By Grant Smith, education reporter

THE SCOTTISH Trades Union Congress is being urged to call for the disbanding of a controversial police unit in Tayside that gathers intelligence on Muslim extremists.

A motion has been tabled for the congress by Dundee Trades Union Council expressing concern at the activities of the Special Branch community contact unit (SBCCU), saying the unit “appears focused on monitoring anti-war, Palestinian rights and Muslim groups within Dundee’s further education institutions.”

Congress will be asked to call on Tayside Police to “radically rethink their strategy for community bridge-building and the role of Special Branch within it,” when it meets in Glasgow in April.

The community contact unit was set up in the wake of the London bombings in July 2005. Its activities have already come in for criticism from Dundee University students, who were concerned about officers’ access to the campus.

The Dundee TUC motion claims officers attended the university’s freshers’ fair for new students, but did not identify themselves as police officers when speaking to students manning a Stop The War stall.

It adds, “We find worrying the SBCCU’s practice of sitting in on meetings of the Islamic Society within Dundee University. We believe such actions put Muslim groups under suspicion and are extremely unhelpful in the current Islamophobic climate.

“Tayside SBCCU is the only unit of its kind in Scotland. Tayside Police say that the intelligence they obtain is distributed to forces around the UK.

“We are concerned that information may also be passed overseas, including to countries with poor human rights records. This is a particular concern at a university like Dundee that attracts a large number of overseas students.”

Dundee TUC will ask congress to say that Special Branch officers should not be used to monitor the political activities of student groups on university and college campuses. Its argument is that such action scares students and discourages them from participating in political activities, thereby stifling debate and undermining the principle of academic freedom.

Last month the SCBBU refused to reveal if it was aware of any extremist activity in Tayside.

A spokesman said it did not consider it in the public interest to confirm or deny such activity, although it was said no charges had been brought against anyone as a result of its work.

The stated purpose of the unit is to “improve intelligence gathering opportunities and provide reassurance through community contact.”

It declined to say whether any complaints had been made about its activities as it had only two officers. Complaints would have to be made about a specific individual and this would constitute personal information, which could not be released to the public.

In November, Detective Chief Superintendent Angela Wilson, head of Tayside CID, said the SBCCU was not meant to intimidate people and its aim was to give reassurance to the community.