'We must stand united against the hatred of a few'

Groups across Portsmouth have vowed to 'stand united against hatred' after a demonstration by a right-wing group in the city.
The English Defence League led a protest outside the city's Jami mosque on Saturday, as reported in The News.
Demonstrators claimed to be campaigning after a small group of Muslim extremists in central London burned poppies on November 11, though no Portsmouth Muslims were involved.

But they were met at the mosque in Victoria Road South, Southsea, by scores of members of the local community who opposed their protest.

Jatin Patel, of Portsmouth's Racial Harassment Forum, said: 'It's good Portsmouth united against the EDL.

'The burning of poppies was nothing to do with the city. So why send people from London, where it happened? We are united against hatred.'

Missiles, including bottles and firecrackers, were thrown by the mosque protesters. A 20-year-old Portsmouth man was arrested on suspicion of affray and was bailed until December 15.

Southsea resident, Linda Spence, 50, who had gone to the mosque to show solidarity against the EDL, said: 'It was terrifying. When they threw things, I wanted to go. But I looked around and thought the more of us there were, the safer we would all be. They were shouting "Go back to where you came from" but we were all from Portsmouth.'

DI Nigel Oliver said the investigation continued, adding: 'This was an unusual event for Portsmouth and for the most part the demonstrations were peaceful.

'We are, however, pursuing those responsible for causing trouble and we'll be dealing with them appropriately. Much of the evidence will come from footage of the protest and we're in the process of collating that from various sources.

'We've got CCTV images but there were also a lot of people taking photographs and videos of the protest and I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has material that may help us.'

City council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: 'A few of these misguided campaigners were from Portsmouth but most seemed to be from outside the city.'

Portsmouth News

VEN DIE IN FIRE IN IMMIGRANT HOSTEL IN DIJON, FRANCE

Seven people have been killed and 11 seriously injured by a fire in a nine-storey hostel housing immigrants in the eastern French city of Dijon. One person died after jumping from the seventh floor of the building, while the other six died from the effects of smoke inhalation. More than 130 people were evacuated from the building, many also suffering from smoke inhalation. An investigation into the cause of blaze has been launched.

Spread rapidly
Two of the dead were from Senegal, one was Algerian and another Vietnamese. The other three were French nationals. "For the moment we are not describing what happened as a crime," senior prosecutor, Eric Lallement, said. Firefighters said the blaze began in a rubbish bin in an adjacent building at around 0130 (0030 GMT). It is said to have spread rapidly from there to the side of the hostel. Insulation in the building helped the blaze spread and also generated large amounts of smoke, fire brigade Commander Jean-Louis Marc told Agence France-Presse news agency. The thick, acrid smoke prevented many of the residents from escaping. "Some people jumped out of windows," Mr Marc added. An official from the mayor's office in Dijon told Reuters news agency: "The winds were unfavourable, blowing the flames against the wall of the building." A number of children were among those receiving medical treatment after the fire. Three of the 93 firefighters who battled the blaze also suffered from smoke inhalation. Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux is expected to visit the scene of the blaze on Sunday afternoon. Immigration Minister Eric Besson said: "Last night's fire shocks me because it affected people and families that France has welcomed in, and who were bringing to our country not only their work, but also the richness of their cultures and their origins." The hostel is managed by the state-owned company, Adoma, which specialises in housing facilities for immigrants, according to AFP.

BBC News

We’re joining forces to stamp out hate crime (UK)

Prosecutors and police have signed a series of pledges to crack down on hate crime and ensure culprits are punished properly.

West Mercia Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have drawn up three groundbreaking agreements which will see them work more closely to tackle racial, religious, homophobic, transphobic and disability hate crimes.

Both agencies have vowed to make all hate crimes “high priority” and bring more offenders to justice by providing better support for victims and witnesses.

Staff will be trained to follow the strict guidelines set out in the agreements and performance will be regularly monitored to make sure evidence is gathered properly.

Colin Chapman, chief crown prosecutor for West Mercia CPS and hate crime co-ordinator, said the agreements would allow the agencies to work together more effectively.

He said: “These types of crimes are based on ignorance and discrimination and have no place in an open and democratic society.

“Sadly, a large number of crimes against such communities are still not reported.

“We want to increase prosecutions for these crimes and to do this, we rely on people coming forward and reporting such crimes.

“I hope that through these service level agreements, the community will have the confidence in us so that they can come forward and report these crimes knowing that we will support them every step of the way in the prosecution process.

