Press Releases |
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| 20 July 2010 |
The review of counter-terrorism powers announced last week by Home Secretary Theresa May is very welcome. It is to be hoped that it will mark the beginning of the end for the regime of oppressive anti-terrorism laws enacted by the Labour Government over the last decade.... Click title to read more
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| 16 March 2010 |
The Annual Report of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) confirms that a Government propaganda unit set up to tackle terrorism intervened to influence British public opinion during the Israeli attack on Gaza last year.... Click title to read more
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| 10 February 2010 |
SACC welcomes Tuesday's decision by the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh to quash Mohammed Atif Siddique's conviction under the controversial Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000,... Click title to read more
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| 14 January 2010 |
SACC welcomes Tuesday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that Stop and Search powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights ... Click title to read more
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| 03 November 2009 |
SACC has published a new briefing on the operation in Scotland of the Government's Prevent programme for tackling "violent extremism."... Click title to read more
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| 30 June 2009 |
Mohammed Atif Siddique, a young Scot controversially convicted of terrorism will today, Tuesday 30 June, be beginning his appeal at Scotland's High Court of Judiciary in Edinburgh.
... Click title to read more
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| 12 June 2009 |
The fight against racism in Scotland is being undermined and discredited by a controversial counter-terrorism unit operating within the Scottish Government's Equalities Unit... Click title to read more
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| 09 June 2009 |
SACC welcomes news that CACI's role is to be cut back, but re-affirms its demand for the contract with CACI to be cancelled.... Click title to read more
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| 26 April 2009 |
SACC demands that Scottish ministers to use the powers available to them under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act to stop police interference in political activities.... Click title to read more
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| 19 March 2009 |
Journalist Kirsty Wark, TV presenter Rory Bremner, and radio presenter Grant Stott have highlighted the importance of the Scottish census ahead of its rehearsal in west Edinburgh, Lewis and Harris later this month. But a US court ruling against a company contracted to run the census has left the celebs on shaky ground.... Click title to read more
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| 17 March 2009 |
With just 12 days to go until the official rehearsal for the next Scottish Census, the exercise looks certain to be engulfed in controversy. Human rights campaigners are asking people to refuse to take part in the rehearsal in protest at the involvement of a controversial defence company that supplied interrogators to Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.... Click title to read more
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| 08 March 2009 |
The Scottish convoy taking medical aid to Gaza entered the besieged territory via the Rafah crossing yesterday afternoon with four 7.5 ton trucks, four transit vans, an ambulance and a jeep.... Click title to read more
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| 08 March 2009 |
The wife of a jailed Indian human rights activist is visiting Scotland as part of a UK speaking tour that she hopes will increase international pressure for his release. ... Click title to read more
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| 23 February 2009 |
SACC says "Welcome Home" to Binyam Mohamed, who arrived at Northolt military base, UK this afternoon after more than four years internment at Guantanamo Bay.... Click title to read more
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| 19 February 2009 |
Wednesday's decision by the Law Lords to allow the deportation of Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he faces "trial" on charges based on evidence obtained under torture, has been hailed as a "landmark ruling against terrorism suspects." In fact it is a landmark ruling against human rights.... Click title to read more
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| 11 February 2009 |
A US Federal Appeals Court was yesterday asked to consider whether torture victims abused in Abu Ghraib prison can bring legal proceedings against defence contractor CACI International Inc. The news follows the announcement by the Scottish Government last month that it has re-structured the contract for the next Scottish Census to prevent CACI - whose UK subsidiary is contracted to run the census - from obtaining access to personal data about Sottish households.... Click title to read more
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| 22 January 2009 |
SACC gives a cautious welcome to orders signed by President Obama today to close Guantanamo Bay but sats Obama could do better... Click title to read more
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| 18 January 2009 |
SACC says that says that nothing less than a move to immediately charge the Guantanamo prisoners or release them will rescue President-elect Barack Obama from confusion and illegality.... Click title to read more
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| 12 January 2009 |
Sunday 11 January was the seventh anniversary of the rendition of the first prisoners to Guantánamo Bay. SACC says: "It's time for Guantánamo Bay and the rest of George Bush's torture archipelago to be shut down. Britain should be demanding the immediate return of all the British residents still held there.""... Click title to read more
