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July 2008
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UK-ECHR:
Government
must review Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (link to Liberty press
release) Full-text:
Case of Liberty and others v UK (Application no. 58243/00) (pdf)
"In a significant judgement today, the European Court of Human Rights found that UK surveillance laws had lacked the necessary clarity and accountability to prevent abuses of power when used to intercept cross-border communications."
ITALY: Petition: "No
to ethnic filing of Rromani people" (link) This petition
is launched by "La voix des Rroms" (France) and "EveryOne
Group" (Italy). For German version and for Spanish
ITALY:
Renate Weber, MEP: The European
Commission must take the Italian Government to the European Court
of Justice” (Press statement, pdf).
"The recent statements of Italy’s Minister of Interior, Roberto Maroni, regarding a plan to fingerprint the Rroma ethnic population from the Italian Peninsula, represents a new violation of the fundamental human rights and a new defiance from a high-rank Italian official against the European Union and the values it was build upon, as well as against the European legislation."
EU RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Mercosur
anger at EU migrant laws (BBC News, link) Latin
American leaders condemn 'racist' EU law (euobserver, link)
EU: MAJOR VICTORY FOR ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: COURT OF FIRST
INSTANCE JUDGMENT ON ACCESS TO LEGAL OPINIONS - TURCO CASE:
"THE
COURT AUTHORISES, IN PRINCIPLE, ACCESS TO LEGAL ADVICE GIVEN
TO THE COUNCIL ON LEGISLATIVE QUESTIONS
The transparency of the legislative process and the strengthening
of the democratic rights of European citizens are capable of
constituting an overriding public interest which justifies the
disclosure of legal advice.... The Court takes the view that
disclosure of documents containing the advice of an institution’s
legal service on legal questions arising when legislative initiatives
are being debated increases transparency and strengthens the
democratic right of European citizens to scrutinise the information
which has formed the basis of a legislative act." (Court press release)
and:
"As regards, first, the fear expressed by the Council that disclosure of an opinion of its legal service relating to a legislative proposal could lead to doubts as to the lawfulness of the legislative act concerned, it is precisely openness in this regard that contributes to conferring greater legitimacy on the institutions in the eyes of European citizens and increasing their confidence in them by allowing divergences between various points of view to be openly debated. It is in fact rather a lack of information and debate which is capable of giving rise to doubts in the minds of citizens, not only as regards the lawfulness of an isolated act, but also as regards the legitimacy of the decision-making process as a whole." (Judgment)
The Court's judgment means that the Council (and the Commission) can no longer claim blanket refusals for the opinions of their Legal Services on legislative matters. The Court's judgment is also interesting because it reasserted the principle of an "overriding public interest" in allowing disclosure.
Currently the Opinions of the Council's Legal Service on legislative matters carries the following warning:
"This
document contains legal advice protected under Article 4(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and not released
by the Council of the European Union to the public. The Council
reserves all its rights in law as regards any unauthorised publication." [BOLD emphasis in original]
- Press
release
- Court
judgment - full-text
- Turco
press statement
STATEWATCH: The following Observatories have been updated:
- Observatory on
data protection in the EU
- FOI in the EU: Observatory
on access to EU documents: 2008-2009
- Statewatch
analyses post 11 September 2001
EU: European Data Protection Supervisor: Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor on the Proposal for
a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission
documents
(Press release plus Opinion, pdf)
EU-ECRE:
European Council on Refugees and Exiles: Memorandum
to the French Presidency: Seizing the opportunity to create a
meaningful Common European Asylum System (pdf)
EU: Homophobia
and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation in the EU
Member States: Part I – Legal Analysis by Olivier De Schutter
(164 pages, pdf)
June 2008
EU-US: Final
Report by EU-US High Level Contact Group on information sharing
and privacy and personal data protection (pdf) This report was
presented at the EU-US Summit on 12 June 2008. See:
EU and US near deal on confidential data sharing (euobserver, link)
The High Level Group was set up on 6 November 2006 with the brief to conduct:
"discussions on privacy and personal data protection in the context of the exchange of information for law enforcement purposes as part of a wider reflection between the EU and the U.S. on how best to prevent and fight terrorism and serious transnational crime."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"In fact the scope would cover "any criminal offence" however minor. There is no guarantee EU citizens will be informed that data and information on them has been transferred to the USA or to which agencies it has been passed or give them the right to correct it. Moreover, the agreement would apply to individual requests and automated mass transfers and allow the USA to give the data to any third state "if permitted under its domestic law".
It would be good to say that the USA must guarantee the same rights to people when personal information is transferred between EU states but this would be meaningless as the Council is about to adopt a Framework Decision which gives individuals few if any protections against misuse and abuse."
The Council of the European Union is about to adopt a: Council Framework Decision on the protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (pdf) covering the transfer of personal data and information/intelligence between EU member states. The Council has simply ignored all the criticisms of the measure from the European Parliament, the European Data Protection Supervisor, the Article 29 Working Party on data protection and civil society: See: Statewatch's: Observatory on data protection in the EU
EU-PNR:
Proposal
for a Council Framework Decision on the use of Passenger Name
Record (PNR) for law enforcement purposes - State of play (pdf) See Statewatch's:
Observatory:
EU surveillance of passengers (PNR)
EU-PNR:
NOTE from: Chair
of the Airports Group of the Council of Europe's Pompidou Group (pdf)
- calls for the
scope of EU PNR scheme to be extended from flights in and out
of the EU to cover also flights within the EU
- calls for scope to be extended from organised crime to serious
crime
- calls for Customs agencies should have access to personal name
registers
- calls for direct online access to airline passenger reservation
systems (not "PUSH" as recommended)
NB: "the Airport Group of the Pompidou Group comprises
around 110 police and customs officers working at airports in
the area of combating serious crime, especially the illegal trafficking
of drugs. Central offices of the competent authorities are represented
as well."