“The CPS is determined to get justice for every person we serve and, where we have sufficient evidence that a crime was based on hostility towards someone’s sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or race, prosecutors will argue that this is an aggravating factor in court.”

Simon Edens, assistant chief constable for West Mercia Police, said the move was a “step forward” in tackling hate crime and would help more victims to come forward.

He said: “Hate crime is different to other forms of crime as it targets people because of their identity. It is a form of discrimination that infringes upon human rights. It creates fear in victims, groups and communities.

“We understand it is sometimes difficult to report it to the police. If you are a victim or know someone who is, there are various agencies in place to give support and offer guidance.”

There were 317 hate crimes reported across the county between April 2008 and April 2009 and 320 were reported between April 2009 and April 2010. Police believe the number of actual crimes committed is much higher.

    * Key points set out in the three agreements:
    * A hate crime is defined as any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race, religion/faith, sexual orientation, transgender or disability.

    * Police must ensure all hate crimes cases are clearly identified and marked before handing over to CPS.

    * Police to record exact wording of any hate language used by offender. Include slang language, even if extremely offensive, in full. Include the name of any organisation.

    * Officers will include the perception of the victim or evidence which indicates the involvement of an extreme organisation.

    * The CPS will deal with hate crime expeditiously, giving prime consideration to the victim.

    * Incidents against disabled, lesbian, gay or bisexual people have been rarely reported or prosecuted – give victims and witnesses of such crime confidence that offences will be investigated sensitively, but with vigour.

    * Police to include specific reference to any scene of crime or nearby location that may relate to hate motivation or relate to a particular community.

Include descriptions of any property, whether belonging to the victim or offender, that could relate to the hatred motivation.

Worcester News

Racist thugs urinate on shop sweets (UK)

Shop owners have been outraged by drunk, racist thugs who urinated on a shop's sweet shelves in broad daylight.
Two drunks burst into newsagent Local in Dalkeith Place, Kettering, and began urinating on the sweets as the terrified female shopkeeper looked on.

Two family members alerted by the commotion came to her aid but were subjected to vile racist abuse.

Kamal Paul, who owns convenience store Paul's Stop and Shop opposite, said: "In the 13 years I have been in business it is the most disgusting, outrageous act I have witnessed."

Police raced to the scene and caught the two men as they abused the staff.

Both were arrested but have since been released on bail.

Jaz Singh, who owns the Premier store in Avondale Road, said: "They need locking up.

"It's like they were urinating in someone's home."

Billy Singh, who owns Roundhouse Stores in Argyll Street, added: "It's disgusting.

"I'm shocked. They should be named and shamed."

Insp Neil Dorothy, of Northamptonshire Police, said: "We attended Local after we received reports of two males urinating on confectionary in the store at about 3.30pm on Friday. Six officers attended. There were two or three police cars and foot officers as well.

"There was a disturbance taking place there as we arrived. It was a 999 emergency and we got there very quickly. There were people shouting in the background when the owner called us.

"Two people were arrested for criminal damage and racially aggravated public disorder."

Evening Telegraph

Social Network User Convicted of Racism (Russia)

A 21-year-old Samara resident has been given a one-year suspended sentence for forming a racist group on the popular Vkontakte social network.

The sentence, published on the Samara prosecutors' web site Friday, is raising legal questions because it pits the country’s tough extremism law against a social network.

Media experts voiced doubt that the law could be applied to a site not officially registered as a media outlet, but a prosecutor said it worked because the law also referred to public speech.
h
Samara resident Artyom Gnilomyodov founded a user group called “I am Russian and I have had enough of blacks in Russia,” which was linked to his dislike of people from the North Caucasus and Central Asia, in November 2009, prosecutors said in the statement.

In Russian, “black” is a derogatory word used to describe non-ethnic Russians from the North Caucasus and Central Asia.

During an Oct. 20 hearing, Gnilomyodov admitted his guilt, the statement said, adding that the sentence was legally binding.

Article 282 of the Criminal Code prohibits “the incitement of hate, enmity and breaching human dignity” against groups defined on national, racial or religious affiliation. Offenders can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The law says it applies to incitements made publicly or in the media, leading media experts to conclude that the court recognized Vkontakte as a media outlet.

Vkontakte spokesman Vladislav Tsyplukhin also said the court decision was odd because the site lacks media registration, but he refused further comment pending a review by company lawyers, RIA-Novosti reported.

But Samara prosecutor Denis Lazarev told Gazeta.ru that the ruling did not mean that social networks were now considered media but that in this case the law had been applied to a public statement.

