News online - current lead stories      Follow us on and    Top 20 stories - for full contents see: Statewatch News online or What's New: lists all items on the website. Germany/North Africa: German police instructed Tunisia and Egypt on internet surveillance prior to the Arab Spring The German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation instructed the authorities of multiple North African and Middle Eastern countries in internet surveillance in the years running up to the Arab Spring, according to information released by the German government following questioning by Die Linke (Left Party) in April 2013. Training in Tunisia and Egypt occurred shortly before the revolts in those countries, where control of the internet played a key role in allowing the government to undermine the uprisings. UK: "The potential death of legal aid": lawyers protest against new government proposals As Big Ben chimed for 11 o'clock on the morning of Wednesday 22nd May, hundreds of protesters stood outside parliament and held one minute's silence to mark "the potential death of legal aid." These were the words of the speaker on stage, a representative of the London Criminal Courts Solicitors' Association (LCCSA). The crowd, largely made up of solicitors, barristers and others working in the criminal justice system, had come to make clear their opposition to new government proposals for "transforming legal aid" in criminal cases. EU: EU policy on irregular migration is "fundamentally at odds with the human rights approach" Last Thursday, the European Parliament's Human Rights Committee (DROI) heard from a number of speakers on the compliance of Frontex with its human rights responsibilities. A short video posted on the Parliament's website shows some of the key comments from the session, of which the most scathing came from a statement by François Crépeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. EU: Statewatch JHA archive now contains 7,705 documents The archive contains bibliographic records and full-text documents on EU Justice and Home Affairs policy dating back to 1976 when the Trevi Group was set up (Trevi was ad hoc intergovernmental cooperation on Terrorism, Radicalism and Violence, and grew into formal European political cooperation in the former Third Pillar after the Maastricht Treaty). It has been created to allow researchers to chart the historical development of EU JHA policy. The EU's public register of Council documents only dates back to 2000 (with some documents from 1999) while the Commission's incomplete public register started in 2002. Recent additions to the archive include: Report from the Spanish delegation relating to migratory fluxes in the area of the Mediterranean (4 September 1996, pdf) Compilations of replies to the questionnaire on Somalia (17 October 1996, pdf) Draft report on the situation in Iraq (4 December 1996, pdf) EU: State guidelines for the exchange of undercover police officers revealed Statewatch can today publish a template 'Memorandum of Understanding for the use of undercover officers' produced by the European Cooperation Group on Undercover Activities (ECG) in February 2004. It outlines the generic structure and issues to be covered in agreements for the cross-border deployment of undercover police officers. This includes the legal framework; objectives of the deployment; management of the operation; "hard criteria" such as how evidence may be given in court and whether carrying a firearm is permitted; and communication with superiors. While it may simply be coincidence, it is notable that Mark Kennedy's overseas activities began in the months following the agreement. EU: EU ministers urge Reding to do more for gay rights (euobserver, link) "Fourteen member states on Thursday (16 May) backed a petition urging the European Commission to do more for the rights of sexual minorities, with the last major initiative several years ago." EU LGBT Survey: Poll on homophobia sparks concern (BBC, link) "A quarter of gay people surveyed in a major EU poll say they have been subjected to attacks or violent threats in the past five years." Survey shows widespread LGBT discrimination (Sarah Ludford, link) "A survey produced by Gallup Europe for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) to mark the forthcoming International Day Against Homophobia (May 17th) has revealed that almost half (47%) of the Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual community in Europe has been personally discriminated against or harassed on the grounds of their sexual orientation." Northern Ireland: G8: New laws will allow government to shut down mobile phone network as security preparations step up a gear As the G8 summit in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland draws nearer, it seems that the security operation surrounding the event will be even more stringent than those that normally accompany international political summits. EU: Implementing the "solidarity clause": EU secret service to be reinforced? The "solidarity clause", known more formally as Article 222 of the Lisbon Treaty, regulates the use of police, secret service and military means in case of a crisis within the EU. The EU Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy issued a proposal in December for the legal implementation of the clause. Spain: Open Access Now: Access to the Detention centers for foreigners (CIE) of Aluche (Madrid) denied for NGOs and journalists as part of a delegation with Members of the European Parliament (link) "The denial and the willingness of the government to limit access to only three MEPs and one parliamentarian of Madrid demonstrate the opacity surrounding the functioning of detention centers, repeatedly denounced by civil society, but also by international organizations and national institutions such as the Ombudsman, the Attorney General and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture. This opacity promotes