IHRC has written to Keir Starmer asking the British PM to review the array of repressive anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of Jordan’s decision last week to ban the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood has been an integral part of Jordan’s political landscape since its founding in 1945. Since its inception, the movement has remained committed to non-violent political engagement, seeking to empower the people of Jordan and the wider region.

Last week the Jordanian government outlawed the organisation under the pretext that it was planning to carry out terrorist attacks inside the country.

The criminalisation of the MB forms part of a wider international campaign, driven by Britain and the US, to delegitimise opposition groups.

In fact over two decades of “thoughtcrime” legislation and policies targeting Muslim political activity in the West have served as a template for foreign governments to repress opposition figures and organisations.

By redefining peaceful political activities as terrorism or non-violent extremism — often to appease Zionist interests and to advance British neo-imperialism — successive governments, beginning with Tony Blair’s first Labour administration, have effectively given the green light for other countries to strip people of their fundamental rights.

The fight against terrorism has increasingly become a pretext for dismantling democratic freedoms such as the right to protest, support liberation movements, and oppose state-sponsored human rights abuses. Under the false guise of protecting the public, our governments have set us on a slippery slope towards authoritarianism.

Since October 7, 2023, state repression has intensified, seeking among other things, to insulate the government from criticism over its complicity in Israel’s genocide against Gaza. Activists, academics, and even ordinary citizens have been intimidated, harassed, and arrested merely for exercising their lawful and democratic right to oppose government policies.

If the United Kingdom wishes to be a credible leader in championing freedom and democracy around the world, it must first end the ongoing erosion of civil liberties at home. Only by restoring and upholding the rights and freedoms of its own citizens can the UK call out abuses abroad with any moral authority. Until then, any claim made by the government about its belief in the rule of law, democracy, and human rights will continue to ring hollow.

The full letter can be viewed here.

[ENDS]

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 208 904 0222  or (+44) 7958 522196 or email media@ihrc.org
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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
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