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| 21 November 2008 |
New revelations from the General Register Office of Scotland (GROS) will add to the controversy surrounding its decision to award a contract for the next Scottish census to a UK subsidiary of CACI International, a company that provided interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison and and has been linked to allegations of torture.... Click title to read more
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| 04 November 2008 |
A US Federal Court in Virginia will on Thursday be asked to throw out a lawsuit brought against defence contractor CACI by former Abu Ghraib prisoners... Click title to read more
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| 20 October 2008 |
The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) says that when it awarded controversial company CACI a contract for Scottish census it was "fully informed by the company about the work which CACI (UK)'s US parent undertook at Abu Ghraib." GROS also admits that it knew of CACI's plans to censor the media by threats of legal action.... Click title to read more
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| 08 October 2008 |
SACC has written to John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, calling on him to cancel the Scottish Census contract awarded to CACI Ltd. The letter reveals for the first time that two SACC members have received letters from lawyers representing CACI International threatening legal action over a statement published earlier on the SACC website.... Click title to read more
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| 04 September 2008 |
SACC is deeply concerned that CACI Ltd, a UK subsidiary of a company that has been involved in interrogating prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison, was in June awarded the contract to run the 2011 Scottish Census. ... Click title to read more
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| 03 July 2008 |
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) today wrote to the Law Society of Scotland urging it to consider taking action over what SACC says was a "misuse" of the law of contempt in the Aamer Anwar case.... Click title to read more
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| 30 June 2008 |
SACC welcomes the judgement given by three judges at Edinburgh High Court today that human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar did not commit contempt of court in statements he made last September following the conviction for "terrorism" of his client Mohammed Atif Siddique. ... Click title to read more
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| 26 June 2008 |
Judgement in the contempt of court case against Glasgow human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar will be given at Edinburgh High Court on Tuesday 1 July. It is set to make legal history on at least three counts... Click title to read more
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| 22 June 2008 |
John Vine, Chief Constable of Tayside - the man who was in charge of policing the G8 Summit at Gleneagles - is to receive a bumper bonus when he leaves the force. But details of th payoff are being kept secret.... Click title to read more
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| 22 June 2008 |
SACC welcomes the advice from Local Government Association chairman Sir Simon Milton that local councils should stop using controversial surveillance powers granted under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act to investigate trivial matters. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) must act nnow to restrain Scottish councils from misusing surveillance powers.... Click title to read more
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| 19 June 2008 |
SACC is alarmed by the latest so-called "counter-radicalisation" plan aimed at young Muslims in Scotland. The initiative aims to put MI5-inspired computer software in every Muslim family home in Scotland.... Click title to read more
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| 18 June 2008 |
Former Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg will be visiting Edinburgh on Friday... Click title to read more
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| 09 June 2008 |
As Parliament prepares for a key debate on controversial new anti-terror powers, SACC has learned that local authorities across Scotland are already using snooping powers that were designed to combat terrorism and serious crime in investigations of anti-social behaviour, smoking and other minor matters. ... Click title to read more
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| 05 June 2008 |
Next Wednesday's Commons vote on the government's plans to allow terrorist suspect to be held for up to 42 days promises to be a cliffhanger. There is likely to be a substantial rebellion against the plans on the Labour backbenches, with a number of MPs apparently still to make up their minds. ... Click title to read more
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| 09 May 2008 |
Mark Thomas, Bruce Kent and Gareth Pierce will address a protest against the government's Counter Terrorism Bill 2008 opposite to Downing Street with other civil society leaders from 5 to 7 pm on Monday 12 May 2008.... Click title to read more
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| 27 April 2008 |
SACC Press Release. The trial of human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar for contempt of court at the High Court in Edinburgh tomorrow will make legal history in at least two ways. It's the first time that charges of this sort have been brought against a lawyer in the UK. And for the first time in a Scottish court, an attempt to file a "third-party intervention" will be made.... Click title to read more
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| 26 April 2008 |
