By Jeff Huett, BJC Director of Communications
WASHINGTON — The Baptist Joint Committee has joined a broad coalition of organizations in urging the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to collect separate data on hate crimes directed against Sikhs, Arabs and Hindus as part of the FBI’s hate crime data collection programs.
The FBI has been tracking and documenting hate crimes reported from federal, state and local law enforcement officials since 1991 as required by the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990. It collects information about bias-motivated crimes directed at religious groups such as Jews, Christians and Muslims, but despite demonstrated evidence that Sikh, Arab and Hindu individuals and institutions have been targets of vandalism and violence because of their faith, the FBI does not collect separate data on hate crimes against these specific groups.
“A threat to anyone’s religious freedom is a threat to everyone’s religious freedom,” said K. Hollyn Hollman, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee. “Accurate reporting of hate crimes is essential to protecting the religious freedom rights of Sikh, Arab and Hindu Americans.”
In calling for these changes to law enforcement data collection practices, the coalition of more than 60 civic and religious groups pointed to the 2012 bias-motivated murders of six Sikh worshipers at their house of worship in Oak Creek, Wis. Signers of the statement include the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Interfaith Alliance, NAACP, National Urban League, Sojourners, Southern Poverty Law Center and the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church.
An extensive advisory review process will conclude this June with a final policy recommendation to the director of the FBI.
From the January 2013 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
