UK - Amnesty attacks racism in criminal justice system 

     Amnesty International today condemned the government for its
     "absolutely inadequate" response to allegations of police 
     brutality and deaths in custody.

     It said the police regularly use harsher measures against the
     black community and courts hand down tougher sentences to
     black offenders. 

     Launching a report into racial injustices throughout the 
     world, the human rights group urged the government to look
     "closer to home" at its record of institutional racism in the
     police force as well as racial disparities in the rest of the
     justice system. 

     Kate Gilmore, chief executive of Amnesty International's 
     international secretariat, said today: "The government in the 
     UK - including its police force - in Amnesty International's
     view falls below the standards that every citizen could
     reasonably expect of it. 

     "Its response to reports of ill treatment by police, to deaths
     in custody and to the investigation of racism at the hands of
     police officials has been absolutely inadequate," she said. 

     She added that the government shared responsibility for acts
     of racial abuse because it had failed to act on reports of
     abuse with due diligence. 

     Amnesty International's research has shown that the police
     target the black community with particular practices such
     as stop and search operations. Black people faced more 
     serious charges for the same offences than whites, were 
     less likely to be just cautioned and were more likely to be
     imprisoned. Black people were also under-represented among
     officials of the criminal justice system. 

     The report further alleges "widespread" racism in a large
     number of British prisons. It cites the murder of 19-year-old
     Zahid Mubarek by a racist and violent cellmate in Feltham
     young offenders' institution and remand centre. 

     Ms Gilmore said the recent race riots in Britain had shown
     how close to home the challenges of equality were. She said
     she had no qualms about including the UK in a report which 
     also covered countries such as Rwanda, where up to 1m people
     were slaughtered in 100 days in ethnic violence. 

     "If you are subjected to torture, ill treatment and death in
     custody in prison, then the address provides no comfort to
     either you or your family," she said.


     Special report: race issues in the UK 
     Staff and agencies
     Wednesday July 25, 2001

     The Guardian - English broadsheet 

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