What's New
on the
Statewatch website - archive: 2002
December
2002
EU issues updated list of "terrorist organisations
and persons": Report
EU:Press release from Justice and Home Affairs
Council, 19 December 2002: News in brief
EU's operational plan for 2003: Report
EU: European Ombudsman publishes guide on how Ombudsman
can help citizens: News in brief
European Ombudsman publishes guide on how Ombudsman
can help citizens: News in brief
Exclusive:
EU: All
refugee status to be temporary and terminated as soon as possible:
Report
& analysis
Denmark: Border checks for people "suspected
of intending to carry out disturbances": Report
Updated
9.12.02: EU-USA:
Proposed exchange of personal data between Europol and USA evades
EU data protection rights and protections: Special report
Statewatch bulletin, vol 12 no 5: Contents
UK: Parliament scrutiny committee savages
EU arrest warrant proposals: Report
European Commission Communication on
"Integrating migration issues in the EU's relations with
third countries": Report
European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CPT) report on Greece: Report
UK: Report on the operation in 2001 of
the Terrorism Act 2000. It shows that 131 people were arrested
under the Act in the year February-February 2001-2002, of these
only 41 were charged and of those charged only 19 were under
the Terrorism Act: News in brief
UK parliament Research Paper on: Communications
data: access and retention: News in brief
November 2002
Speech by Sivanandan, Director of the
Institute of Race Relations, "The contours of global racism":
Text
of talk
EU: “safe and dignified”, voluntary
or “forced” repatriation to “safe” third
countries: Statewatch
report and analysis
EU-USA: Proposed exchange of personal
data between Europol and USA evades EU data protection rights
and protections: Special
report
New version of the EU Action Plan on
combatting terrorism: Observatory on freedom and democracy
Making up the rules: Interception versus
privacy from buro jansen & janssen: Report
Institute of Race Relations launches
"IRR news network": Report
Switzerland: Voters narrowly reject asylum
curbs: Report
USA: Text of Homeland Security Act of
2002: Text (link)
Italy: 19 activists arrested for "subversive
association": Report
Four leading NGOs submit report to the
Convention on the future of the EU calling for effective and transparent judicial, parliamentary
and public scrutiny and human rights protections to be put in
place to safeguard freedoms and liberties: News
online
UK: Extradition Bill, implementing the European
arrest warrant published: Full-text
Future sub-lethal, incapacitating and
paralysing technologies, by Dr Steve Wright, Director of the
Omega Foundation: Report
UNHCR: Swiss referendum on total rejection
of refugees: Report
UK: Police arrests, stop and search figures
for England and Wales (2001). The statistics show that 740,700
people were stopped and searched, 13% were arrested (but no figures
given for the number convicted). This means that 644,409 people
were stopped and searched and were not arrested: Report (large pdf, 535k)
The UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs
Committee has published a report on "Private Military Companies":
Text (a very large pdf file
3MB)
October 2002
UK: police stop and search figures: News in
brief
UNHCR: Swiss referendum on total rejection
of refugees: Report
EU issues updated list of "terrorist
organisations and persons": Report
France: PLSI:
draft law on internal security - the "age of suspicion":
Report
UK: European Scrutiny Committee produces
report on the role of national parliaments in the EU: Report Statewatch's
evidence before the Committee
No charges against Swedish Young Left
donation to PLFP: Report
Update: Mystery document appears on EU
Council register: Report
Germany proposes EU-wide police force:
News
in brief
USA: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
launches campaign to keep the country "safe and free"
from surveillance and snooping: News in brief
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
- Annual Report 2002: Press release Full: Report (link)
Australian telecommunications interception
figures: News
in brief
Campaign and petition launched to defend
Professor Sison: Report
EU seeking readmission
(repatriation) agreements with 11 countries: Report
USA: Memo Reveals FBI
National Security Wiretap Violations: News in brief
European Commission publishes Communication
on a "Community return policy on illegal residents, 14.10.2002,
COM(2002) 564 final: Full text (pdf) Statewatch analysis
of Green
Paper
EU Ministers declare applicant countries
"safe" to send back asylum-seekers: Report
Mystery document appears
on EU Council register: Report
Schengen website launched in USA for
visitors to get visas: News
in brief
European Commission: Update of the "Scoreboard"
covering the so-called area of "freedom, security and justice",
January-June 2002: News in
brief
"Secrecy and Openness in the European
Union"
by Tony Bunyan
- a new case study from freedominfo.org: Press release
European Ombudsman calls
on Commission to clarify data protection rules: Report
EU condemned for failing
to stand up to US on International Criminal Court: Report
French Ligue des droits
de l´Homme criticises Persichetti extradition: Report
September 2002
EU: UK setting up "Mobile
Detection Unit" for external border controls: "cutting-edge technology"
includes "heart beat detectors" to find migrants: Report
The challenge to the listing of the PKK as a terrorist
group by the Council is summarised in the Official Journals,
no: C 233/32 (pdf)
plus challenge by the Kurdistan National Congress also to the
Court of Justice: Case
Since
its launch in 1995 the Statewatch website has had 529,968
user sessions and 2,212,832 "hits" (September 2002). Over
the year, September 2001 - August 2002, there have been 273,873
user sessions with 1,080,300 "hits".