See Statewatch's: Observatory: EU surveillance of passengers (PNR)
EU-AUSTRALIA: PNR AGREEMENT: Full-text: Agreement
between the European Union and Australia on the processing and
transfer of European Union-sourced passenger name record (PNR)
data by air carriers to the Australian Customs Service (pdf)
BALUCH-USA-UK: Baluch
human rights defender, a British citizen, detained and deported
by USA:
"On June 23rd, Baluch human rights defender Noordin Mengal was detained at Newark Liberty International Airport in the US on his arrival from the United Arab Emirates. After being held for nearly 26 hours in the custody of the United States Department of Homeland Security, he was sent back to Dubai after being denied entry to the US. Noordin Mengal, grandson of veteran Baluch leaders Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, is a British citizen and a representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council on behalf of Interfaith International and is also a member of the Baluchistan National Party."
For background see: Never mind the Baluch (link to Transnational Institute)
For the record: EU-USA
"SWIFT" agreement (2007) - documentation
"Following press reports in June 2006, it was revealed that the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") operating on the basis of powers under the TFTP has served administrative subpoenas on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ("SWIFT")1. These subpoenas require SWIFT in the U.S. to transfer personal data held on its United States2 server to OFAC where they are used for counter terrorism purposes regarding suspected individuals or entities.... SWIFT is a Belgium-based company with offices in the United States and which operates a worldwide messaging system used to transmit, inter alia, bank transaction information. It has been estimated that SWIFT handles 80% of the worldwide traffic for electronic value transfers."
EU-ITALY: Plight
of the Roma: echoes of Mussolini: "The compulsory fingerprinting
of Italy's Gypsy population is the latest example of the country's
increasingly repressive attitude towards minorities – and
an ominous reminder of the policies of the former Fascist dictator". Peter Popham reports
(Independent, link)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"In a
EU of "common values" we are all responsible for what
happens in Italy"
EU: Following
a request for information to the Commission by Professor David
Miller, University of Strathclyde, it has supplied a: List
of members of expert group on violent radicalisation (24 June 2008, pdf).
An earlier Commission
response of 3 June 2008 (pdf)
USA: Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR), and the International Human Rights Clinic at NYU
School of Law (NYU IHRC): Rights groups challenge
CIA for failure to release more than 7,000 documents relating
to secret detention, rendition and torture program (pdf)
"The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) must no longer be allowed to use classification arguments in its attempts to prevent the disclosure of illegal or embarrassing conduct in its secret detention, torture, and rendition programs, three prominent human rights groups said today. The statement came just hours after they collectively filed a motion to require the CIA to make certain information public and to provide more details about all the documents withheld."
FRENCH EU COUNCIL PRESIDENCY: European
Pact on immigration and asylum (January 2008, pdf)
UK: COUNTER TERRORISM BILL: The House of Commons Justice Committee
today publishes the Government's response to its report on the
Counter Terrorism Bill, in which the Committee expressed its
concerns about the proposals relating to the coroners system
which provided for "the Secretary of State to certify that
a coroner's inquest may be held without a jury and to appoint
a particular security cleared coroner in inquests which are expected
to involve the consideration of material that should not be made
public". Justice
Committee report (pdf). See also: UK parliamentary Joint Human
Rights Committee report: Counter–Terrorism
Policy and Human Rights: Government Responses to the Committee's
Twentieth and Twenty–first Reports and other correspondence (pdf)
"A joint-agreement to share terrorist screening information between the government of the United States of America and the government of Hungary was passed recently, in exchange for movement toward a Hungarian visa waiver. The agreement, published in the National Gazette on June 20th, 2008, outlines the standards upon which information will be passed between the two governments. Terrorist screening information includes identifying information (full name, known aliases, date of birth, passport, etc.) for individuals reasonably suspect to be engaging in, or who has been related to acts of terrorism or terrorist activities.... This agreement is an step in promoting the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Hungary. Enacted on March 17, 2008, the MOU strives for Hungarian membership in the Visa Waiver Program. If a participant in the Program, there would be a visa waiver for Hungarians staying in America for 90 days or less."
Council of Europe: New book: CIA
above the law? Secret detentions and unlawful inter-state transfers
of detainees in Europe (300 pages, link to ordering page, hard-copy 23
euro, pdf 15 euro)
MASRI-UN-MACEDONIA: The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) and
the Human Rights Committee (HRC) have advised the Macedonia government
to undertake a new and thorough investigation into the abduction
and ill-treatment of Mr Khaled El-Masri when held by CIA agents
in secret detention.
- HRC
report
(pdf)
- CAT
report, 21 May 2008 (pdf)
- CAT
report, 20 May 2008 (pdf)
See for full background Statewatch's Observatory on CIA Rendition
UK: Report
on the operation in 2007 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and of Part
I if the Terrorism Act 2006 by Lord Carlile (pdf) and Government
Reply to the Report by Lord Carlile (pdf) and Terrorist
arrests, charges and conviction figures for 2007 (Source: Lord Carlile's
report)
EU: FOI-ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Statewatch Analysis
June 2008: Proposal on access to documents: Article-by-Article
commentary
(pdf) Analysis of the Commission's proposed changes to the Regulation
on access to EU documents (1049/2001) by Professor Steve Peers,
University of Essex.
EU: Latin
America could halt EU trade talks over return directive (euobserver, link)
MALTA: Journalists
Committee welcomes the decision to open migrants detention centres (pdf)
"The Journalists Committee welcomes the decision taken by the Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carmel Mifsud Bonnici to open migrants detention centres to journalists. Committee chairperson Karl Schembri said this was a positive development for journalists in Malta and recalled the role of the Journalists Committee in calling for open access to detention centres... Today, the new minister has finally taken on board our appeal and open up detention centres to journalists.The Journalists Committee has for years argued that detention centres and prisons were kept closed to journalists against all sense of transparency and accountability"
UK: Review
urged on RIPA surveillance powers (pdf) LGA media release 23 June 2008.
