Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang. Photo: AFP/GETTY via www.telegraph.co.uk website

White Christians being unfairly targeted for hate crimes

A new report by the British think-tank Civitas says white British Christians are being unfairly targeted for hate crimes compared with minority groups.

According to a report by Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor of Britian's Telegraph newspaper, the study from think-tank Civitas argues that new hate crime legislation is restricting freedom of speech, and has effectively introduced a new blasphemy law into Britain by the back door.

Hope writes that a foreword attached to the main report, "A New Inquisition: religious persecution in Britain today," argues that prosecutors and police are unfairly singling out alleged crimes by white Christians, while ignoring other similar offences by minority groups.

The Civitas report says: "Some police forces and the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] seem to be interpreting statutes in favor of ethnic and religious minorities and in a spirit hostile to members of the majority population, defined as 'White' or 'Christian.'"

In his Telegraph newspaper article Hope say that report authors said it is "legitimate to ask" whether these agendas are being driven by "sectarian groups" within either police forces or inside the CPS.

The Civitas report claims "there is evidence of biased application of the law," citing the case of a Muslim man who sprayed the words "Islam will dominate the world -- Osama is on his way" and "Kill Gordon Brown" on a war memorial in Burton-Upon-Trent.

He was prosecuted for criminal damage – "that is neither a racially nor a religiously aggravated offence."

The CPS had argued that, "the defacing the memorial did not attach to any particular racial or religious group" despite the fact that the monument was "a Christian and British memorial, carrying Christian and British symbols.

"People who read the story found themselves thinking that, if a non-Muslim had defaced a Muslim building the system would have thrown the book at him."

This incident is compared with that of a Christian couple in Liverpool, Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang, who were prosecuted and then cleared last December of a religiously aggravated hate crime after a strongly worded discussion with a Muslim guest at their hotel about the relative merits of their respective religions.

Hope writes that Civitas questions whether the CPS’s decisions are being influenced by an internal staff association called the National Black Crown Prosecution Association (NBCPA), which has in the past received tens of thousands of pounds from the CPS.

Civitas says the NBCPA's "main objective is to advance the careers of ethnic minorities within the CPS but it also takes an interest in the impact of CPS decisions on members of ethnic minorities."

It adds: "Whether this concern threatens the impartiality of the CPS is not clear. But other harmful effects of race-based politics have already led to open criticism by some CPS staff."

It cites a newspaper report which claimed "that ethnic minorities were being given jobs within the CPS that they could not do."

It goes on to say: "The activities of race and religion-based groups within the criminal justice system, including the police, the probation service and the CPS, are such that a public inquiry is now needed.

"Groups that act in a sectarian spirit have no place in a system whose essence should be justice and impartiality."

Hope explains that a hate crime is officially defined as a "criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility, or prejudice based on a person's religion or perceived religion."

Yet the Civitas report argues that these definitions are without substance and result in confusion and silliness in their application.

Although the total number of these crimes has fallen from 13,201 in 2006/7 to 11,845 in 2008/9, the report says the volume of hate legislation has rapidly expanded, with 35 Acts of Parliament, 52 statutory instruments, 13 codes of practice, three codes of guidance and 16 European Union directives which have a bearing on "discrimination."

Hope quotes a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service as saying the NBCPA was "a highly regarded staff association" and "the trailing of the suggestion that the NBCPA may affect the CPS' impartiality is without foundation.

"The NBCPA has no influence over specific casework decisions. The decision to prosecute is based solely on the application of the principles contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors."

Hope says the NBCPA says that prosecutors only take allegations of a racist or religious crime to court when they are satisfied "there has to be sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.

"Where there is evidence of a racially or religiously aggravated crime, the public interest will usually require a prosecution.

"When making their decisions, prosecutors are not influenced by the ethnic or national origin, religion or belief of the suspect or victim and it is incorrect to suggest any one group is singled out more than another for prosecution.”

On its website, Civitas says that it's official objects are "To advance the study and understanding of religion and ethics in society and any other charitable purpose."

The site says: "Our main activity is the advancement of education, but some of our work involves the 'advancement of citizenship or community development.' Some work also involves the advancement of human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

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TAGS: United Kingdom white British Christians hate crimes Civitas freedom of speech blasphemy law religious persecution in Britain

[07/21/2010]

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