by Canon Jules Gomes, Focus on Western Islamism
Cops Told to Log Anti-Islam Talk Under State Anti-Muslim Hostility Definition
South Wales Police has shelved guidance instructing officers to record “anti-Islam” conversations that go beyond “legitimate” discussion of Islam, after legal threats and a complaint to Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The backlash against the “backdoor blasphemy law,” which follows the government’s recent definition of “anti-Muslim hostility,” comes amid mounting accusations of “two-tier” policing, with officers disciplined for raising questions about Islamism.
On June 10, the Free Speech Union (FSU), which had threatened to file a judicial review against the Welsh constabulary, announced that South Wales Police (SWP) had agreed to pause “the aligning” with the government’s definition to consider whether “they should maintain or amend the adoption,” pending guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
The government’s definition of “anti-Muslim hostility” covers the “prejudicial stereotyping” of Muslims, as well as criminal acts including verbal or written harassment or intimidation directed at Muslims.
Individual Officers Given Draconian Powers
However, SWP’s interpretation not only adds additional wording but also gives individual officers the powers to decide what is “legitimate” and thus creates “an unacceptable risk of unlawful interference with protected rights,” the FSU argued.
“This guidance would have had a serious chilling effect on free speech by handing officers the power to decide what constituted acceptable speech relating to Islam and Muslims—in a country that abolished blasphemy laws 18 years ago,” the FSU warned. “Anything logged as beyond ‘legitimate’ discussion of Islam would be recorded as an ‘anti-social behavior incident.’”