the violation of the rights of detainees in these centers as these authorities, agencies and organisations have already shown and make them incompatible with democracy and the rule of law." EU: Field testing: CLOSEYE project puts drones over the Mediterranean A multi-million euro border control project was launched in Spain at the end of April that will see drones, satellites and aerostats deployed over the southern Mediterranean in an attempt to provide the EU "with an operational and technical framework that increases situational awareness and improves the reaction capability of authorities surveying the external borders of the EU." [1] UK: Tests near completion on new police weapon On top of CS gas, rubber bullets and Tasers, another "less lethal weapon" that received renewed interest following the August 2011 riots is now in "the late stages of Home Office testing", according to a report in Police Oracle magazine. The Discriminating Irritant Projectile (DIP) can be fired up to 40 metres from a baton gun and releases a cloud of CS (tear gas) particles on impact. From Countering Financial Crime to Criminalizing Civil Society: How the FATF Overstepped the Mark (Open Society Foundations, link) "A powerful yet unaccountable global standard–setting body is helping repressive civil society regulations to spread and flourish across the globe. Ben Hayes lifts the lid on the Financial Action Task Force." Statewatch Journal (volume 23 no 1) now available to download The Statewatch Journal has been redesigned and each issue will now have a thematic focus. This issue looks at the nexus between austerity, democracy and civil liberties in Europe. EU: Meijers Committee note to the European Parliament on the Smart Borders proposals (pdf) The Meijers Committee advises the members of the European Parliament to vote against the Smart Borders proposals and expresses deep concerns with respect to the: - proportionality and practical feasibility of the proposals; - coherence of the proposals with existing databases; - applicable standards of data protection for the data subjects; - conditions for transmission of personal data to third countries; - broad discretion as regards the issuing of the registered traveler status; - proposed amendments in the Schengen Borders Code; - possible access to the Entry/Exit System for law enforcement purposes. Smart Borders proposals: Proposal for a Regulation establishing an Entry/Exit System (COM 2013 95, pdf) Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 (COM 2013 96, pdf) Proposal for a Regulation establishing Registered Traveller Programme (COM 2013 97, pdf) See also: Borderline: The EU's New Border Surveillance Initiatives: Assessing the Costs and Fundamental Rights Implications of EUROSUR and the "Smart Borders" Proposals (pdf) A study by the Heinrich Böll Foundation written by Ben Hayes and Mathias Vermeulen. EU: Council of the European Union: Data protection: Proposal for a Regulation on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation) - Specific issues (8825/13, pdf) "This package comprises two legislative proposals based on Article 16 TFEU, the new legal basis for data protection measures introduced by the Lisbon Treaty...The following items are submitted to COREPER for consideration: - Material scope - Territorial scope - Definition of consent - Data processing principles - Freedom of expression and access to public documents." EU: Data protection: Interoperable police systems could be unlawfully accessed, warns EU privacy body (Out-law, link) European Data Protection Supervisor opinion on the European Information Exchange Model (full text, pdf) "European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Peter Hustinx, who advises EU bodies on data privacy issues, said that making systems interoperable with one another could lead to police databases being used for different purposes for which they were originally established. This would run counter to EU data protection laws, he said." Background: EU: Commission rules out new law enforcement databases - but seeks more data for Europol EU: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Strengthening law enforcement cooperation in the EU: the European Information Exchange Model (pdf) Italy: Ex-police in Genoa G8 beatings assigned social work (Gazzetta del Sud, link) "Three policemen found guilty by Italy's highest appeals court in 2012 of grievous misconduct for beatings at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa have been assigned social-service duties by a tribunal in the northern Italian port city." EU: Aerial surveillance at the Greece-Turkey border: Frontex wants to buy a plane The EU border agency, Frontex, is looking to buy a plane that will allow it to undertake night-time surveillance of the land border between Greece and Turkey as part of a pilot project that will run from July until September. Aerial surveillance imagery will be used to guide the actions of border guards stationed on the ground, in a region where intensified border controls have already led to the death of migrants attempting to reach Europe by increasingly dangerous routes. State of Civil Society report 2013: How international rules on countering the financing of terrorism impact civil society (by Ben Hayes, link) See also: Full report (pdf) "This chapter describes some of the ways in which the work of civil society organisations continues to be constrained by the global CFT [countering the financing of terrorism] framework. Although many of these effects may be described as unintended consequences, they are also the outcome of a culture of suspicion in which links between charities and terrorist organisations have been exaggerated while measures to protect freedom of association and expression have been disregarded." UK: Thousands more Tasers issued to police in London Police in London are being armed with an increasing number of "less lethal" weapons. Taser guns - electroshock