Global Courant
ISTANBUL
Ethnic minorities in Britain “are racially discriminated against” by police officers based on misinformation and suspicion, according to a British human rights defender.
In an interview with Anadolu, the spokesperson of the London-based independent defense organization CAGE, Muhammed Musa, spoke about the “discriminatory and misogynistic” behavior of the British police in the light of recent reports and events.
“In recent years, public trust and confidence in the police has been declining,” he said, adding that over the past 12 years there have been numerous reports of police misconduct.
Mussa referred to a report by Baroness Louise Casey on the Metropolitan Police’s standards of conduct and domestic culture, released in March, which called the Met “institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.”
He described the reports as “hard insights into how he handles his dealings with the police and civilians” and said they touched on police misconduct, including violence, immorality and misogyny.
“There are many instances of Muslims being stopped at airports by the police because British Muslims went on vacation and came back to the UK and were just carrying Muslim names or had beards or beards because they looked like a certain character, so to speak.”
He added that the police officers had gone too far, with “false information” and “suspect”, by arbitrarily and “illegally” detaining large numbers of Muslims and the ethnic minority who appeared to be Muslims.
“Even I have been subjected to this discrimination. I have also worked with many people who have been wrongfully arrested just because they are Muslims.”
Trust, confidence drops to 40%
Talking about the 87 percent white and 71 percent male profile of the Metropolitan Police, Mussa said that there is a significant discrepancy and inequality between the London population and the police force, especially since London is an “ethnically diverse city and center of multiculturalism”. “
Criticizing the recent increase in police powers to stop and search people on suspicion, he pointed out that cops can stop someone without a warrant.
Mussa recalled an incident in December 2020 when a 15-year-old female student from a black ethnic group was searched naked at her school by Metropolitan Police officers.
The incident occurred on unfounded suspicions that he was in possession of marijuana. However, the Metropolitan Police later apologized for the treatment of the girl.
“So this is one of many examples of how police forces, especially in London, are increasingly racist, xenophobic and misogynistic,” he added.
“It’s not surprising that ethnic minorities have less trust and confidence,” said Mussa, referring to a YouGov survey released in April that found confidence in the UK police force has dropped to 40% nationwide.
“More and more, they feel like they are being watched, constantly being watched, spied on and patrolled by the police, as if their communities are turning into prisons.
They are targeted, stereotyped, racially discriminated, and there is very, very low trust and confidence in them, especially among Muslims and blacks,” he added.
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