Europe laws target Muslims: Amnesty

brussels — A raft of new counterterrorism laws across Europe discriminate against Muslims and refugees, spreading fear and alienation, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday.

The human rights group sounded the alarm over security measures adopted over the past two years in 14 EU nations, including expanded surveillance powers. During that period, militant attacks have killed some 280 people in France, Belgium and Germany.

The attacks, mostly claimed by the terrorist group Daesh, have fanned tensions over immigration, fuelled the popularity of right-wing parties and made security a key theme in upcoming French, Dutch and German elections.

“Right across the EU regional space we see Muslims and foreigners being equated with terrorists,” said Julia Hall, an Amnesty International expert on counterterrorism and author of the report. “This stereotyping so disproportionately affects these communities that there is a high degree of fear and alienation.”

She warned that “draconian” surveillance measures and powers of search, detention and arrest like those introduced in France since November 2015, when attacks killed 130 people, could be abused to target activists or minority groups that did not pose a genuine threat.

Amnesty is critical of a European Union draft law, to be adopted this year, that seeks to punish people for travelling or planning to travel to join a terrorist group. It says the wording of the law is unclear and it casts too wide a net.

A European Commission spokeswoman rejected Amnesty’s criticism and said the EU would closely monitor for potential abuses in the bloc’s 28 member states.

EU Security Commissioner Julian King said he agreed with the report that fundamental rights must not be put at risk. —