Latest news with #proscription
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge allows Palestine Action to challenge Home Office over terrorism ban
Banned group Palestine Action will be able to challenge the Home Office over its proscription as a terrorist organisation, a judge has ruled. The co-founder of the pro-Palestinian action group, Huda Ammori, has sought to challenge the government's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. Home secretary Yvette Cooper decided to proscribe the group, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation, after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military planes with red paint. She also cited the group's protest at a weapons equipment factory in Glasgow in 2022, which reportedly caused more than £1m worth of damage, and its targeting of Elbit Systems UK, a defence technology company. The ban came into force in early July making supporting Palestine Action a criminal offence, with membership or expressing support for the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Over 80 organisations are already proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, including al-Qaeda and the Wagner group. Britain's proscription of Palestine Action was condemned as a 'disturbing misuse' of counter-terror laws by the United Nations human rights chief last week. Volker Turk urged the UK to lift the ban, which he said was 'disproportionate and unnecessary'. Earlier this month, lawyers for Ms Ammori asked a judge to allow her to bring a High Court challenge over the ban, describing it as an 'unlawful interference' with freedom of expression. Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, told the court that the ban had made the UK 'an international outlier' and was 'repugnant'. Mr Husain added: 'The decision to proscribe Palestine Action had the hallmarks of an authoritarian and blatant abuse of power.' Sir James Eadie KC, for the Home Office, said in written submissions that by causing serious damage to property, Palestine Action was 'squarely' within part of the terrorism laws used in proscription. He said: 'There is no credible basis on which it can be asserted that the purpose of this activity is not designed to influence the g overnment, or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Palestine Action can challenge UK ban, court rules
Palestine Action has won a bid to bring a legal challenge after the government banned the group as a terror for the group's co-founder told the High Court that the proscription of Palestine Action had made the UK an international outlier and placed legitimate protesters at risk of being criminalised if they speak out over the war in group's co-founder Huda Ammori asked judges for permission to directly and swiftly challenge Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's ban means that membership or support for Palestine Action is a crime under terrorism legislation that can lead to up to 14 years in jail. Court documents, disclosed to the BBC, reveal how officials and ministers deliberated for at least eight months over whether to ban Palestine Action under terrorism UK's terrorism laws focus on banning groups that use serious violence to further a cause. But the definition also allows ministers to outlaw organisations that cause serious criminal damage. Palestine Action is the first group to be proscribed under that part of the the group's launch in July 2020, Palestine Action Group (PAG) has carried out more than 385 direct actions against firms it links to Israel's military, leading to more than 676 last month's ban, police have made at least 200 more arrests of people suspected of taking part in protests in support of the cross-government debate over a ban began in earnest last November after an assessment of the damage that PAG members had been accused of causing during a break-in at Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence firm, in Bristol the previous August. Eighteen people have been charged in relation to that incident, which includes allegations of assaults on a security guard and two police individuals have all denied wrongdoing and trials start later this papers in the legal challenge, brought by Huda Ammori, Palestine Action's co-founder, reveal police chiefs told the Home Office the network's activity was "unaffected" by ordinary criminal investigations."Operationally, existing legislation is seen as insufficient to address high-level offences, which meet the definition of terrorism," officials wrote in March."There is currently no existing legislation to deal with [PAG] holistically, meaning the network can only be dealt with on a case-by-case basis in response to isolated incidents of direct action."From the perspective of regional police forces, it is argued that this fractured case-by-case approach has proven operationally ineffective, considerably limiting preventative and disruptive opportunities."The police argued banning PAG would help prevent crime - but they also warned that it could look like "state repression" and the use of "draconian counter-terrorism legislation". That fear was partly echoed by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the advice it sent to Home Office there said a ban would be read by some international partners as a stand against antisemitism, but added: "Acting in this way may be interpreted as an overreaction by the UK."Palestine Action's activity is largely viewed by international partners as activism and not extremism or terrorism."They advised that Palestinians themselves and Arab states could regard banning PAG as an attempt to shut down activism - and a Home Office analysis of potential tensions in the UK also highlighted risks."Proscribing PA would almost certainly be perceived as evidence of bias against the British Muslim community in favour of British Jews and Israel more broadly," wrote officials in one of the documents disclosed in the case."[Proscripton] is likely to generate significant discontent and could introduce new social cohesion challenges."By the end of March, papers show that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was considering banning the group - but had raised a series of papers indicate she consulted other ministers during May - and finally decided to ban the group after the 20 June break-in to RAF Brize Norton, which the Ministry of Defence estimates caused £7m of damage to two jets.
