British police said today there had been almost 6,200 hate crimes reported in the last month following the vote to leave the European Union in a referendum where immigration had been a key issue. In the four weeks from June 16, police forces across the country said 6,193 offences had been reported, with the most common crimes being harassment, assault and other violence such as verbal abuse or spitting. 
 
Britons voted on June 23 to exit the EU following bitter and deeply divisive campaigning in which the control of immigration was one of the main arguments of those who supported leaving the bloc. 
 
Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted. The latest figures showed there were 3001 offences in the first two weeks of July, down six per cent compared to the previous fortnight, but still 20 per cent higher than the same period last year.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Following increases in hate crime seen after the EU referendum, police forces have been taking a robust approach to these crimes and we are pleased to see the numbers of incidents have begun to fall,&quot; said Mark Hamilton, the National Police Chiefs&#39; Council spokesman on hate crimes. &quot;Clearly any hate crime is unacceptable and these numbers are still far too high.&quot; 
 
Critics of the &quot;Leave&quot; campaign say its focus on immigration helped stoke xenophobia and racism, an accusation its leaders reject. A week before the vote, opposition Labour lawmaker Jo Cox, a strong supporter of remaining in the EU, was shot and stabbed to death in her constituency in northern England. 
 
(Reuters)

Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted

British police said today there had been almost 6,200 hate crimes reported in the last month following the vote to leave the European Union in a referendum where immigration had been a key issue. In the four weeks from June 16, police forces across the country said 6,193 offences had been reported, with the most common crimes being harassment, assault and other violence such as verbal abuse or spitting. Britons voted on June 23 to exit the EU following bitter and deeply divisive campaigning in which the control of immigration was one of the main arguments of those who supported leaving the bloc. Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted. The latest figures showed there were 3001 offences in the first two weeks of July, down six per cent compared to the previous fortnight, but still 20 per cent higher than the same period last year. "Following increases in hate crime seen after the EU referendum, police forces have been taking a robust approach to these crimes and we are pleased to see the numbers of incidents have begun to fall," said Mark Hamilton, the National Police Chiefs' Council spokesman on hate crimes. "Clearly any hate crime is unacceptable and these numbers are still far too high." Critics of the "Leave" campaign say its focus on immigration helped stoke xenophobia and racism, an accusation its leaders reject. A week before the vote, opposition Labour lawmaker Jo Cox, a strong supporter of remaining in the EU, was shot and stabbed to death in her constituency in northern England. (Reuters)

UK police report almost 6,200 hate crimes in month after Brexit vote

The pattern has become familiar: a black person dies at the hands of police, with video footage of the incident hitting social media and fueling accusations of bias and misconduct. 
 
Over the past week, 32-year-old Philando Castile was fatally shot by police in Minnesota as civil rights investigators probed an incident a day earlier in Louisiana in which 37-year-old Alton Sterling was slain by officers. 
 
They are among a dozen black people killed by police in the United States in the past few years whose deaths were the subject of viral videos that brought forth angry allegations of police brutality. 
 
While the extent of police wrongdoing remains unclear, criminal justice specialists say widespread use of social media and smartphone videos have shone light on these cases, paving the way for changes in policing. 
 
&quot;What constitutes police brutality or misconduct is a matter of interpretation, and until now that was left up to the police departments and the top brass,&quot; Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Canada&#39;s Brandon University and author of the 2016 book &quot;Policing and Social Media.&quot; 
 
&quot;Now these videos are circulating online immediately after an incident and what constitutes brutality is now left to all of us.&quot; 
 
The use of &quot;citizen journalist&quot; videos in these kinds of cases is now new, dating back to the 1991 beating of taxi driver Rodney King, which sparked riots in Los Angeles. 
 
But it has become far more prevalent with the ability to post smartphone videos instantly on social media such as Facebook or Twitter. 
 
&quot;Whereas citizen journalists often drove media coverage of the so-called Arab Spring, for example, they&#39;re now performing a similar service in the national discussion of race and policing in the US,&quot; said David Uberti, a fellow with the Columbia Journalism Review. 
 
