Dear IRR News subscriber,

Freedom of thought, expression and inquiry is under renewed threat from governments which, paradoxically, claim to be fighting to preserve of freedom of expression in Europe. This is the view of Frances Webber who considers a number of disturbing cases in France and Belgium, particularly those that affect children who find themselves prosecuted as apologists for terrorism. Hilary Aked of Spinwatch is concerned that important debates on the place of religion in society, are being distorted by the arguments of groups with an anti-Islam agenda. She examines the activities of the UK group Sharia Watch.

IRR News readers may be interested in a new campaign which has been launched against Channel 4’s series, Immigration Street. And staying on migration issues, we review a report which examines the state of children’s rights in the UK, including asylum-seeking families and their children. Our regular calendar of racism and resistance rounds up the latest events and news in UK and Europe.

We have the latest news on deaths in custody, and you might also be interested in a conference taking place next weekend organised by The Monitoring Group and the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies on ‘Corruption, Spying, Racism and Accountability: UK Policing in the 21st Century’.

IRR News Team