Amnesty warns proscription of Palestine Action was ‘disproportionate’ as court challenge begins

LONDON

A three-day judicial review into the government’s decision to ban the campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization began Wednesday, with Amnesty International UK arguing the move was a “disproportionate misuse” of counter-terrorism powers.

The group was officially designated a “terrorist group” on July 5, 2025.

Since then, more than 2,200 people have been arrested under terrorism legislation, with 254 charged solely for taking part in peaceful protests.

Amnesty and the civil liberties organisation Liberty are intervening in the case.

They say the proscription marks a significant break from the UK’s traditional approach to protest movements that use direct action, and argue it breaches Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s director of campaigns and communications, said in a statement that the "proscription of Palestine Action was an enormous overreach of the UK’s terrorism powers and should never have happened."

"The UK has a deeply flawed and overly broad definition of terrorism which human rights monitors including Amnesty International have been warning about for years. Palestine Action’s proscription only serves to highlight that those warnings were justified.

"The consequences of the proscription decision have been chilling. Over the past four months, organizations have been silenced and thousands of people have been arrested for sitting peacefully with placards saying they support Palestine Action," he said.

"The Government must wake up and realize that the world is watching, and that people are extremely disturbed by the erosion of protest rights in the UK."