A human rights group called today for a ban on using ethnic and religious profiling to fight crime and terrorism in Europe after a report found it ineffective, counter-productive and discriminatory.
The Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) based its findings on four years of research into ethnic and religious profiling - the use of ethnic or religious characteristics to determine whether a person is likely to commit a crime.
"It doesn't work," said James Goldston, executive director of the OSJI, which promotes law reform based on human rights and is a programme with the Open Society Institute founded by hedge-fund billionaire and philanthropist George Soros.
"It makes things worse. It subjects innocent people to arbitrary stops, to travel restrictions, employment and banking restrictions, it humiliates people and stigmatises a whole ethnic community," Mr Goldston told a news conference.
The OSJI report cited evidence from countries across the European Union that showed police routinely use generalisations about ethnicity, religion, race and national origin in deciding whom to target for identity checks, stops and searches.
It said ethnic profiling occurred most often in police decisions about whom to stop, question, search or arrest, but there was no evidence that ethnic profiling prevented terrorism or reduced crime rates.
The report recommended that the 27-nation EU adopt a framework defining ethnic profiling, making clear it is illegal and providing safeguards against it.
Describing widespread profiling in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Britain, the report said 32 percent of British Muslims had reported being subjected to discrimination at airports since the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the United States.
It said data showed stops of people of Asian descent had increased three-fold since the September 11th attacks and five-fold since attacks on the London transport network on July 7th, 2005, which killed 52 people.
In Germany, police have used preventive powers to conduct mass identity checks outside major mosques. In France and Italy, raids on homes, businesses and mosques have targeted Muslims, particularly those considered religiously observant.
The report said minorities and immigrant communities had reported discriminatory treatment which was likely to alienate people who might otherwise work with the police to help reduce crime and prevent terrorism.
"It is bad for the police and everybody's security because it means those communities don't trust the police and they are not going to provide information which the police crucially depend on in combating crime and terrorism," Mr Goldston said.
Reuters