The Defend Aamer Anwar Campaign has today published an open letter in support of Aamer Anwar as a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Herald. ... Click title to read more
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| 24 April 2008 |
A public meeting is to be held in Edinburgh on Saturday to discuss issues raised by the contempt of court charges against human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar. Campaigners say that the case threatens freedom of speech. This is expected to be a key issue when the case is heard next Tuesday. Paddy Hill - one of the "Birmingham Six" wrongly convicted of IRA terrorism in 1974 - will be speaking at the meeting... Click title to read more
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| 21 April 2008 |
The University and College Union (UCU) Scotland has today added its weight to the swelling tide of support for embattled human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar... Click title to read more
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| 11 March 2008 |
Akif Wan, a representative of the Kurdistan National Congress UK, will be addressing a public meeting organised by civil liberties and anti-war campaigners in Edinburgh on Thursday. The meeting comes in the wake of a 10-day incursion by Turkish ground forces into Iraqi Kurdistan, supposedly in pursuit of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) guerrillas.... Click title to read more
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| 09 January 2008 |
Friday 11th January is the 6th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Leading figures from Scottish public life will be on the panel of a public meeting being held in Edinburgh on Friday evening to discuss Guantanamo Bay and the erosion of civil liberties and freedom of expression that the "war on terror" has brought to our own country... Click title to read more
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| 14 December 2007 |
SACC welcomes the announcement by Foreign Secretary David Milbiand yesterday confirming that three British men held at Guantanamo Bay will come home shortly. The three men are Jamil El Banna, Omar Deghayes and Abdennour Sameur. We share the relief and joy the men and their families must be feeling at this news. It has been a long time coming.... Click title to read more
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| 23 October 2007 |
At Edinburgh High Court today, Lord Carloway sentenced Mohammed Atif Siddique - convicted last month of "terrorism" offences - to a total of 8 years in jail.... Click title to read more
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| 17 September 2007 |
The media this morning are asking "Guilty.. But is Siddique really a terrorist?" Of course he isn't a terrorist. With a prosecution case that sought to manipulate the emotions of the jury, and terrorism laws so ill-drafted that it seems they can mean anything at all, the jury can hardly be blamed for getting it wrong.... Click title to read more
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| 07 July 2007 |
Our new, unelected, Security Minister Alan West has got off to a flying start. Just as you'd expect from a security minister, he has announced that he wants a security state. He says people must learn to "snitch" - his word - on friends, family and neighbours.... Click title to read more
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| 04 July 2007 |
Nicky Moss, producer of the acclaimed new film "Taking Liberties", will be taking part in a panel discussion following a screening of the film at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Saturday afternoon (7 July)... Click title to read more
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| 03 July 2007 |
An Asian-owned shop in Riddrie was destroyed yesterday by what press reports describe as a "massive fire and explosion." It's time for everyone to begin exercising a bit more caution in the way that they discuss the events of the last few days.... Click title to read more
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| 01 July 2007 |
Saturday's apparent attack on Glasgow airport has shocked everyone in Scotland. But the interests of justice will be served best if police stick to the tried and trusted methods contained in the ordinary criminal law, and avoid using the divisive powers granted them under terrorism laws.... Click title to read more
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| 15 June 2007 |
SACC has written to Holyrood Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill calling for an investigation into fears that Scottish airports have been used illegally in connection with CIA "extraordinary rendition" flights.... Click title to read more
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| 13 June 2007 |
SACC is stunned by the Law Lords decision on Monday not to hear Babar Ahmad's appeal against extradition to the US. In December last year the High Court in London, despite rejecting Babar Ahmad's appeal, gave certification for his case to be taken to the House of Lords. But the Law Lords ruled on Monday that the two points of Law presented to them were not matters of "public importance" and hence rejected the appeal.... Click title to read more
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| 07 June 2007 |
Brown stitched up the Labour leadership - now he wants to stitch up our liberty. We don't need any more bells and whistles bolted on to Britain's anti-terror laws. We need fundamental change to our anti-terror policies. We need laws that target criminals, laws that protect the innocent, laws that encourage careful, rational police work, laws that discourage drag-net investigations, discourage prejudice, discourage racism, discourage panic. In other words we need the ordinary criminal law, not gimmicks invented to boost the discredited "war on terror."... Click title to read more
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| 18 April 2007 |
