Staff Reporter Daily Dawn + Dawn TV Report
London/Geneva: UN experts have urged Britain not to misuse terrorism laws against the protest group Palestine Action.
UN experts have urged Britain not to ban the Palestinian group “Direct Action” as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act 2000.
UN Special Representative Francesca Albanese warned Britain that calling political protests terrorism is a threat to freedom of expression, the activities of the Palestine Action Group are not dangerous to human lives, and peaceful political protests should not be categorized as terrorism.
On the other hand, UN experts said, “We are concerned about the unjustified portrayal of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’. According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, do not fall under the category of terrorism.”
The British government has claimed that the group is “terrorist” because some of its members allegedly criminally damaged property, including military bases and arms companies, to further their political goals and influence the government.
The UN experts clarified that “there is no binding definition of terrorism in international law, international standards limit terrorism to criminal acts that are intended to cause death, serious personal injury or the taking of hostages, to intimidate a population or to coerce or deter a government or an international organization from doing something.”
They said, “Britain supported this approach in voting for Security Council Resolution 1566 in 2004, that merely causing damage to property without endangering life is not a serious act to be called terrorism.”
They warned that if the Palestinian group were banned as a terrorist group, all actions related to the group, including membership, inviting support, organizing meetings in support and wearing specific clothing or carrying articles associated with the group in public, would become criminal acts, the experts warned, warning that disproportionate sentences of up to 14 years in prison could be applied.
It should be noted that a demonstration was held outside the Welsh Parliament in favor of Palestine. Hundreds of people formed a human chain in Cardiff Bay and surrounded the parliament. The demonstration was organized by peace organizations, labor unions, and environmental groups. They said that they could not participate in genocide. Lawmakers should also speak out. Britain should immediately stop providing weapons to Israel.
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