Rights Watch UK (RWUK) is taking legal action to ensure that the Government holds a genuinely effective and independent review of Prevent.
Yasmine Ahmed, Director of Rights Watch (UK) states:
“While we were delighted that the Government conceded to our previous legal case and stood down Lord Carlile as independent reviewer of Prevent, that is not enough. With only 6 months left for the Government to conduct the independent review and publish its findings, the Government has yet to appoint a new Reviewer or even clarify what the process of appointment will be.
“The government has a legal obligation to hold an effective and independent review. By not immediately putting in place a transparent process to appoint a new reviewer and extending the timeframe for the Review, RWUK is concerned that the government may be seeking to run down the clock and deliver a whitewash Review.”
Yasmine Ahmed continues:
“It is essential that the Government immediately confirm that the appointment process for the independent reviewer of Prevent is transparent and is to be done in accordance with the public appointments process. The Government must not repeat the same mistake and appoint someone who is unfit to hold the position.
“We call on the Government to immediately start a transparent appointment process and to extend the timeframe for the Review. The original time for the Review was 18 months and given that the Government have wasted the first year appointing someone unfit for the role, it is only right that they extend the time for the Review to allow for an effective review to take place.
“At the heart of any such review is genuine, widespread and open engagement with impact communities. An online survey allowing for 2000 character predetermined responses that focused only on the potential rather than past impact of Prevent, which was what was done by Lord Carlile, does not fulfil the requirement of a genuinely effective review.”
RWUK has long called for an Independent Review of Prevent and in 2019 published a proposed framework for an effective Prevent review which can be found here.
ENDS
For further information contact info@rightsandsecurity.org
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