As the Holyrood elections approach, human rights group Scotland Against Criminalising Communities is holding a conference in Glasgow with the theme "Rights and Resistance."... Click title to read more
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| 23 January 2007 |
SACC applauds today's decision by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to allow a number of events organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) to be publicised on its website. The events had previously been removed by the Holocaust Day Memorial Trust in a row over SPSC's staging of rehearsed readings of the controversial Holocaust play Perdition during Holocaust Memorial Week.... Click title to read more
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| 22 January 2007 |
SACC condemns as censorship the decision by Britain's Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to remove from its website a number of events organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign for Holocaust Memorial Week. SACC supports all the censored events.... Click title to read more
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| 11 January 2007 |
MSPs, campaigning groups and individuals pledged at a meeting held in Scottish Parliament today to press for the closure of the the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.... Click title to read more
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| 06 December 2006 |
Craig Murray, a former student at Dundee University who served for two years as Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan, will be speaking today at a meeting hosted by Dundee Trades Union Council. The visit comes as controversy continues to grow over the activities of Tayside's anti-terror police. There is particular concern over the possibility that intelligence gathered by a Tayside anti-terror unit could be shared with agencies in countries where human rights abuses are commonplace.... Click title to read more
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| 19 November 2006 |
Concerns over the activities of Tayside's controversial Special Branch Community Contact Unit (SBCCU) were discussed at the civil liberties sesion of a conference organised by Dundee Social Forum on Saturday.... Click title to read more
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| 03 November 2006 |
The Muslim Association of Britain and Scotland Against Criminalising Communities will be holding a public meeting in Dundee on Monday in response to the growing controversy over the monitoring of school and university students by "anti-terrorist" police from Special Branch.... Click title to read more
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| 15 October 2006 |
The scandal surrounding the government's use of contradictory evidence against people that it wishes to deport as "threats to national security" shows yet again that the parallel justice system operating in such cases is nothing more than a system of sanitised injustice. The scandal came to light last week when it was revealed that a high court judge chairing the Special Immigration Appeals Commission had ruled in May that the Home Office case against an Algerian man known only as "MK" had not been sufficiently "fact driven."... Click title to read more
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| 08 October 2006 |
SACC applauds the statement by Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm reported in Scottish editions of today's Metro that Muslim women are welcome at his Leith constituency surgery whether or not their faces are covered. But we fear that Jack Straw's recent disgraceful remarks are more than just a foolish eccentricity.... Click title to read more
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| 06 October 2006 |
Jack Straw's statement yesterday that Muslim women should not cover their faces marks a new low in the government's approach to community and race relations. It comes only a couple of weeks after John Reid's offensive instruction to Muslim parents to watch out for "extremism" in their kids.... Click title to read more
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| 06 October 2006 |
SACC supports the call by Amnesty International for the UK government to fulfil its obligations under domestic and international law and ensure the immediate return to the UK of all the British residents held at Guantanamo Bay.... Click title to read more
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| 17 September 2006 |
Anti-war campaigners at a Dundee University freshers fair on Saturday found themselves secretly targeted by terror police. A man who approached campaigners at a Stop The War stall and asked about future activities turned out to be a Special Branch officer who has been working with Tayside's controversial Special Branch Community Contact Unit (SBCCU). According to Alan Hinnrichs, chair of the Dundee branch of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the man did not identify himself as a police officer. His identity only came to light because he was recognised by a member of the University Islamic Society who had invited... Click title to read more
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| 13 August 2006 |
SACC welcomes yesterday's statement by Scotland's universities that there was no evidence of "extremist" groups operating among their students. The statement follows an article in the Sunday Telegraph claiming that the paper had found "extremist literature" in rooms used by London Metropolitan University Islamic Society. The Sunday Telegraph says it also found copies of a "Know Your Rights Pamphlet." Our campaign distributes this leaflet in Scotland and we commend it to everyone, and especially to members of the Muslim community... Click title to read more
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| 03 July 2006 |
The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, this morning held a public consultation in Glasgow as part of his review into the definition of terrorism on behalf of the Government.
