US Muslim, Civil Rights Groups Urge Transparency

Thursday, August 6, 2015

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WASHINGTON – Muslim groups and civil rights activists across the nation are calling for greater transparency in an Obama administration program aimed at countering homegrown terrorism.

"Despite repeatedly raising concerns, civil rights and community-based groups have received no response from the government," Haroon Manjlai, the Public Affairs Coordinator of Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net.

"Instead, the government has decided to prioritize Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), a program proven to be ineffective, with no support from the community it is directed towards, and major civil rights implications," he added.

Manjlai was speaking ahead of several news conferences planned on Thursday, August 6, in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Boston.

Organized by Muslim and civil rights organizations, the news conferences will be used to express growing community concerns about proposed government-initiated "countering violent extremism" (CVE) programming.

These events are being held in the three cities designated to launch CVE pilot programs.

"The Minnesota Muslim Community is united over its growing concerns about the CVE pilot program, which so far has only alienated the very communities it was seeking to influence, while attempting to derail the communities own initiative to enhance its ability to build community resilience," CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said.

The groups include local chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"These joint actions send a powerful statement attesting to the degree to which the Department of Homeland Security has ignored criticism of local dissent in the proposed CVE pilot cities, instead selectively highlighting the relatively few groups who have thus far pledged support," CAIR-MA Executive Director Dr. John Robbins said.

"We hope these declarations by community and civil rights leaders will illustrate the broad concerns they have about planned CVE programs."

Last month, CAIR released an updated CVE briefing paper in advance of a hearing by the House Homeland Security Committee, which was considering legislation to provide $40 million taxpayer dollars over four years to expand the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by adding an office that would deal exclusively with CVE.

CAIR's briefing paper outlines a number of concerns about the government's CVE initiative, including that government-led CVE is not an effective use of public resources, that it often relies on subjective measures, and that its efficacy is questionable.

Observers note that CVE is generally driven by news events, that the current program targets American Muslims exclusively, and find claims that the government is targeting all forms of violent extremism to be inconsistently supported.

There is also concern that the current CVE initiative undermines American ideals such as government not having a role in the free exercise of religion.

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