Final
Declaration of the 7th meeting of Ministers responsible for migration
affairs, Helsinki, 16-17 September 2002 (Council of Europe):
News in brief
Danish EU Presidency to investigate role
of officials: Report
France to extradite Italian
exiles: Report
USA: "The National Security Strategy of the
United States of America": News
in brief
"Arbitrary" EU anti-terrorist
laws tested by Swedish Young Left: Report
Greek Roma Bring Police Brutality Claim
to European Court of Human Rights: ERRC
press release
"Databasing the DNA of innocent
people - why it offers problems not solutions", Liberty
response to Court of Appeal judgment and the views of Professor
Sir Alec Jeffreys: Liberty
European Conference of Data Protection Commissioners
opposes proposed EU Framework Decision on data retention: statement
Informal EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, 13-14
September 2002 (revised
18.9.02)
EU rubber
stamps work in progress - more cooperation with US; fast-track expulsion
of migrants from the EU:
Statewatch
analysis and documentation
"Anti-terrorism & human rights",
Statement from the Basque Observatory of Human Rights: Statement
Informal Meeting of the Ministers in the area of
Justice and Home Affairs, 13-14 September 2002
press release (html) and five background/discussion papers: No. 1: "A common understanding of refugee protection", No. 2: "Integration of third country nationals", No.3: "Future Repatriation/Return Programme", "No. 4: Letter from Danish Immigration & European Affairs Minister Bertel Haarder", No. 5: "Schengen, enlargement, drugs, EU-US co-operation in fighting terrorism" (all pdf files)
EU to set up border police force:Full
EU report (pdf)
Statewatch analysis no 14: Immigration
and asylum in the EU after 11 September 2001: Analysis
The “war on freedom
and democracy”: a 5,000 word analysis of the effects on
civil liberties and democratic culture in the EU by Statewatch editor,Tony Bunyan: Analysis
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publish assessment:11
September 2001 11 September 2002 - The Internet on probation:
Report (pdf)
Amnesty International
report: "Rights Denied: the UK's response to 11 September
2001: Report
Secret EU-US agreement being negotiated:
Special
Statewatch Report
Secret agreement on criminal matters,
investigative procedures and joint teams being negotiated without
the the European or national parliaments being consulted. Statewatch
refused access to full-text of document because: “the interest
of protecting the Council’s objectives outweighs the interest
in “democratic control”"
Amnesty International calls for the rejection
of US demand for immunity from the ICC: AI
The
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and Privacy International
today released the fifth annual Privacy and Human Rights survey.