... Click title to read more
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| 25 June 2006 |
The BBC yesterday didn't manage to spot 30 or more protestors, some large banners saying "Stop Torture", a man in a Guantanamo-style orange suit, handcuffs and a mask and a rather famous former British ambassador called Craig Murray. These aren't things that blend easily into a Saturday afternoon crowd at Edinburgh airport, but the BBC managed somehow to overlook them and report "Demonstrations at Edinburgh and Prestwick failed to materialise." The demonstrators were protesting at the failure of the Scottish Executive, the Westminster government and police to take action over growing evidence that British airports are being used to facilitate... Click title to read more
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| 13 June 2006 |
Campaigners are calling for an immediate halt to the activities of the controversial Special Branch Community Contact Unit operated by Tayside Police. The Unit targets "ethnic religious groups" in order to gather intelligence on activities that "could be considered extremist." The call follows revelations about the Unit's activities published in the Sunday Herald on 11th June.... Click title to read more
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| 07 June 2006 |
Scotland Against Criminalsing Communities (SACC) welcomes the publication today of the report by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty on alleged secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers involving Council of Europe member states. The report is scheduled to be debated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 27 June. SACC joins with other peace and human rights groups in calling for vigils to be held at airports in the UK and the Republic of Ireland on Saturday 24th June to demand that our governments implement the recommendations made by Senator Marty and that governments and police forces... Click title to read more
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| 31 May 2006 |
We are shocked that Professor Paul Wilkinson of St Andrews University used the International Press Institute Conference in Edinburgh this week to promote the tired and racist ideology of a "clash of civilisations". He was speaking at a session entitled "Journalism Under Pressure - Reporting Terrorism." According to a report in today's Scotsman (Thursday 1 June), he referred repeatedly to a battleground with "the West" on one side and al-Qaeda standing in for an unspecified other side. This is the kind of talk that risks dividing the world and dividing our country. Millions of British people reject the British government's... Click title to read more
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| 25 May 2006 |
Police announced this week that the Special Branch Community Contact Unit operating in Tayside on a trial basis since last October is to be made permanent. And it appears that the scheme is set to be adopted by other Scottish police forces. Police consider the Tayside unit to be a success. This is not a view that we share.... Click title to read more
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| 10 May 2006 |
John Reid's speech today on the July bombings was deeply depressing. He rejected calls for an public inquiry into the bombings, which is clearly the only way that the facts of the tragedy can be established with any confidence. Instead we have only a "narrative" told by the police and the intelligence services. And he made it plain that there will be no change in the direction of the government's misguided counter-terrorism strategy, which is suppressing political discussion and putting minority communities under siege, and risks creating new recruits for terrorism.... Click title to read more
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| 25 April 2006 |
SACC is alarmed at the arrest of three more men in the Stirling area on Monday on suspicion of connection with "terrorism". The heavy-handed arrests have caused great distress to the men's families and are likely to spread fear throughout the Muslim community in the region.... Click title to read more
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| 07 April 2006 |
