> Amnesty International strongly criticises the review of the UK’s counter-terrorism Prevent duty published today (8 February).
>Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty International UK’s Racial Justice Director, said:
>“This review is riddled with biased thinking, errors, and plain anti-Muslim prejudice – frankly, the review has no legitimacy.
>“William Shawcross’ history of bigoted comments on Muslims and Islam should have precluded his involvement in this ill-starred review in the first place.
>“There’s mounting evidence that Prevent has specifically targeted Muslim communities and activists fighting for social justice and a host of crucial international issues – including topics like the climate crisis and the oppression of Palestinians.
>“There is growing evidence that Prevent is having disastrous consequences for many people; eroding freedom of expression, clamping down on activism, creating a compliant generation and impacting on individual rights enshrined in law.
>“A proper independent review of Prevent should have looked at the host of human rights violations that the programme has led to – but these have largely been passed over in silence.”
…..
>Four-year-old “Zak” told a staff member at his after-school club that his father had “guns and bombs in his shed”, referring to the video game Fortnite. The staff member did not say anything to the mother when she collected him that evening. Instead, the school followed Prevent procedures and reported the incident to the police. The mother said:
>“It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and, you know, arrested the parents, with social services getting involved.”
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> Amnesty International strongly criticises the review of the UK’s counter-terrorism Prevent duty published today (8 February).
>Ilyas Nagdee, Amnesty International UK’s Racial Justice Director, said:
>“This review is riddled with biased thinking, errors, and plain anti-Muslim prejudice – frankly, the review has no legitimacy.
>“William Shawcross’ history of bigoted comments on Muslims and Islam should have precluded his involvement in this ill-starred review in the first place.
>“There’s mounting evidence that Prevent has specifically targeted Muslim communities and activists fighting for social justice and a host of crucial international issues – including topics like the climate crisis and the oppression of Palestinians.
>“There is growing evidence that Prevent is having disastrous consequences for many people; eroding freedom of expression, clamping down on activism, creating a compliant generation and impacting on individual rights enshrined in law.
>“A proper independent review of Prevent should have looked at the host of human rights violations that the programme has led to – but these have largely been passed over in silence.”
…..
>Four-year-old “Zak” told a staff member at his after-school club that his father had “guns and bombs in his shed”, referring to the video game Fortnite. The staff member did not say anything to the mother when she collected him that evening. Instead, the school followed Prevent procedures and reported the incident to the police. The mother said:
>“It could have gone really wrong. I worry armed police could have come to my house and, you know, arrested the parents, with social services getting involved.”