The Local Government Association has today written to the leaders
of every council in England calling on them to undertake an urgent
review of surveillance operations carried out under the Regulation
of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): Opinion
on safer Internet for children: data protection is an essential
prerequisite to the safety of children online (pdf)
EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM report: Implementation
of the Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Terrorism and Implementation
of the Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Terrorism - Addendum:
Adoption of measures plus Implementation
of the EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy - Priorities for further
action
EU: The Council produces a regular Newsletter
on the European Security and Defence Policy (link)
EU: Paper by Professor Steve Peers: Can
the Treaty of Lisbon be ratified or implemented?: A legal analysis
(pdf)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Global outcry against EU
immigration directive (euobserver, link)
Souhayr Belhassen,
president of the International Federation for Human Rights, argued
that the timing of the European Parliament's vote was particularly
unfortunate as the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights will be celebrated later this year. "By
adopting this text, the European legislator lets us understand
that migrants are not human beings like any other, provided with
rights and to whom states owe obligations," Belhassen added.
"They are dehumanised." Parliament
Votes Jail for Asylum-Seekers by David Cronin
Green group in the European Parliament: Returns
directive: Vote of shame mocks standards of civilisation (Press statement, link)
GUE (European United Left) group in the European Parliament:
Europe
no longer the cradle of human rights (link to statement)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The European Parliament has voted this
morning (18 June) 367 in favour, 206 against and 109 abstentions
on the amended text approving the "compromise" text
with the Council.
EU: UNITED: "Fortress
Europe": More than 8800 Deaths, 20 June 2007, International
Refugee Day.
UNITED has co-ordinated an international refugee campaign since
several years, which consists of two complimentary parts: - Protesting
against the restrictive asylum and migration policies, that are
often referred to as "Fortress Europe": especially
focusing attention on the deaths of already more than 8800 people
who tried to find a safe haven in Europe and Promoting a safe
environment for refugees and asylum seekers where they do not
have to fear racism and intolerance.
EU OMBUDSMAN: Ombudsman:
new rules on investigations will help in finding the truth (pdf)
EU-FOI: Access to documents: Commissioner
Wallströms hits back at critics: ”They can’t have
read the text” (Wobbing. link). Report by by Staffan Dahllöf.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"The idea that Statewatch, and Steve Peers who represented us at the hearing in the European Parliament on 2 June, had not read the text is sheer nonsense. We have worked on access to EU documents for over 15 years and we know how the current definition of a "document" works in practice - and it works fine. The only institution which does not like the definition is the Commission. In response to Statewatch's complaint to the European Ombudsman, over its failure to put all its documents on its public register, the Commission President repeatedly rejected the definition of a document in the Regulation as being too wide".
EU:
Commission is set to agree today two "packages", one
on asylum, the other on immigration: (pdf's)
Asylum package:
- Communication:
Policy plan on asylum: A integrated approach to protection across
the EU
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Accompanying document to the Policy Plan
on the Common European Asylum System Impact Assessment
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Annexes
- Memorandum
to the Commission
- Green
Paper
(2.6 MB)
- Citizens
Summary
Immigration package:
- Communication:
On common principles for the further development of the Common
Immigration Policy: a platform for a new European approach
- Commission
Staff Working Document: Accompanying document on common principles
for the further development of the Common Immigration Policy:
a platform for a new European approach: Impact Assessment (SEC, 76 pages)
- Commission
Staff Working on common principles for the further development
of the Common Immigration Policy: a platform for a new European
approach: Impact Assessment (SEC, 60 pages)
- Memorandum
to the Commission
- Citizen
Summary
EU-RETURNS DIRECTIVE:
European
Parliament press release on the debate, 17 June 2008 (pdf)
EU: Institute of Race Relations pan-European research project:
New report says Islamophobia warps integration efforts: Integration,
Islamophobia and Civil Rights in Europe (Press release, link), Download
the Introduction (link, pdf), Buy the
full report
(link)
EU-PNR: UK House of Lords' European Union Committee: The
Passenger Name Record (PNR) Framework Decision (89 pages, pdf). A very
useful report which considers amongst other issues the scope
of the proposed EU-PNR Framework Decision which primarily rests
on tackling terrorism:.
"Most
significant of all, Ms Hillier’s [Home Office Minister]
letter contains no reference to terrorism, and none of the examples
she lists bears any relation to terrorism.
Likewise, in oral evidence she was unable to give an example
of the successful use of PNR in relation to a terrorist-related
offence. She did assert that PNR “has absolutely been a
tool in tackling terrorism”, and explained the problems
of sharing information about this in public (Q 28). However such
a statement is unpersuasive when not accompanied by even a claim
that PNR has succeeded in preventing, or assisting in the prevention
of, a single terrorist attack, or bringing to justice the perpetrators
of such an attack.
Similarly, Mr Hustinx told us that when the US Secretary of Homeland
Security was addressing the European Parliament “he was
careful to annex a list of some 20 or so examples to his speech
and it was all about drugs and people evading paying taxes and
things like that, but there was very little in terms of precision
on terrorism” "
In this context it is interesting to note that in the UK Border & Immigration Agency: e-Borders: Friends of Presidency Group meeting presentation, Brussels, 27 March 2008 (pdf) it is stated that:
"The UK does not profile terrorists using PNR. In that respect we believe we are different to other governments who do use profiling techniques..." (emphasis added)
EU: An interesting document published the day after the Irish
referendum on the Lisbon Treaty: European Council
(19 and 20 June 2008): Progress report from the Presidency to
the European Council - Preparatory work in view of the entry
into force of the Lisbon Treaty (pdf)
EU: Critical
review instead of complacency: Amnesty International’s ten-point
human rights programme for the French Presidency of the European
Union,
June 2008 (pdf)
EU-EP: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: As the European Parliament votes on
the Returns Directive there will be a silent demonstration outside
the parliament in Strasbourg on 17 June 2008. Demonstrations
against the Directive will be taking place in a number of other
countries including: Rome (pdf) Lisbon (pdf) Summary
of demonstrations (pdf) Bulletin
from No to Fortress Europe (pdf)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"If passed this will be the 13th measure on visas, borders, immigration and asylum to be adopted by the European Parliament as a result of "first reading deals" negotiated in secret trilogue meetings with the Council.