On Wednesday 12 April, the STUC Annual Congress in Perth will vote on a resolution urging the Scottish Executive and Scottish police forces to investigate suspicions that US aircraft landing at Scottish airports are involved in so-called "extraordinary renditions" . SACC will be hosting a lunch-time fringe meeting in Perth on Tuesday to discuss British involvement in extraordinary rendition and torture. Speakers at the meeting will include Clara Gutteridge, a lawyer who has been giving advice to Westminster's All-Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Renditions, chaired by Andrew Tyrie MP. Clara Gutteridge has uncovered extensive evidence that British intelligence services have... Click title to read more
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| 28 March 2006 |
Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram told Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights yesterday that it would be a "diplomatic error" for UK officials to board US aircraft to investigate their involvement in "extraordinary rendition." This contradicts assurances given in January by the US Consul in Scotland, Cecile Shea. At a meeting with human rights campaigners held at the consulate in Edinburgh on 17 January she made it clear that there would be no US objection to police carrying out investigations on specific aircraft where there were reasonable grounds to suspect involvement in illegal activities.... Click title to read more
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| 10 March 2006 |
Rachid Ramda, an Algerian man being tried on terrorism charges in France, has refused to participate in his own trial and has asked his lawyer to take no part in the proceedings. The court had earlier refused a request for the trial to be delayed to allow time for police to investigate allegations that key evidence against Mr Ramda had been obtained through torture. Mr Ramda's decision will be understood and respected by his many friends and supporters in Britain. He has always insisted that he is innocent of any involvement in the bombings he is accused of helping to... Click title to read more
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| 10 March 2006 |
Rachid Ramda, un algérien en instance de jugement pour terrorisme en France,
a refusé de participer à son propre procès et a demandé à son avocat de ne
pas prendre part aux procédures. Le tribunal avait refuse une précédente
requête de suspension du procès pour permettre à la police de mener une
enquête sur les allégations selon lesquelles les principales accusations
contre Mr Ramda avaient été obtenues sous la torture. La décision prise par
Mr Ramda est respectée par tous ses amis et supporteurs en Grande-Bretagne.
... Click title to read more
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| 08 March 2006 |
As evidence of British complicity in US torture flights continues to mount, Brian Donohoe, Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, has made public a letter from Jack Straw, dated 21 December 2005, in which the Foreign Secretary flatly refuses to take any steps to investigate British involvement in rendition. Instead, the Foreign Secretary repeats demonstrably misleading assurances from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The letter concludes with the remark "see you in the tea room."
... Click title to read more
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| 15 February 2006 |
MPs voted this afternoon by 315 to 277 to overturn a Lords defeat that would have removed from the Terorism Bill the clauses outlawing "glorification of terrorism". In doing so, they put Parliament on a collision course with justice.... Click title to read more
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| 06 February 2006 |
As the row over British complicity in US "torture flights" continues to grow, new evidence has been made public highlighting the human rights abuses suffered by foreign nationals suspected of "terrorism-related activities" by the British government. The latest allegations of abuse are contained in evidence submitted by campaigning group Scotland Against Criminalising Communities to the inquiry into counter-terrorism policy and human rights being conducted by Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights. Testimony submitted to the inquiry by the the multi-faith group Peace & Justice in East London is expected to tell a similar story.
