London: The Observer reported on Sunday that the author of a contentious review into the UK's counterterrorism strategy has come under fire because he only attended six meetings of the deradicalization program.
William Shawcross, who was chosen in January 2021 to review the Prevent program of the British government, has been accused after his report stated that Islamist extremism and far-right extremism were not given enough attention.
Nearly 1,500 assessments for the Channel the Prevent support program, which is tasked with evaluating more extreme individuals, were conducted between April 2021 and March 2022.
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However, detractors claim that Shawcross's attendance at just six of these case referrals raises questions about how exhaustive the research that produced his findings was.
Prevent Watch's director and case study lead, Layla Aitlhadj, claimed that for its report on the counterterrorism program from last year, her organization had examined hundreds of referrals.
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"We looked at 600 cases." Just six Channel cases served as the basis for Shawcross' entire report, she continued. The Shawcross review was a complete failure, lacking in research, analysis, and anti-Muslim bias.
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The report, which was supported by the Conservative government, is "insulting," according to Neil Basu, the former chief counterterrorism officer of the UK. The report was denounced by Amnesty International as being "riddled with biased thinking, errors, and plain anti-Muslim prejudice."