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.