Neither the final deal nor the penultimate draft are available to the public on the Council's register of documents. Nor was the letter from the Council to the European Parliament setting out the deal of 4 June made available to the public either until a few days ago. There was no time at all for national parliaments and civil society to read, debate and react as the deal was already set in stone. This is no way to run a democracy, especially when the issues at stake concern peoples' fundamental rights."
- the final and
penultimate deals are addressed in Statewatch
analysis: The Returns Directive: 9 June 2008 (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex
- see: Secret
trilogues and the democratic deficit by Tony Bunyan
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: 42
days? Try 18 months: This European targeting of illegal immigrants
is hypocritical, draconian and undiplomatic by Evo Morales, President
of the Republic of Bolivia (Guardian, link) and Compromise
on return directive "totally unacceptable" : For Francis Wurtz, President of GUE/NGL,
the agreement on the return directive negotiated between the
Council and Parliament's rapporteur - Manfred Weber (EPP) - is
totally unacceptable in both form and content" and see also:
Appeal
to the Members of the European Parliament (pdf)
EU: PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE REGULATION ON ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS:
Speech
by Professor Steve Peers on behalf of Statewatch at the hearing
in the European Parliament on 2 June 2008 (pdf) who concludes:
"I would urge the European Parliament to take the opportunity to improve the Commission’s proposal significantly, as there are major problems with it."
CIA-RENDITION: Rights
groups demand investigation of CIA’s Extraordinary Rendition
Program: Lawsuits against Germany, US and Macedonia seek justice
for Khaled El Masri (pdf)
"The
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR),
Berlin, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Open
Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), both based in New York, met
today in Berlin with lawyers from Germany, Macedonia and the
United Kingdom to discuss the latest developments in the CIA
rendition case of German citizen Khaled El Masri.
ECCHR filed today a lawsuit against the German Government at
the Berlin administration court for its failure to demand the
extradition of 13 CIA agents suspected of having illegally “rendered”
Mr. El Masri from Macedonia to a US prison in Kabul, Afghanistan."
EU: Proposed
rules for lobbyists (pdf) The proposed "Rules" include an
obligation to:
"ensure that, to the best of their knowledge, information which they provide is unbiased, complete, up-to-date and not misleading"
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"What does "unbiased" mean? Is a Commission press release "biased" because it presents its point of view? Or is any point of view that disagrees with it biased?"
UNITED: Football
without racism (pdf)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Statewatch
analysis: The Returns Directive: 9 June 2008 (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex.
"Despite some positive changes to the text which result from the EP’s involvement in the negotiations, the agreed text of the returns Directive is still fundamentally deficient from the point of view of human rights as well as the basic principles which should underpin EU immigration and asylum law."
EU: Commission proposal on: the establishment
of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) (pdf)
EU: E-PRIVACY: Commission Press release: Electronic
Identity: easy access to public services across the EU (pdf)
EU-EAW: European
Arrest Warrant - 2007 (pdf) Figures from 17 member states.
UK-EU:
House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee: The Conclusions
of the European Council and the Council of Ministers: Follow
up report
(pdf) The report calls for: "the Government discuss with
other Member States whether a clear, definitive and accessible
record of the proceedings of the European Council should be made
as a matter of course."
UK: Behind Closed Doors: A Report on the Military Influence in
UK Universities: Press
release
(pdf) Behind
Closed Doors
(Full-report, pdf). "A report by UK scientists reveals the
secrecy surrounding the growing influence of the military on
the research agenda in British universities."
UK:E-PETITION: We
the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop the involvement
of arms company Lockheed Martin in the 2011 Census for England
and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, because this company's
history of working in American military intelligence will undermine
public confidence in the Census process (link to sign the petition,
deadline 15 June 2008).
UK: Report on the "Surveillance society" by
the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee: Report:
Vol 1
(1.5 MB, pdf) Evidence
Vol 2
(1.6 MB, pdf).
Press comment: MPs must act now to set limits on snooping (Daily Telegraph, link) ID cards could help turn Britain into a surveillance society, warn MPs (Guardian, link)
GERMANY: Federal Ministry for the Interior plans to amend the
Federal Criminal Police Office Act; including authorisation of
online computer searches and video surveillance in private homes.
Press
release
(link) and In
a Nutshell: Draft Law on Preventing International Terrorist Threats
through the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKAG-E). The proposals are said
to be: "restricted to cases of terrorist threats"
and include:
"provisions on the surveillance of private homes and telecommunications as well as remote searches of computer hard drives." and:
"Measures concerning telecommunications interception at the source allow the surveillance of telecommunications which is conducted in encrypted form with the help of Voice over IP or other Internet tools either prior to encryption or at the recipient’s computer after decryption. This measure has become imperative given the increasing use of such forms of communication." and:
"The power of the acoustic and visual surveillance of private homes"
UK-LONDON: June 2008 - The
EU and UN ‘terrorist lists’ and the European Courts:
The slow road to procedural justice (seminar 19 June 2008, pdf). First in
a series of four seminars on "Terrorist lists", proscription,
designation and human rights organised by Haldane, Statewatch
and CAMPACC.
European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, called on the
European Parliament (EP) to defend the European Union’s
commitment to transparency and the citizens’ right of access
to EU documents at a public hearing in the EP's LIBE Committee
(Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs), the Ombudsman said:
"The
Commission's proposals would mean access to fewer, not more,
documents. This raises fundamental issues of principle about
the EU's commitment to openness and transparency."