... Click title to read more
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| 02 February 2006 |
Campaigners are to hold a vigil at Edinburgh airport this Sunday in protest at the apparent use of Scottish airports by CIA-owned aircraft involved in extraordinary rendition. The vigil is being organised by Edinburgh Stop The War Coalition and Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, who mounted a similar vigil on 18 December last year, provoking a strongly-worded response from US Consul Cecile Shea. The Consul was reported as saying that British officials would not be allowed to inspect CIA aircraft. She later told a delegation of MSPs and campaigners that she had not intended to suggest that she would have any... Click title to read more
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| 17 January 2006 |
Cecile Shea, US Consul in Scotland, said today that her statement to the Scotsman newspaper last month that British officials would not be allowed to check US aircraft for involvement in "extraordinary rendition" had been misunderstood. She said that she had been responding to a question from the Scotsman about blanket inspections of all American aircraft, but she would of course not object to police carrying out investigations on specific aircraft where there were reasonable grounds to suspect involvement in crime. She made it clear that she recognised that any decision to carry out such investigations was a matter for... Click title to read more
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| 16 January 2006 |
Press Release from Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC)
Monday 16 January 2006, 10pm
The US Consul in Scotland has stirred up a diplomatic storm with her statement that British officials would not be "allowed" to inspect US aircraft suspected of involvement in the practice of "extraordinary rendition" if they stop off in Scotland. The Consul, Cecil Shea, made the remarks in an interview published in the Scotsman newspaper after protestors held simultaneous vigils against rendition flights at the three major Scottish airports - Glasgow, Prestwick and Edinburgh - on 18 December last year.
... Click title to read more
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| 16 December 2005 |
Simultaneous vigils are to be held at Prestwick, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports this Sunday (18 December) in protest at the suspected use of these airports by US aircraft involved in the obscene practice called "extraordinary rendition" - a euphemism for the transport of prisoners to torture centres around the world. Complicity in torture is a crime under international law.
... Click title to read more
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| 09 November 2005 |
Finally, Blair's game's up. In a country still grieving from the London bombings, he staked his credibility on a law that he said would protect us, and he lost. It was his first defeat ever.
... Click title to read more
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| 09 November 2005 |
The July 2005 Solidarity Group, a support group for people arrested at the G8, denounces the police publication of 'Wanted' photos of anti G8 demonstrators. We support all facing charges arising from the G8 demonstrations, and call for all charges to be dropped. More groups, such as Scotland against Criminalising Communities and the Industrial Workers of the World, support this stand.
... Click title to read more
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| 04 November 2005 |
The parliamentary rebellion over the government's Terrorism Bill is a welcome sign that Labour backbenchers may be rediscovering their backbones. But it's a pity that many of the rebels seem willing to settle for concessions that do no more than pull some of the rottenest teeth from this vicious piece of legislation.
... Click title to read more
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| 05 September 2005 |
Letters From Belmarsh was a Radio 4 commissioned documentary originally scheduled for transmission on 28th July. The cancellation of the programme raises grave concerns about editorial practices at the BBC... Click title to read more
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| 21 August 2005 |
The Scottish Daily Mail's attack last Thursday on solicitor Mudassar Arani and on an advice leaflet circulated by SACC is a disgrace.
Last Thursday (18 August), the Scottish Daily Mail published a disgraceful article headlined "Bomb lawyer's £1m bonanza" highlighting legal aid payments to London solicitor Mudassar Arani. Miss Arani is a courageous and principled lawyer who stands in the front line of the struggle to defend civil liberties in this country. There have been repeated attempts to demonise her in recent years . These smear campaigns are a threat to the most basic principles of British justice. The same... Click title to read more
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| 20 August 2005 |
Armed police officers in Scotland appear to be operating under the same guidelines that led to the tragic death of Jean Charles de Menezes in London on 22 July. Their firearms policy is urgently in need of overhaul following revelations earlier this week that Jean Charles de Menezes was acting in an entirely innocent manner when he was assassinated by police officers on the London underground.... Click title to read more
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| 06 August 2005 |
Following a surge in racist crime, SACC calls on Scottish police forces to tackle the crisis of confidence by building a culture of solidarity instead of suspicion, and by dissociating themselves from the Met's shoot-to-kill policy. SACC is also asking members of the public, whatever their faith, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Muslims and to make it clear that they will not tolerate racist harassment and Islamophobia.
