STORY
Amnesty International UK has backed calls for the Government’s Prevent counter terrorism programme to be abolished, describing discussion about its future as “long overdue”. The human rights organisation was responding to reports that the Green Party’s Crime and Justice Working Group has proposed scrapping Prevent as part of a wider package of criminal justice policies being considered ahead of the party’s autumn conference.
Rebecca Barnes, Racial Justice Campaigner at Amnesty International UK, claimed Prevent was ineffective and discriminatory and disproportionately affected Muslim and racialised communities, as well as children and neurodiverse people. Amnesty said figures released last year showed that despite record numbers of referrals to Prevent, around 80% of cases were not considered to require intervention through Channel, the programme which provides support to people considered vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Barnes said she hoped the Greens would adopt the proposal and that other political parties would follow.
The Government continues to defend Prevent, describing it as a critical part of the UK’s counter terrorism strategy and an early intervention programme intended to stop people becoming involved in or supporting terrorism. The Home Office said earlier this month that more than 6,000 people had received interventions intended to steer them away from violent ideologies since 2015. It said the programme allows professionals, families and members of the public to raise concerns about people who may be susceptible to radicalisation and argued that Prevent remains necessary because the terrorist threat facing the UK is continuing to evolve.