Press
release
(pdf)
Full-text
of speech
(pdf)
See for full background and documentation: EU-FOI: Statewatch's:
Observatory
on access to EU documents: 2008 - 2009
Football: EURO 08: Legal support and helpful advice for football
fans: This information sheet is intended for visitors of
the EURO 08 football games in Switzerland. It contains some recommendations
and legal advice on how to avoid confrontations with the police
and private security personnel and to exercise your rights when
dealing with police in Switzerland. See: European
Civil Liberties Network - Noticeboard
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council (JHA) 5-6 June 2008, Brussels:
Press
release,
Conclusions
on external borders and
Conclusions
on migration partnerships. For full background and documentation
on current Justice and Home Affairs issues see: Statewatch
European Monitoring and Documentation Centre (SEMDOC)
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Statewatch supplementary
analysis: The Returns Directive – the final stages? (pdf) The European Parliament and the
Council have now reached agreement on a text of the proposed
‘Returns Directive’, although the Council has already
changed its position on this agreement and it remains to be seen
whether the plenary EP will support it. Despite some positive
changes to the text which result from the EP’s involvement
in the negotiations, the agreed text of the returns Directive
is still fundamentally deficient from the point of view of human
rights. MEPs now face a choice of adopting the agreement on the
table or pushing for positive amendments with a risk that the
incoming Council Presidency will try to lower standards in this
area.
A new analysis by Professor Steve Peers concludes: "The fundamental problem with the deal on the returns Directive is that they should never have been forced to make such an invidious choice in the first place".
May 2008
HUNGARY: Constitutional
complaint filed by HCLU against Hungarian telecom data retention
regulations
(Hungarian Civil Liberties Union) (pdf)
EU: E-PRIVACY DIRECTIVE: Council: Progress
report
(29 May 2008, 79 pages, pdf) and Council Compromise
Proposal for Amending Directive 2000/58/EC (Privacy Directive) (pdf), Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on proposed
changes to privacy in electronic communications directive (pdf) and Article 29
Working Party on data protection: Opinion on the review of
the Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications
(e-Privacy Directive) (pdf)
EU-UK: UK
Border & Immigration Agency: e-Borders: Friends of Presidency
Group meeting, Brussels, 27 March 2008 (pdf) This presentation took place as
discussions are underway on a proposal to set up an EU-PNR scheme
(see story below). It describes the UK timetable for checking
all airline passengers against watchlists to "identify known
persons of interest" and that it will eventually cover "all
routes in/out on all modes of transport" (air, sea and land).
See also: UK: Code
of practice of practice on the management of information shared
by the Border and Immigration Agency, Revenue and Customs and
the Police
(March 2008, pdf); Draft Regulatory Impact
Assessment: Police and Justice Bill: Data Capture (pdf) and Police
and Justice Act 2006 extends data gathering to passengers travelling
inside the UK (pdf)
EU-PNR: Proposal
for a Council Framework Decision on the use of Passenger Name
Record (PNR) for law enforcement purposes (EU doc no: 7656/2/08,
pdf) and later Discussion
of the Council's position on EU-PNR (EU doc no: 9514/08). The Council is
driving a "coach and horses" through the original proposal
including increasing its scope beyond terrorism and organised
crime. Although "Passenger Information Units" (PIUs)
who will vet passengers are to some extent limited in their use
of data national "competent authorities", to whom all
the data can be passed, are to be allowed to further process
the data if they come across "other offences" (ie:
any crime, see Article 4.5).
European Data Protection Supervisor: EDPS expresses serious concerns about EU PNR proposal (Press release and Opinion, pdf). See also: PNR (passenger name record) scheme proposed to place under surveillance all travel in and out of the EU which includes the original Commission proposal and Observatory: EU surveillance of passengers (PNR)
UK: Arrests at Nottingham University and: Stop
the Deportation of Hicham Yezza (link)
"Hicham's arrest took place on Wednesday 14th May. Rizwaan Sabir, an MA Politics research student was also arrested. Both were released without charge six days later. It has subsequently become clear that these arrests, which related to so-called "radical materials" involved an Al Qaeda manual downloaded by Sabir from an official US Government website, as part of his dissertation research into political Islam, and emailed to Yezza for printing.
Hicham was re-arrested on immigration grounds. Hicham was re-arrested under immigration legislation and, due to confusion over his visa documentation, charged with offences relating to his immigration status. He sought legal advice and representation regarding these matters whilst in custody. On Friday 23rd May, the Home Office informed his solicitor that he was being removed on Sunday 1st June and Hicham was moved to an immigration detention centre. He now faces imminent deportation to Algeria without due process."
Research into Islamic terrorism led to police response (Times Higher Education, link) and Statement from staff and students (pdf): "Nottingham University Students and Staff Express Serious Concerns about Recent Use of Terrorism Act on Campus and Demand Academic Freedom"
UK: Communications
Data Bill
(pdf) Announcement of government plans to retain internet usage
in forthcoming Bill (in addition to powers already adopted to
retain communications data for phone-calls, faxes and mobile
calls). Revealed
- Government plans to tap phone and internet use (Computer Weekly, link)
See also: ‘Big
Brother’ database for phones and e-mails (Times, link). For background:
Statewatch
Observatory: The surveillance of telecommunications in the EU
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The full-text
of the latest Council draft of the Returns Directive, EU doc
no: 8812/08
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Mandatory
expulsion and entry ban decisions in Returns Directive violate
general principles of Community law (pdf)
Today, the Netherlands based Meijers Committee (Standing Committee of Experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law) published a comment on the draft Returns Directive. On 23 April 2008, a compromise was reached between the Council and the European Parliament on the text of the Returns Directive (2005-0167 (COD), COM(2005) 391). In the meantime some aspects of the text have been changed. Still, the text, in its present form, violates important principles of Community law. Such is in particular the case where the draft directive contains binding Community legislation compelling Member States to take mandatory expulsion measures or mandatory entry ban measures in certain categories of cases. The Standing Committee is of the opinion that the draft Directive must not be accepted by the European Parliament.
