The House of Commons has voted to proscribe direct action group Palestine Action.

‘Instead of taking draconian measures to [proscribe Palestine Action], the Government should be taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and end any risk of UK complicity in it’ – Sacha Deshmukh 

Responding to news that the House of Commons has voted in support of the Government’s decision to ban Palestine Action as a “terrorist organisation”, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:  

"Amnesty International condemns the Government's decision to ban Palestine Action under anti-terror laws, as an unprecedented legal overreach. 

“The UK has a deeply flawed and overly broad definition of terrorism which human rights monitors including Amnesty International have been warning about for years. This latest disturbing move only serves to highlight that those warnings were justified. 

“Terrorism legislation hands the authorities massive powers to arrest and detain people, suppress speech and reporting, conduct surveillance and take other measures that would never be permitted in other circumstances. Using them against a direct-action protest group is an egregious abuse of what they were created for.       

“Whatever MPs may think about whether Palestine Action’s tactics are appropriate or not, existing criminal laws, accompanied by human rights protections, were more than capable of responding to them. Instead of taking draconian measures to shut down direct action protesters and criminalise anyone who expresses support for their actions, the Government should be taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and end any risk of UK complicity in it.” 

Proscribing Palestine Action: An abuse of counter-terrorism powers  

Today (Wednesday 2 July), Westminster MPs voted 385 – 26 in support of a Government motion to proscribe Palestine Action under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000, on the basis that it is 'an organisation concerned with terrorism’. The House of Lords will vote on the same motion tomorrow. If that vote goes through, the ban is expected to come into force on Saturday (5 July). 

Counter-terrorism laws must always be treated with the highest degree of caution and restraint, as they exist to authorise interference with due process and other fundamental human rights protections. 

However, the Terrorism Act 2000 contains a deeply flawed definition of terrorism, which has been criticised by domestic and international human rights monitors for many years. These criticisms are based on the breadth of its wording, which goes well beyond international comparators and recognised best practice and potentially permits disproportionate and unnecessary terrorism designations.  

Today’s step closer to the proscription of Palestine Action is a clear example of that concern coming to fruition.  

There is already ample existing criminal law capable of responding to a direct-action protest networks like Palestine Action.  

A terrorism designation is a major escalation beyond mere criminalisation of direct-action protest activity. Proscription will have major adverse consequences for the freedom of expression rights of others, with implications for respect for the rule of law. As such, the proscription of Palestine Action would breach the UK’s international human rights obligations to use its counter-terrorism powers in a proportionate way and only when strictly necessary to achieve a legitimate aim. 

Banning Palestine Action not only makes membership of the organisation a criminal offence - through broadly worded speech offences such as ‘expression of support’ and ‘glorification’ - it also puts at risk the free speech rights of many other activists who are deeply concerned about the plight of Palestinians in the context of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

ENDS 

Media contact: Rachel Reilly 

07909533106 || rachel.reilly@amnesty.org.uk || 

Out-of-hours: 07721 398984