&quot;Social networks like Twitter have helped amplify such individual voices, with content shared nationwide in hours, if not minutes.&quot; 
 
Changing policing 
Schneider, who has studied police departments in the US and Canada, said the latest high-profile cases are likely to lead to a &quot;historic change in policing.&quot; 
 
That is because minorities and communities that have been marginalized have been given a voice by social media, forcing police departments to rethink their entire strategy, he said. 
 
&quot;One of the biggest challenges to police agencies is that they need to regain control of public perceptions,&quot; Schneider told AFP. 
 
&quot;We need to believe that the police are the good guys.&quot; 
 
Schneider says wider use of body cameras and police recording devices should be a priority and may help authorities &quot;regain the narrative&quot; and control of data quality in cases where misconduct is alleged. 
 
A study led by Arizona State University criminologist Michael White found a sharp decline in citizen complaints of excessive force following deployments of body-worn cameras. 
 
Yet many argue that cameras and videos are not a perfect solution to police problems. Civil liberties advocates warn about privacy issues. 
 
David Klinger, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said videos show a limited amount of information and can&#39;t accurately reveal when an officer feels threatened. 
 
&quot;A video is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional perspective from one perspective,&quot; Klinger told AFP. 
 
Klinger said his research shows a disconnect between what police officers see and hear and what is on a video. This so-called &quot;perceptional anomaly&quot; is seen in 95 per cent of police officers, he said. 
 
&quot;Human perception is very different from what a video captures,&quot; he said. 
 
Wade Henderson, who heads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told a congressional hearing last year that body-worn cameras on police may not be a panacea. 
 
&quot;Cameras point away from the people who operate them. Body-worn cameras will be trained on members of the community, not the officers themselves,&quot; Henderson said. 
 
&quot;And heavily policed communities of color, where there are more police, will be more heavily recorded.&quot; 
 
Antonio Ginatta, who heads the US advocacy program at Human Rights Watch, said citizen videos nonetheless may hold authorities accountable. 
 
&quot;The power of videos showing police violence first-hand is unquestionable,&quot; Ginatta said in a blog post. 
 
Ginatta said that these incidents are &quot;not a new phenomenon (but) are now being witnessed by the world.&quot; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

What constitutes police brutality is a matter of interpretation that until now was left up to the police. Now with videos of a police killing circulating online, what constitutes brutality is now left to all of us

The pattern has become familiar: a black person dies at the hands of police, with video footage of the incident hitting social media and fueling accusations of bias and misconduct. Over the past week, 32-year-old Philando Castile was fatally shot by police in Minnesota as civil rights investigators probed an incident a day earlier in Louisiana in which 37-year-old Alton Sterling was slain by officers. They are among a dozen black people killed by police in the United States in the past few years whose deaths were the subject of viral videos that brought forth angry allegations of police brutality. While the extent of police wrongdoing remains unclear, criminal justice specialists say widespread use of social media and smartphone videos have shone light on these cases, paving the way for changes in policing. "What constitutes police brutality or misconduct is a matter of interpretation, and until now that was left up to the police departments and the top brass," Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Canada's Brandon University and author of the 2016 book "Policing and Social Media." "Now these videos are circulating online immediately after an incident and what constitutes brutality is now left to all of us." The use of "citizen journalist" videos in these kinds of cases is now new, dating back to the 1991 beating of taxi driver Rodney King, which sparked riots in Los Angeles. But it has become far more prevalent with the ability to post smartphone videos instantly on social media such as Facebook or Twitter. "Whereas citizen journalists often drove media coverage of the so-called Arab Spring, for example, they're now performing a similar service in the national discussion of race and policing in the US," said David Uberti, a fellow with the Columbia Journalism Review. "Social networks like Twitter have helped amplify such individual voices, with content shared nationwide in hours, if not minutes." Changing policing Schneider, who has studied police departments in the US and Canada, said the latest high-profile cases are likely to lead to a "historic change in policing." That is because minorities and communities that have been marginalized have been given a voice by social media, forcing police departments to rethink their entire strategy, he said. "One of the biggest challenges to police agencies is that they need to regain control of public perceptions," Schneider told AFP. "We need to believe that the police are the good guys." Schneider says wider use of body cameras and police recording devices should be a priority and may help authorities "regain the narrative" and control of data quality in cases where misconduct is alleged. A study led by Arizona State University criminologist Michael White found a sharp decline in citizen complaints of excessive force following deployments of body-worn cameras. Yet many argue that cameras and videos are not a perfect solution to police problems. Civil liberties advocates warn about privacy issues. David Klinger, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said videos show a limited amount of information and can't accurately reveal when an officer feels threatened. "A video is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional perspective from one perspective," Klinger told AFP. Klinger said his research shows a disconnect between what police officers see and hear and what is on a video. This so-called "perceptional anomaly" is seen in 95 per cent of police officers, he said. "Human perception is very different from what a video captures," he said. Wade Henderson, who heads the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told a congressional hearing last year that body-worn cameras on police may not be a panacea. "Cameras point away from the people who operate them. Body-worn cameras will be trained on members of the community, not the officers themselves," Henderson said. "And heavily policed communities of color, where there are more police, will be more heavily recorded." Antonio Ginatta, who heads the US advocacy program at Human Rights Watch, said citizen videos nonetheless may hold authorities accountable. "The power of videos showing police violence first-hand is unquestionable," Ginatta said in a blog post. Ginatta said that these incidents are "not a new phenomenon (but) are now being witnessed by the world." (AFP)

