A UN special rapporteur has criticized the UK’s Prevent Strategy for targeting Muslim communities, highlighting that its implementation is “inconsistent” with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Fionnuala Ni Aolain, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said the strategy has had a “negative and discriminatory effect on Muslim communities” and its implementation is “inconsistent” with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. While the effect of the initiative “has not been felt equally by all children,” Ni Aolain said, “minority ethnic or religious communities” were impacted in particular. She said the UN “has a number of concerns about the Prevent strategy” and that she addressed these kinds of government strategies used by the UK and other countries with the organization’s Human Rights Council.

Since becoming law in 2011, the strategy has been criticized by equality and rights groups for the challenge that it is believed to pose to liberties and the justice system’s foundations. There have been regular calls for the strategy’s removal due to its discriminatory nature against Muslims and because the UK government has failed to provide any evidence that it prevents terrorism. “In fact, we know of at least 13 people who have gone on to commit terrorist attacks and they were known to Prevent prior to their attacks and Prevent did not stop them,” said Layla Aitlhadj, the director of Prevent Watch, a campaign group that supports people affected by the strategy.

Source: TRT World