Mauritius: police violently repress the World Cannabis March

The Global Cannabis March is generally an opportunity for protesters to march peacefully while calling for changes to the law or the opening of a debate on cannabis. Last weekend saw the First part of the March, in more than 72 countries, including Maurice.

La Marche was accompanied there, in particular, by the Cannabis Legalization and the Advocacy Movement (CLAIM), a citizens' movement advocating for the legalization of cannabis, most of whose members belong to the Rastafari community.

Cannabis, or "gandia," is illegal on the island, very expensive, and using it can land you straight in jail.

The demonstration in Port-Louis was violently suppressed by the police. Nine men and two women were arrested while participating in a Nyabinghi session—a Rastafarian ritual—in a city park. They were carrying a cannabis plant and a letter they intended to deliver to Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to request the legalization of cannabis on the island.

Special forces also intervened, using batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd that had gathered at one of the city’s barracks to protest the arrests. The videos show quite a bit of violence.

Peaceful protesters are asking for nothing more and nothing less than the opening of a debate on cannabis. The Rastafarian community, many of whose spiritual rituals involve the use of cannabis, practices its religion illegally. Decriminalization, while not necessarily curbing trafficking, could at least ensure that they are no longer subject to prosecution.

The government is sending a strong message by cracking down so harshly on the march. Sir Anerood Jugnauth also made a point of reiterating that «as long as I am Prime Minister, there will be no decriminalization of ganja.» He went on to justify the actions of law enforcement, which reportedly faced a «hostile crowd that was fighting back.» In his view, cannabis is a «drug [that] has caused harm to the country.».

The protesters, however, insist that synthetic drugs—not cannabis—are wreaking havoc on the island: 21 people died of drug overdoses between January 2014 and June 2015 after taking synthetic drugs.