Top European human rights official urges UK to review protest laws over Palestine Action arrests

Europe’s most senior human rights official has urged the British government to review its protest laws over the recent proscription of Palestine Action as a terror organisation.

Michael O'Flaherty, the Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, said in a letter to British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that the UK's legal framework allows authorities to "impose excessive limits on freedom of assembly and expression, and risk overpolicing".

His intervention comes after Middle East Eye revealed last month that four times as many people had been charged in the UK under Section 13 counterterrorism powers since Palestine Action was proscribed in July as during the entire "war on terror" since 2001.

Hundreds have been arrested at protests against the proscription for holding placards reading: "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action".

Supporting the group is now a criminal offence, as is inviting or "recklessly" expressing "support for the group".

Those found guilty of supporting or inviting support for the group can face up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.

UK police have regularly arrested hundreds of protesters who have attended demonstrations aimed at deliberately flouting the law.

Under current legislation, anything that is construed as justifying Palestine Action's methods or ideology can be grounds for arrest.

'Comprehensive review'

O'Flaherty wrote in the letter to Mahmood, sent last month but reported by the Guardian on Tuesday: "I observe that large numbers of arrests have reportedly been made for displaying placards or banners expressing solidarity with the organisation or disagreement with the government’s decision to proscribe it."

He added: "I am aware that ‘support’ for a proscribed group is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.

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"In this regard I recall that domestic legislation designed to counter ‘terrorism’ or ‘violent extremism’ must not impose any limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, that are not strictly necessary for the protection of national security and the rights and freedoms of others."

O'Flaherty recommended that a "comprehensive review of the compliance of the current legislation on the policing of protests with the United Kingdom’s human rights obligations be undertaken".

This comes as the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has published a study accusing the UK, France and Germany of "criminalising the right to protest".

Last week, Mahmood announced fresh protest restrictions in the wake of a deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester that killed two.

The new restrictions would enable police to consider the  "cumulative impact" of frequent protests on local areas and require demonstrators to change the location of a planned protest. They have been widely criticised as authoritarian.