weapons that deliver up to 1,200 volts into the body through metal probes that pierce the skin - are being made available to hundreds more police officers, leading to growing unease amongst politicians and the public. Concerns are being raised over the necessity and likely effectiveness of an increase in the use of the electroshock weapons, and an attempt is underway to have the legality of the decision-making process behind Taser use assessed by the courts. Top reports and services 2004-2012 See: Resources for researchers: Statewatch Analyses: 1999-ongoing EU: Borderline: The EU's New Border Surveillance Initiatives: Assessing the Costs and Fundamental Rights Implications of EUROSUR and the "Smart Borders" Proposals (pdf) A study by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Written by Dr. Ben Hayes and Mathias Vermeulen: "Unable to tackle the root of the problem, the member states are upgrading the Union’s external borders. Such a highly parochial approach taken to a massive scale threatens some of the EU’s fundamental values - under the pretence that one’s own interests are at stake. Such an approach borders on the inhumane." Statewatch's 20th Anniversary Conference, June 2011: Statewatch conference speeches TNI - Statewatch: Counter-terrorism, 'policy laundering' and the FATF - legalising surveillance, regulating civil society Statewatch publication: Guide to EU decision-making and justice and home affairs after the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex, with additional material by Tony Bunyan EU: Major report from Statewatch and the Transnational Institute: NeoConOpticon - The EU Security-Industrial Complex by Ben Hayes (pdf): 235,180+ copies downloaded. Executive Summary (pdf) and NeoConOpticon blog SPECIAL STATEWATCH REPORT: The Shape of Things to Come - the EU Future Group (Version.1.3) by Tony Bunyan: 67,134+ copies downloaded. The report calls for a “meaningful and wide-ranging debate” before it is “too late” for privacy and civil liberties. In the words of the EU Council presidency: "Every object the individual uses, every transaction they make and almost everywhere they go will create a detailed digital record. This will generate a wealth of information for public security organisations, and create huge opportunities for more effective and productive public security efforts." See also ongoing: Statewatch Observatory: The Stockhom Programme See: Tony Bunyan's column in the Guardian: View from the EU Statewatch publication: Border wars and asylum crimes by Frances Webber (38 pages, pdf): "When the pamphlet ‘Crimes of Arrival’ was written, in 1995, the title was a metaphor for the way the British government, in common with other European governments, treated migrants and especially, asylum seekers. Now, a decade on, that title describes a literal truth.... There is a frightening continuity between the treatment of asylum claimants and that of terrorist suspects. In the name of the defence of our way of life and our enlightenment values from attack by terrorists or by poor migrants, that way of life is being destroyed by creeping authoritarianism, and those values – amongst which the most important is the universality of human rights – betrayed." See also: Crimes of arrival: immigrants and asylum-seekers in the new Europe (12 pages, 1995, pdf). To order hard-copy see: Statewatch Publications EU: Statewatch Report: Arming Big Brother: new research reveals the true costs of Europe's security-industrial complex by Ben Hayes (pdf, April 2006). The European Union is preparing to spend hundreds of million on new research into surveillance and control technologies, according to Arming Big Brother, a new report by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Statewatch. Press release (English) Press release (Spanish, link) Copy of full report (English, pdf) Copy of full report (Spanish, pdf) Hard copies of Arming Big Brother can be obtained from: The Transnational Institute, please send an e-mail to: wilbert@tni.org with your request. Europe: A collection of "Essays in defence of civil liberties and democracy" was published in 2005 Global surveillance: Global coalition launch report and international surveillance campaign: Statewatch, with partner organisations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Focus on the Global South, Friends Committee (US) and the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (Canada) today publishes an in-depth report: "The emergence of a global infrastructure for registration and surveillance" (20 April, 2005). Statewatch report: Journalism, civil liberties and the war on terrorism (full-report/request printed copy) - Special report by the International Federation of Journalists and Statewatch including an analysis of current policy developments as well as a survey of 20 selected countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin Amercia, the Middle East and the USA (published World press freedom day, 1 May 2005) Statewatch "Scoreboard" on EU counter-terrorism plans (pdf) agreed in the wake of the Madrid bombings. Our analysis shows that 27 out of the 57 EU proposals have little or nothing to do with tackling terrorism - they deal with crime in general and surveillance: Analysis in Spanish (March 2004) The Statewatch website Since its launch this website has had 13,194,119 user sessions and 89,411,150 "hits" (December 2012) In the year 2012 there were 959,237 user sessions and 17,138,956 "hits" Join Statewatch regular e-mail list for new stories: Join Statewatch news e-mail list Statewatch is registered under the Data Protection Act. Information supplied will be not be passed to third parties The Statewatch searchable database now holds more than 29,000 records (news, features, analyses and documentation): Search database If you use this site regularly, you are encouraged to make a donation to Statewatch to support future research. 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