Call for independent mediators at protests

LONDON (Reuters) - Independent mediators who can liaise between protesters and police could help avoid the sort of trouble seen at the G20 demonstrations in London earlier this year, a parliamentary committee said on Tuesday.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights said poor communication between police and those at the April protests had raised tensions and possibly led to officers taking a "more heavy-handed approach" at the Climate Camp demonstration.

It suggested using a similar system of mediation to the one used to deal with protests in Northern Ireland.

"We see merit in using independent negotiators to facilitate dialogue between police and protesters, where the parties encounter difficulties in communicating directly," the committee's report said.

"Such negotiators could also help resolve disputes."

Police have been highly criticised for their handling of the G20 protests, with concern raised about tactics and accusations of excessive violence by some officers.

Newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, 47, died after he was caught up in a demonstration outside the Bank of England, and there have been hundreds of complaints about police behaviour.

The Human Rights Committee said there was "a long way to go before promoting and protecting human rights is central to police policy, training and operations."

It also said while the containment tactic, kettling, was lawful, it had to be used in a proportionate way and that a blanket ban on people leaving a contained area was unacceptable.