The report reviews the state of privacy in over fifty countries
around the world: News in brief
August 2002
Denmark - statement by the International Federation
of Journalists (IFJ) on police bugging journalist's conversation
and court case: IFJ
Canada:
Canadian government "consultation" paper on data retention
and access to e-mails etc plus article: "Will Canada's ISPs
become spies?": News in
brief
USA:
Trials of US ID card: News
in brief
USA: Text of ruling by Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court limiting the powers of the Justice Department: Ruling
plus article by James Bamford commenting on the ruling, "It
found that the Justice Department wanted to use the U.S.A. Patriot
Act improperly": James
Bamford (thanks to cryptome)
UK activates "voluntary" scheme
to collect personal data on passengers pending further consultation:
Report
EU Presidency issues statement on data
retention: - statement does nothing to refute the existence of
a draft Framework Decision: Report
EU/Italy:
Warning on the new e-commerce EU Directive from ALCEI Electronic
Fronteirs Italy: News in brief
UK: "Terrorising rights - Privacy, Open Society
& the Challenge of September 11th. A one-day public conference
organised by Privacy International & the Electronic Privacy
Information Center. Friday 6th September 2002: News
in brief
USA: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) analysis
of the surveillance provisions in the Patriot Act:News
in brief
UK: Statutory instrument introducing a "state
of emergency" coming into force on 13 November 2001 and
still in force:News in brief
EU surveillance of communications: data
retention to be "compulsory" for 12-24 months - draft
Framework Decision leaked to Statewatch - revised 21.8.02
with press coverage: Special report
Spain: Police raid migrant occupation:
Report
Norwegian expelled from Schengen for
five years: Report
UK court acquits 11 September "scapegoat":
Report
Denial of visas to Conference participants
- Press Release from War Resisters International
(11.8.02): Press
release
Report from Wall Street Journal on resistance
by German companies for information on employees in the search
for terrorists and "profiling": News in brief
COINTELPRO is an acronym for the FBI's
domestic "counterintelligence programs" to neutralize
political dissidents. Although covert operations have been employed
throughout FBI history, the formal COINTELPRO's of 1956-1971
were broadly targeted against radical political organizations
- the investigation by Senator Church into their operations:
News
in brief
Statewatch Observatory on EU Freedom of
Information - Case Law: Observatory contains summaries and links to the
full-text of court decisions on access to EU documents (updated: 5 August 2002)
UK: Home Office publishes
Codes on "Covert Surveillance" and "Covert Human
Intelligence Sources": Report
UK: Information Commissioner challenges
legal basis of data retention. The Information Commissioner has
released a legal opinion questioning the legality of the data
retention provision of the Terrorism Act 2001. The opinion found
that becuase the information can be obtained for other purposes
besides national security, it violates the Human Rights Act:
News
in brief
July 2002
UK: Special Immigration Appeals Commission
says anti-terrorist law is unlawful: Report
UK: Joint Committee on Human Rights,
20th Report on the "Draft
Extradition Bill" (link)
"Terror, security
and the media" by Martin Bright (Observer): describes
how unofficial MI5 and MI6 press officers brief journalists:
"MI5 then uses the
reports of its own briefings as independent corroboration of
the need for internment":
Report
Expelling migrants from the EU: Fast-track
legislation and sham consultation - new plans being rushed through pose a huge risk of violation of fundamental human rights:
Special Statewatch report and analysis
"Secret Europe": Denied EU document reveals issues of
public interest: Report
- document refused on grounds it concerned the "campaign
against terrorism" contains further far-reaching proposals
on surveillance, particularly of immigrants, including: "preventive
information gathering"
News in
brief:
i) UK House of Commons Defence Committee report on "Defence
and security in the UK" post 11 September and ii) U.S. Releases
New Anti-Money Laundering Strategy
Privacy, open society and the challenge
of 11 September: A one-day public conference organised by Privacy
International & the Electronic Privacy Information Center:
Report
Adopted text of Directive 2002/58/EC
concerning the processing of personal data and the protection
of privacy in the telecommunications sector: News in
brief
EU Presidency proposal on security screening
of all immigrants: Statewatch analysis
Genoa 19/21 July 2001: One year on
The first report of the: "International Inquiry Committee for the
protection of basic human rights in the face of globalisation
into events in Genoa"
USA: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
criticises TIPs informant plan: ACLU
UK: White Paper: "Justice for All":
News
in brief
Report that 1 in 24 US citizens are to
be recruited as informants under the Terrorism Information and
Prevention System, or TIPS, means the US would have a higher
percentage of citizen informants than the former East Germany
through the infamous Stasi secret police: Link
Statewatch
Observatory on EU asylum and immigration: the EU summit
(European Council) in Seville adopted far-reaching EU policies
regarding illegal immigration, with potential huge impact on
human rights, asylum-seekers and developing countries - updated
UK & Identity Cards:
Privacy International: Advice on responding to the government's
consultation paper: Advice and Answers
to FAQs
European Ombudsman's Annual Report: Report Sections on Statewatch's
cases: Statewatch (pdf)
International Federation of Journalists
Report Confirms Fear for Journalism After September 11: Report
Police to provide the "news"
during Danish EU Presidency: Report
UK: new nuclear police force planned: Report
UK:
Government
demands that airlines collect personal data on every passenger:
UK takes the lead in EU on meeting USA demand that every passenger
is security vetted before being allowed to get on a plane thorugh
"pre-boarding intervention" to exclude "inadmissibles":
Report
European Ombudsman: EU Commission secrecy
around Transatlantic Business Dialogue is "Maladministration":
Report
UK: Government wants to introduce compulsory
ID cards: Report
Spanish Prime Minister Aznar questioned
on Spanish border incident: Report
EU Framework Decision on combating terrorism
comes into force: Report
Rome Statute on the International Criminal
Court comes into effect on 1 July: ICC (Amnesty)
June 2002
Danish Presidency programme for justice
and home affairs: Details
26 July 2000
- the day of the infamous "Solana Decision" - how did Mr Solana reply to a letter he had not
received? Report
UK government publishes "Extradition
Bill": Report
Free movement of families of Union citizens:
Commission pursues infringement proceedings against Spain: Press
release
Statewatch Observatory on EU Freedom of
Information - Case Law: Observatory contains summaries and links to the
full-text of court decisions on access to EU documents (updated: 27 June 2002)
Case in European Court of Human Rights
to determine right to protect sources: Report
CJFE, RSF raise press-freedom concerns
as G8 Summit nears: Report
Netherlands: Judge orders Indymedia to
remove internet links: Report
Seville
European Council: 21 and 22 June 2002: (revised 24.6.02)
Presidency
Conclusions
(in full, 42 pages, pdf)
Asylum
and immigration Report and text
European Commission: Green Paper on a
"Community return policy on illegal immigrants": News in brief
EU
amends lists of terrorist organisations: Report
European Court of Human Rights finds
Bulgaria in breach of European human rights standards in police
abuse case: Report
Full-text
of the revised (dated 18.6.02) proposed EU Directive on asylum
procedures: News in brief
UK government forced to delay new surveillance
powers: government withdraws order to extend powers to 1,039
public authorities; Chief Surveillance Commissioner admits: "I
clearly cannot carry out any meaningful oversight of so many
bodies without assistance": Report
Statewatch complaints against the
Council on access to documents goes before the European Parliament:
Report
Statewatch new "Observatory on EU asylum and immigration":
the EU summit (European Council)
in Seville is due to adopt far-reaching EU policies regarding
illegal immigration, with potential huge impact on human rights,
asylum-seekers and developing countries: Observatory
Special Statewatch analysis on the state
of policing in Northern Ireland, the role of the Special Branch
and of British army intelligence agencies like the Force Research
Unit (FRU, now renamed the Joint Support Group, JSG): Report
EU governments' proposal redefining who
is a "refugee" (full-text): News in brief
EU to adopt "security" guidelines
to combat protests: Report
May 2002
Europol document confirms that the EU
plans a "common EU law enforcement viewpoint on data retention":
Report
EU surveillance of telecommunications:
The vote in the European Parliament to accept data retention
and surveillance by the law enforcement agencies: Report
& Analysis
Northern Ireland: Critique of Ombudsman’s
report on Plastic Bullets - Pat Finucane Centre: Report
European Parliament caves in on data
retention: Report
The "unholy
alliance" of the PSE/socialist group and the PPE/conservative
group - who together have a large majority in the parliament
- today, 30 May, joined forces with the Spanish Presidency of
the EU and voted to accept the demands of EU governments and
law enforcement agencies to place telecommunications under surveillance.
