UK Faces 'Profoundly Alarming Shift' in Treatment of Pro-Palestine Protesters, Report Warns

A new report warns that the United Kingdom is undergoing a 'profoundly alarming shift' in how it treats political protests. Climate activists and those supporting Palestinian rights are increasingly facing lengthy prison sentences, sweeping legal restrictions, and months of pretrial detention.

The report, titled 'Britain's Political Prisoners', was co-published by researchers at Queen Mary University of London's Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice and the advocacy group Defend Our Juries. It states that the UK has 'witnessed an increase in protest-suppression powers granted to police and courts through legislation,' creating 'a significantly more repressive legal landscape for activists engaged in civil disobedience and direct action.'

The report traces the shift from crackdowns on Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil protests to more recent prosecutions related to actions showing solidarity with Palestine. This includes campaigns targeting British factories operated by Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms manufacturer.

Published on Tuesday, the report shows that a combination of new laws, broader police powers, and increasingly punitive court tactics have reshaped the UK's protest landscape since 2019.

At the heart of this shift are two major pieces of legislation enacted after waves of protests by groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 converted the ancient common law offence of 'public nuisance' into a formal criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, the Public Order Act 2023 introduced a raft of protest-related offences, including 'locking on' and disrupting key transport networks, while also significantly expanding police powers.

The report argues that the crackdown extends beyond parliament and into courtrooms. A central finding is the increasing use of civil injunctions and contempt of court proceedings against activists. Oil companies, arms manufacturers, and universities are increasingly obtaining court orders that ban protests near their sites. Contempt of court was identified as the most common route to imprisonment among the 249 protest-related cases analysed.

The researchers also highlight that judges are increasingly preventing protesters from mentioning climate concerns, Gaza, international law, or their political motivations before juries. Campaigners call this 'gagging' defendants. The report points to the widespread use of lengthy pretrial detention, with many activists spending months in custody awaiting trial, and some Palestine Action defendants having been held for over a year. In 60% of cases studied, the final sentence was shorter than the time defendants had already spent in pretrial detention.

Tim Crosland, Director of Defend Our Juries, said: 'This report dispels the illusion that the UK remains committed to democratic principles. It reveals that peaceful protesters are being jailed in increasing numbers under pressure from the oil and arms industries, the Israeli government, and their lobbyists.'

The report alleges that UK officials have been pressured by both Elbit Systems and the Israeli government to take a tougher approach to protests targeting Elbit's UK factories. Notable cases highlighted in the report include the 'Whole Truth Five' – five Just Stop Oil activists sentenced in July 2024 to between four and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit public nuisance; four Palestine Action activists receiving sentences of 23 to 27 months for conspiracy to sabotage an Israeli-linked weapons factory in Wales; and the 'Filton 24', where several defendants were held for up to 18 months awaiting trial.

Kerry Moscogiuri, Executive Director of Amnesty International UK, told Al Jazeera: 'The right to protest is being eroded before our eyes. We are seeing a worrying shift where the state uses remand, wide-ranging injunctions, and contempt of court to jail people or silence them before they even get to court.'