OSCE: Racism and the rise of the police state in western democracies

<span style="font-weight: 400;">To better understand the dynamics of structural racism and how it is serving repressive agendas, the JLC is organising a side event during the OSCE’s (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) 2017 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting titled “Racism and the rise of the police state in western democracies” in order to answer the following questions:</span> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How has Islamophobia been used to justify repression and is it a point of objective convergence between terrorist ideology? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aside from communication campaigns, is there a reason for western governments to not take racism more seriously? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Is it legitimate to speak of “police states” and if so, what would that imply to the notion of democracy and the rule of law in western societies? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Is there an objective alliance between anti-muslim racism and terrorist ideology? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What is the role of semantics in blurring the lines between targeting terrorist activity and political opposition? </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What assessment can be made of the strategy adopted against terrorism for the past twenty years?</span></li> </ol> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Following their presentations, speakers submit their recommendations to civil society and governments.</span> <b>Date:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 19 September 2017 </span><b>Time:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 8:15am to 9:45am </span><b>Location:</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Meeting Room 2, Warsaw National Stadium, Poland</span> <b>Speakers:</b> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yasser Louati - President, Justice &amp; Liberties For All Committee (JLC), France.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rachel Harger - Human Rights Solicitor, Defend The Right To Protest, United Kingdom.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hussam Ayloush - Executive Director, Los Angeles Office, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), USA.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ibrahim Mohamoud - Communication Officer, CAGE, UK.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Malia Bouattia - Co-Founder Students Not Suspects / Educators Not Informants Network, UK.</span></li> </ul> <span style="font-weight: 400;">For more information about the event, please</span><strong> <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/358573217/Racism-and-Rise-of-the-Police-State-in-Western-Democracies-19-September-2017-OSCE-HDIM-Side-Event?utm_campaign=event_at_the_osce_hdim_2017_racism_and_rise_of_the_police_state_in_western_democracies&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_term=2017-09-11">see here</a>.</strong> &nbsp;