The rapporteur (M Cappato), the ELDR (Liberals), Green/EFA group
and the GUE (United Left) voted against.
Amnesty International Annual Report 2002
contains detailed reports on all European countries including
their reactions to 11 September as regards civil liberties: European
country reports & Full Annual Report
New Statewatch bulletin published:
Contents
European Parliament to
cave in on data retention: Report
- PSE/socialist group and the EPP/conservative group and accept
the demands of EU governments and law enforcement agencies to
place telecommunication under surveillance
- PSE Socialist group tries to defend backing governments and
law enforcement agencies demands
"On
this issue no "compromise" is possible. Either MEPs
vote in favour of maintaining the existing 1997 Directive which
only allows traffic and location data to be kept for billing
purposes (ie: for the benefit of the customers) or they vote
in favour of data being retained so that EU law enforcement agencies
(police, customs, immigration and internal security agencies)
can get access to it.
To be told by the two largest groups in the European Parliament,
the PSE and PPE, that the inclusion of references to the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and EC Community law makes
the EU governments' demand for data retention and the surveillance
of telecommunications acceptable is sheer nonsense. The ECHR
and Community law automatically apply to all EU Directives and
therefore reference to them is simply "window-dressing"
" (Statewatch)
Responses
by civil society groups to Ms. Paciotti (PSE MEP, socialist group)
letter of 28 May 2002: Responses by civil society
groups
Surveillance in the USA - interesting
article from Village Voice: News in brief
EU surveillance of communications: UK
European Scrutiny Committee - a letter from the Minister: Report
European Parliament to cave in on data
retention?
- the
PSE/socialist group have joined the EPP/conservative group and
accepted the demands of EU governments and law enforcement agencies
to place communications under surveillance: Report
Swedish TextTV 27/5 2002: Great Britain
rules EU list of terrorist groups: Report
UK arrests and detentions under terrorism
laws: Report
Coalition asks European Parliament to
vote against data retention: Report
Latest version
of EU Action Plan on terrorism: (14.5.02):
Statewatch Observatory
on freedom and democracy
EU: European Commission Communication
to the Convention on the future of the EU: Link
EU proposal on European arrest warrant:
Swedish parliament votes in favour - update 23.5.02
European Parliament committee chair
tries to reach a "deal" with the Council on the surveillance
of communications: Report
EU
wants identification system for users of prepaid telephone cards:
Link
"Fortress Europe - Stage 2":
EU Border Police proposed: Report
Exclusive: EU governments are secretly
drafting a binding Framework Decision to introduce the universal
surveillance of telecommunications: Report
- European Parliament
faces crucial vote on 29 May to reject the governments' demands
on the retention of data and access by the law enforcement agencies
UK: Final draft of code of practice on
interception under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
2000 (RIPA): News
in brief
EU adds the PKK to list of terrorist
organisations (updated 4.5.02): Report
EU to adopt arbitrary powers to freeze
assets and seize evidence: Special Statewatch report
- freezing of
evidence: "will not depend on there being any particular
suspect, indeed the investigation maybe be at an early stage
with no particular offence established" (UK Home Office
Minister)
German railway company
sues Dutch websites over protest instructions: Report
EU documents reveal details of its demands
for so-called "opening up" of Third World markets:
News
in brief
April 2002
EU: Text
agreed by the Council of the European Union on the Directive
laying down minimum standards for the reception of applicants
for asylum in Member States: News in brief
EU: Green Paper from the European Commission
on "alternative dispute resolution in civil and commercial
matters": News
in brief
UK: Summary of Home Office "consultation"
in the autumn of 2000 on the draft code of practice on the interception
of communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act 2000 (RIPA): News
in brief
European Commission proposal for a Framework
Decision on cybercrime, including cyber-terrorism: News in
brief
The war against terrorism is boosting
the European far-Right - special report from the Institute of
Race Relations: Report
EU surveillance of telecommunications:
Mystery of the missing minutes which surface nearly a year late:
Report
Surveillance of telecommunications in
