British spying plans expose Muslim profiling

Muslims are the target of profiling in the UK

The British government has carried out thousands of surveillance and stake outs, targeting British and foreign men and women, asylum seekers and anti-war activists all of whom are of Islamic faith. Besides exposing the profiling of Muslims in Britain, it also indicates to what extent the British authorities will go in their elusive search for ‘evidence of terrorism’ among Muslims.

The search for terror suspects does not end there in Britain as it extends to British embassies across the world where intelligence agents are posted to scrutinize Muslim names of those applying for visas to Great Britain.

In England, Muslims are also targeted while they leave their homes or offices using their private cars thanks to the sophisticated Auto Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) in use in London.

ANPR is a tool designed to make it far more difficult for people to use vehicles without being detected. Indeed the British government says in advertisements that the installation of ANPR’s is to deter criminals from using cars. However, it is also being used by the anti-terror task force to track down the daily routines of ‘suspects’ who belong to a list of names.

As a vehicle passes through an ANPR camera, it takes an image of the number plate. Those details are then fed into a system which checks them against sources such as the Police National Computer (PNC), Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Local Force Intelligence systems and motor insurers databases. If the number plate is matched to one of the sources, the ANPR equipment will sound an alert.

ANPR can be used to gather intelligence on known criminals or for post-incident crime investigation as well as for running pro-active operations using dedicated intercept teams.

ANPR cameras are located in mobile units (vans), in Roads Policing patrol cars, at dedicated fixed sites and via Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) schemes in urban areas.

After the 7/7 bombings in London, British police revealed it had a list of names and files on what it called suspected Muslim terrorists. This list has since increased in numbers and more names have been added on it since July 2005.

The list existed since 2001 after the 9/11 events in the US. British intelligence agencies drew up a list of around 100 Islamist activists they suspect are involved in terrorist activities in the UK after 9/11.

The current list comprising detailed dossiers on each man and woman also includes up-to-date surveillance pictures, mug shots and family pictures and is continually being updated.

Other details on the files of suspects, who are Muslims and are generally ordinary people but some are however associated with organized social/political entities.

Most of those on the list are British citizens though in 2004, according the Guardian Newspaper, the list comprised mostly of British Muslims of Pakistani descent, naturalized immigrants and this year a group of asylum seekers has joined the list.

Muslim prayer houses are also under surveillance

The authorities in England is not compromising on security issues and does not think the profiling and the tracking of the activities of so called suspects are damaging community relations in the UK.

Much of these profiling is based on poor intelligence. While the level of suspicion against Muslims has risen in the UK, the quality of the intelligence information and services remain poor and are almost impossible to trust. The amount of public funds spent chasing around suspected Muslim elements of the British society has not helped the British cause against terrorism, instead it has created an atmosphere of fear.

Britain and most of the western societies has been at the forefront of freedom of the individuals with emphasis on the privacy of the people and their rights to practice any religion or faith they are adhered to.

With the war on terror, these rights have eroded significantly giving rise to questionable practices by the same societies that are still criticizing other non-western nations for their curbs on human rights and freedoms.

Recent arrests of young Muslim elements in England has widen the divide that has been created by the panic caused by the 7/7 bombings. Targeting Muslims and attacking their faith openly in public and through the media is now common in England.

The daily lives of Muslims are today made of the additional inquisition eyes of the British police. The police force and anti-terror agencies are keeping a tight tag on young Muslim men and women.

Officers of these agencies would interview newspaper vendors, shop owners and non-Muslim neighbors regarding the activities of those who are on their suspect list.

Furthermore, the daily activities, the purchases and the phone calls of the highest ranking suspects are recorded and kept in digitalized files. These files are often subjected to intensive detailing by behind-the-desk officers of the anti-terror forces in the UK.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment