Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan,

Voice of Africa Radio!

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Hear weekly discussions and lively debate on all issues affecting the Afrikan community, at home and abroad.

We talk it straight and make it plain!

 

This Week’s Show:

Is the UK becoming a police state?

Hosted by Sis Kai Ouagadou-Mbandaka and Bro. Omowale Kwaw

Our special guests are Sis. Matilda MacAttram, the founder and director of Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK). Launched in August 2006, BMH UK has led various campaigns to raise awareness of the inequality of mental health treatment provided to Black communities.  She is is presently chair of the Mental Health Alliance's BME interest group,  sits on the steering group of the BME Mental Health Network and is a member on the National Advisory Panel of the mental health charity, Mind. Sis. Matilda has a degree in Politics from what is now the University of the South West of England and is also a specialist health journalist and has written on health matters for publications including Mental Health Today, New Nation newspaper, The Voice, Community Care Magazine, Blink.org.uk and Black Britain online among others; and The Metropolitan Black Police Association (invited)

This week’s show: 16th May 2011

Newham Spotlight

Newham is by far one of the most culturally diverse boroughs in London.  According to Newham Council’s website: “More than 100 languages are spoken locally - from Albanian to Zhuang. All of which makes for an exciting area rich in culture, flavour and atmosphere where local people take great pride in being part of a global village.”

Yet it seems many Newham residents are uhhappy at the after the announcement that Newham will be removing foreign language newspapers from its libraries. 

A council spokesman was reported as saying that “During the next four years funding from central government to Newham will be cut by approximately £75 million. We are, therefore, having to make difficult decisions about council services in order to make savings.” 

Money may not be the only motivating factor however.  Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales said that the removal of the papers would “encourage people to speak and learn English”.  He added: “English language is something that we're pushing very strongly.  Two things about the English language: You need it to get a job; secondly it brings a community together.  Public money should be spent encouraging people to speak and learn English. Whenever I raise that with my residents they all agree with that."

Clearly not everyone agrees.   Priyonath Singh, a Newham resident told a BBC reporter: "It's appalling. It's a drastic measure… The newspapers evoke our conscience. They deal with the news so I can live in the past and in the present.  It's great to know what is happening about my roots and what is going to happen to the future generation."

Another resident, Iftikhar Ahmad, has said that he will take Newham Council to court over this issue.  So tonight we ask:

  1. Is Newham Council right to remove Foreign Language Newspapers?
  2. Should people from abroad be encouraged to speak fluent English?
  3. What affects – if any- would the removal of such papers have on Newham’s diverse community?

Afrika Speaks

The issue of the DNA database has been a live issue in the Afrikan community for several years.  Therefore, activists have welcomed the Con-Dem government’s Protection of Freedom Bill includes a committment to the automatic deletion of DNA profiles and fingerprints from anyone who has not been convicted of an offence.  This is in stark contrats to the the preceding Labour administration under which the National DNA Database (NDNAB) proliferated and all efforts to curtail it, including judgements from the European Court of Human Rights.

When the content of the NDNAB is examined, basis for the concerns from the Afrikan community become clear. The DNA profiles of 37% of Afrikan men and 77% of young Afrikan men, aged between 15 and 34, have been estimated to be on the National DNA Database. Every black family in Britain is affected.  Close to one out of four Afrikan children (23%) compared to one out of ten white children (10%) are profiled on this system.  Given that DNA profiles can be used to track relatives, the high proportion of Afrikans on the NDNAB means that arguably every Afrikan in the UK can be traced through it.

So while, as stated, many are keen to see the Protection of Freedom Bill pass into law, some activists assert that it does not go far enough.  For example, indepdendent community organization Black Mental Health UK (BMH UK) state: “Unless the Police National Computer (PNC) and Police National Database (PND) records are deleted at the same time as well as any photos, up to a million innocent people will still retain the status of a criminal.  Anyone who is profiled on the DNA database has had their details entered onto three databases: the National DNA database, the fingerprint database and the Police National Database (formerly the Police National Computer).  Currently retention of the PNC and PND records is to age 100. These records can be used to refuse someone a visa or a job simply because they have a record of arrest. This can also lead to stigma and discrimination when accessed by officers on the beat.”

In addition to this, Britain's largest police force,the  Metropolitan police, is investing £9m to fund three national police units with the remit of gathering reams of personal information on what it terms "domestic extremists" - The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Netcu) and the National Domestic Extremism Team.  The units will combine to undertake activities like surveillance at public meetings, rallies and rallies including video and still images and automatic number plate recognition, filting this through a national database network.  Moreover, the Met’s recent acquisition of the Geotime security programme (also used by the US military) takes police monitoring of domestic extremism, a term coined by police that ostensibly has no legal basis, into cyberspace.  Geotime can map nearly every move suspects and their associates make in the digital world, displaying data from a variety of sources, allowing the user to navigate the data with a timeline and animated display, allegedly throwing up previously unseen connections between individuals.  Information is held on thousands of people (the police won’t give exact figures) who have done nothing unlawful, a fact that campaigners and lawyers say in in breach of data protection legislation, while others suggest that it’s a step closer the “precrime” scenario depicted in films like Minority Report, where villains are apprehended before they commit the crime.  However, the Data Protection Act does allow the provision to write to the police to find out if your details are on their database, although may cost up to £10.

For a country that has roughly one CCTV camera for every 32 people, it appears that the surveillance society is something that many are comfortable with, or at least accept as a fact of life.  On the other hand the adage ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear’ always seems to be a persuasive argument for many, even if the evidence indicates that Afrikans have lower offending rates, yet over the have had to endure Sus, profiling (from the’ ring of steel’ to operation blunt) and deaths in custody.

But BHM UK are not among those accepting this surveillance creep.  They have launched a campaign calling for the deletion of all police records linked to innocent DNA samples and profiles – a commitment not included in the Protection of Freedom Bill and are asking the community to write to their local MP in order to get this provision included in the bill (for more information:  http://www.blackmentalhealth.org.uk/index.php/campaigns-mainmenu-119/current-campaigns-115).

So we ask:

Is the UK becoming a police state?

 

  1. Is the UK already a police state?
  2. Why are so many Afrikan’s details on the National DNA Database?
  3. Is the National DNA Database the price we have to pay for collective security?
  4. Or do the police have more information than they need?
  5. Why do the police want to maintain DNA/files on innocent people?
  6. Is it really the case that ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear’?
  7. Will you be writing to the police to see if you are on their "domestic extremists" database?
  8. Will you attend still meetings, etc. if you think your details will be enetered on a "domestic extremists" database?
  9. Has the technology moved a step closer to the “precrime” scenario?

10.  Will you be writing to your MP about the Protection of Freedom Bill?

 

Call in on:

020 8180 2523

07961 573 883

E-mail: studio@voiceofafricaradio.com

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