The Right to Protest

The Right to Protest

A recent protest identified is where Togo rallied for change after they were ruled by one family for 50 years. The protest in this case involved tens of thousands of people in the West African Nation Togo where they flooded the streets demanding term limits if presidents as well as the resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe. This is because the family of this president had been in power for five decades which means the leadership was the same for the last 50 years and the citizens wanted new leadership and term limits. In the protest, the citizens claimed that 50 years of dictatorship were enough where they wanted President Faure to resign and leave the position to another president. The protestors were people from the small West African nation of Togo, and they used banners to air their reason for the protest.

During the protest, the counter-protest technique applied was the use of heavily armed security forces to protect the protestors. Tear gasses were also used during the protest as a way to minimize the effect of the protesters. Some protesters were beaten, and love rounds were also used to discourage protesters from protesting.

I think the government, universities or businesses have no right to censor protests in any situation or place if at all the protest does not endanger others. This means that individuals have a right to demonstrate and protest peacefully without being censored unless they are involved in unlawful actions such as blocking roads and burning people businesses. In this case, the government has the right to enforce actions against protest as a way to protect the population from the impact of protests. Protesters should also be limited to places where they perform the protests so that they cannot interfere with the business or students education.