New Evidence Reveals Police in Europe Target Minorities Excessively
Pervasive use of ethnic and religious stereotypes by law enforcement across Europe is harming efforts to combat crime and terrorism, according to a new report by the Open Society Justice Initiative.
Ethnic Profiling in the European Union examines the scope of ethnic profiling, showing how police officers in the U.K., France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands routinely use generalizations about race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin when deciding whom to target for stops, searches, raids, and surveillance.
The report analyzes ethnic profiling both in ordinary policing and in counterterrorism, and finds that it is not just a violation of European laws and international human rights norms—it is also an ineffective use of police resources that leaves the public less safe. The damage from ethnic profiling—to the rule of law, to effective law enforcement, to police-community relations, and especially to those who are targeted—is considerable.
Ethnic profiling—a longstanding practice that has increased since 9/11—is pervasive in the European Union. In France and Italy, raids on homes, businesses, and mosques—often lacking a basis in specific evidence—have targeted Muslims. In Germany, police have used preventive powers to conduct mass identity checks outside major mosques. And in the United Kingdom, stops and searches of British Asians shot up five-fold after the July 2005 London Underground bomb attacks.
In addition to providing a comprehensive examination of ethnic profiling and considering the legality of the practice, Ethnic Profiling in the European Union offers effective alternatives that increase security, advance counterterrorism efforts, and respect human rights.
Click here to order a printed copy. Please be sure to include your name, mailing address, and number of copies requested.
Contact: Luis Montero, +44 (20) 70311704, luis.montero@osf-eu.org; or Amy P. Weil, +1 (212) 548-0381, aweil@sorosny.org.
Tags: EU, European Union, Human Rights, Muslims, Profiling, Racial Profiling
Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/yd6xaug
