Justice may not be on the side of people subjected to surveillance, the Associated Press reports.
Category Archives: State Oppression
Birmingham researchers call for reform of UK counter-terrorism strategy
Researchers will call for the urgent reform the UK’s counter-terrorism strategies when they present their findings in Birmingham.
According to the research carried out in London and Birmingham, the way politicians, policymakers and the media discuss who might be responsible for bombings was similar to those in the period when there were IRA bombings in Britain.
The report found that similarities emerged in the experiences that the Irish and Muslim communities had during times of increased terrorist activity, but 30 years apart.
Prof Mary Hickman, Director of the research at London Metropolitan University, said: “The research reveals the extent to which the Irish in Britain lived with the fear of association with the IRA and the impact it had on their lives.
“While the focus of contemporary counter-terrorism policy remains fixed on rooting out extreme ideas it encourages the public to treat Muslims as potential ‘suspects’ or legitimate objects of abuse. Future policies must ensure they do not undermine the trust Muslim communities have in state institutions nor their sense of belonging in Britain.”
The findings will be presented at an event at Carrs Lane Community Centre, Birmingham city centre, from 6.30pm to 8pm tomorrow. Attendance is free but places are limited. To book ring 0207 133 2927 or email suspectcommunities@londonmet.ac.uk
CAIR asks Sherburne County sheriff to allow woman’s headscarf in jail
A civil rights group Thursday asked a sheriff to accommodate a Muslim woman’s religious beliefs and let her cover her head with a scarf.
Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott said that he’d meet with the group, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but that he wasn’t changing the policy barring female Muslim prisoners from wearing hijabs. “We do not intend to change our policy on this,” Brott said. “We believe it is a safety and security issue. We don’t allow personal clothing in the facility.”
The state chapter of CAIR sent a letter to the sheriff after the Pioneer Press reported Thursday that Amina Farah Ali refused to leave her cell because she’s not allowed to wear her hijab. Ali, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lived in Rochester, Minn., was jailed after she was convicted in federal court last week of sending money to al-Shabaab, a group in her homeland of Somalia that the U.S. government considers a terrorist organization.
Put Babar Ahmad on trial in the UK NOT the US
Have Faith in British Justice: Put Babar Ahmad on Trial in the UK NOT the US
The Muslim Council of Britain urges all British Citizens to sign the petition calling for Babar Ahmad, a 37 year old British Muslim held for 7 years without charge on an extradition request by the US, to be put on trial in the United Kingdom.
Farooq Murad, Secretary General of the MCB, commented, “The case of Babar Ahmad is problematic: here is a British citizen who is alleged to have committed crimes that can be prosecuted under British law and yet he is being shipped off to the United States, under the controversial Extradition Act 2003. The United States has a troubling record in dealing with terror suspects and therefore the British government has a responsibility to ensure the rights of its citizens are protected while at the same time ensuring justice is served.”
The Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP, Member of Parliament for Tooting said: “As Babar’s Member of Parliament, I have worked with his family and legal team for a number of years arguing that any trial should be held in the UK. I have known Babar for many years – we grew up in the same area of south London. This petition is a good way to raise public awareness of Babar’s case.”
The MCB is supporting a call to designate Friday 28th October as “Babar Ahmad Day” encouraging mosques across the country to get their congregations to sign the petition.
To sign the e-petition, click here:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/885
CAIR seeks Senate hearing on ‘shocking’ report of NYPD spying on Muslims
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on what the Washington-based civil rights and advocacy organization said is the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) “apparently unrestrained and unconstitutional multi-state monitoring and surveillance of law-abiding American Muslims engaged in almost every activity of normal daily life.”
CAIR issued that call in a letter to the committee after “shocking” revelations by the Associated Press (AP) that “Muslims who change their names to sound more traditionally American, as immigrants have done for generations, or who adopt Arabic names as a sign of their faith are often investigated and catalogued in secret New York Police Department intelligence files.”
CAIR press release, 26 October 2011
See also Associated Press, 26 October 2011
MP wants to extend NSW face coverings legislation to Queensland – but claims he isn’t targeting Muslims
A Sunshine Coast MP says he may be accused of discrimination in wanting stricter identification laws in Queensland.
Independent Peter Wellington plans to introduce a Private Member’s Bill into State Parliament this afternoon requiring people wearing face coverings or motorbike helmets to remove them when needed for identification. Mr Wellington says the proposal is modelled on recent legislation in New South Wales and can be used by police, court and prison staff and JPs. He says the law is not meant to target women who wear burkas.
“It’s not about trying to discriminate against different religions,” he said. “What it’s saying very clearly … in Queensland there’s one law for everyone. There’s one indisputable standard of cooperation that we all have to abide by and that is if the police want to identify you for a range of purposes you have to reveal your face.”
Add Muslim college students to the list of locals the NYPD spied on
The Associated Press’s series on NYPD spying continues today with the news that Muslim students at colleges in New York were investigated covertly by the secret NYPD and CIA program that also monitored community centers, government allies, and entire neighborhoods in the years after September 11. The new report places NYPD undercover officers at schools including Brooklyn College, Baruch, Hunter, City College, Queens College, La Guardia, and St. John’s, where they sought out student radicalization. But according to experts, their methods “may have broken a 19-year-old pact with the colleges and violated U.S. privacy laws, jeopardizing millions of dollars in federal research money and student aid.”
“The government, through the police department, is working privately to destroy the private lives of Muslim citizens,” said Moustafa Bayoumi, an English professor at Brooklyn College.
New York Magazine, 11 October 2011
See also “CAIR seeks DOJ probe of NYPD violation of Muslim students’ privacy”, CAIR press release, 11 October 2011
Belgium: constitutional court refuses to suspend veil ban law
Belgium’s highest court on Wednesday refused to suspend a law banning the wearing of burqas, but said it was still examining whether the recently-adopted act is legal.
The Constitutional Court ruled that there was no evidence that the two women who have appealed against the law have suffered serious discrimination, the Belga news agency reported – leaving no ground to suspend it.
The measure came into force in July, making Belgium the second in Europe after France to criminalize the burqa, which completely covers women’s bodies, as well as other types of Islamic veils.
Anyone caught in public places with their face completely or partially covered – thus preventing identification – is liable to a fine of up to 137 euros (182 dollars) and up to seven days’ imprisonment.
FBI Director says anti-Muslim counterterrorism training sessions were ‘isolated incidents’
FBI Director Robert Mueller told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Thursday that the counterterrorism training sessions conducted by his bureau that claimed American-Muslims were likely to be terrorist sympathizers were isolated.
Mueller called the FBI training materials in question “inappropriate offensive content” but asserted they weren’t commonplace, calling the incidents “an aberration.”
“I think that’s a very valid concern. And as I have pointed out, I think this is a very unusual occasion,” Mueller said.
“We have undertaken a review from top to bottom of our counterterrorism training. I think these are isolated incidents,” Mueller said. “We have 34,000 employees and we do a great deal of training. We understand the sensitivity and the importance of assuring that that training that we give to our persons are appropriate.”
Lisa Valentine wins settlement: Douglasville courthouse screenings will now be adapted to accommodate religious head coverings
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A Muslim woman who was arrested in 2008 after refusing to remove her hijab in a Douglasville courtroom has received a settlement from the city.
The settlement includes changes to the way people wearing religious head coverings are screened when they enter the courthouse, according to Azadeh Shahshahani with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.
Lisa Valentine spent several hours in jail in December 2008 after declining to take off her hijab while accompanying her nephew to a traffic hearing in Douglasville Municipal Court. She sued the city in December 2010, saying her free speech rights were violated when she was asked to remove the head covering.
“We are glad that the city of Douglasville has acknowledged that the way that Ms. Valentine was treated was inexcusable and awful,” Shahshahani said. “No one should feel singled out in a court of law simply for observing her faith.”
According to Thursday’s settlement, Douglasville has adopted a special policy that allows people wearing religious head coverings to be screened in a private area by an officer of the same gender.
“I am glad that Douglasville has agreed to formal policies to make sure this never happens to anyone else,” Valentine said after her settlement hearing.
See also ACLU press release, 6 October 2011