery and using other unconventional methods. Protestors creatively used satire and humor to undermine the regime, breaking through the fear caused by the government. Police forces appeared foolish when they attempted to halt the silly, nonviolent efforts. The demonstrations were peaceful and Otpor gained popularity. When the regime arrested the students they turned each arrest into a new political event. The movement eventually empowered citizens to remove Milosevic from power.
Watch the documentary film, Bringing Down a Dictator, produced by the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict to learn more about the nonviolent civil-resistance movement initiated by Otpor!
Learn more about Otpor’s tactics of satire and overcoming fear with humor from The New Tactics in Human Rights tactical database where you can also learn more about their Plan B strategy of turning arrests of young activists into political events to damage the regime’s credibility and build support for Otpor.
Student Movements on the UMN Campus
Student activism has been a consistent part of campus life at the University of Minnesota. In 2025 with support from the History Department, University of Minnesota Archives, and Student Unions and Activities, a group of undergraduate students guided by Professor Yalile Suriel and Ellen Holt-Werle, curated the exhibition, Students Speak Out, to examine the history and impacts of student activism on the University of Minnesota campus. Featuring newspaper articles, photographs, and internal memos, the exhibit explores several historical moments of student activism and responses from the University Administration. The website details campus occupations of Johnston Hall (1967) and Morrill Hall (1969), the Vietnamese Peace Movement (1965-1973), South African Divestment, and brief mentions of protest movements between the 1990s and 2024 where students brought attention to Israel-Palestine including pickets, building occupations, and encampments. Visit the online exhibit,
Students Speak Out: Selections of Student Activism at the University of Minnesota
In January 1969, Black students at the University of Minnesota staged a twenty-four-hour protest at Morrill Hall, the University of Minnesota administration building to protest a campus culture hostile to Black students. The takeover of Morrill Hall by about seventy students with the Afro-American Action Committee (AAAC) eventually led to the creation of the university’s Afro-American Studies Department. Learn more about the Morrill Hall Takeover from the Minnesota Historical Society and by reading, Remembering the Morrill Hall Takeover, in the Minnesota Alumni magazine. Professor Emeritus John Wright who was a member of the AAAC and authored a list of demands to the administration on behalf of the protesters back in 1969, offers to today’s student activists in this related video interview.
A Campus Divided: Progressives, Anticommunists, Racism, & Antisemitism at the University of Minnesota, 1930-1943 is a virtual exhibition that explores the political battles that divided students and students and administrators over the issues of racism, antisemitism, opposition to war, and student rights during the 1930s and 1940s. The website details the students’ struggles to create an inclusive University committed to political freedom.