The Independent
25-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Palestine Action ban ‘disturbing misuse' of UK law, UN human rights chief says
Britain's proscription of Palestine Action is a 'disturbing misuse' of counter-terror laws, the United Nations human rights chief has said. Volker Turk has urged the UK to lift the ban, which he described as 'disproportionate and unnecessary' in an intervention on Friday. The Government moved to designate Palestine Action a terrorist organisation after the group claimed responsibility for vandalising two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20. The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A legal bid to challenge the proscription at the High Court by the group's co-founder, Huda Ammori, is ongoing. Mr Turk, a lawyer who serves as the UN's high commissioner for human rights, urged the UK Government to 'rescind its decision.' 'The decision appears disproportionate and unnecessary,' he said. 'It limits the rights of many people involved with and supportive of Palestine Action who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.' He added that the Government should 'rescind its decision to proscribe Palestine Action and halt investigations and further proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of this proscription'. 'I also call on the UK Government to review and revise its counter-terrorism legislation, including its definition of terrorist acts, to bring it fully in line with international human rights norms and standards,' the high commissioner said. Mr Turk also criticised UK domestic law, which he said defines terrorist acts 'broadly' to include serious damage to property. 'According to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not,' he said. The Government has been contacted for comment.
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
UN human rights chief wades in on Palestine Action terror ban accusing ministers of 'disproportionate' action
The UN's human rights chief has waded in to condemn the UK's ban on Palestine Action. Volker Turk accused ministers of 'disturbing' use of counter-terror powers, saying the decision was 'disproportionate and unnecessary'. Palestine Action was formally designated as a terrorist organisation after the group claimed responsibility for vandalising two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20. The status means that membership of, or support for, the group is now a criminal offence that can be punished with up to 14 years in prison. Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, is currently challenging the move at the High Court. Left-wing MPs have also spoken out against the measure. Mr Turk, a lawyer who serves as the UN's high commissioner for human rights, insisted: 'The decision appears disproportionate and unnecessary. 'It limits the rights of many people involved with and supportive of Palestine Action who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.' He added that the Government should 'rescind its decision to proscribe Palestine Action and halt investigations and further proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of this proscription'. 'I also call on the UK Government to review and revise its counter-terrorism legislation, including its definition of terrorist acts, to bring it fully in line with international human rights norms and standards,' the high commissioner said. Mr Turk took a swipe at UK domestic law, saying it defined terrorist acts 'broadly' to include serious damage to property. 'According to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not,' he said.
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Palestine Action ban ‘disturbing misuse' of UK law, UN human rights chief says
Britain's proscription of Palestine Action is a 'disturbing misuse' of anti-terror laws, the United Nations human rights chief has said. Volker Turk has urged the UK to lift the ban, which he described as 'disproportionate and unnecessary' in an intervention on Friday. The Government moved to designate the group a terrorist organisation after it claimed responsibility for vandalising two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20. The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A legal bid to challenge the proscription at the High Court by the group's co-founder, Huda Ammori, is ongoing. Mr Turk, a lawyer who serves as the UN's high commissioner for human rights, urged the UK Government to repeal the decision. 'The decision appears disproportionate and unnecessary,' he said. 'It limits the rights of many people involved with and supportive of Palestine Action who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.' He added that the Government should 'rescind its decision to proscribe Palestine Action and to halt investigations and further proceedings against protesters who have been arrested on the basis of this proscription'. 'I also call on the UK Government to review and revise its counter-terrorism legislation, including its definition of terrorist acts, to bring it fully in line with international human rights norms and standards,' the high commissioner said. Lawyers representing the Home Office have said that by causing serious damage to property, the group's alleged actions fall within the terrorism laws used in proscription. The Government has been contacted for comment.
