HXR Public Statement in Response to the sentencing of Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland
On 27th September 2024, Anna Holland, 23yrs, and Phoebe Plummer, 22yrs, were sentenced to 20 months and 2 years respectively for throwing soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers in London’s National Gallery(1). The painting itself was protected by glass and was unharmed. Their action was to demand an end to new fossil fuel investment, and to ask us as a society; What is it we value? What is it we want to protect?
For comparison, two years in prison is the maximum sentence for violently assaulting a police officer, and indeed Judge Hehir (the same judge who sentenced Anna and Phoebe to prison) chose not to imprison two offenders (one of whom had previous convictions for violent offences) for attacking and seriously injuring two policemen in 2014(2). Currently 41 people are in prison for non-violent climate protest. Some are on remand, others are serving anything from a few months to 5 years (3). Meanwhile the same judges who passed down these sentences have repeatedly allowed those carrying out violent crimes and serious sexual assault to walk free(4).
On the day that Phoebe and Anna were sentenced, Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina killing at least 93 people(5), and 26 million people were under a heat advisory in the United States because of continuing lethal hot weather(6). Meanwhile the impact of devastating floods continues to be felt in West Africa(7) and Europe(8), and much of the world is reeling from record breaking heat-waves as across the globe as we spend our first full year at an average temperature of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels (10).
Young people, like Anna and Phoebe, are rightly furious and terrified about the escalating climate emergency. They recognise the international and inter-generational injustice of the crisis and feel compelled to use nonviolent civil disobedience both in defence of their own futures, and the futures of the many millions already suffering around the world.
80% of the British public are concerned about climate change(10) and Nonviolent Civil disobedience has a long history of bringing about significant changes for the better(11). Phoebe and Anna’s actions were however taken during a period in which this form of protest has been increasingly criminalised by the UK government(12), and demonised by the right wing media. The recent Conservative government, which was twice found guilty in court for failing to adhere to its legally binding net zero targets(13), decided, rather than to take action to mitigate the crisis, to instead pass, not one, but two pieces of legislation to restrict the right to protest and to increase the consequences of prosecution(14,15). Shamefully, the second piece of legislation was forced through using Tudor-era powers after being rejected by our democratic process, an action that has subsequently been found illegal in our courts(16). The UK has been criticised for its harrassment of nonviolent environmental defenders which also breaks international Law(17) yet astonishingly, our new Labour government has continued to support these laws rather than repealing the act, as the courts have recommended.
The renowned international medical journal The Lancet (2021) published a study of 10,000 young people from the global North and South which found that 6 out of 10 young people are very, or extremely worried about the Climate and ecological Emergency, and that this anxiety is exacerbated by inadequate action which leads to a sense of betrayal(18). Evidence suggests that supporting young people to engage in climate action, including protest, is beneficial to their mental health and wellbeing(19). Given the escalating climate emergency, what greater betrayal of our young people can there be, than not only failing to take the action needed to safeguard their future, but also to criminalise their voices and imprison them when they take peaceful action to highlight their concerns?
Healthworkers for Extinction Rebellion stands in solidarity with people all over the world of all ages acting peacefully in defence of life, including Phoebe Plummer, Anna Holland and all other prisoners of conscience in UK jails.
References:
1. Sent down for throwing soup? Judge Hehir turns state suppression into an art form: https://juststopoil.org/2024/09/27/sent-down-for-throwing-soup-judge-hehir-turns-state-repression-into-an-art-form/
2.’Playboy’ brothers who left police officer needing titanium plates in his face after brutal attack are SPARED jail https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/george-costas-panayiotou-spared-jail-3490196
3.Current political prisoners: https://rebelsinprison.uk/rebels/
4. Broken Britain: Judge Christopher Hehir’s bizarre sentencing record demands Investigation: https://politicalcleanup.wordpress.com/2024/07/20/broken-britain-review-judge-christopher-hehirs-bizarre-and-unjust-sentencing-record/
5. Hurricane Helene storm-related fatalities: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/assistance/hurricane-helene-recovery-resources/hurricane-helene-storm-related-fatalities
6. September debuts with potentially record heat for South West, West Coast: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/september-debuts-potentially-record-heat-southwest-west-coast-rcna169261
7. Floods devastate West and Central Africa: https://www.dw.com/en/floods-devastate-west-and-central-africa/a-70231593
8. Rivers in Europe break their banks: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/153358/rivers-in-europe-burst-their-banks
9. World’s first year-long breech of key 1.5 degree warming limit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68110310#:~:text=Global%20average%20air%20temperatures%20began,this%20has%20continued%20into%202024.
10. Thinking about the causes of climate change, which, if any, of the following best describes your opinion?: https://www.statista.com/statistics/426775/united-kingdom-uk-views-on-cause-of-climate-change/
11. The politics of Nonviolent action, Gene Sharp: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Politics_of_Nonviolent_Action
12. Amnesty International: UK Freedom of Expression and Assembly https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/united-kingdom/report-united-kingdom
13. Britain’s climate action plan unlawful, high court rules: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/03/britain-climate-action-plan-unlawful-high-court
14: How does the new policing act affect my protest rights?: https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/advice_information/pcsc-policing-act-protest-rights/
15: Public Order Act: New Protest Offences & ‘Serious Disruption: https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/advice_information/public-order-act-new-protest-offences/
16. UK Court Rules Anti-Protest Measures Unlawful: https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/29/uk-court-rules-anti-protest-measures-unlawful
17. UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention: https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/Aarhus_SR_Env_Defenders_statement_following_visit_to_UK_10-12_Jan_2024.pdf
18. Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext
19. Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action: correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494422001323#:~:text=Climate%20anxiety%20is%20positively%20related,inversely%20related%20to%20mental%20wellbeing.