Texas, April 29, 2024. (AFP)
The UN human rights Chief Volker Turk says he has been “troubled” by the heavy-handed tactics of US security forces against pro-Palestinian protests across campuses as more students were arrested Tuesday.
Hundreds of students have been arrested by law enforcement on campuses nationwide since pro-Palestinian demonstrations and encampments began on April 18.
More than 900 arrests have been made over the past two weeks across the country, with video emerging of US police officers beating demonstrators with batons and firing pepper spray at demonstrators.
A central demand of demonstrators is for universities to divest from Israel.
The regime has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians in Gaza since early October.
The UN human rights Chief said on Tuesday he was “concerned that some of law enforcement actions across a series of universities appear disproportionate in their impacts.”
“It must be clear that legitimate exercises of the freedom of expression cannot be conflated with incitement to violence and hatred.”