MP Celine Thibaut (Ecolo) has requested House Speaker Patrick Dewael to initiate an investigation on police conduct on 12 October during the dispersal of the Extinction Rebellion protesters, l’Avenir reported on Thursday.
"There were no thugs or masked persons, just citizens and families gathered to demand a desirable future on an inhabitable planet," Thibaut said in a statement, calling for the launch of a Permanent Police Oversight Committee (P Committee) into the incident.
"We do not question the role of police, responsible for ensuring that public actions go smoothly, and that especially the neutral Zone is respected. But we do query the need for disproportionate use of force that day, hence our request that the P Committee grasp this issue," said Thibaut.
The Monitoring Committee will be appointed on Thursday.
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"This P Committee investigation must go beyond the identification of responsibilities. It must lead to recommendations for a more proportionate and thus more effective approach of security forces during the many events that take place regularly in Brussels, as well as a better adaptation to the non-violent nature of some," Thibault added.
The City of Brussels has also initiated four disciplinary investigation procedures following the security forces’ intervention at the 12 October civil disobedience action.
The Brussels Times
