Brutal New York police violated protesters’ rights: Report

A new report says police officers of New York Police Department violated the rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters by using excessive force and unjustified arrests.

The Global Justice Clinic at New York University’s School of Law and the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic at Fordham Law School reported some 130 incidents of alleged abuse on Wednesday.

“Many of the reported allegations individually indicate clear violations of the government’s obligation to uphold assembly and expression rights,” the report said.

The report also urged the creation of an independent inspector general to monitor the New York Police Department.

The report was based on interviews with protesters, lawyers, journalists, and legal scholars. Photographs, hundreds of hours of video, media reports, and court documents also provided information for the report.

In addition, the report used eyewitness accounts from a number of people who served as legal observers to monitor police action at the protests.

Other reports are set to be released to analyze the police response in Boston; Oakland, California; San Francisco; and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began when a group of demonstrators gathered in New York’s financial district on September 17, 2011 to protest against corruption, the unjust distribution of wealth in the country, and the excessive influence of big corporations on US policies.

Protesters blame Wall Street practices and corporate influence on White House policies for the US deepening economic crisis.