Anti-Muslim 'hate crimes' up 50 percent in US: FBI

Muslim devotees take part in a special morning prayer
to mark the start of Eid at mosque in Silver Spring
© AFP/File Jewel Samad

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – So-called “hate crimes” against Muslims rose nearly 50 percent in the United States in 2010, according to FBI statistics released Monday.

The figures, part of a report on hate crimes, showed actions motivated by anti-Muslim prejudice rose to 160 in 2010 from 107 the prior year.

Anti-Jewish crimes were down from the previous year at 887 incidents from 931 the previous year. The number of crimes motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment rose to 58 last year, from 51 in 2009.

The total number of incidents classified as hate crimes rose marginally in 2010 to 6,628. Of the total, 47.3 percent were motivated by race and 20 percent by religion, the FBI statistics showed.

The organization Human Rights First expressed dismay over the figures.

“After hate crime declined in 2009, it’s disturbing to see it rise again in 2010,” said the group’s Paul Legendre.

“The rise in anti-Muslim violence is particularly significant. Human Rights First has long maintained that anti-Muslim violence, as well as other forms of hate crime, must be viewed and responded to as a serious violation of human rights. The US government can and must do more to confront these abuses.”