Video, social media could lead to changes in policing

Congolese student Arnold Mutumbo Muama refuses to be cowed by a spate of racist violence towards Africans in India&#39;s capital New Delhi, defiant after a friend was beaten up by security guards at his apartment block. 
 
&quot;The guard called him a &#39;monster&#39; in Hindi before taking him to the basement and beating him,&quot; recalled Muama, 29, who chairs a Congolese welfare association. 
 
Racism against Africans in India was thrown into the spotlight following the brutal stoning to death in May of Congolese national Masunda Kitada Oliver in a dispute over an auto-rickshaw, a motorised three-wheeler. 
 
Following the attack, African ambassadors in New Delhi threatened to recommend to their governments that they don&#39;t send students to the capital &quot;as their security is not guaranteed&quot;. 
 
Around 30,000 Africans live in New Delhi, according to police, and they have told AFP of numerous humiliations they face, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and even violent attacks. 
 
This week, television footage showed police officers in the southern city of Bangalore forcefully restraining a Nigerian woman following an altercation at a market.&nbsp;She was tied up with ropes before being injected with sedatives. 
 
Despite these incidents, IT student Muama believes it is &quot;out of the question to live in fear&quot;. 
 
&quot;You have to be aware of your rights,&quot; he said. 
 
&#39;They eat dogs&#39;&nbsp; 
 
In Khirki Extension, a bustling set of interlacing streets in the south of the Indian capital long home to a sizeable Nigerian community, prejudices remain on display. 
 
&quot;The way they eat, drink, live... Everything is different,&quot; said Inderjeet Singh, a real estate agent who has been in the neighbourhood for 15 years.&nbsp;&quot;People say they eat street dogs, families fear they cut their children into pieces and eat them,&quot; the 53-year-old said. 
 
The number of Nigerians living in the district has dwindled since January 2014, when it was the scene of a crackdown by a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Somnath Bharti. 
 
Bharti, accompanied by supporters of his anti-corruption party and night vision cameras, took to the streets to denounce an alleged prostitution and drug trafficking network run by Nigerians and Ugandans. 
 
Bharti attempted to force the police to search several apartments, and reportedly ordered four Africans to take urine tests to detect any traces of drugs. 
 
In an attempt to now tackle racist views, India&#39;s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has promised an awareness campaign in neighbourhoods with large numbers of African inhabitants. 
 
&quot;We are trying to break the communication gap between the locals and our African friends,&quot; RP Upadhyay, a senior Delhi Police official in charge of the campaign told AFP. 
 
&quot;We are requesting everyone that whenever anything happens, report it to the police.&quot; 
 
&#39;Good friendships&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The death of the Congolese student comes as India is seeking to charm African nations, seeking to rival China, which has long staked its interest on the continent. 
 
