Ahlul Bayt News Agency - ABNA - An independent review by Thames Valley Police found that a secret police operation to place Muslims in Birmingham under surveillance was done without any consultation or consideration of the law.
Residents of the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath areas of Birmingham were lead to believe that the CCTV cameras were being installed to combat vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour, whereas the £3m project was actually being run by the counter-terrorism unit with the consent of the Home Office and MI5 to monitor people entering and leaving the predominantly Muslim areas.
The scheme, called Project Champion, was suspended in June after it faced opposition from residents and civil rights campaigners and Thames Valley Police were asked to conduct an independent review.
The report found that West Midlands Police had deliberately mislead residents and in the process caused ‘significant damage to community relations.’
Corinna Ferguson, legal officer at Liberty said “Project Champion disregarded legal obligations in relation to privacy and discrimination and was falsely sold to the local Muslim community as general crime prevention when it was purely a counter-terror measure.”
Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti said the report was “a devastating critique of Project Champion that will confirm the community's worst fears about blanket, discriminatory and unlawful surveillance.”
West Midlands Police chief constable, Chris Simms, accepting the report’s findings said "I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and that it has had such a negative impact on our communities.”
As of yet there have been no resignations or disciplinary action over Project Champion.
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