African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights \15 law enforcement purpose, and must not be used to harass, intimidate or discourage persons from exercising their right to assemble. 11. Communication and facilitation with assembly organisers and other stakeholders 11.1. Law enforcement agencies should prioritise communication with all stakeholders in their approach to the facilitation of assemblies. This approach will foster trust and confidence in the policing of assemblies, assist with risk assessment and contingency planning, and assist in preventing the escalation of tension and violence. 11.2. As soon as practicable after notification of intention to hold an assembly is given or knowledge is gained of an intended assembly, law enforcement officials must make every effort to communicate with assembly organisers and/or participants and must be able to evidence their attempts to engage in such communication. To promote effective communication, law enforcement agencies are encouraged to establish formal communication mechanisms in terms of section 6 of these Guidelines. 11.3. Communication by law enforcement officials with assembly organisers and/or participants prior to the start of an assembly should be for the purposes of: 11.3.1. Gathering information to assist in risk assessment and contingency planning for the facilitation of an assembly. This includes information such as the expected size and modality of the assembly; the location, time and expected duration of the assembly; the profile of participant groups or persons; any subsequent change in circumstances or context; and any concerns about the security and public safety measures, deployment or policing operation; 11.3.2. Providing information, negotiating, and promoting consensus about planned security and public safety measures (including any limitations or restrictions placed on the assembly), proposed deployment, and the outcomes of risk assessments and contingency planning. 11.4. Law enforcement officials should also prioritise advance communication with other key stakeholders, including the intended target(s) of the assembly, essential service providers, local authorities and the media, to provide information and to facilitate coordination, where necessary. 12. Risk assessment and contingency planning 12.1. To effectively facilitate an assembly and to ensure that any limitations or restrictions on the right to assembly freely with others are lawful, proportionate, necessary and nondiscriminatory, law enforcement agencies should adopt a process of evidence-based risk assessment and contingency planning. Risk assessments and contingency plans should form the core of the briefings to law enforcement officials deployed at an assembly and be communicated to all interested stakeholders. 12.2. Contingency plans should be developed for individual assemblies and be based on a comprehensive risk assessment. Measures foreseen in such plans must satisfy the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, freedom from discrimination and equality before the law. 12.3. Risk assessments should be informed by continuous information gathering and communication with all relevant stakeholders, favour the presumption of the right to APCOF Guidelines on policing assemblies TEXT.indd 15 12/04/2017 17:07:43