‘Silencing dissent, enabling genocide’ – justice group accuses the UK government

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians has said the UK government’s disregard for Palestine Action hunger strikers is inexcusable. It accuses the government of “Silencing dissent, enabling genocide”:

Lammy refuses meetings

As Palestine Action prisoners enter a life-threatening phase of their hunger strike, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians calls for the immediate convening of a meeting between the justice secretary and the defendants’ legal representatives. The secretary of state and his ministerial team have refused repeated, time-critical, requests for such a meeting.

Four of the prisoners have been on remand for over a year. This is far beyond the legal Custody Time Limit of 182 days.

Of eight initial hunger strikers, six are still continuing their strike. The eight protestors (Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, Muhammad Umer Khalid and Lewie Chiaramello) are awaiting trial for alleged offences at Elbit Systems in Bristol and the RAF’s Brize Norton base. Both of these took place before the proscription of Palestine Action.

Despite facing charges where they would usually get bail, these defendants remain in custody. Even in far more serious cases, such as rape or weapons offences, bail is an option. Their continuing detention appears designed to restrict their ability to access legal protections.

Lawyers representing the prisoners have said their clients are likely to die without immediate intervention. Yet justice secretary David Lammy has refused to meet with their legal teams. Until recently, he claimed to have no knowledge of the strike at all.

It’s notable that the mainstream media has all but ignored the UK’s largest hunger strike since 1981. Perhaps until it’s too late. MPs in the Commons laughed yesterday when justice minister Jake Richards dismissed Jeremy Corbyn’s request for a meeting on the situation with a flat “no”.

The response exposes the government’s indifference and the wider political establishment’s contempt for those risking their lives to be heard.

Enabling genocide

The UK government is actively enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Its attempts to silence dissenters and those peacefully calling for an end to Israel’s war crimes are a revival of Thatcher-era tactics used to censor anyone demanding accountability from the British state.

The UK government has already shown that it’s willing to pursue policies that support Israel in its killing of Palestinians. And it’s clear now that the government is also ambivalent at best towards people dying in protest on its own soil.

By remaining complicit in Israel’s war crimes and the ongoing genocide, and by silencing those exposing this complicity, the state’s actions defy comprehension.

International Centre of Justice for Palestinians head of legal Mutahir Ahmed said:

The UK government’s repeated rejection of requests for dialogue with the defendants’ legal team demonstrates a troubling disregard for due process and human life. Every day of delay heightens the risk to those striking for justice in Palestine and civil liberties at home.

The government must act now to uphold the fair administration of justice and ensure that those risking their lives are heard without further delay.

Featured image via the Canary