Washington, DC | July 16, 2008 | www.adc.org | Kareem Shora, National Executive Director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), is scheduled to provide expert testimony during an upcoming meeting hosted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in cooperation with the Human Rights Law Research Center at Istanbul Bilgi University. This will be the eighth OSCE event, in the past three years, at which ADC gives a presentation and the second time this year ADC will provide expert-level testimony to the intergovernmental body.
ADC will give a presentation during the “OSCE Expert Meeting on Security, Radicalization and the Prevention of Terrorism” in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 28 and 29. This meeting is designed to address the difference of opinions between security and human rights practitioners when it comes to the relationship between security policies and the protection and promotion of human rights, including the prohibition on discrimination, the right to privacy, the freedom of religion or belief and others.
ADC is scheduled to address the session on issues related to religious, ethnic, and racial profiling. This session will examine examples of profiling, the underlying rationale and the impacts or consequences on individuals or communities. In addition, this session will also examine how profiling can negatively condition the attitudes and approach of law enforcement officers and the authorities, by contributing to an institutional bias against a community, or by causing authorities to overlook persons who do not fit a profile.
RELATED LINKS
ADC Testimony at US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (June 2008):
http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContentRecords.ViewWitness&ContentRecord_id=1035&ContentType=D&ContentRecordType=D&ParentType=B&CFID=18849146&CFTOKEN=53
ADC Highlights Best Practices, Calls on US to Abide by International Obligation at OSCE Meeting in Vienna (May 2008): https://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3312
ADC Provides Expert Testimony at Two OSCE Conferences (May 2008): https://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3311
ADC Participation in OSCE Conference on the Role of Civil Society in Preventing Terrorism (March 2007): https://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3060
ADC and the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) Announce Joint Coordination Effort Regarding Role of Civil Society (March 2007): https://www.adc.org/index.php?id=3075
The OSCE is the world‘s largest regional security organization whose 55 participating states span the geographical area from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the specialized institution of the OSCE dealing with elections, human rights, and democratization The ODIHR was founded in 1995 and is based in Warsaw, Poland. It is active throughout the OSCE area in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law. To learn more about the OSCE, visit: www.osce.org.