Passion Islam I November 2009 LOCAL & NATIONAL NEWS I 7
Project doesn’t spy on
Muslims, Home Office
The UK Home Office denied that it
was using a 140 million pounds-a-
year anti-extremism project to “spy”
on innocent young Muslims.
The Institute of Race Relations
said “the Prevent scheme” had been
used “to establish one of the most
elaborate systems of surveillance
ever seen in Britain”.
In a highly-critical report, it said
teachers and youth, community and
cultural workers were increasingly
angry at being pressured to share
“It is also right that channels alienating young people from the very
information as a condition of receiving
should be made available for other institutions best placed to meet the
funding.
professionals such as youth workers stated aim of the project to keep them
Among the details being sought
and teachers to provide information out of the clutches of extremism, it
were political opinions, mental health
to the police if there are reasons to suggested.
conditions and sex lives as well as
believe that an individual is involved Among other findings were that the
criminal records and evidence of
in criminality.” But it went on: “What funding system effectively labelled the
alleged offences, it suggested.
is at issue is whether professionals entire Muslim population a “suspect
The institute said there was also
providing non-policing local services, community” and that the scheme
strong evidence that “a significant
such as youth workers and teachers, fostered social divisions.
part” of the programme involved
should be expected to routinely A Home Office spokesman said:
“the embedding of counter-terrorism
provide information to the counter- “Any suggestion that Prevent is about
police officers within the delivery of
terrorist police not just on individuals spying is simply wrong. Prevent is
local services”.
who might be ‘at risk’ of committing about working with communities
“It is entirely appropriate that the
a criminal offence but also on the to protect vulnerable individuals
police and intelligence services have
political and religious opinions of and address the root causes of
placed a number of Muslim individuals
young people, and the dynamics of radicalisation.”
under surveillance,” the report, partly
the local Muslim community as a There are around 1.6 Muslims in
based on six months of interviews
whole.” Turning public services into the UK, the majority from the Indian
with community workers, concluded.
“instruments of surveillance” risked sub-continent.
Police protester database
“Tarring innocent”
Concerns were raised about a police Police said: “These images consist of spokesman told the Financial Times
database containing around 1,500 photos and footage stored by event newspaper today that the database
photographs of protesters. with no names or other searchable was an example of the police, “tarring
The Scotland Yard file includes information attached to it. the innocent and the guilty with the
pictures taken by officers of those “Material is stored in case it is needed same brush”.
attending demonstrations, some of for use in civil actions against police, Human rights and civil liberties
whom may never have been arrested complaints against officers and specialist Hugh Tomlinson, lawyer
or convicted of a crime. criminal proceedings. of “Matrix law Chambers” told the
Police say they hold the information In line with national guidelines for newspaper: “We don’t know what
in case a complaint is made against the management of police information, databases are held - and we don’t
an officer and to aid criminal we are in the process of reviewing the know what procedures are in place to
prosecutions. material we hold.” But Chris Huhne, make sure they are accurate and up
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Liberal Democrat Home Affairs to date.”
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