"Precisely as the new executive passes the “Security package”, someone dies of insecurity. It happened in Turin in the brand new CPT that cost as much as 11,160,184 Euros (source, “La Stampa” 26/5/08 page 56) and which, from now on, will be called an Identification and expulsion centre, as envisaged in the law decree that is due to be issued soon."
Spain/Basque Country: European Democratic Lawyers
association criticises trial against prisoner support and human
rights organisations
Institute of Race Relations: European Race Bulletin no. 63 -
mobilising against "foreign criminals" by Liz Fekete.
The Spring 2008 issue of the Institute of Race Relations' European
Race Bulletin examines the emergence across Europe of a new mobilisation
against 'foreign criminals': Download a copy of
the issue
(link, pdf)
EU: PRUM IMPLEMENTING DECISION: The near finished Decision which
will allow the exchange of fingerprints, DNA and vehicle data
between Member States: Draft Council Decision
on the implementation of Decision on the stepping up of cross-border
cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border
crime
(pdf) Detailed
91 page annex
(pdf) and Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor (January 2008, pdf)
EU-SIS II: Commission
Staff Working Document: Annex to the Report from the Commission
to the Council and the European Parliament on the development
of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II)
Progress Report July – December 2007 (SEC 552, 2008, pdf)
UK-USA 2011 UK CENSUS CONCERNS: The House of Commons Treasury
Committee has expressed strong concerns that if the 2011 UK census
is run by a US company that the data could be accessed by USA
security and law enforcement agencies: House
of Commons Treasury Committee: Counting the population:
"We remain
concerned that the personal information gathered through the
2011 Census could be subject to the United States Patriot Act
and therefore we ask the
Government to take clear legal advice and advice from the US
State Department and to publish it in response to this Report."
(see
pages 34-35)
Background: Was the seizure of Indymedia's servers in London unlawful or did the UK government collude? and
In November 2007 Raytheon Systems Ltd of the UK headed a consortium which won a £650 million Home Office contract to track, profile and check against "watch-lists" everyone entering and leaving the UK - see Trusted Borders (pdf) The parent company Raytheon USA, has 73,000 employees world-wide and describes itself as:"a technology leader specialising in defence, homeland security, and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning more than 80 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; command, control, communications and intelligence systems." See: We must not tolerate this putsch against our freedoms by Henry Porter (Observer, link)
Italy: Frattini
among the winners of Italy's 2008 Big Brother Awards
Greece, Crete: Surveillance
and democracy: International Workshop (Programme and abstracts, link)
Italy: Italy:
ASGI (Associazione Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione) and ENAR
(European Network Against Racism) issue press releases on violence
against Roma
and: Italy's
crackdown on Roma criticised across Europe (euobserver, link)
UK: Augustine's
deportation to Nigeria: On March
27th, Augustine, a Biafran independence activist was deported
to Nigeria, where his brother has been killed and his wife and
children are missing.
EU: REGULATION ON ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: EU
transparency proposal criticised by Sweden (euobserver, link) and
Swedish
Journalist's Association considers draft EU-law 'disgraceful' (Wobbing, link) Full
news and documentation is on: Statewatch's: Observatory
on access to EU documents: 2008 - 2009
Morocco/EU: Moroccan navy accused of
sinking dinghy, causing 29 to die: On the night of 28 April 2008, a chase in the
high sea off the coast of Al Hoceima ended when a Moroccan navy
officer slashed a dinghy's pneumatic body, resulting in 29 would-be
sub-Saharan migrants (including four women and four children)
drowning, according to survivors.
UK:
‘Big
Brother’ database for phones and e-mails (Times, links)
- Beware:
Big Brother has got you fingered
- Living
off the grid – how to escape the spies all around us
- New
database increases power of surveillance over citizens
EU-FOI: Statewatch has created an: Observatory
on access to EU documents: 2008 - 2009 which will track and place on record
all the news, analyses and documentation concerning proposed
changes to the Regulation on access to EU documents.
EU:
Article 29 Working Party on data protection: Opinion
on the review of the Directive 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic
communications (ePrivacy Directive) (pdf)
UK: A
source for concern (Guardian, link) This week's court case involving
police demands for a journalist's notes is seen as the latest
example of a threat to media freedom. Duncan Campbell examines
what impact it could have on terrorism coverage
EU: UPDATE: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on access
to EU documents: Proposed
changes to the Regulation on access to EU documents - COM (2008)
229 final
(pdf) with Explanatory Memorandum and annotated text. The text
previously put online was the version circulated for the Commission
meeting on 30 April - the version that emerged and was adopted
contained a number of changes, including a different definition
of a "document". Comments
on the definition of a "document" in the Commission
proposal: Back to the age of the "dinosaurs"? by Tony Bunyan, Statewatch
editor, who comments:
"The Commission does not like the current definition of a document so it is proposing to change it to severely limit its scope. The current definition of a document must be left unchanged.
Nor does the Commission like the current Article 11 obliging it to list "without delay" all documents on its public register - which since 2002 it has failed to do - so the new definition of a "document" would allow it to carry on only listing a fraction of the documents it produces and receives.
At a stroke the the new era of openness and transparency promised in the Amsterdam Treaty would be dealt a fatal blow and we will be back in the age of the "dinosaurs". "
Note on "dinosaurs": The forces for secrecy in the EU - were referred to by Mr Söderman, then the European Ombudsman, at a Conference in Brussels on 26 April 1999 as the "dinosaurs" - who under the cloak of implementing the Amsterdam Treaty wanted to turn the clock back so that the institutions could control what documents are released.
