IHRC has opposed PREVENT since its inception. PREVENT is a controversial part of the official counter-terrorism strategy which the government claims is concerned with preventing radicalisation and tackling extremism.

Although PREVENT is presented as a colour-blind programme, its origins and implementation show that it is invariably targeted at the Muslim community, being used as a pretext for mass surveillance and social conditioning.

For these reasons IHRC is opposed in principle to the whole PREVENT programme. We see it as resting on racist and Islamophobic assumptions. We believe that by demonising Islam as innately violent the programme has contributed to the legitimisation of institutional discrimination against Muslims.

Our campaign on prevent has included reports, public events and resource packs for communities to resist its implementation.

1. Ben Emmerson, the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said that teachers “should not be required to act as watchdogs or intelligence officers” and further stated “Such measures may lead pupils and students to self-censor to avoid being branded ‘extremist’, cause teachers and other staff to view pupils and students as potential threats, or avoid discussing certain issues or inviting guest speakers whose views may be controversial,”
2. UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, stated “It is not the Government’s role to look for the “true voices of Islam” or of any other religion or belief. Since religions or communities of belief are not homogenous entities it seems advisable to acknowledge and take into account the diversity of voices… the contents of a religion or belief should be defined by the worshippers themselves …”
3. IHRC believes the first step in undoing this this is scrapping the Prevent programme in its entirety.