27.Memorandum submitted by Muslim Public
Affairs Committee UK
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK campaigns
against Islamophobia and aims to encourage Muslim participation
in mainstream British politics. MPACUK runs a website (www.mpacuk.org)
and an e-group.
THE STIGMATISATION
OF MINORITY
GROUPS PUBLICLY
"ASSOCIATED" WITH
TERRORISM—ISLAMOPHOBIA
AND MEDIA
COVERAGE
British Muslims are equally as at risk as our
non-Muslim neighbours from any terrorist threats to our country.
Muslims are however also subjected to stigmatisation and discrimination
as a result of political and media responses to terrorism.
Terrorism is unfairly associated with Islam
in media and political discourse. Atrocities such as 11 September
are routinely referred to as "Islamic terrorism" whereas
IRA bombings were not similarly termed "Catholic terrorism".
Media coverage often portrays British Muslims as a threat: "You've
heard of al-Qa'eda, but it simply means `the base'. Built on the
base are hundreds of shifting, amoebic grouplets who may, for
all you know, be living next door to you in Luton or Burnley."
(Charles Moore, The Daily Telegraph, 11/9/04). A particularly
vociferous example of using terrorism to stigmatise Muslims is
the recent series of articles by "Will Cummins" in The
Sunday Telegraph: eg ". . .the menacing behaviour
we have come to expect from the Muslims who have forced themselves
on Christendom, a bullying ingratitude that culminates in a terrorist
threat to their unconsulted hosts". (4 July 2004).
Arrests of Muslims under anti-terrorism legislation
receive very prominent media coverage. However when these same
individuals are released without charge, as has often been the
case, this receives little or no media coverage. The public is
therefore given the distorted perception that many Muslims are
guilty of terrorist offences when the reality is that many innocent
Muslims are being arrested and the majority of those convicted
under anti-terrorism legislation are non-Muslims (see report by
the Institute of Race Relations http://www.irr.org.uk/2004/september/ak000004.html).
The British National Party have focused their
rhetoric specifically against Muslims, as was witnessed in their
party political broadcasts in the recent European elections and
of course the BBC documentary "The Secret Agent", (BBC1,
15/7/04). The BNP are exploiting media Islamophobia—for
example leader Nick Griffin cites mainstream journalists such
as Peter Hitchens, Richard Littlejohn and Polly Toynbee as justifiying
his views on Muslims (eg Newsnight interview BBC2 15/7/04).
The BNP are also cynically exploiting the legal loop-hole that
results from a lack of protection of Muslims compared to groups
that are protected under the Race Relations Act, such as Jews
and Sikhs.
Mainstream politicians need to be especially
aware of the need for responsible political discourse in relation
to statements regarding the Muslim community. For example in November/
December 2003 Denis McShane MP was reported to have said in a
speech that Muslims in Britain must choose between the "British
way and the terrorist way". Although he later apologised
for the offence caused his original words did great damage to
the Muslim community whose loyalty and morals were once again
unfairly called into question.
Rising Islamophobia impacts on all aspects of
the everyday lives of British Muslims. (eg Muslim names harm job
chances, Hugh Muir, The Guardian, 12/7/04 http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk—news/story/0,,1258919,00.html).
Yet there does not appear to be any serious effort on behalf of
the government to tackle the growing problem of Islamophobia in
our society.
CIVIL LIBERTIES/POLICING
ISSUES
The huge gap between the numbers arrested or
stopped and searched under anti-terrorism legislation and the
tiny number of convictions raises serious questions as to how
the police are using these powers. The statistics point to the
conclusion that the police are targeting Muslims rather than working
on the basis of effective intelligence. Such can only serve to
erode trust in the police within the Muslim community. This is
especially so when the police are not seen to be effectively tackling
Islamophobic crime suffered by Muslims. Furthermore there is little
confidence that cases of Islamophobic abuse by police are adequately
dealt with (eg Muslim held in terror raid "suffered 50 injuries",
Vikram Dodd, The Guardian 11/9/04). The impression that
the human rights of Muslims are being sacrificed in the "war
on terror" is particularly difficult to avoid given the fact
that it is also Muslims who are being indefinitely detained without
charge or trial at Belmarsh Prison. In addition the mistreatment
of British Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay by Britain's closest
ally appears to have been tolerated and even colluded in by the
British government and security services.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
ACTION:
— Legislate to provide Muslims with
equal protection to other minority groups who are already protected
under the Race Relations Act—including protection from incitement
to hatred. (Extending this protection to Muslims would be consistent
with the inclusion of Jews as a group protected under the Race
Relations Act who, like Muslims, are a group with diverse geographical
origins but sharing a common religious heritage).
— End the use of indefinite detention
without trial currently being implemented under the Anti-Terrorism
Crime and Security Act 2001 and end the derogation from Britain's
human rights commitments.
— Ensure media regulation effectively
combats Islamophobia. For example the Press Complaints Commission
Code of Practice currently offers British Muslims no effective
redress in relation to inaccurate, distorted and inflammatory
articles as the code does not apply to statements about a group,
rather than a specific individual and is not applied in the case
of opinion pieces.
— Introduce measures to tackle police
Islamophobia. Review use of anti-terrorism powers by police and
implement plans to ensure they are not used in a way that discriminates
against or targets Muslims or other groups.
— Examine the role of the Police in
media coverage of arrests under anti-terrorist legislation and
implement plans to minimise the impact on the Muslim community.
We feel it is particularly important that the
committee should consider a wide range of relevant independent
research and information—we have therefore included additional
references below.
12 September 2004
REFERENCES:
— Stop Police Terror Campaign: www.stoppoliceterror.com
— Islamic Human Rights Commission: www.ihrc.org
— Institute of Race Relations www.irr.org.uk
http://www.irr.org.uk/pdf/terror—arrests—study.pdf
— Campaign against Criminalising Communities: www.cacc.org.uk
— Islamophobia: issues, challenges
and action. A report by the Commission on British Muslims and
Islamophobia, 2004, Trentham Books.
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