Combating religious hate crimes in UK
Saturday, 12 June 2010
M. A. Muid Khan
Despite having the British government's pledge and policy against the Religious hate crime and the best efforts of political and community leaders to foster tolerance and understanding, the recent threat form far right English Defence Group, to cause a summer of unrest by targeting some of the UK's highest profile Muslim communities including Tower Hamlets has plagued the whole Muslim Community of the UK, creating tides of racial and religious tensions. The media reported that the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the whole United Kingdom, is planning to march through the borough.
Hate crimes, hate crime or bias/motivated crimes are defined as offences motivated by hatred against a victim based on his or her race, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, ethnicity, or national origin.
Religious hate crimes happen when someone is attacked or threatened because of his religion or belief. Although racial and religious hatred may seem very similar, the police and the courts may treat racial crimes differently to religious ones.
Under the existing laws of the United Kingdom, it is illegal to say anything or produce any written material that tries to persuade someone to commit a criminal offence against another race or group of people. This means that leaflets, flyers or speeches that promote crime against people because of their religion are against the law. This is called incitement to religious hatred.
The proposed hate march against the Muslim Community is clearly an attack on its race and religion. This means it can be treated as a racially and religiously aggravated or motivated march. It is clear from the declaration that the perpetrators' main motivation is based on prejudice or their hatred of Muslim. Therefore, the perpetrators should be restrained immediately from taking any such action with the threat of severe sentence under the existing laws of the land.
Background
Concept of hate crimes/religious hate crimes are not new in the human history and have shaped and sometimes defined world history. Campaigner for the proposed hate march should look at the history and be very careful before taking any of their intended march as it would cause greater individual and societal harm among the Muslims and non-Muslims creating a climate of hate. It would also inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. British Society then, in turn, would suffer from the disempowerment of a group of people. The chances for retaliatory crimes would become greater after the completion of the proposed hate march. Examples from the past include Roman persecution of Christians, the Ottoman genocide of Armenians, and the Nazi "final solution" for the Jews, and more recently, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda.
History reveals that a "skinhead" who painted a swastika on the wall of a synagogue had not merely committed an act of vandalism; he had communicated a message of ethnic loathing to everyone within eyeshot, whether Jew or Gentile. He had scrawled a symbol that for many observers will invoke memories of concentration camps, Kristallnacht, the Holocaust, and World War II-a symbol that has galvanized and inspired dread among individuals and nations for more than 60 years.
In another example, the riots in Los Angeles, California that followed the beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist, by a group of White police officers are cited as support for this argument. The beating of white truck driver Reginald Denny by black rioters during the same riot is also an example that would support this argument.
In the United States, racial and religious biases largely have inspired most hate crimes. As Europeans began to colonize the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries, Native Americans increasingly became the targets of bias/motivated intimidation and violence. During the past two centuries, some of the more typical examples of hate crimes in this Nation include the lynching of African Americans, cross burnings to drive black families from predominantly white neighbourhoods, assaults on homosexuals, and the painting of swastikas on Jewish synagogues.
In the light of the above definition, historical background and possible psychological and emotional damage in the society, the English Defence Group should stop its proposed hate march for the sake of safety and security of the society and country as a whole.
Laws in UK
In the United Kingdom, any hateful behaviour towards a victim based on the victim's membership (or presumed membership) in a racial group or a religious group an aggravation in sentencing for specified crimes, is punishable under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. A "racial group" is a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. A "religious group" is a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. The specified crimes are assault, criminal damage, offences under the Public Order Act 1986, and offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Beside these, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 compels a court to consider whether a crime which is not specified by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is racially or religiously aggravated.
Any person who feels aggrieved of the proposed march of the English Defence Group, can also apply for a "Judicial Review" before the High Court of Justice to obtain injunction to prevent the group from organising any march to "cause a summer of unrest by targeting some of the UK's high profile Muslim communities" in Tower Hamlets.
Proper and effective implementation of the existing legislation will enable the government to stop the English Defence Group from committing hate related crimes through their summer march against the Muslim Community. Otherwise, retaliatory crimes will spread in the country, as the proposed hate march by the English Defence Group will only intimidate and disrupt entire Muslim community and vitiate the civility that is essential to healthy democratic processes.
Many police jurisdictions, especially those in rural areas, simply would not have the manpower as we have witnessed in the recent mass killings in Cambria, to combat the hate crimes, which will only cause cultural, political, and economic repercussions in the diverse community in the whole country.
Recommendation
With a view to combat the forthcoming hate march, the government should take pre-emptive steps by declaring any of the hate related campaign and march as illegal. The government should also take effective steps to stop racial stereotypes in films and on television, hate-filled discourse on talk shows or in political advertisements, the use of racial code language such as "welfare mothers" and "inner city thugs," and an individual's personal experiences with members of particular minority groups.
With a view to stop recurrence of any religious/hate related crime or campaign, the government should also take appropriate steps.
The British government should take pre-emptive steps to combat the upcoming possible tides of hate crimes by banning the proposed hate march of far right English Defence Group. Any person "aggrieved" of the proposed hate march can also submit a Judicial Review application before the High Court seeking an injunction against any of the proposed hate march. The government can also combat the upcoming hate march by declaring it illegal under the Public safety and protection order.
