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Over 10,000 terrorism stops carried out at UK ports

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Sep 13, IRNA -- An increasing number of people are being stopped at UK ports under emergency terrorism powers, according to Home Office figures released under the country’s Freedom of Information.

The figures, obtained by IRNA from the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), show that 10,400 ‘examinations’ (stop, search and question) were made using of Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act between January 2004 and September 2009.

A breakdown reveals that the number of people stopped and searched has increased every year from 1,190 in 2004 to 2,473 in 2008. The number in the first nine months of 2009 was 1,773.

The Home Office said the rise in the examinations between 2004 and 2008 “reflects and is consummate with a period where the threat to the UK was assessed as severe.”

FOSIS is appealing against the refusal to disclose the national ethnicity data of those examined under Schedule 7, which it said is the “most wide ranging” 'stop' power in the UK but also the “least transparent.”

It also said that the figures obtained do not in fact represent the total number of examinations carried out as they only include those lasting more than an hour.

The powers allow the physically removal of a passenger from their vehicle, train, ship or aircraft without any grounds of reasonable suspicion.

People can be detained for up to 9 hours for a thorough examination, including the strip search of children, while their belonging and vehicles are also searched.

Officers also have the powers to take DNA, fingerprints and a profile photo and the figures show that samples were taken on approximately 1,200 occasions.

The Home Office said that the more than 10,000 examinations made at UK ports had led to 99 arrests for terrorism related offences and that 17 were initially charged in relation to offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 and 31 with other terrorist related offences.

FOSIS said it had also sent FOI requests to all of the 53 police forces in the UK seeking statistics on the ethnicity and boidata of people examined under Schedule 7.

Although most have been rejected, it said it was in the process of getting the exemptions reviewed to obtain a breakdown of cases.