the EU: narrow vote in European Parliament on data retention:
Report
EU General Affairs Council,
15 April 2002 (Luxembourg): Illegal immigration:Council conclusions:
Report
EU Presidency defies
EU Treaties, ECJ case law and Council Legal Service to put the
case for private security: Report
The latest version of the EU's "Action
Plan against terrorism" (roadmap) dated 9 April is available
on Statewatch's Observatory on freedom and democracy: Observatory
Amnesty International
report:people held in US custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo
Bay: AI
report
(pdf)
Irish government not
consulted on European arrest warrant proposal: Report
UK: Nationality, Immigration and Asylum
Bill - full text and Explanatory Note: News in brief
UK government report on "Privacy
and data sharing" (11.4.02): News in brief
Switzerland to join Schengen: Report
Report from the Chinese Republic on "Human
rights record of the United States 2001: News in brief
Nigerian deported from Ireland in coma:
Report
UK: New visa regime to
match that of the USA: Report
- UK "Warnings
Index": "lists people with adverse immigration histories
or who are of other interest to the Government. Every visa applicant
is checked against this database"
USA puts three Swedish
citizens on UN terrorist list: Report
Schengen Information
System (SIS II) takes ominous shape: Report
- SIS set to become
the EU's "Big Brother" database
- EU security and intelligence agencies to have access to all
SIS data
Statewatch bulletin:
Creation of a Northern "axis"? Details
- EU-US to establish
common area on asylum and exclusion of "inadmissibles"
- EU-US to exchange Europol strategic analysis and personal data
- EU-US to have mutual assistance agreement covering criminal
and judicial matters
Underneath the well-reported apparent disagreements between the
United States and the EU (and a number of its governments) over
tactics in the "war against terrorism" (for example,
extending the "war" to Iraq) a much deeper change is
taking shape.
UK Home Office Circular (no 13 /2002, date of Issue: 26 March
2002, implementation 1.4.02) on deaths in police custody or following police
contact: News
in brief
The Statewatch SEMDOC site on justice
and home affairs in the EU has been updated, see What's New:
Semdoc together a complete
update of SEMDOC's Legislative Observatory. To subscribe to SEMDOC:
click
here
March 2002
Statewatch: Comments
on the Commission's White Paper on Governance: Report
Scathing attack on migrants conditions
and detention in Canary Islands: Report
UK: Police threaten Mayday web hosts:
Report
USA: EPIC FOIA Request Seeks Homeland
Security Documents on biometric identity documents: News in
brief
Europol to be given access to the S.I.S.,
then custody? Europol to be allowed to amend and add to records
on the Schengen Information System: Report
26 July 2000 - the day of the infamous
"Solana Decision" - the Solana/Robertson exchange of
letters: Report
Five Belgian police officers sent to
trial over death of asylum seeker Semira Adamu: Report
Observatory contains summaries and links
to the full-text of court decisions on access to EU documents:
Statewatch
Observatory on EU Freedom of Information - Case Law
The latest version of the EU's "Action
Plan against terrorism" (roadmap) dated 5 March is available
in Englih and French on Statewatch's Observatory on freedom and
democracy: Observatory
UK: 1995 and 1996 Conventions on Extradition
come into effect: Report
Speech by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights on counter-terrorism and human rights: Speech
EU decisions on terrorism and European
arrest warrant: strong parliamentary objections in Sweden: Report
Spain: State agencies put protestors
under extensive internet surveillance: Report
UK: Home Office consultation
document on changes in stop and search procedures: Stop
and search
European Ombudsman publishes code on
administrative behaviour: Report
Report from US "Reporters Committee
for Freedom of the Press": "Homefront Confidential:
How the war on terrorism affects access to information and the
public's right to know": News in brief
Latest version of the EU's Action Plan
on Terrorism: Observatory
Council of the European Union disagrees
on giving access to the public of positions taken by EU governments:
Report
Belgian investigation into ECHELON: News in
brief
Commission dodges democratic control
of Europol: Report
EU negotiating secret agreement with
US on judicial cooperation in criminal matters: Report
Gothenburg police to be charged with
"neglect of duty"?: Report
US: Report on "Homeland security":
report (cryptome)
Germany: NATO security conference protests
quashed by police: Report
