UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination renews call for UK to suspend Prevent duty 

29th September 2026

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has renewed its call for the UK Government to suspend the ‘Prevent’ duty, citing continued concerns about the discriminatory impact of this law on Muslim and other minoritised communities in Great Britain. 

The ‘Prevent’ duty obligates everyone in the education and health sectors in Great Britain, among others, to report people to the police regarding any concerns about potential ‘extremism’ or susceptibility to being drawn into terrorism. These referrals do not require any evidence and can be based on ‘gut feeling’ alone. 

In a follow-up letter it issued after its 118th session in August 2026, the Committee assessed the UK’s progress in implementing recommendations it had made following its 2024 review of the country’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). CERD concluded that the UK’s response to these recommendations on Prevent has been ‘unsatisfactory’. 

The Committee’s latest communication finds that the UK has failed to make satisfactory progress. It also raises concerns that measures the government has introduced, including establishing an Independent Prevent Commissioner to review and monitor the programme, do not adequately address the potential discriminatory effects.[1] 

CERD has called on the UK government to: 

• suspend the Prevent duty in its current form and refrain from introducing measures that would broaden its scope or discriminatory impact; 

• establish genuinely independent oversight and effective safeguards, developed through inclusive consultation with communities affected by Prevent; 

• end the targeting, stereotyping and profiling of people from minoritised communities based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religion or identity; 

• publish accurate, comprehensive and transparent data on Prevent referrals, while ensuring that individuals have practical ways to access, review and exercise control over information held about them; and 

• create accessible accountability mechanisms that provide effective remedies, resources and support for individuals and families affected by the Prevent duty.[2] 

RSI continues to call for an end to the Prevent duty. The discriminatory impact of Prevent, the programme’s lack of transparency and the government’s failure to demonstrate its effectiveness make it incompatible with the UK’s international human rights obligations. 

Background information 

Prevent is part of the UK government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It requires public bodies in Great Britain, including schools, universities and healthcare providers, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. The programme has long faced criticism for encouraging the reporting and monitoring of people based on their behaviour, activities or beliefs. 

The Prevent duty applies in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.  

Rights & Security International (RSI) submitted written evidence and addressed the CERD during its review of the UK in August 2024. We highlighted evidence that Prevent disproportionately affects people from Muslim backgrounds and excessively restricts the rights to freedom of religion, expression and assembly, contrary to the UK’s obligations under Articles 5(d)(vii) and 5(d)(ix) of ICERD.[3] 

We also raised concerns about data collection, information-sharing and monitoring practices under Prevent. The government does not routinely publish sufficiently detailed information about referrals, the demographic characteristics of people referred, or any measures it takes to prevent discriminatory referrals. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess the full impact of the programme on racialised and religious minorities. 

In its September 2024 concluding observations, CERD echoed our concerns and called on the UK government to suspend the Prevent duty in its current form.[4] 

1. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ‘Follow-up letter sent to the State Party,’ CERD/118th Session/FU/CS/ks (26 August 2026), pp. 5. 

2. Ibid., pp. 5–6. 

3. Rights & Security International, ‘Submission of Rights & Security International to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the examination of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the 113th session’ (28 June 2024). 

4. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ‘Concluding observations on the combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth reports of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,’ CERD/C/GBR/CO/24-26 (24 September 2024), paras. 33–34.