Calling GroenLinks: don't vote for the law that could encourage racism.

The Senate will soon vote on the 'use of force on investigating officers' bill. That law regulates that police officers who have used more violence than they are allowed can be prosecuted in a different way than normal citizens. That law could encourage institutional racism in the Netherlands, which is why GroenLinks should vote against it.

The law, passed by the House of Representatives, introduces a new ground on which policemen and other investigating officers can be prosecuted: violating the violence instruction. Thus, when police officers use more violence than they are allowed to use according to the 'violence instruction' they are given, they are punishable for this. This sounds good - excessive force by police officers should obviously be punished - but there is a catch. These officers, when prosecuted for violating the violence instruction, will no longer be prosecuted for the act itself. Suppose a police officer uses more force than necessary and causes serious injury by doing so. In the current situation, the prosecutor can then decide to prosecute the officer on suspicion of assault. If this law is passed, that would still be possible, but it could also be that the prosecutor would then decide to prosecute on suspicion of 'violation of the violence instruction' instead. By doing so, the police would avoid the prosecution that a normal citizen would face for the same offence. The penalties are also different. For violating the violence instruction, an officer can get a maximum of 3 years in prison if the victim is killed. By comparison, regular citizens who commit manslaughter can get a maximum of 15 years in prison. Investigating officers are thus given an exception in the law even though they did not comply with the instructions given to them within their position.

Proponents of the law say it is right to treat police officers differently from normal citizens. In emergency situations, police are expected not to run away from danger but rather to go towards it. If the force used by police officers is within the instruction they are given, this reasoning holds true. But the question is: is every police officer in the Netherlands capable of using the right amount of force in every situation? That institutional racism also occurs in our police is evident from the many examples of ethnic profiling. If there are even a few police officers who are more likely to be 'out of line' with violence against people of colour than against white people, this law is a problem. It should not be possible for the perpetrator of excessive violence to then get away with a lesser sentence. A cop who beats someone to death should be convicted of manslaughter. That can still be done with this law, if the prosecutor thinks it is reasonable - but a different decision can also be made. We should not depend on a prosecutor's choice in fighting racism: the law should simply be well constructed. This law could encourage institutional racism.

Earlier, the Lower House party voted in favour of the law on the use of force against investigating officers. MP Kathalijne Buitenweg commented that, in her view, the law will actually lead to more convictions, rather than fewer, because the threshold for prosecuting officers is lowered. That could be, but that effect could also be achieved with an alternative law. The potential benefits of this law do not outweigh the risks. Upper House faction of GroenLinks, we call on you: vote against the law. Vote for a constitutional state where everyone is treated equally. Better to be half right than half wrong.