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TAMPA, Fl (July 20, 2006) - The Hindu American
Foundation represented Hindus as a part of a diverse coalition
of civil rights, educational and religious submitting comments
to the Department of Justice on its implementation of the
Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA). Enacted by Congress in 1990,
the HCSA requires the Justice Department to acquire data on
crimes which "manifest prejudice based on race, religion,
sexual orientation, or ethnicity" (coverage was expanded
to include disability in 1994) from law enforcement agencies
across the country and to publish an annual report of its
the findings.
On April 21, 2006, the Department of Justice
requested feedback from the public on existing Hate Crime
Incident Report and Quarterly Hate Crime Report forms that
are used in the implementation of the Act. In a letter to
Gregory E. Scarbro, Unit Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the HAF joined
groups such as the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of
Southern California, Interfaith Alliance, Jewish Council for
Public Affairs, National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People and Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
in commending the FBI in its implementation of the HSCA thus
far and providing suggestions for improving the data collection
process.
Among the specific recommendations made for
improving the annual report was to provide additional specificity
in the Bias Motivation section, under Ethnicity/National Origin.
The current form provides a box only for “Anti-Hispanic”
and “Anti-Other Ethnicity.”
Because the FBI report, Hate Crime Statistics
2001, documented that the number of hate crimes directed at
individuals on the basis of their national origin/ethnicity
doubled -- from 911 in 2000 to 2,098 in 2001, the
coalition recommended that the FBI include at a minimum, the
“Anti-Other Ethnicity/National Origin” line to
include a line that specifies “Anti-Arab,” the
“Religion” section to include a line for “Anti-Sikh”
and “Anti-Hindu,” and the “Sexual Orientation”
section to include “Anti-Transgender,” as examples
of such crimes. The specific language regarding anti- Hindu
crimes was included upon the recommendation of the HAF, which
provided evidence of hate crimes affecting this particular
community over the past year.
“As we grow more diverse as a nation,
the issue of race relations and hate crimes can no longer
be discussed in terms of black and white,” said Suhag
Shuka, Esq., counsel for HAF. “Detailed reporting of
hate crimes affecting specific ethnic and faith communities
will allow local law enforcement to recognize and distinguish
far more easily an ordinary crime from one that has been motivated
by hate.”
The Hindu American Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3), non-partisan organization, promoting the Hindu
and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism.
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