On Monday 23 June, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the UK government’s plans to ban the campaigning organisation Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. ARTICLE 19 strongly condemns the decision, and calls on the UK government to urgently change course and respect the right to protest and dissent.
The decision to ban Palestine Action is a response to a direct protest action, when a group of activists broke into RAF Brize Norton and spray painted two military jets, protesting the United Kingdom’s ‘direct participation in the commission of genocide and war crimes across the Middle East’.
Yvette Cooper said a draft proscription order would be placed before Parliament on 30 June. If passed, it would make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action, with some offences punishable with up to 14 years imprisonment.
Quinn McKew, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, said:
The use of terrorism powers to target Palestine Action sets a deeply worrying precedent for freedom of expression and the right to protest in the UK. Based on the information provided by the UK government to date, this is a disproportionate move.
Direct action is an act of expression with a long history of drawing attention to injustice. The protests today are direct descendents of the suffragettes chaining themselves to gates as they called for women’s voting rights. The UK government celebrates their historic bravery, while systematically weakening and criminalising protest today. The demonisation of protest by subsequent governments threatens free speech of all.
We urge the UK Government to immediately reverse this highly disproportionate decision or provide further explanation that would justify such a provocative and unprecedented move.