Posts Tagged ‘UCL Union’

The personal data of hundreds of Muslim students from University College London (UCL) will be passed to the CIA, it emerged this month, provoking strong criticism from human rights lawyers and prompting UCL Union to reiterate its apology for the unwarranted release of information to police.

American intelligence agencies investigating the attempted bombing of a plane to Detroit on Christmas day 2009 requested British police to supply them with information – including names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses – about members of UCL Union’s Islamic Society (Isoc). The failed attack was attempted by former UCL student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was also President of the Isoc in 2006-7.

But the case has raised concerns about police treating the Muslim community as “suspect”, and the data security and privacy of innocent people. Well-known human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce advised the Islamic Society on the incident, and has called the police’s actions “completely inappropriate”.

She added: “You wonder if he [Abdulmutallab] had been a member of a society without the name Islamic on it, then would there have been such an appetite to grab the information. It adds to the fear that the Muslim community is a suspect community. The whole concept of data protection was meant to nail down absolute privacy and here it is being breached without a legal reason being imposed on the university to comply.”

At least 50 current or past members of the ISoc were visited in their homes by police, and some students fear their names may now be added to no-fly lists in the United States. Zubair Idris, 21, a second-year studying medicine told London Student: “I was outraged because I’ve done nothing wrong. I was scared too because I’m an international student and this could cause me visa problems.”

UCL Isoc and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) have criticised UCL Union (UCLU) for passing the names and college email addresses of Isoc members to police although it was not legally required to do so. The police then obtained home addresses and phone numbers from UCL Registry.

Current Isoc President Mojeed Adams-Mogaji said: “We also realised that the student union gave the details of the UCL Medical Islamic Society without being requested for it. The union is supposed to protect the societies under it and not hastily succumb to pressure without the need to. We’re clearly not safe with the union and our trust in them is undoubtedly diminishing.”

Meanwhile former UCL Isoc President and current FOSIS media spokesperson Qasim Rafiq said: “Giving unnecessary personal data to the police seems to demonstrate a lack of regard for the personal data of its members. For me, it goes against the principles of the union to act in a flagrant manner towards its constituents.”

In March London Student reported that UCLU Student Activities Officer James Hodgson had apologised publicly at a UCLU General Meeting on March 9th for the release of data about Isoc and RUMS ISoc members although he was not legally bound to do so. Police had provided a Personal Data Request Form – but this did not overrule the Data Protection Act.

Students whose data had been passed on were sent an email informing them of this fact. Rafiq has said that the union had to be pushed to do this. He told The Independent: “We had to demand the student union to email the students whose details were given to the police, and had we not had done so students who have been contacted by the police wouldn’t have been aware that their details had been passed on”.

The union’s latest statement, dated April 14th, claims that it was only at a meeting on January 13th that “the police confirmed that the data provided may be shared with third party security services”. The statement adds: “This had not been mentioned to UCLU before the release by UCLU of member data.”

It also confirms that the data “may be kept for 7 years after the close of an investigation, albeit individuals may request that it be removed from the lists at an earlier point in time.” It says that at the time the data was released “UCLU believed…that the decision…was a legitimate and reasonable response to a serious set of circumstances” but reiterates its formal apology “to all members and former members of the UCLU and RUMS Islamic Societies whose data has been released by UCLU.”

Since the incident, UCLU Council has implemented new policy to prevent the release of the data of any union member until the request is confirmed as legally binding  – such as a court order or warrant.

After intense media scrutiny following the arrest of former President Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – charged on suspicion of attempted terrorism in the USA – UCL Union Islamic Society (ISoc) issued a statement last night stating their reaction.

Current ISoc President Mojeed Adams-Mogaji said that the society members had been “deeply saddened and shocked at the alleged actions” and “very relieved that there was no direct human tragedy as a consequence”.

He added that: “As a society, we unequivocally and in very clear terms denounce all acts of terrorism and violence regardless of the perpetrator.”

The statement went on to reiterate that “Abdulmutallab had at no stage demonstrated signs of radicalisation during his time at UCL”. This has previously been been stated by staff members who taught him and fellow members of the ISoc who knew him, such as Qasim Rafiq, who told London Student last week that Abdulmutallab seemed “politically naive” while at UCL.

However a series of national newspapers, notably The Times and Daily Telegraph ran stories suggesting that Abdulmutallab was radicalised at university.

The statement criticised this insinuations as “a baseless untruth” and pointed out that all events organised by the Islamic Society are public meetings “where all are free to express their opinions.”

Alluding to one piece in both The Times and Daily Telegraph, which presented a series of events known as ‘War on Terror’ week, organised at the time Abdulmutallab was ISoc president, as evidence that he was radicalised before travelling to Yemen, it said: “[w]e are deeply concerned, as are others, that Islamic Society events such as the “War on Terror” week, which despite being an acceptable topic for the public media to explore, are now considered by some to be ‘unacceptable for student debate’.”

Rafiq told London Student that he – and not Abdulmutallab – had in fact been the organiser.

The union and university were thanked for having “consistently demonstrated their promotion of diversity and the practice of freedom of speech within the constraints of the law”.

But it condemned “deliberate attempt made by some to conflate the issue of violent extremism with what may be considered as controversial, but legal, viewpoints.”

“Never has a speaker invited by the UCL Islamic Society espoused views on campus which would incite violence or would have broken the law.  Should there be any such occurrence, then we as a society would be the first in holding such views to account.”

Echoing comments made by UCL Provost Malcolm Grant, it emphasised academic freedom and said it was “important to realise that as long as this expression does not incite violence or break the law, then it should not only be permissible but fostered for academic student debate.”

The Second Floor bar at UCL Union is set to be renamed The Kriss Akabusi Pleasure Lounge. Read the rest of this entry »