When White Is Right: Asian People 42
Times More Likely To Be Held Under Terror Law
21 May 2011Bu Juan Cole
Black people are 26 times more
likely than whites to face stop and search
Analysis of government data shows shocking
discrepancy in stop and search figures for England and
Wales
Black people are 26 times more likely than white
people to be stopped and searched by police in England
and Wales, the most glaring example of "racial
profiling" researchers have seen, according to an
international report.
The analysis of government data has brought claims of
discrimination from campaigners who say the findings
corroborate concerns that black and Asian Britons are
being unfairly targeted. The US civil rights activist
Jesse Jackson, who arrives in London today to launch a
campaign aimed at curbing what he says is
stop-and-search discrimination, described the figures
as "astonishing".
The figures relate to stop-and-searches under Section
60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994,
which was introduced to deal with football hooligans
and the threat of serious violence. It allows police
to search anyone in a designated area without specific
grounds for suspicion.
Analysis by the London School of Economics and the
Open Society Justice Initiative found that there are
41.6 Section 60 searches for every 1,000 black people,
compared with 1.6 for every 1,000 white people –
making black people 26.6 times more likely to be
stopped and searched. Asians were 6.3 times more
likely to be stopped than whites, according to the
analysis of Ministry of Justice figures for 2008-09…
And now this, also from The Guardian:
Asian people 42 times more likely to
be held under terror law
People from ethnic minorities more likely than
white people to be stopped under schedule 7 of the
Terrorism Act
People from ethnic minorities are up to 42 times more
likely than white people to be the target of a
counter-terrorism power which allows the stopping and
searching of the innocent yet grants them fewer rights
than suspected criminals, official figures seen by the
Guardian show.
The power is contained in schedule 7 of the Terrorism
Act 2000, which allows police to stop people at ports
and airports for up to nine hours without the need for
reasonable suspicion that they are involved in any
crime.
The figures have led to accusations that police have
resorted to "ethnic profiling", which they deny.
British Muslims have given written statements to the
Guardian alleging that the police and the security
service MI5 are abusing the power by holding people
and pressing them into becoming spies.
Those stopped have no right to maintain their silence,
and failure to answer questions can be a criminal
offence.
Questioning can begin without a lawyer present and
those stopped must pay for one themselves if they want
legal representation.
The authorities fear the random nature of schedule 7
means a legal challenge could see the power struck
down for being arbitrary, a counter-terrorism official
said. This is what eventually happened to the part of
the act that allowed stop and search in the street
without any suspicion, which was ruled unlawful by
human rights judges.
The uncovering of official figures by the Guardian is
the first time an ethnic breakdown of who is stopped
under schedule 7 has been made public.
The calculation that 42 times as many Asians are
stopped as white people is based on comparing the
percentage of Asians in the UK population to the
percentage of those stopped under schedule 7. Ethnic
breakdowns for those entering and exiting the UK are
not available.
The disproportionality faced by ethnic minorities is
at its most pronounced where a person is stopped and
questioned for over an hour. White people make up 19%
of stops, Asian people 41%, black people 10% and
others (including Middle Eastern and Chinese) 30%.
Asians make up 5% of the UK population, black people
3% and others 1%. White people make up 91% of the
population.
Where people are stopped and held for under an hour,
the breakdown is: white people, 45% of stops; Asian
people, 25%; black people, 8%; other ethnicities, 22%.
One of those stopped, Asif Ahmed, 28, said he was
asked to spy after landing at Edinburgh airport.
He said he was separated from his wife and taken to a
room and told he must answer questions about his
beliefs and faith. "They asked if I would like to work
with special branch, to keep an eye on the Muslim
community in Edinburgh. They asked me three times.
They said do it covertly."
Despite official claims that profiling on the basis of
ethnicity is banned by the police, the official
figures give strength to the argument that people are
having their human rights infringed on the basis of
what they look like and which god they pray to. Those
stopped can also have their DNA taken and stored.
Ben Bowling, professor of criminology at King's
College London, said the data undermines claims ethnic
profiling is not being used. "They lend weight to the
view that ethnic profiling is going on," he said. "The
use of these powers at the border should be based on
reasonable grounds and in ways that are properly
transparent and accountable. At present they are
opaque and unaccountable and seem little more than
arbitrary and discriminatory, especially from the
point of view of the person detained without reason."
One person subjected to a schedule 7 stop has provided
a written statement alleging an MI5 officer tried to
recruit him as a spy. When he refused, he says he was
threatened with torture abroad.
Another, Alam Sheikh, 29, was stopped under the
counter-terrorism power in January at Gatwick airport
after a short holiday with friends in Morocco.
He was baffled when asked by police if he was involved
in the Arab uprisings: "They asked do you know anyone
who is part of the protests?
"One of my friends is a trainee lawyer. Even he was
shaking. It wasn't fair. Most of us were smartly
dressed. It wasn't like we were wearing Arab clothing
or beards."
An exact figure on the disproportionate use of
schedule 7 is difficult to arrive at because no
figures are kept on the ethnicity of people entering
and leaving the UK. Police forces have claimed
releasing an ethnic breakdown of figures force by
force could damage national security, and thus have
previously refused to release them when requests were
made under freedom of information legislation.
The figures published on Tuesday were released
following a freedom of information request from the
Federation of Student Islamic Societies.
In 2009 the National Policing Improvement Agency
issued guidelines to officers about the use of the
power, warning against ethnic profiling. "Examining
officers must take particular care to ensure that the
selection of people for examination is not based
solely on their perceived ethnic background or
religion," the agency said. "The powers must be
exercised in a manner that does not discriminate … to
do so would be unlawful."
The guidelines make clear that ethnic profiling would
damage the police: "Officers should be aware that the
way in which people are selected has a potentially
far-reaching effect on the public and their acceptance
of counter-terrorism powers.
"Misuse of the powers can damage the relationship
between the police and sections of the public."
But even some serving officers say the official
selection criteria given to police makes it more
likely officers will seek out those linked to Muslim
communities. The guidelines talk of basing selection
on "any information on the origins and location of
terrorist groups" and "possible current, emerging and
future terrorist activity".
Zaheer Ahmad, president of the National Association of
Muslim Police said: "We are concerned about the
disproportionality reflected in the number of people
stopped from ethnic backgrounds – we have seen no
acceptable reason as to why this is taking place. The
police service must take an intelligence-based
approach to minimise the impact of this power on the
travelling public."
In 2009-10, 85,557 people were stopped and examined at
UK borders under the schedule 7 powers. The government
said: "A very low percentage of 220 million passengers
travelling through UK ports were stopped, with only
0.03% of those travelling being examined."
John Donlon, the Association of Chief Police Officers'
national co-ordinator for ports policing, said:
"Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is important
legislation in support of national security work at
ports.
"The examining officers' code of practice enforces
that the examination of a person cannot be based
solely on perceived ethnicity or religion. Activity is
intelligence-led and officers deployed at ports do not
single out particular ethnic groups for examination."
We must keep White People Safe.
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