VIEWPOINT Publish Date: Saturday,12 March, 2011, at 12:16 PM Doha Time
Profiling not an efficient way of stopping crime Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble hit the nail on the head when he said that the practice of profiling travellers at airports was based on prejudice rather than any scientific evidence. Noble, of African American-German heritage, was careful in choosing his words in an interview with the Gulf Times on Thursday, but nevertheless left no doubt about what he meant. Racial, religious and ethnic profiling is a common practice at international borders, with travellers especially of African, Arab or Asian origins, subject to special attention by immigration officials."Profiling is generally based on prejudice and not objectively verifiable data," the Stanford Law School graduate and the first American to head the global police body told the Gulf Times. Countless high-profile cases where top businessmen, world famous movie stars and politicians have been detained and harassed just because of their physical appearance have been reported in the recent past. Who can forget the experience of Indian heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan who was interrogated for several hours at a US airport some years ago despite being a frequent traveller? Muslims sporting beards and Sikhs wearing turbans have also had humiliating experiences at Western airports despite carrying valid travel documents and being well-respected in their fields. The case of the Indian ambassador in the United States Meera Shankar being pulled from an airport security line and patted down by an agent in Mississippi is another high-profile instance. Why did it happen to her? Because she was wearing a sari! The incident occurred on December 4 last year at the Jackson- Evers International Airport where was about to board a flight to Baltimore after attending a programme at the Mississippi State University. Shankar presented her diplomatic papers to officers and was escorted by a Mississippi Development Authority representative and an airport security officer where she was subjected to a hands-on search. She was taken to a VIP waiting room despite being told she was an ambassador and patted down by a woman Transportation Security Administration agent. Khan went on to make a highly successful movie titled My Name is Khan based on his and others' experiences in the US as the backdrop for good measure - but it's unlikely the practice will ever be eliminated completely. Noble, who himself has been subject to special treatment several times, was of the opinion that border officials should make it a point to check every passenger's passport against the Interpol's extensive database of stolen or altered travel papers. A whopping 40,000 cases of fraudulently obtained passports or other travel documents were detected from the nearly 500mn passports checked against the Interpol registry last year. The procedure takes a few seconds and is highly reliable compared to profiling which is based on race, religion, ethnicity or even clothing. It's something every country should implement. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/