News & events
Annual Independent Review Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006
A report by David Anderson, QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. CAMPACC was involved in organising meetings of delegates from the Kurdish, Baloch and Communities with David Anderson.
The report takes into account David's conversation with community groups and reflects the concerns of the diaspora communities. The idea was to convey to him the impact that the terrorism legislation has on criminalising communities. The report does acknowledge these conversations and outlines the concerns of the communities.
Section 4.42 -4.46 records the consequences of blacklisting on the collective life of these communities: the chilling effect that this has on lawful political discussion and organisation; the disciplining effect of suspicion on individuals in terms of what is politically acceptable and what is not acceptable; the overt and covert surveillance; the attempt to recruit informers etc.
Section 9 of the report tackles the Schedule 7 powers which allow immigration officers to stop and questions travellers at the point of entry. These powers have been a matter of great concerns for the communities we work with and other community organisations such as Cageprisoners, Federation of Students from Islamic Societies, Muslim Council of Britain amongst others. David Anderson had consulted these organisations and records the reaction of these communities to the use of these powers. There was a strong feeling of racial and religious profiling in their operation.
We welcome the openness David Anderson has shown to the communities and his willingness to listen to their concerns.