The UN called the British government's impending designation of Palestine Action as a terror organization "unjustified labelling" and urged it to reconsider a ban.
"We are concerned at the unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’,” a statement from UN experts said.
“According to international standards, acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism.”
The UN experts asserted that property damage could not be classified as "terrorist", even though UK officials said that damage wrought by the group was worth millions of pounds.
“Mere property damage, without endangering life, is not sufficiently serious to qualify as terrorism.”
The UK's move to ban Palestine action
The UK moved to ban the pro-Palestine group in June. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that Palestine Action had created a “nationwide campaign of direct criminal action against businesses and institutions."
She added that the organization's “intimidatory and unacceptable” tactics were not representative peaceful protest.
“The UK’s defence enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security, and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk,” Cooper added.
Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.