The nine men, arrested in raids conducted March 30 and April 1 in various towns in southeast England, were held for two weeks without charges under “antiterror laws.” According to the BBC, all nine are of Pakistani origin aged between 17 and 32. Four of them have been charged with “conspiracy” to cause an explosion and a fifth with possession of an article for purposes of terrorism.
Some 700 cops and the secret police agencies MI5 and MI6 were involved in the highly publicized raids on 24 addresses in London, Luton, Crawley, Reading, Slough, and Horley. British authorities made much of the alleged find at one of the addresses of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which the police claim was planned for use in bomb making. A major campaign in the big-business media accompanied the police sweep. “GCHQ alert linked British bomb find to al-Qaida” said an April 5 Guardian headline, referring to the government intelligence agency GCHQ. “Islamic bomb attack foiled,” the Daily Telegraph declared.
Family members of several of those arrested have protested the cops’ actions. Ansar Khan, father of Ahmad Khan, 18, and a relative of two others who were arrested, said there was “absolutely no truth” in the allegations against them. Khan condemned the police raid, in which his son was dragged from the house. “They explained nothing. The warrant was shown after 20 minutes and they wouldn’t even let me answer the phone,” he said.
Sajjad Ahmed, uncle of another man arrested, said his nephew had strongly opposed the Madrid train bombing. “Does that sound like a terrorist to you?” he asked.
“From what I’ve heard, the police came here at about 5:00 a.m. kicking doors down,” taxi driver Jarez Khan told the media. “There are young children in those houses. What do they need to do this for? It’s over the top.” Home Secretary David Blunkett applauded “the police and security services who work so tirelessly and bravely on our behalf…. The government remains determined to provide the laws, money and resources needed to combat terrorism.” In an April 2 article in the Labour Party left Tribune, London mayor Kenneth Livingstone said the arrests had justified his “massive expansion” of the Metropolitan Police.
Joint police actions in Europe
In recent weeks, using the March 11 Madrid train bombings as a pretext, the Labour government has taken steps to prepare further state spying and policing activities. Prime Minister Anthony Blair was a key player in the European Union summit on March 19 that adopted a “Declaration on Combating Terrorism.” The declaration announced a series of measures including:
A number of similar proposals were adopted by European Union member governments when the imperialist powers stepped up their assault on workers’ rights following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, but their implementation had come up against the tensions between the different powers, reluctant to share intelligence.
According to the Home Office “terrorism” web site, London is in the process of establishing joint immigration controls with the governments of France and Belgium.
Since March 11, imperialist governments throughout Europe, from Madrid to Rome to Athens, have conducted major “antiterrorist” raids and arrests.
Probe to establish ID cards
In the United Kingdom, the Cabinet Office has drawn up draft guidelines proposing a substantial broadening of the definition of “national security” as the basis for maintaining “state secrets.” Among other provisions, the guidelines say that a government minister can withhold facts covering the water industry, control of pollution, offshore safety, and town and country planning. A new national agency is being established that would have the power to seal off town centers and other areas “in the event of a terrorist attack.”
Today plainclothes “antiterrorist” cops routinely patrol the London Underground, and moves are under way to ensure blanket screening of all Tube (subway) stations with closed-circuit TV cameras.
Prime Minister Blair declared April 1 that “we will need to readjust our terrorism laws still further.” He added, “I think the whole issue of identity cards, which a few years ago were not on anyone’s agenda, are very much on the political agenda here, probably more quickly that we anticipated.”
In a related move, Home Secretary Blunkett announced that he intends to bolster the security services—with the recruitment of an additional 1,000 MI5 agents—and introduce new laws for the “war against terrorism.” The legislation would pave the way for internment without trial of British citizens in the event of a “terrorist” incident; permit convictions using lower standards of proof; and allow for the admissibility of phone- and email-tapping evidence in court.
In an indication of the support by liberal forces to the government’s “antiterrorist” offensive, Barry Hugill of the civil rights group Liberty told BBC News, “We don’t in principle object, provided it’s admissible in a court with a properly constituted jury,” referring to the proposal to allow phone tapping evidence.
Such “evidence” was introduced in the proceedings against immigrants jailed in the Belmarsh high security prison in East London who have been held without charge or trial since December 2001. Thirteen men are currently being held under the emergency powers of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001, which provide for the indefinite detention of foreign nationals on the grounds of “suspicion of terrorism.” Seventeen were originally jailed but two opted for deportation, one has been released, and a fourth has been detained under other provisions.
Under the law, interned prisoners cannot hear all the evidence against them. In addition, the prosecution does not have to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, and the presumption of innocence and normal evidence standards do not apply.
More than 500 people have been arrested under previously adopted legislation—the Terrorism Act 2000. This law replaced the previously “temporary” legislation used mainly in Northern Ireland and expanded to cover the whole of the United Kingdom. It outlaws certain organizations, gives the police enhanced stop and search and detention powers, and creates new criminal offenses including the charges of inciting “terrorist” acts and seeking or providing training for “terrorist” purposes.
Government figures record that 544 people were arrested under the act between Sept. 21, 2001, and Jan. 31, 2004, in England, Scotland, and Wales. Of the 98 people who have been charged, 59 were accused of “possessing an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession is for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”; 28 were charged with “belonging, or professing to belong to a proscribed organization.” Six have been convicted.
At an April 4 protest of 150 people outside Belmarsh prison, Dr. G. Siddiqi, leader of the Muslim Parliament, said 50,000 Muslims have been stopped and searched by cops over the past three or four years. The protest was organized by the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities.
Anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant campaign
The government’s moves have been accompanied by a propaganda campaign targeting immigrants and Muslims. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, for example, launched a virulent attack on “Islamic culture,” saying it was authoritarian and inflexible.
Trevor Phillips, chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, joined the charge with a speech attacking “multiculturalism.” Phillips, who rose to prominence years ago as the first Black president of the National Union of Students and later became chair of the London Assembly, denounced “multiculturalism” saying it encourages “separateness” between communities. He said it was urgent to “assert a core of Britishness” because the British are now in “a different world from the 1960s and 1970s.” The CRE head advocated an “integrated society, one in which people are equal under the law, where there are some shared values.… The first thing we must do [toward young Muslims] is call them British again and again and again.”
Under the pressure of this campaign, the Muslim Council of Britain has sent letters to every mosque in the country to support the government’s campaign against “terrorism.” On the other hand, Islamic Human Rights Commission chairman Massoud Shjareh protested the police targeting of immigrants from Asia and the Mideast. “Our community, the Muslim community, is being demonized through these events,” he said.
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