In 2009, an Arkhangelsk court sentenced a local university student to 150 hours of forced labor for setting up a page with racist content, the news report said. Also, a Samara court in November 2009 ruled a nationalist video extremist, which led to a brief ban of YouTube.com by a court in the far eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Styled like a Russian clone of Facebook, Vkontakte claims to be the country’s largest social network with over 80 million registered users worldwide.

The Moscow Times

Stop and search plans are 'discriminatory', watchdog warns (UK)

Government plans allowing police to stop people on the grounds of skin colour are discriminatory and amount to racial profiling, the official equalities body has warned ministers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission wants the plans dropped and has warned there is a high risk that British and European laws will be broken, in a letter seen by the Guardian.

Serving officers represented by the Black Police Association have also damned the plans as a "concession to racism" as opposition to the measures intensifies.

The issue threatens to test the credibility of Conservative claims to be an inclusive party and drag the government into a dispute over race.

The Home Office says it intends to press ahead and introduce the guidance allowing race to be taken into account when a police officer stops someone if it is judged to be relevant. It says race cannot be the sole reason for deciding to conduct a search, and the government insists the new measures will "protect civil liberties".

The issue of the police stop-and-search powers is particularly controversial because officers are more likely to target a minority ethnic person than someone who is white. African-Caribbean people are already at least six times more likely to be stopped than white people under powers where an officer has reasonable suspicion to carry out a search.

The Home Office proposals cover stops where officers do not require reasonable suspicion, a power they have under section 60 of the Public Order Act, meaning police have maximum discretion. For these stops black people are 26 times more likely than white people to be targeted. Critics say this is blatant discrimination.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The proposed new guidelines make clear that ethnicity may not be used as the sole basis for stopping and searching anyone under section 60." But in its letter to the government, the commission said: "We consider there is a significant risk that this provision will result in race discrimination."

It adds there is a "high risk" it may lead to "a degree of racial profiling".

The commission says provisions on freedom from state intrusion and discrimination are likely to be broken unless the government backs down: "There is a high risk these powers would breach article 8, and or 14 of the European convention on human rights, and section 29 of the Equality Act 2010."

The Home Office plans to allow police to search people where there is no eyewitness description are also causing alarm. The measure will allow descriptions taken from CCTV images to be used, which is uncontroversial. But the commission and some police officers say the Home Office proposal is too widely drawn and may allow stops on the basis of "outright racial prejudice or hatred".

Opposition also comes in a letter from the Black Police Association, and signed by Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was killed by racists. The case of Stephen Lawrence led to measures aimed to tackle alleged police discrimination, some of which the government will abolish.

This includes the recording of stops and searches by officers, which allows for the gathering of data on the over-targeting of minority ethnic people by police.

In the letter, the black police officers, Lawrence and a coalition of minority ethnic groups say: "The new proposal to widen to widen this area opens the door to racial targeting that could be based on gossip, malice and outright racial prejudice.

"This particular change along with the abolishment of stop and account could vastly increase the stopping of young black men which is already wholly disproportionate, and would worsen police and community relations. By changing the guidance to allow a citizen's ethnicity to provide reasonable cause for the use of this intrusive power will result in the large-scale legitimisation of racism in policing.

"We believe that such a move will be seen as deeply provocative and a dangerous concession to racism."

The Home Office guidance reads: "There may be circumstances, however, where it is appropriate for officers to take account of an individual's ethnic origin in selecting persons and vehicles to be stopped in response to a specific threat or incident, but this must not be the sole reason for the stop. For example, when the authorising officer reasonably believes those likely to be responsible are associated with particular ethnic identities and passes that information on to the officers exercising the powers."

The Guardian has also learned that a national community panel set up to reduce the over-targeting of minority ethnic people was abolished in summer. It had been under the wing of the home office, but the last government transferred it to the National Policing Improvement Agency. Local panels were intended to replace it but they are not yet functioning.

Stops carried out under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 have already been dropped after the European court of human rights struck them down. Last year over 100,000 stops were carried out under section 44, without police making a single arrest for terrorism.

The American civil rights leader Rev Jesse Jackson has said Britain's moral authority is being damaged by the government's failure to stop the police discriminating against ethnic minorities

Isabella Sankey, policy director for Liberty, said: "It makes no sense to tighten up section 44 stop and search while making section 60 more discriminatory. A young, black man is already 26 times more likely to be stopped and searched under section 60 than his white counterparts – we urge ministers to think again."



The Guardian