The writer is a Barrister. He can be contacted at e-mail : barristermuid@yahoo.co.uk
Despite having the British government's pledge and policy against the Religious hate crime and the best efforts of political and community leaders to foster tolerance and understanding, the recent threat form far right English Defence Group, to cause a summer of unrest by targeting some of the UK's highest profile Muslim communities including Tower Hamlets has plagued the whole Muslim Community of the UK, creating tides of racial and religious tensions. The media reported that the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the whole United Kingdom, is planning to march through the borough.
Hate crimes, hate crime or bias/motivated crimes are defined as offences motivated by hatred against a victim based on his or her race, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, ethnicity, or national origin.
Religious hate crimes happen when someone is attacked or threatened because of his religion or belief. Although racial and religious hatred may seem very similar, the police and the courts may treat racial crimes differently to religious ones.
Under the existing laws of the United Kingdom, it is illegal to say anything or produce any written material that tries to persuade someone to commit a criminal offence against another race or group of people. This means that leaflets, flyers or speeches that promote crime against people because of their religion are against the law. This is called incitement to religious hatred.
The proposed hate march against the Muslim Community is clearly an attack on its race and religion. This means it can be treated as a racially and religiously aggravated or motivated march. It is clear from the declaration that the perpetrators' main motivation is based on prejudice or their hatred of Muslim. Therefore, the perpetrators should be restrained immediately from taking any such action with the threat of severe sentence under the existing laws of the land.
Background
Concept of hate crimes/religious hate crimes are not new in the human history and have shaped and sometimes defined world history. Campaigner for the proposed hate march should look at the history and be very careful before taking any of their intended march as it would cause greater individual and societal harm among the Muslims and non-Muslims creating a climate of hate. It would also inflict on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the very fabric of free society. British Society then, in turn, would suffer from the disempowerment of a group of people. The chances for retaliatory crimes would become greater after the completion of the proposed hate march. Examples from the past include Roman persecution of Christians, the Ottoman genocide of Armenians, and the Nazi "final solution" for the Jews, and more recently, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and genocide in Rwanda.
History reveals that a "skinhead" who painted a swastika on the wall of a synagogue had not merely committed an act of vandalism; he had communicated a message of ethnic loathing to everyone within eyeshot, whether Jew or Gentile. He had scrawled a symbol that for many observers will invoke memories of concentration camps, Kristallnacht, the Holocaust, and World War II-a symbol that has galvanized and inspired dread among individuals and nations for more than 60 years.
In another example, the riots in Los Angeles, California that followed the beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist, by a group of White police officers are cited as support for this argument. The beating of white truck driver Reginald Denny by black rioters during the same riot is also an example that would support this argument.
In the United States, racial and religious biases largely have inspired most hate crimes. As Europeans began to colonize the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries, Native Americans increasingly became the targets of bias/motivated intimidation and violence. During the past two centuries, some of the more typical examples of hate crimes in this Nation include the lynching of African Americans, cross burnings to drive black families from predominantly white neighbourhoods, assaults on homosexuals, and the painting of swastikas on Jewish synagogues.
In the light of the above definition, historical background and possible psychological and emotional damage in the society, the English Defence Group should stop its proposed hate march for the sake of safety and security of the society and country as a whole.
Laws in UK
In the United Kingdom, any hateful behaviour towards a victim based on the victim's membership (or presumed membership) in a racial group or a religious group an aggravation in sentencing for specified crimes, is punishable under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. A "racial group" is a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. A "religious group" is a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. The specified crimes are assault, criminal damage, offences under the Public Order Act 1986, and offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
Beside these, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 compels a court to consider whether a crime which is not specified by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is racially or religiously aggravated.
Any person who feels aggrieved of the proposed march of the English Defence Group, can also apply for a "Judicial Review" before the High Court of Justice to obtain injunction to prevent the group from organising any march to "cause a summer of unrest by targeting some of the UK's high profile Muslim communities" in Tower Hamlets.
Proper and effective implementation of the existing legislation will enable the government to stop the English Defence Group from committing hate related crimes through their summer march against the Muslim Community. Otherwise, retaliatory crimes will spread in the country, as the proposed hate march by the English Defence Group will only intimidate and disrupt entire Muslim community and vitiate the civility that is essential to healthy democratic processes.
Many police jurisdictions, especially those in rural areas, simply would not have the manpower as we have witnessed in the recent mass killings in Cambria, to combat the hate crimes, which will only cause cultural, political, and economic repercussions in the diverse community in the whole country.
Recommendation
With a view to combat the forthcoming hate march, the government should take pre-emptive steps by declaring any of the hate related campaign and march as illegal. The government should also take effective steps to stop racial stereotypes in films and on television, hate-filled discourse on talk shows or in political advertisements, the use of racial code language such as "welfare mothers" and "inner city thugs," and an individual's personal experiences with members of particular minority groups.
With a view to stop recurrence of any religious/hate related crime or campaign, the government should also take appropriate steps.
The British government should take pre-emptive steps to combat the upcoming possible tides of hate crimes by banning the proposed hate march of far right English Defence Group. Any person "aggrieved" of the proposed hate march can also submit a Judicial Review application before the High Court seeking an injunction against any of the proposed hate march. The government can also combat the upcoming hate march by declaring it illegal under the Public safety and protection order.
The writer is a Barrister. He can be contacted at e-mail : barristermuid@yahoo.co.uk