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United Nations

Here you will find sources linked to the United Nations’ concerns and warnings about the abuses inherent in Prevent and counter-extremism.

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CategoriesStatements Latest News

PRESS RELEASE: UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination grades UK response on Prevent ‘unsatisfactory’

London – The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has formally assessed the UK Government’s response to its 2024 recommendations on the Prevent duty as “unsatisfactory”, in a letter [1] to the UK Government dated 26 August 2026 and published today by Prevent Watch. In August 2024 [2], the Committee recommended that the UK suspend the Prevent duty, adopt safeguards against profiling and discrimination, and establish independent monitoring and remedies for those affected. Reviewing the Government’s one-year progress report, the Committee regrets “the lack of detailed information on the concrete measures adopted by the State Party to revise the CONTEST and Prevent counter-terrorism strategies, including the Prevent duty, with a view to eliminating any discriminatory and disproportionate impact”. On the two bodies the Government presents as safeguards, the Home Office’s Standards and Compliance Unit and the Independent Prevent Commissioner, the Committee finds that “their mandate is primarily […]

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CategoriesLatest News

Summary of our submission on the UK government’s progress on the UN CERD 2024 recommendations on the Prevent Duty

The full submission in Word format is available here.  This submission responds to the UK Government’s response to the Committee’s 2024 recommendations regarding the Prevent duty. Briefly, the Committee called on the UK to: suspend the Prevent duty introduce robust safeguards to ensure that these measures do not result, in purpose or effect, in profiling or discrimination introduce independent monitoring mechanisms and access to remedies for those harmed by Prevent. Our central concern is that the UK Government has not meaningfully engaged with the substance of these findings or recommendations. Failure to Acknowledge Discrimination The UK Government’s response does not engage with the premise that Prevent is discriminatory and targets Muslims disproportionately. The 2023 Independent Review of Prevent  rejected the characterisation of Prevent as discriminatory and framed these concerns as part of an ‘Islamist’ campaign. This approach continued in the 2024 Lessons for Prevent report by Lord David Anderson, KC, […]

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united nations cautions against prevent in schools CategoriesLatest News Reports

UN Special Rapporteur cautions against Prevent in schools in report on children’s right to a safe education

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has released the advanced edited version of their report into children’s right to be safe in education, including a paragraph relating to Prevent in schools that drew from a submission sent by Prevent Watch to the Special Rapporteur on safety in education Farida Shaheed earlier this year. You can find Prevent Watch’s submission here under CSOs. Click on our name and download our submission. The report has been submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to the Council resolutions 8/4 and 53/7, during the 59th session of the UNHRC held between 16 June and 11 July 2025 under Agenda Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. In it, the Special Rapporteur addresses the “right to be safe in education”, as part of children’s right to education. Prevent Watch made a […]

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Prevent Watch meet UN High Commissioner at Amnesty UK head office in London CategoriesCommunity Expert View Latest Expert Views Our Expert Views Previous Events

For the Love of Trains – Speaking to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about Prevent

On Monday, I was at Amnesty International’s offices, meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. It was an opportunity for directors from several civil society organisations to ensure he heard about the most urgent human rights issues before his meeting with the UK government. (Picture: Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (centre) with Dr Layla Aitlhadj, Prevent Watch and represntatives from Amnesty UK, Liberty, Just Fair, Human Rights Watch, Children’s Rights Alliance, Together and others.) For us at Prevent Watch, this meant making sure the voices of those harmed by Prevent were loud and clear. I didn’t get much notice to prepare, and I was told I would only have five minutes to speak. So, rather than trying to summarize 20 years of damage in a few rushed minutes, I brought with me a toy train. Not just any toy train, but a Thomas […]

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empty school desks for story on how uk prevent duty erodes children's rights to safe education CategoriesCommunity Expert View Education Expert View Latest Expert Views Our Expert Views

UN Submission: How the UK Prevent duty erodes children’s right to safety in education

A summary of our submission to the UN outlining how Prevent makes school an unsafe space especially for targeted children, with serious implications for children’s well-being. This submission addresses how Prevent undermines the right to safety in education under International Human Rights law. Download Prevent Watch’s full final 2025 submission to the UN on how Prevent violates the right to a safe education. The issues raised are framed in response to specific questions posed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education in her call for contributions. We have published this as the UK government approves the Children’s Well-being and Schools BIll that seeks to “break the link between young people’s background and their future success”. A Prevent referral – even when it is determined to be unnecessary as in 85% of cases – can follow a child through their life, seriously impacting their well-being and success. Since […]

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picture of the united nations headquarters in geneva for a story on reparations for uk prevent duty CategoriesCommunity Expert View Education Expert View Latest Expert Views Our Expert Views

Why we need to speak about reparations for Prevent in 2025

While much discussion has centred on the UN call to suspend Prevent, little has been said about reparations – this year, it’s time to put the subject on the table. As we enter a new year with a new government and new proposals to be announced for Prevent, it is vital to reflect on Prevent’s decade-long legacy as a statutory duty, specifically what these potential changes—or the lack thereof—mean for those already harmed by Prevent. This reflection gains urgency as we await the UK Government’s response to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s (CERD) recommendation to not only suspend Prevent, but to also consider reparations for those harmed by it. While much discussion has centred on the call to suspend Prevent, little has been said about reparations – for example, how do we define ‘harm’ and – importantly – how can it be compensated? Prevent Watch’s extensive […]

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