Portugal: Report
on torture suffered by Leonor Cipriano
SOS Prisões and ACED
produced a report that they sent to high-ranking Portuguese authorities
with competencies in this field concerning the allegations of
torture suffered in September 2004 by Leonor Cipriano at the
hands of the judicial police in their offices in Faro.
Netherlands:
Human Rights Watch report: The Netherlands: Discrimination
in the Name of Integration: Migrants’ Rights under the Integration
Abroad Act
(pdf)
EU: VISA ENTRY CHECKS TO BE SUSPENDED IF THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE:
Draft
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of […]
amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 as regards the use of the
Visa Information System (VIS) under the Schengen Borders Code (EU doc no: 8674/08,
pdf). The creation of the Visa Information System (VIS) is a
major new system being put in place by the EU. It covers all
visitors to the EU who have to apply for a visa in their country
of origin, be fingerprinted and then security checked before
a visa is issued. All the details, including fingerprints are
held on the central VIS database so that on entry to and exit
from the EU identity checks can be carried out. However, this
new proposal from the Council Presidency says that if there are
too many people to be checked and "all resources have been
exhausted" then only random checks will be carried out.
"By way of derogation, where traffic of such intensity arises that the waiting time at the border crossing point becomes excessive and all resources have been exhausted as regards staff, facilities and organisation and where, on the basis of an assessment of the risk related to internal security and illegal immigration, it is established that the consultation in the Visa Information System need not be systematic, such consultation may be carried out on a random basis for as long as these conditions are met."
EU RETURNS DIRECTIVE: EU
states oppose putting lid on migrants' detention (Fortress Europe, link)
and AI & ECRE: Press release (pdf) See also: FIDH:Proposal
for a “returns” Directive: The FIDH calls for the suspension
of the text’s adoption until it conforms to Member States
international human rights obligations (pdf) and GUE
group in the European Parliament: Press release (link, pdf) Statewatch
Supplementary Analysis: The EU's Returns Directive by Professor Steve Peers,
University of Essex who concludes: "The EP and the Council
have to decide whether their endlessly-repeated support for the
principles of fairness, human rights and human dignity is a genuine
commitment, or simply empty rhetoric." "Against
the outrageous Directive!", full-text of speech given by
Yasha Maccanico (Statewatch) at the hearing with NGOs organised
by the GUE group, European Parliament, Strasbourg on 12 December
2007
(pdf) and Fortress
Europe
(link) and Migreurop (link)
Council
used terror law to spy on fishermen (Guardian, link)
BULGARIA: EU MANDATORY DATA RETENTION DIRECTIVE: We
have to abolish Regulation ¹ 40, which gives the Ministry
of Interior the right to retain data for every Internet-user (2.5MB, pdf) and Bulgaria:
Against Internet “Bugging” (link to Global Voices). For background
see: Statewatch's Observatory on The surveillance
of telecommunications in the EU
EU Ombudsman
launches EU-wide consultation on access to databases: Press
release,
Letter, Statement, and the Original
Complaint
(pdfs)
"The European
Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has launched a consultation
process within the European Network of Ombudsmen on access to
information contained in databases. This follows a complaint
from a Danish journalist about the refusal of the European Commission
to disclose data on beneficiaries of EU agricultural subsidies.
The Commission justified its refusal on grounds of confidentiality.
Furthermore, it argued that the EU's rules on access to documents
apply to databases only if the data can be easily retrieved.
The Ombudsman was not convinced by this approach. He therefore
contacted his colleagues in the Member States to find out about
"best practices" at the national level aiming to ensure
maximum public access to databases. This consultation is particularly
important given that this issue at stake forms part of the current
debate on the reform of the EU's rules on access to documents."
UK-TREATIES-UAE:
Extradition
Treaty: between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland and the United Arab Emirates on Extradition (pdf) Treaty
between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
and the United Arab Emirates on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal
Matters
(pdf)
EU-RETURNS DIRECTIVE: FIDH:Proposal for a
“returns” Directive: The FIDH calls for the suspension
of the text’s adoption until it conforms to Member States
international human rights obligations (pdf) and GUE
group in the European Parliament: Press release (link, pdf)
Italy: Beppe Grillo posts list of convicted MPs and senators:
Former comedian turned political activist Beppe Grillo, who has
engaged in a campaign to prohibit politicians who have received
firm judicial sentences from taking up their seats in the Italian
parliament and Senate, has posted a list of 17 politicians who
will be present in the new legislative chambers. Interestingly,
it includes Renato Farina, the journalist of right-wing daily
newspaper Libero, who negotiated a six-month suspended sentence
after pleading guilty to working for the secret services (journalists
are forbidden from doing so), and was allegedly involved in the
cover-up into the Abu Omar kidnapping and rendition to Egypt
in 2003. Source: http://www.beppegrillo.it , May 2008.The list:
www.beppegrillo.it/documenti/parlamento_pulito_2008.pdf
UK Government loses appeal against de-proscription of PMOI -
how long before the EU backs down? The Court of Appeal has refused
to overturn a ruling that it must end the "perverse"
listing of an Iranian opposition group as a banned terrorist
group, ruling that there were "no valid grounds" to
contend that the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission made
legal errors when it ordered the People's Mojahedin Organisation
of Iran (PMOI) to be removed from the 'blacklist' (AP, 7.5.08).
In December 2006, the EU Court of Justice ruled that the PMOI
should be removed for from the EU terrorist list, partly on the
grounds that the reasons for its inclusion were "unclear".
