In our recent submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Prevent Watch highlighted significant concerns regarding the UK’s Prevent strategy, which continues to disproportionately target Muslim communities and perpetuate racial and religious discrimination. [1]
Our submission was based on over 700 individuals that we have supported in the last ten years, from which we provided detailed case-based evidence.
One such example was the experience of a 15-year-old girl named Suhaila, who was referred to Prevent simply for wearing an abaya and associating with visibly Muslim peers at her school.
BACKGROUND
- The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has now recommended that the toxic Prevent duty be suspended
- Originally painted as a counter-terrorism policy, Prevent was introduced in 2005
- Since then, it has predominantly targeted Muslims and more than half of all referrals are children under 15
- Despite being launched by a Labour government, successive administrations have deemed it fit to expand upon and continue the harmful policy
- It relies upon so-called 'indicators of extremism' — these are determined by the government of the day and include ideas held by anti-war campaigners, environmentalists, and views that are opposed to neo-liberalism
- In 2023, Amnesty International penned a report calling for Prevent to be withdrawn; the paper was aptly entitled 'This is the Thought Police'
Not first time Prevent has been shown to be unfair
This is not the first time in 20 years that evidence has been put forward about the discriminatory nature of Prevent.
However, submitting evidence to the UN is crucial for putting pressure on the UK government to address serious concerns, especially when these concerns — like those raised about the Prevent strategy — are repeatedly ignored at home.
The UK, as a member of the UN, is expected to uphold certain human rights standards and, when the UN flags a problem, it should create a sense of urgency for the government to make changes.
UK government ignoring repeated warnings from CERD
Unfortunately, despite ongoing warnings from CERD and multiple UN Special Rapporteurs since 2016 — including Professor E. Tendayi Achiume and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin — the UK government has not only ignored these concerns but has further entrenched Prevent’s discriminatory practices. [2] [3] [4]
In its response to CERD, the UK government attempted to mislead the committee by claiming that Prevent falls under the remit of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, when, in reality, it is the one part of the counter-terrorism strategy excluded from his oversight.
The government also omitted any reference to the Shawcross review, which has exacerbated many of the concerns raised by the UN, nor did they mention key legislation like the 2019 Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, which impacts Prevent’s implementation.
UN has recently given its strongest recommendation to suspend Prevent
These misrepresentations by the UK were exposed by Prevent Watch during an in-person meeting with CERD committee members in Geneva before their session with the UK delegation.
We also arranged for the mother of a child that was directly affected by Prevent to speak to the UN committee, allowing them to share their personal story and show how devastating Prevent can be for Muslim families across the country.
As a result of our comprehensive submission, in-person testimony, and the collective concerns raised by eight other respected organisations, including Amnesty International and Runnymede, CERD issued its strongest recommendation to date. [5]
This recommendation is a significant development, calling for the immediate suspension of Prevent — a clear acknowledgment of the severe and systemic issues within the strategy.
Moreover, CERD has gone further than ever before by advocating for reparations to be paid to the victims of Prevent, recognising the deep harm and trauma inflicted on individuals and families, particularly within Muslim communities.
A turning point in the international stance on Prevent
This unprecedented recommendation from CERD reflects the weight of the evidence presented, underscoring the discriminatory nature of Prevent and its failure to uphold human rights standards.
It also signals a turning point in the international community’s stance on Prevent, highlighting the urgent need for the UK government to reassess and reform its counter-terrorism approach.
The call for reparations is especially significant, as it acknowledges the real, tangible impact Prevent has had on countless lives and the necessity of providing justice and compensation to those wronged by the strategy.
The UK government is now obligated to respond to CERD’s recommendations.
We await their acknowledgment and action on the longstanding concerns about the Prevent duty — a policy that has repeatedly been criticised for discriminating and infringing on human rights, especially for Muslim children.
In the meantime, Prevent Watch and other UK civil society groups will remain steadfast in challenging Prevent.
You can also take action
As CERD has pointed out in its recent observations,
“…the Committee remains concerned that counter-terrorism strategies and the ‘prevent
duty’ have created an atmosphere of suspicion towards members of Muslim communities
and continue to have a negative impact on the exercise of their rights to freedom of
expression, education, health, and freedoms of religion and peaceful assembly.” [5]
Notably, the UN published this report less than a week after the British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper commissioned a rapid review to inform a new “counter-extremism” strategy on tackling “extremist ideologies”.
So join us for an upcoming webinar on Thursday 5th September at 12pm to discuss our submission, this report, and the implications.
Source: Islam21c
Notes
[1] Prevent Watch evidence submission to the UN CERD committee: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2FCERD%2FNGO%2FGBR%2F58924&Lang=en
[2] CERD Concluding Observations on the UK (2016): https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CERD%2FC%2FGBR%2FCO%2F21-23&Lang=en
[3] Professor E. Tendayi Achiume, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, said,
“There has been no evidence that Prevent actually prevents extremism, or that the causal link between extremism and terrorism is empirically sound.”
[4] Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, while countering terrorism said that Prevent,
“…lacks a consistent rule of law or human rights grounding.”
[5] CERD Concluding observations (2024): https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CERD%2FC%2FGBR%2FCO%2F24-26&Lang=en
