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Riot

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Riots occur when crowds or even small groups of people gather to commit acts of violence usually in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Historically, Riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, taxation or conscription, conflicts between races or religions, or even the outcome of a sporting event. Supposedly, rioters act out in violence because they feel legal channels are inadequate for rectifying an injustice.

In recent history, the traditional idea of what it is that causes a riot has been challenged by the phenomenon of the riot that occurs not in response to an offense of government, on one hand, or to, on the other, there being not enough of a particular thing necessary to satisfy a fundamental human need, but in response to there being an absolute excess of things which satisfy no human need. The north London IKEA riots of February, 2005, serve as an example of this phenomenon.

A large, often organized form of riot against a minority group is called a "race-riot," or a pogrom.

Individuals in power will often call upon the police or the military, the "Repressive State Apparatus," to disperse a riot if such a path of action serves to preserve the infrastructure of property and material wealth required by such individuals to retain their own power in government: a riot that seeks to destroy private property is more likely to be suppressed than a riot in which one group of individuals attacks and seeks to destroy another. The police typically use non-lethal weapons such as water cannons, rubber bullets, pepper spray, flexible baton rounds, and packs of angry dogs to control violent crowds. The police have been known to start riots themselves (see police riot). Some governments are particularly prone to resort to deadly force to stop riots or even peaceful demonstrations. Such measures are generally permitted under laws of war and martial law, so long as nonparticipating civilians are not intended targets, though typically collateral damage results.

Contents

[edit] Laws against riots

[edit] England and Wales

Under English law, a riot is defined by the Public Order Act 1986 as twelve or more persons who "together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety". This carries the possibility of a fine and a sentence of up to ten years' imprisonment.

If there are fewer than twelve people present, violence may constitute the lesser offence of "Violent Disorder". This is defined similarly to riot (but no common purpose is required), but for three or more persons.

In the past, The Riot Act had to be read by an official - with the wording exactly correct - before any policing action could take place.

[edit] Current English Law

In English Law Riot forms part of the Public Order Act 1986 under section 1.

The Public Order Act 1986 s.1 states:

1) Where twelve or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety, each of the persons using unlawful violence for the common purpose is guilty of riot.

2) It is immaterial whether or not the twelve or more use or threaten unlawful violence simultaneously.

3) The common purpose may be inferred from conduct.

4) No person of reasonable firmness need actually be, or be likely to be, present at the scene.

5) Riot may be committed in private as well as in public places.

[edit] Ramifications

[edit] United States

Teamsters, armed with pipes, riot in a clash with riot police in the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934.

Under United States federal law, a riot is defined as A public disturbance involving (1) an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons, which act or acts shall constitute a clear and present danger of, or shall result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual or (2) a threat or threats of the commission of an act or acts of violence by one or more persons part of an assemblage of three or more persons having, individually or collectively, the ability of immediate execution of such threat or threats, where the performance of the threatened act or acts of violence would constitute a clear and present danger of, or would result in, damage or injury to the property of any other person or to the person of any other individual. 18 U.S.C. §2102.

As every state in the United States has its own laws (subject to the Supremacy Clause), each has its own definition of 'riot.' In New York State, for example, the term 'riot' is not defined explicitly, but under § 240.08 of the N.Y. Penal Law, A person is guilty of inciting to riot when he urges ten or more persons to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct of a kind likely to create public alarm.

[edit] Notable riots

Further information: List of riots
Malay Muslims riot in the 1964 Race Riots near Kallang, Singapore, due to the racial and religious tensions at that time.

[edit] United States

The worst riots in United States history with respect to lives lost took place during the Civil War when immigrant factory workers forcibly resisted the federal government's military draft, the New York Draft Riots. These riots were graphically depicted in the movie Gangs of New York. In the 20th century, the 1992 Los Angeles riots were regarded as the worst in recent US history. The 1968 Democratic National Convention, however, saw the most well-remembered riots in recent US history and were a strong influence towards the eventual American withdrawal from Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. Also notable were riots in response to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the recent anarchist and anti-globalization riots of the last decade such as the Seattle protests of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 and the 2005 Toledo Riot in Toledo, Ohio.

