Antoine Buyse in The Guardian on the protests in Sudan and Hong Kong

On 18 June an article by Prof. Antoine Buyse (International and Europan Law) was published in The Guardian. Buyse argues that the way in which protests are held is changing and that there are international similarities recognisable in that change. 

"The massive demonstrations of recent weeks in Hong Kong and Sudan may seem to be totally disparate events. But they have more in common than meets the eye", according to Buyse. The threat from governments to suppress protests makes protest movements more creative in the way they operate. Both in Hong Kong and in Sudan, protest movements look to the past to determine what needs to be done differently in future protests. 

new ways to protesting

In Hong Kong there is a more anonymous call for protest, and in Sudan, social media and the internet have taken an important place in the protest. "These tactics may not always yield immediate results and violent setbacks may still occur, as Sudan shows, but they do prevent the total stifling of protest movements", Buyse writes.