CRS Department of Justice and
Sikh Human Rights Group (USA)

Response and Prevention - Dealing with Misdirected Harassments

Location: Washington DC
Date and Time: 5th April 2003, 10 am –4.30 pm

In the wake of the war with Iraq and its possible consequences upon Sikhs in America due to misdirected anger, the CRS (DOJ) has agreed to conduct an urgent round table seminar in Washington to discuss a national –regional plan on response and prevention. Due to the urgency of the matter, the seminar will be on Saturday the 5th of April 2003. The venue will be announced by next Monday.

The seminar will start at 10 am and hopes to finish by 4.30 pm.
The discussions will take place under 3 broad topics. There will be discussion in each.

1. Listening :
2. Support Services
3. Policy and Network Development.

LISTENING
Organisations who have done considerable work in this field will give a small talk each on their experiences, the support systems they have developed, the short comings and the problems being faced. They will be given 10-15 minutes.

Individuals representing other institutions who have some experiences to bring to the attention of the seminar, can also do so during this session. They are requested to forward their names and are requested to stick to a time limit of 5 minutes.

SUPPORT SERVICES
The CRS team of the Department of Justice will then explain the support they can offer both at the national and the regional level. The CRS team will also outline how other Government agencies can assist in harassment cases, both in response and preventative measures.

POLICY AND NETWORK DEVELOPMENT
The representatives together with CRS will then formulate a national policy on response and prevention. The organisations who have worked in this field and the various representatives will work out a policy of co-ordination both at the national and regional level with each other and with Government agencies. They will also take responsibility to disseminate information within their spheres of influence, ie Gurdwaras, websites, email groups etc.

Numbers are restricted to 30. Participants are requested to give their names urgently by
- email: usa.meeting@shrg.net or
- calling Paramjit Kaur at 201 349 1239 or 201 782 6017.

SHRG is merely facilitating this meeting as part of its Anti-Discrimination work ongoing from the World Conference Against Racism (Durban). It does not intend to take further responsibility except on a sharing basis.

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