But the EU has steadfastly refused to remove them from the list,
a position that now appears wholly untenable. See: See Statewatch
Observatory on "Terrorist"
lists: monitoring proscription, designation and asset-freezing
EU-AUSTRIA: To introduce Schengen border controls on entry for
European football championship: Full-text
of EU doc no: 9068/08, pdf) See also: Expulsion
from Belgium and Schengen bans for anti-war protesters - SIS
used to curb dissent; Schengen framework used to curb free movement and Football
fans taken off records
UK: Damning
verdict on police complaints watchdog (press release) and Court
judgment: full-text
USA: Congressional Research Service report: Data
Mining and Homeland Security: An Overview
EU-ECJ: The Court's judgment today annuls the "safe third
country" and "safe country of origin" provisions
of the procedures directive - and also states that the co-decision
procedure now fully applies to asylum law. The case was brought
by the European Parliament: Case C-133/06
- full-text of judgment (pdf).
See for background: Statewatch's analysis and coverage: EU
divided over list of “safe countries of origin” –
Statewatch calls for the list to be scrapped (pdf) and EU
divided over list of "safe countries of origin" - the
list should be scrapped - secret documents reveal a shallow process
without any sense of morality or humanity
UK: Police
seek to axe anti-arms trade movie (link to SchNews) and Watching
You in Big Brother Britain (thanks to SchNews): Car of peace protesters
"flagged" on Police National Computer led to them being
stopped and questioned under the Terrorism Act.
UK: The UK has the most CCTV cameras in the world: CCTV
boom has failed to slash crime, say police (Guardian, link)
EU: FOI IN THE EU: Revised and Updated: Statewatch
analysis of the proposed changes to the Regulation on access
to EU documents by Tony Bunyan with additional comments from Steve
Peers, May 2008. Full background and documentation since 1993
is on the Statewatch Observatory: FOI in the EU
EU: FOI IN THE EU: Should there be a Freedom of
Information Act for the EU? (European Citizens Action Service,pdf)
Brussels
criticised on access to documents law (euobserver, link) The European
Commission proposes to improve public access to documents of
the EU institutions (Commission press release, pdf)
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"Mr Barroso says "the access to document rules are working well. These changes seek to improve the access to documents for European citizens". While Commissioner Wallstrom says "Access to documents is an essential tool for democracy and now we want to improve it".
The rules on access are not working well and these changes will takes us several steps backwards. For example, the Commission does not agree with the definition of a "document" in the Regulation, so it wants to change it. The Commission's public register of documents is a joke so now it wants to change the rules. There would be a longer list of exceptions to refuse access, including mandatory exceptions where applications do not even have to be considered. And would leave in place the rule which allows the institutions to deny access to documents on measures about to be adopted in Brussels - a practice that would never be tolerated at national level.
The Amsterdam Treaty was agreed 11 years ago (1997) and was meant to herald a new era of openness and transparency – we only got half of the loaf and have been waiting for the other half, now the Commission wants to takes away some of this.”
See: Statewatch
analysis of the proposals
Full background and documentation since 1993 is on the Statewatch
Observatory: FOI
in the EU
and see also:
- Viewpoint
by Tony Bunyan: More openness or just a drop in the ocean? The
need for Freedom of Information in the EU
- The
right to know or the right to try and find out? The need for
an EU freedom of information law, by Ben Hayes
- "Unaccountable
Europe"
by Tony Bunyan
ITALY-GENOA 2001: Rete del Sud Ribelle
activists acquitted of "subversive association" charges
April 2008
EU: Report from Justice: Human
rights and the future of the European Union (pdf)
UK: MI5
accused of colluding in torture of terrorist suspects - British agents alleged
to have questioned men at Pakistani interrogation centre after
they had been brutally mistreated and 'Endemic,
widespread and systematic' use of torture and Fourth
Briton accuses MI5 of collusion in torture of detainees (Guardian, links)
Belgian
arms transfers to the Middle East - GRIP report (French, pdf) Traditionally,
the Middle East is a privileged destination of world arms exports.
This region is indeed very keen on new military equipment it
can buy easily thanks to oil revenues. For decades, Belgium,
almost exclusively through Walloon exports, managed to obtain
a share of this market, particularly by building continuing trade
relations with one of the states in the region, Saudi Arabia.
Yet these Belgian transfers, like those of other states, raised
many questions, especially concerning the unintended use that
could be made of exported arms, such as internal repression or
the risk of diversion by terrorist groups.
Exclusive: Commission proposals to amend Regulation on
access to EU documents: Statewatch
analysis:
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
“The scope of the Commission’s amendments and its
consultation do not consider many of the fundamental questions
posed by civil society and the European Parliament.
Perhaps the most crucial is the public’s right to know what
is being discussed before it is adopted in Brussels – a
practice that would never be tolerated at national level.
Moreover, two of the Commission amendments are highly retrogressive.
The new definition of a document would mean that if an official
does not register it then it is not a “document” –
a recipe for abuse. And the obligation of institutions to give
public access to the full text of documents would be limited
to legislative measures – and not cover the hundreds of
thousands of other documents produced and received.
The Amsterdam Treaty was agreed 11 years ago (1997) and was meant
to herald a new era of openness and transparency – we are
still waiting for this to happen.”
Documentation: NB based on old version - see above for final version and EM:
- Adopted version: Explanatory Memorandum and Annotated text
- Penultimate
version: Commission
proposals - Consolidated text
- Penultimate version: Commission
Explanatory Memorandum
- Penultimate version: Memorandum
to the Commission
- Penultimate version: Table comparing current
text to proposed changes
- Full background and documentation since 1993 is on the Statewatch
Observatory: FOI
in the EU
EU: European Data Protection Supervisor: EDPS
issues policy paper on his role in EU research and technological
development
(Opinion - full text, pdf) Press release (pdf)
UK: Face
scans for air passengers to begin in UK this summer - Officials
say automatic screening more accurate than checks by humans (Guardian, link) Report
that the UK Border Agency is to introduce facial scans at airports
to compare with "the image.. on the computer chip in
their biometric passports" by using facial recognition
technology at automated unmanned gates. A machine would accept
or reject the match.
Finger-printing, iris and face scans, and DNA taken from people are biometrics giving the state a unique identifier for an individual. With varying degrees of accuracy - none is perfect - these biometrics ca