Defending the right to protest - against genocide in Gaza

Text of speech by Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International, at a protest in Belfast against the genocide in Gaza, 31 May 2025.

Thank you for the chance to speak today.

We gather not just as citizens of Belfast, but as part of a global movement that refuses to be silent in the face of injustice and that refuses to be deterred from our fundamental right to peaceful protest.

Right now, in Gaza, we are witnessing a catastrophe of staggering proportions. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. Hospitals, schools, and places of worship have been bombed. Whole neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble, children left to starve.

This is not collateral damage — this is the deliberate destruction of a people. This is genocide — and it demands the world’s urgent attention and action.

Let us be clear: war crimes and crimes against humanity cannot be justified under the guise of self-defence. The deliberate targeting of civilians, the blockade of essential supplies, and the collective punishment of an entire population violate international law.

Amnesty International has documented these abuses. We are here to say: impunity must end, justice must prevail.

But we cannot talk about these atrocities without speaking about complicity. Across the world, powerful corporations supply weapons, surveillance technologies, and financial investments that enable this machinery of oppression to function.

Companies profiting from the suffering of civilians are not neutral. They are not bystanders. They are complicit.

We call on governments, businesses, and institutions, including our local councils — here in the UK and Ireland — to cut ties with any entity that profits from or perpetuates human rights violations.

This includes ending arms sales to Israel. It includes divesting from companies that profit from illegal settlements and military occupation. Human rights are not negotiable. They are not for sale.

And we must defend the right to protest — now more than ever. Around the world, from Berlin to New York to Tel Aviv, people are being harassed, surveilled, and criminalised for speaking out against genocide.

But protest is not a threat to democracy. Protest is democracy in action.

When governments attempt to silence dissent, when they smear activists, or try to curtail our right to assembly and expression — we must stand united. Because if we lose the right to protest, we lose the ability to hold power accountable.

That is why we stand proudly with Sue and Martine. Here in Belfast, we will not be cowed. We will not be silent.

And we are not alone. Across every border, in every language, people are rising to say: enough. Enough of the killing. Enough of the lies. Enough of the silence.

To those in power, we say: we are watching. We will hold you to account. And to the people of Gaza, to all victims of injustice: we see you, we stand with you, and we will not stop until your rights are upheld, your dignity restored, and your freedom secured.

Keep going. Keep speaking up. Keep standing together.

Thank you.