[edit] Australia

The Sydney Riot of 1879, is one of the earliest riots at an international cricket match. Riots have become major news generators, including Aboriginal riots in response to the death of an Aboriginal boy, and most recently the 2005 summer race riots. These riots took place on the beaches of the eastern Sydney suburbs, most prominently Cronulla.

[edit] Asia

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations led by students, intellectuals and labour activists in the People's Republic of China between April 15, 1989 and June 4, 1989. The demonstrations centred on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Government retaliation was often violent and riots broke out in affected regions.

In 2002, the plight of millions of migrant workers toiling for meagre wages in southern China has been thrown under the spotlight by a three-day textile worker riot. It started after security guards beat up an employee for jumping a meal line.Dozens of people were injured in the riot that week.The scale of the riot made it one of the worst incidents of industrial unrest reported in China since one that erupted in Yangjiazhangzi, a north-eastern mining town, in 2000, when 20,000 people fought police after their redundancy payments were siphoned off by corrupt officials[1].

The Jakarta Riots of May 1998 were a series of riots against ethnic Chinese Indonesians in Jakarta and Surakarta, Indonesia.There were also hundreds of documented accounts of ethnic Chinese women being raped, tortured and killed [2]. Human Rights groups have determined that the Indonesian military was involved in the riots, which degenerated into a pogrom[3].

Direct Action Day was a series of riots carried out over the course of a week in Calcutta, India in 1946 instigated by the Muslim League party against the Hindus, together with retaliatory riots by Hindu communities. The riots spread to other parts of the country, the most notable being the Noakhali Massacre.

The Partition of India was a traumatic event in South Asian history that followed the independence of the region from Britisn colonial rule. The ensuing riots resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Muslims, with Hindus being ethnically cleansed from the newly formed Islamic republic of Pakistan.

In Pakistan, riots against the Ahmadiyya minority sect of Islam by the majority Muslims have taken place numerous times. The first of the most well-known riots was in 1953.Saeed Ahmad Khan, a leader of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, was a well-known survivor of the 1974 anti-Ahmadiyya riots[4].

In 2001, pro-Taliban demonstrations turned into violent riots when police shot at protesters[5].

In 2006, there were nationwide riots in Pakistan over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy [6].

In India, violence against Hindus by Muslims took place in the Sindhi riots of 1980 when Muslims in Gujarat burnt Hindus alive [7].

The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, were organized by Congress Party against the Sikh population in Delhi,India. The rioting was one sided with Sikhs being the victims. Thousands of Sikhs were killed and many Sikh women were raped and thousands were injured.During the riots, some Hindus protected Sikhs. Khushwant Singh expressed his gratitude to the Hindus when saying: “It was the Congress leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. BJP party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers.”<ref>K. Singh: “Congress (I) is the Most Communal Party”, Publik Asia, 16-11-1989. </ref> The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly condemned the riots<ref>Swadesh Bahadur Singh (editor of the Sher-i-Panjâb weekly): “Cabinet berth for a Sikh”, Indian Express, 31-5-1996.</ref>.

The Bombay riots in 1992/93, which were due to Hindu Nationalists demolishing an iconoclastic Mosque as it was regarded as the site of an old Rama temple, believed to have been destroyed by the Islamic iconoclast Babur.

The 2002 Gujarat violence was a series of communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, India. The riots started with the Godhra Train Burning, where a Muslim mob set fire to a train car carrying a majority of Hindus, massacring dozens, including women and children. The resultant retaliatory ritos all over the state of Gujarat resulted in 1000 deaths, mostly Muslims, with retaliatory counter-riots against Hindus by Muslims.

In Bangladesh, the Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party have instigated many riots and pogroms against the Hindu minority in the early decades of the 21st century.

These various communal riots in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in modern times have had the highest death toll in recent history.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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