Press Releases from 2015

A Scottish charity may be secretly receiving funds from the Government's controversial 'Prevent' anti-terrorism programme, despite having pledged not to do so.

SACC is increasingly alarmed at the international, domestic and public response to the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November.

The resolution passed by the UN Security Council last night, calling for the eradication of ISIL safe havens in Syria and Iraq, is a cynical attempt by member governments to bypass domestic opposition to further escalation of the wars in the Middle East. It is also a betrayal of the UN Charter.

SACC calls on MPs to reject any move by the UK Government to gain parliamentary approval for further military intervention in Syria

A new documentary about the Bosnia War of the 1990s will receive its Scottish premiere at Strathclyde University on Saturday, presented jointly by IHRC and SACC. The film 'Forgotten Genocide' uses expert testimony to argue that the entirety of the Bosnia War constitutes genocide.

The investigation by the PIRC (Police Investigations and Review Commissioner) into the death of Sheku Bayoh demonstrates that the organisation is not fit for purpose and must be reformed. It's time for the Scottish Government to acknowledge the problem

SACC urges great caution over claims that an unidentified Glasgow woman is planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the UK.

The Scottish Government's response to our Open Letter on Prevent is disappointing. The Scottish Parliament must now debate Prevent, and people in Scotland must take a stand against it.

The PIRC investigation into the death of Sheku Bayoh has become a fiasco. PIRC evidently lacks either the resources or the will to do its job, which is to investigate the most serious incidents involving the police. There must now be a re-think of the way that these incidents are dealt with in Scotland (SACC statement).

The death of Sheku Ahmed Tejan Bayoh while in police custody in Kirkcaldy on 3 May appears to have disturbing similarities to the deaths of black people at the hands of police in England and the USA. What happens next will be a litmus test for Scotland's legal and political institutions and for Scottish civil society.

The STUC Annual Congress for 2015 will be held on 20-22 April. Here's our view on some motions being debated at the Congress that are particularly important for our campaign.

Following new legislation that gives statutory force to the Government's Prevent programme, SACC re-affirms its longstanding view that people should not cooperate with Prevent, and that organisations and individuals should not accept funding linked to Prevent.

SACC is dismayed by the continued failure of the Scottish Government to create a clear statutory framework for Stop and Search in Scotland.

Candidates in the UK Election must commit to standing against racism and Islamophobia, including the institutional Islamophobia of Britain's anti-terrorism laws. And they must commit to standing up for civil liberties.

SACC is extremely concerned over the news that terrorism charges have been brought against an 18 year-old Kurdish woman, Silan Ozcelik. We fear a new wave of persecution against Kurdish people who attempt to act in solidarity with Kurdish communities in Syria and Turkey.

SACC Chair Richard Haley says "I stand with Cage."

Police Scotland are refusing to disclose the basic parameters of their probe into the use of Scottish airports by CIA torture flights. Their response follows a decade of official stone-walling. It is therefore impossible to place any confidence in their investigation.

The Scottish Government has once again ducked its responsibility to deal with the uncontrolled use of stop and search by Police Scotland.

SACC condemns the recent murderous attack at the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine. However, we do not support the publication of material that depicts Islam and Muslims in the derisive way favoured by Charlie Hebdo.