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By: DEBORAH GABRIEL[/align]

[align=right]27/07/2005
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Labour MP Diane Abbott warns against shoot to kill policy
Fear of terrorism should not mean that [the police] adopt a shoot-to-kill policy on non-white young men, who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Labour MP Diane Abbott


[align=left]As Black Britain reported on Monday, black communities in Britain are fearful following Friday’s police blunder which led to an innocent, fair-skinned Brazilian man being shot dead.

CCTV images of the terror suspects being hunted in connection with last Thursday's attempted bombings, and eye-witness accounts indicate that three of the suspects are of Asian appearance and one is of mixed race.

The police hunt for men of non-white appearance is fraught with potential difficulties as many different races and nationalities fall under these descriptions.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair defiantly stated on Sunday that “somebody else could be shot� in error, but many question the wisdom of this policy.

Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington Diane Abbott yesterday issued a statement in the wake of last Thursday’s failed bomb attacks and the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes on Friday.
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[align=left]Ms Abbott said: “I want to make it clear to the Metropolitan Police that fear of terrorism should not mean that they adopt a shoot-to-kill policy on non-white young men, who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In these difficult times the police may well have to fatally wound suspects but it should be on the basis of better procedure and intelligence than appears to have been the case in relation to this tragic shooting in Stockwell.�

The Labour MP went on to say how she was “shocked that an unarmed man could have five bullets emptied into his head in full view of the public for no other reason than being non-white�, and in the wrong place.

She said that police procedures being employed in the hunt for the terror suspects should be closely scrutinized as well as the intelligence upon which police actions are based.

“We cannot have a situation where non-white men feel that they are at the mercy of a shoot-to-kill policy by the Met because they happen to fit the profile of a terrorist in a superficial way, for instance by carrying a rucksack�, said Ms Abbott.


UN Secretary General warns against racial profiling
Given what has happened, there may be a tendency in some quarters to profile individuals from certain regions

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [/align]



[align=left]On his arrival at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday, reporters asked Mr Annan whether given that an innocent Brazilian man had been shot dead by police error in London, whether people of colour had a reason to be concerned.

Mr Annan’s response was: Given what has happened, there may be a tendency in some quarters to profile individuals from certain regions.�

Conceding that racial profiling had been used in the US, Mr Annan added:

“I hope it doesn’t happen [in London] and that they will go after the criminals, but not generalize to a group of people coming from one region or the other.�

Referring to the persons responsible for committing recent atrocities, Mr Annan said:

“It’s not Islamic, it’s not whatever. We know them for what they are…maiming and killing of civilians is unacceptable regardless of one’s cause.

We know what we are living with and I think that the whole world is now standing together in the fight against terrorism and the UN and its General Assembly must lead in that fight.�



Bush and Blair Foreign Policies have led to embitterment

It's an obscenity to say concern for Iraq drives these people to terrorism… we shouldn't allow them a vestige of an excuse.

Prime Minister Tony Blair[/align]


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Critics say the foreign policies of Tony Blair and George Bush have angered Muslims around the world and increased the numbers of extremists prepared to launch attacks against the Western world.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday afternoon, Prime Minister Tony Blair still refused to accept that launching a war against Afghanistan and Iraq had led London to become a target for disaffected people.

When asked whether there was a link between the Iraq war and the London bombings the Prime Minister replied:

“I haven’t said it’s nothing to do with Iraq…they will use Iraq and Afghanistan to try and recruit, but most people understand the roots of this go far deeper.

Whatever excuse these people use, I don't think we should give one inch to them�

Mr Blair continued: "It's an obscenity to say concern for Iraq drives these people to terrorism… we shouldn't allow them a vestige of an excuse."

However, Labour MP Diane Abbott said in her statement yesterday that whilst there are clearly no excuses for terrorism, politicians should accept responsibility:

“British and American foreign policy in relation to Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle east have embittered Muslims around the world.�

It is important, said Ms Abbott that attention is focused on the “deep-rooted alienation of many young black and Muslim men.

The so-called War on Terrorism should not lead to all of us losing our liberties and to indiscriminate violence by the authorities.�

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