[Independent] UK anti-terror police told to target Asians and blacks

[M.G.G. Pillai]

The Independent, London


Anti-terror police told to target Asians

By Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent

Published: 13 September 2005

A fresh row over stop-and-search powers has erupted after it emerged
anti-terrorist police had received orders to single out black and
Asian people.

Civil liberties campaigners and black groups have reacted furiously
over orders to the British Transport Police which say terrorist
suspects are of "Asian, West Indian and east African origin". They
have urged the Commission for Racial Equality to investigate.

Officers patrolling on the Tube and train network, have been told not
to "use stereotypical images of terrorists when deciding whether or
not to use their powers of stop and search." But the operational
order, issued after the July 7 attacks in London, which The
Independent has seen, adds: "It should be noted, however, that recent
suspects have included individuals of Asian, West Indian and east
African origin, some of whom have British nationality."

The order has re-ignited the row over "racial profiling" by police
and revived concerns that a disproportionately high number of black
and Asian people are stopped and searched, without reasonable grounds
for suspicion.

Liberty, the human rights lobby group, has consulted lawyers to see
if the order breaches race relations laws.

Black leaders said the advice contributed to racial stereotyping and
said it should be examined by the Commission for Racial Equality.
Today, MPs plan to raise the issue of stop and search during a
special session of the Home Affairs Select Committee. The Commons
committee is taking evidence from Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan
Police Commissioner, and Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the
Muslim Council of Britain, on "issues arising from the London bombings".

"I am sure the Commission for Racial Equality would be keen to
scrutinise this operational order. You can't say 'don't use
stereotypes' and then say 'just watch out for this lot'," said Simon
Woolley, of Operation Black Vote. "We desperately need to avoid the
crude profiling that may have led to death of the innocent Brazilian
Jean Charles de Menezes. The officers jumped to a conclusion about
him because he had a dark complexion. Strong intelligence-led
policing is the only way to gain the confidence of the black and
ethnic minority community and catch the criminals we all want caught."

Shami Chakrabati, head of Liberty, said the advice to transport
police was so controversial she had arranged a meeting with Ian
Johnston, the transport police chief constable, next month to raise
her concerns.

"This order is in real danger of breaching the Race Relations Act.
You should stop and search a person who meets the description of a
terror suspect, not look for needles in a haystack. We are really
concerned by this. We will ask the chief constable for an explanation
of this guidance. I look forward to meeting him."

The order says transport police should aim to "prevent and deter
access by terrorist suspects to the transport infrastructure",
including the Tube.

It says "police supervisors must ensure that officers make maximum
use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 search powers in a
targeted approach against individuals who match the target profile,
which is males aged between 18-30 years, who may be of any racial
background."

The order adds that police have a duty to promote good relations
between racial groups, and advises against "disproportionate and
unfair targeting of certain communities."

Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat member of the Home Affairs Select
Committee, said the advice sent mixed messages. "The whole thing is
completely contradictory. It suggests it is open season on a couple
of groups. Apart from the racial stereotyping, the parallel concern
is that the guidance is so vague. It seems to be a tacit invitation
to stop and search people from these racial groups. It's very bad
policing."

After the July 7 attacks, Mr Johnston provoked a row when he said
that his officers should "not waste time searching old white ladies".
Hazel Blears, a Home Office minister, said that stop-and-search
guidelines would "not discriminate against Muslims." The British
Transport Police said the chief constable believed that policing
should be "intelligence led".

A spokesman said: "We are dealing with a terrorist attack from a
particular source which is Islamic international terrorism and these
are the people at that time who were responsible for these attacks.
But it is not saying that they may be responsible in the future.

"The people who carried out [the July attacks] are not representative
of the British population. We are trying to stop people particular to
the threat.We are saying to our officers, not all Asian people are
terrorists but given we are looking at Islamic terrorists - if we
were looking for Irish republican terrorists we would not be stopping
Asian or black people."

© 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.