... Click title to read more
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| 24 July 2005 |
We share the nation's shock at the news that Jean Charles de Menezes - an innocent Brazilian man - has been brutally killed by police on London's Underground. Our thoughts are with his family, and we offer our support to them in the vigil they have been holding today.... Click title to read more
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| 22 July 2005 |
We are filled with sorrow and concern at the news that a man has been shot dead by police on London's underground. We do not know yet whether the man was carrying a bomb. But initial reports suggest that police had been following him for some time without attempting to stop him, so we must suppose that they themselves were far from sure that he presented a threat to life.
... Click title to read more
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| 08 July 2005 |
SACC is appalled at Thursday's muderous attacks on the people of London. We whole-heartedly endorse the statement released by our friends and colleagues in the Stop Political Terror Campaign calling for restraint and unity at this crucial time... Click title to read more
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| 06 July 2005 |
Babar Ahmad is a British citizen who was first arrested under Anti-Terrorism Laws in December 2003. He was left with 50 injuries, two of which were life threatening. He was released without charge after a week. He was re-arrested on 5th August 2004 on an Extradition Warrant by the USA. Babar has been fighting this extradition. The matter has been referred to the Home Secretary Charles Clarke for a decision. His wife calls for justice for all those interned inside Britain's Guantanamo Bay at Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons and for Babar's right to be tried in Britain.
In a message to... Click title to read more
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| 24 May 2005 |
Press release from the Islamic Society of Britain (endorsed by SACC) in response to the announcement that Babar Ahmad,
a British Citizen, could be handed over to the US authorities. ISB and SACC urge
the Home Secretary to allow Babar to remain in his country and agree with
the Muslim Council of Britain that the terms of the Extradition Treaty 2003
are imbalanced and should be re-negotiated.
... Click title to read more
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| 25 January 2005 |
The men coming home from Guantanamo Bay deserve all the support this country can give them. They should be treated as torture victims, not as terrorism suspects... Click title to read more
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| 23 January 2005 |
SACC welcomes the news that the remaining four British citizens held at Guantanamo Bay , but is concerned at suggestions that the men may be arrested and questioned by
police on their arrival.... Click title to read more
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| 13 August 2004 |
SACC is supporting an emergency protest ouside the Home Office in London today (4-5.30pm ). People of all communities will gather to express their deep concern at the erosion of civl liberties in this country as the government pursues its war against terrorism... Click title to read more
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| 10 March 2004 |
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities is outraged at the arrest last night of four of the five
men who have just returned from Guantanamo Bay... Click title to read more
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| 25 February 2004 |
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities welcomes the announcement last week that five Britons
being held at Guantanamo Bay are to return home. But we are deeply concerned about the fate of the
other four British citizens and three British residents held there. We note that it is now an open
secret that there is no evidence against any of the British detainees that would stand up in a
British court.... Click title to read more
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| 29 January 2004 |
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC) is calling for a parliamentary debate about
the circumstances surrounding the arrest of 9 Algerian men last winter. The men, four from
Scotland and five from London, were charged with terrorism offences in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
The charges were dropped in December 2003, almost a year after the arrests.
SACC supports the motion tabled in the Scottish Parliament in December by Colin Fox MSP (SSP).
The motion says that the issue "highlights the flaws in the Terrorism Act 2000" and
that "much greater evidence should exist before any future arrests of this nature are made."
... Click title to read more
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| 13 December 2003 |
Scotland Against Criminalising Communities calls for a full inquiry into the circumstances
surrounding the terrorism arrests in London and Scotland last December.... Click title to read more
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| 16 August 2003 |
SACC calls for everyone detained without trial to either be released immediately,
or else charged with offences under ordinary international or criminal law and
tried in a fair and open way at the International Court of Justice or in properly
constituted domestic civilian courts.
... Click title to read more
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