US civil rights groups have called on the New York attorney-general to investigate the city’s police department, after leaked documents showed police recommended increasing surveillance of Muslim Shia mosques based on their religion.
In a letter to Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman, 33 rights organisations urged him to open a probe into the New York police department’s surveillance operations.
Schneiderman’s office did not immediately comment on the letter.
The move comes after the AP news agency revealed its investigation into the surveillance techniques, which it said monitored entire neighbourhoods and built databases about life in Muslim communities.
A May 2006 report addressed to the police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, recommended increased spying at mosques and an assessment of the region’s Palestinian community to look for potential terrorists, AP said.
The report, entitled “US-Iran Conflict: The Threat to New York City”, made a series of recommendations to Kelly, including: “Expand and focus intelligence collections at Shia mosques.”
It included a list of mosques and community organisations, extending from southern New Jersey to Connecticut.
