This week, in an unprecedented move, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the UK government's plans to use anti-terrorism legislation to ban the campaigning group Palestine Action.
The decision is a response to a direct protest action, as 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’.
If this ban goes through, the consequences are severe. Simply being a member of Palestine Action, supporting their work, or even sharing their content online could be treated as a criminal offence, with penalties including prison time.
The use of terrorism powers to target activists sets a deeply worrying precedent for freedom of expression. The government must urgently change course – and respect the right to protest and dissent.
Quinn McKew, ARTICLE 19’s Executive Director, said:
‘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.’
