Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

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is covered by the non-discrimination provision of the European Convention on HumanRights. The court has also articulated a very high threshold for justifying unfavorabletreatment based on nationality. 98 This means that while immigration decisions such asthe right of entry and residence are based on nationality, individuals—including thirdcountry nationals (that is, non EU nationals)—are protected against discrimination ongrounds of racial or ethnic origin or other prohibited grounds in all areas of public lifeoutside the sphere of immigration. In addition, different treatment of specific ethnicgroups within a nationality group constitutes profiling—as when the French governmentin 2010 targeted only Romanian Roma for detention and deportation, or whenBritish immigration officials targeted Roma travelers from the Czech Republic. 99There is little existing research identifying practices that may constitute ethnicprofiling at borders. The European Union’s Practical Handbook for Border Guards (SchengenHandbook) prohibits discrimination and calls for courteous treatment of all persons,but does not provide practical guidance on valid and productive grounds for selectingpersons for additional scrutiny at borders. There are also relatively few standards andpolicies providing guidance on non-discrimination obligations for national immigrationauthorities and officers.Immigration and border authorities have developed various responses to concernsabout discrimination in border checks. The use of behavioral profiles is commonand increasingly sophisticated among many immigration and customs agencies andimportant in focusing officers’ attention on behavioral risk factors rather than assumptionsabout nationality or ethnicity and offending. The Belgian case study below is anexample of an intelligence-based system of profiles using behavioral and geographicfactors.BELGIUMBrussels Airport Information-based Behavioral ProfilingThe Brussels airport aviation police have a system of geographical and behavior-basedprofiling to help identify potentially suspicious persons before they arriveat the airport. Profiles are intelligence-based and constantly updated.The first level profile identifies flights from countries or regions of higher risk fororganized crime (for example, information that flights out of West Africa are higherrisk for trafficking in drugs), and high-risk flights are selected. Judicial police screenpassengers on high-risk flights through a second level of profiling using passengerdata from airlines under existing agreements. 10046 LEGAL STANDARDS AND INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES TO ADDRESS ETHNIC PROFILING
In order to conduct a check using airline data, the judicial police require authorizationfrom a prosecutor, who provides a written order. Border control officials are given alist of persons arriving on specific flights to control. Aviation police statistics showdetection of illegal acts in one out of five persons identified through this screening.Behavioral profiles or specific guidance have sometimes been developed orstrengthened in reaction to accusations of ethnic profiling—as in the UK case studythat follows. The new UK approach also required additional supervision. Requiring officersto articulate their reasons for questioning or searching someone has been shownto improve targeting and detection of contraband or offenses—as was the case with asimilar policy introduced by the US Customs Service, as described in Chapter VI.UNITED KINGDOMUKBA Customs Guidelines on Selection and Searches of PersonsFollowing accusations of ethnic profiling of Afro-Caribbeans by the United KingdomCustoms service, a 2006 review led to new guidance on the selection and targetingof passengers. The new guidance is intended to ensure that all officers base theirselection on intelligence, not ethnicity or stereotyping. 101Customs officers either follow specific intelligence about a flight or person, or selecthigh risk flights based on daily intelligence briefings and trend analysis. Once flightsare identified, custom officers “visually profile” those disembarking; guidance onvisual profiling establishes a cluster of indicators that may be the basis of suspicion.Customs officers must base their searches on eight “suspicion areas” that arerecorded and supervised. The eight suspicion areas include origin, destination androute, baggage, and behavior, among others and the indicators are regularly updated.Each area includes a set of questions ranked from lowest to the highest risk. Forexample:• Does the baggage look big and bulky?• Is the person acting nervously?• Is the person avoiding customs officials?Supervisors review the grounds at the time of each search, 102 and again a monthlybasis. The guidance also states that customs officers should end an encounter asREDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 47
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Page 6 and 7: described in this report. The case
Page 9 and 10: List of Case StudiesThe case studie
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Page 16 and 17: The United Nations, the Council of
Page 19 and 20: I. Ethnic Profiling DefinedA Compre
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Page 27 and 28: The impact of ethnic profiling on c
Page 29 and 30: of the ethnic minorities disproport
Page 31 and 32: II. A Holistic Approachto Reducing
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Page 39 and 40: ImmigrationThe Equality Act covers
Page 41 and 42: FRANCEObligation of Non-Discriminat
Page 43 and 44: General principles of good practice
Page 45 and 46: UNITED KINGDOMPolice and Criminal E
Page 47: has lasted for an hour, the examini
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Page 53 and 54: Improving law enforcement relations
Page 55: IRELANDPolicing Plan 2008The Garda
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UNITED KINGDOMThe Views of the Publ
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NORTHERN IRELANDBeyond the Margins:
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DENMARKMedia Reporting of Police St
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VI. Strategies for Reducing EthnicD
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people were stopped and valuable po
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only do so if the measure is determ
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Supervision and Oversight of Front-
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This is not to say that stop forms
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• Recording of self-defined ethni
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UNITED KINGDOM“Know Your Rights
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Prior to the ride-alongs, many Hung
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General principles of good practice
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UNITED KINGDOMMonitoring the Qualit
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GREECEProhibition of Racist Languag
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This handbook recommends that law e
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Where possible, training should inc
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SWEDENPolice and Youth Sharing Expe
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Training in the Counter-radicalizat
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VIII. Changing Institutional Cultur
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and Wales have used the package. Mo
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NORTHERN IRELANDCreating a More Bal
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Moroccan man. Another minority offi
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other characteristics or values. Co
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Take steps to ensure that all parts
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Law enforcement agencies must be se
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A large number of Polish migrants h
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variety of individuals with “life
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UNITED KINGDOMCommunity Stop and Se
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their needs, and problems, and hear
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to travel as far as Liverpool to ac
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The strategy includes multiple init
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The website provides an interactive
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Appendix A:Sample Stop Forms171
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REDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EU
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Fuenlabrada, Spain Stop FormREDUCIN
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West Yorkshire Police Stop ReceiptR
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Covenant rights that are especially
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• Necessity: The use of ethnic pr
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The clear risk of arbitrariness in
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The Committee considers that identi
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adopted on June 29, 2007, CRI/Counc
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European Union Fundamental Rights A
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Notes1. Rebekah Delsol, Open Societ
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13. A report of MI5’s behavioral
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38. From the email text sent by Tem
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57. R. Davis and P. Mateu-Gelabert,
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88. Gillan and Quinton v. United Ki
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Ireland). Of the total number of co
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139. For example, European Commissi
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165. Open Society Justice Initiativ
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197. These can be found at: http://
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230. More information can be found
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266. To undertake this kind of anal
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279. In Rosalind Williams, Spanish
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Ethnic profiling by police in Europ
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