Archive
EU: Tracking the Pact: Turning European Union Territory into a non-Territory
"The legislation creates therefore avenues for disentangling, splitting the relation between physical presence of an asylum applicant on a territory and the set of laws and fundamental rights associated to it, namely a protective legal order, access to rights and to a jurisdiction enforcing those rights. It creates a sort of ‘lighter’ legal order, a lower density system, which facilitates the exit of the applicant from the territory of the EU, creating a sort of shift from a Europe of rights to the Europe of borders, confinement and expulsions." Read More
Europe’s Guantanamo: The indefinite detention of European women and children in North East Syria
Press release published by Rights & Security International, for a new report on detention camps in North East Syria where people are being held indefinitely due to European governments' failure to repatriate their citizens. Read More
Extradition of EU citizens to third countries: joint report by Eurojust and the European Judicial Network
The report finds that the CJEU's case law on the extradition of EU citizens to non-EU states "raises several practical and legal issues" - including with regard to the scope of CJEU case law and consultation between the states making and dealing with the extradition requests. Read More
Marking the tenth anniversary of WikiLeaks’ Cablegate publication
Announcement from the Don't Extradite Assange campaign, which is hosting a public event on Saturday 28 November to mark the tenth anniversary of Wikileaks' publication of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Read More
EU: Council set to adopt declaration against encryption
A declaration calling for "technical solutions for gaining access to encrypted data" through cooperation between states, industry and "other stakeholders" is due to be approved by the Council's Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), the final step before receiving formal sign-off at the December meeting of justice and home affairs ministers. The declaration sets out the Council's policy stance on obtaining access for state authorities to encrypted data, but does not establish any new binding measures. However, the declaration notes that a "regulatory framework... could be further assessed." Here we are publishing the declaration itself - which is currently secret - along with previous versions of the document, so it is possible to see how it has changed over time. Read More
Spain: Ombudsman demands immediate closure of the Arguineguín migrant camp to protect human rights
The Spanish Ombudsman (Defensor del Pueblo) has written to the interior ministry to demand the immediate closure of the camp set up by the government in the port of Arguineguín on Gran Canaria to host migrants who have arrived by sea. The Ombudsman says that the camp is putting people's physical integrity at risk, and people have been detained for longer than permitted by law. It would be possible for the Ombudsman to take legal proceedings in the case of inaction. The interior ministry insists it is working to dismantle the camp, which was set up following the recent arrival of large numbers of people via the crossing from West Africa. Read More
Danish military intelligence uses XKEYSCORE to tap cables in cooperation with the NSA
Leaks to the Danish media have revealed that the country's intelligence agency is cooperating with the US National Security Agency to tap underseas telecommunications cables. The XKEYSCORE system was revealed in documents released by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Read More
European Parliament: compliance with migration control measures should be a condition for receiving EU development aid
On Wednesday the European Parliament voted in favour of a report that says the provision of development aid by the EU should depend on recipient states' compliance with "migration management" measures. A last-minute amendment by the MEP responsible for the file reversed the original position of the report. Human rights groups have condemned the move. Read More
Huge “surge in far-right political terrorism” across the globe, says report
The Global Terrorism Index 2020, which "provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism over the last 50 years, placing a special emphasis on trends over the last decade." The report highlights a "surge in far-right political terrorism, even though the absolute number of far-right attacks remains low when compared to other forms of terrorism." Read More
Report: EU must eliminate barriers to justice for victims of serious international crimes
Press release from FIDH, ECCHR and Redress. Read More