Following an India-Africa summit last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited four African countries in early July. 
 
Nigerian, Cameroonian and Congolese residents in New Delhi interviewed by AFP say that while they encounter difficulties in daily life, many Indians are open and tolerant towards them. 
 
Congolese student Loic Ipanga, 24, believes the &quot;racist reactions&quot; he experiences are often due to ignorance of Africa. 
 
&quot;It is very shocking that every time an Indian sees you, he asks you if you are Nigerian, thinking that because of my skin colour I must be Nigerian,&quot; he says.&nbsp;&quot;This is sometimes a disturbing issue.&quot; 
 
Yet he says he has &quot;very good friendships with Indians, who are willing to get up in the middle of the night to help you&quot;. 
 
&quot;We must act like adults -- mature and wise. You cannot lay a hand on anyone,&quot; he said. 
 
(AFP)

30,000 Africans who live in Delhi face numerous humiliations, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and violent attacks

Congolese student Arnold Mutumbo Muama refuses to be cowed by a spate of racist violence towards Africans in India's capital New Delhi, defiant after a friend was beaten up by security guards at his apartment block. "The guard called him a 'monster' in Hindi before taking him to the basement and beating him," recalled Muama, 29, who chairs a Congolese welfare association. Racism against Africans in India was thrown into the spotlight following the brutal stoning to death in May of Congolese national Masunda Kitada Oliver in a dispute over an auto-rickshaw, a motorised three-wheeler. Following the attack, African ambassadors in New Delhi threatened to recommend to their governments that they don't send students to the capital "as their security is not guaranteed". Around 30,000 Africans live in New Delhi, according to police, and they have told AFP of numerous humiliations they face, from insults in the street to housing discrimination and even violent attacks. This week, television footage showed police officers in the southern city of Bangalore forcefully restraining a Nigerian woman following an altercation at a market. She was tied up with ropes before being injected with sedatives. Despite these incidents, IT student Muama believes it is "out of the question to live in fear". "You have to be aware of your rights," he said. 'They eat dogs' In Khirki Extension, a bustling set of interlacing streets in the south of the Indian capital long home to a sizeable Nigerian community, prejudices remain on display. "The way they eat, drink, live... Everything is different," said Inderjeet Singh, a real estate agent who has been in the neighbourhood for 15 years. "People say they eat street dogs, families fear they cut their children into pieces and eat them," the 53-year-old said. The number of Nigerians living in the district has dwindled since January 2014, when it was the scene of a crackdown by a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly Somnath Bharti. Bharti, accompanied by supporters of his anti-corruption party and night vision cameras, took to the streets to denounce an alleged prostitution and drug trafficking network run by Nigerians and Ugandans. Bharti attempted to force the police to search several apartments, and reportedly ordered four Africans to take urine tests to detect any traces of drugs. In an attempt to now tackle racist views, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has promised an awareness campaign in neighbourhoods with large numbers of African inhabitants. "We are trying to break the communication gap between the locals and our African friends," RP Upadhyay, a senior Delhi Police official in charge of the campaign told AFP. "We are requesting everyone that whenever anything happens, report it to the police." 'Good friendships' The death of the Congolese student comes as India is seeking to charm African nations, seeking to rival China, which has long staked its interest on the continent. Following an India-Africa summit last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited four African countries in early July. Nigerian, Cameroonian and Congolese residents in New Delhi interviewed by AFP say that while they encounter difficulties in daily life, many Indians are open and tolerant towards them. Congolese student Loic Ipanga, 24, believes the "racist reactions" he experiences are often due to ignorance of Africa. "It is very shocking that every time an Indian sees you, he asks you if you are Nigerian, thinking that because of my skin colour I must be Nigerian," he says. "This is sometimes a disturbing issue." Yet he says he has "very good friendships with Indians, who are willing to get up in the middle of the night to help you". "We must act like adults -- mature and wise. You cannot lay a hand on anyone," he said. (AFP)

Facing racist abuse, Africans in India refuse to give in to fear

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