The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) strongly condemns the death threats directed against Italian lawyer, human rights defender and IADL Bureau member Fabio Marcelli. An IADL Bureau Member for decades, Mr. Marcelli has been in the forefront of the legal struggle to support the rights of the Palestinian people against the US and Zionist occupation and war of aggression. He is a staunch champion of the rights of nations to self determination and an opponent of unilateral sanctions committed by the United States and its NATO allies on sovereign countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran and Palestine.
Fabio Marcelli, also Co-President of the Centre for Research and Elaboration for Democracy (CRED), is a very active leader of the IADL. The IADL is a global association of democratic lawyers working for the past 80 years, starting from the Nuremberg trials of 1946 against fascism, to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law. He has unselfishly dedicated his legal expertise in the service of the downtrodden, most specially today with the rise of fascism, state terrorism and war mongering led by the United States, NATO and Israel. The threats against him are not merely an attack on one individual, but an attempt to silence all lawyers and human rights defenders who challenge impunity and demand justice.
The IADL recalls the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, particularly Principles 16 and 17, which obligate governments to ensure that lawyers can perform their professional functions without intimidation, harassment or improper interference, and to provide adequate protection when their security is threatened. According to Principle 18 of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (1990) “lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their client’s causes as a result of the discharge of their functions.” The wielders of political power and state forces are required to protect lawyers under Principle 16, which declares that “governments shall ensure that lawyers (a) are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference; (b) are able to travel and consult with their clients freely; (c) shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic and other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics.”
We urge the Italian authorities take immediate and effective measures to protect Fabio Marcelli, thoroughly investigate these death threats and ensure accountability for those responsible.
The explicit threats, made recently by telephone to Mr Marcelli’s home, cannot be separated from the broader political climate in Italy, where the government’s political and material support for Israel, despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza and illegal occupation of Palestine, is accompanied by increasing repression of Palestinian communities and Palestine solidarity movements.
The prohibition of demonstrations on 7 October 2026, police repression of mobilizations, and the imprisonment and prosecution of Palestinians, including Mohammed Hannoun, Raed Dawoud, Anan Yaeesh, Ahmad Salem, Riyad Albustanji and Yaser Elasaly, reflect an alarming pattern of criminalization of Palestinian political activity and solidarity. Just several days ago, Hannoun and Dawoud were denied pretrial release, despite the fact that much of the evidence against them has officially been declared unreliable, provided by the Israeli occupation military.
These repressive measures contribute to a climate in which racism, intimidation and threats against defenders of Palestinian rights are emboldened, while impunity for grave international crimes is reinforced. At the same time, Italy continues to trade arms with Israel and refuses to impose a bilateral arms embargo, despite widespread popular demands, including from dockworkers, students, and labor unions.
The IADL emphasizes that the protection of lawyers, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and the right to advocate for Palestinian liberation are fundamental democratic rights.
We stand in full solidarity with Fabio Marcelli, his colleagues at CRED, and all lawyers and activists facing intimidation, criminalization, sanctions or repression for their commitment to justice for Palestine. We call upon Italian legal associations, bar organizations and democratic forces, as well as the international legal community, to speak out against these threats and defend the independence and security of lawyers.
The IADL reaffirms its commitment to confronting genocide, colonialism and impunity, defending the rights of the Palestinian people, and upholding international law and human rights. Such threats should inspire an even greater commitment on the part of the legal community to hold Israel and its sponsors accountable for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.