The UK and Romania have set up a joint
intelligence unit in Bucharest to "fight illegal migration",
background interview with Romanian Minister of the Interior:
Interview
UK opts out of agreement to early implementation
of European arrest warrant: Report
UK: Home Guidance for police and public
on sections of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001,
including fingerprinting and obligation of public to pass on
information: News
in brief
February 2002
Indymedia centres raided across Italy
- updated 28.2.02: Report
"European Union Action following the attacks
on the US": Latest version of the Action Plan (15.2.02):
Observatory in defence of freedom
and democracy
Statewatch critique of Commission report
on asylum and "safeguarding internal security" post
11 September, which:
- displays a flagrant disregard for basic
human rights obligations
- suggests solutions that are not coherent
- and would apply to situations wholly unrelated to terrorism:
Report
Text of European arrest warrant: Report
New Statewatch analysis report covering
the US Bush letter to the EU of 16.10.01 with analysis and details
of a secret meeting on asylum and border controls: Observatory
Anarchists to be targeted as "terrorists"
alongside Al Qaeda: Report
EU Presidency present draft Council Decision
to target protestors as "terrorists": Report
Indymedia centres raided across Italy
(Wednesday, 20 February): Report
UK Big Brother Awards by Privacy International,
London 4 March 2002: PI
Denmark: Hard times for asylum seekers
and refugees: Report
UK: Two "terrorist" suspects,
held for months in prison, freed by the court for lack of evidence:
Report
Six EU governments agree early implementation
of European arrest warrant: Report
European Commission proposal (COM(2002)
71 final, 11.2.02) for a Council Directive to give short-term
residence package to asylum-seekers who "cooperate with
the competent authorities" by giving information on "illegal
immigration or trafficking in human beings": News in
brief
Doubts on EU Presidency proposal to target
protestors as "terrorists": Report
Secret US-EU meeting on asylum: the construction
of a common EU-US area of migration, asylum and borders? Report
ETSI (European Technical Standards Institute)
"Telecommunications security: Lawful Interception (LI);
Requirements of Law Enforcement Agencies", see: News in
brief
Moroccan G8 protestor expelled from
Italy - and after protests allowed back: Report
UK government White Paper on so-called:
"Safe Borders: Safe Havens: Integration with diversity in
Modern Britain: News
in brief
(pdf)
European Parliament supports EU definition of
terrorism and European arrest warrant: Report
Belgium, found guilty of mass expulsion
of Roma: European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) welcomes Landmark
Decision by Strasbourg Court: Report
Graham Watson MEP questions Council over
adoption of a different definition of terrorism under the written
procedure Decisions on 27 December 2001: News in brief
Amsterdam police raid linked to ETA -
and "Eurojust": Report (updated)
UK European Scrutiny Committee issues
critical report on European arrest warrant: Observatory
Police and human rights training manual
produced by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights in Geneva - provides interesting yardsticks for police
forces and their deployment outside the EU: News in brief
New report from Statewatch: "The activities
and development of Europol - towards an unaccountable "FBI"
in Europe: Europol
European Commission Consultation Paper:
"Procedural safeguards for suspects and defendants in criminal
proceedings: News
in brief
January
2002
"Common criteria
to be applied to arms exports": document finally released
to Heidi Hautala MEP after five year court battle: Report
Telephone-tapping and mail-opening warrants for
2000 in Britain, plus full figures for 1937-2000 (compiled by Statewatch): Report
EU data protection working party calls
for a balanced response to terrorism: Report
The Statewatch Observatory in defence
of freedom and democracy after 11 September has been reorganised:
national reactions in the EU, US, Canada and Australia are grouped
together: Reactions and commentaries, reports
and articles are under: Commentaries All EU proposals and measures are given
full-text in the Statewatch
EU documentation centre and a link is now provided to text on measures
in Germany and the EU in German from CILIP in Berlin.
The Statewatch SEMDOC site on justice
and home affairs in the EU has been updated, see What's New:
Semdoc it includes: the Spanish
Presidency programme, the "Trevi acquis", implementation
of "Eurodac" (fingerprinting of asylum-seekers and
refugees) and a complete update of SEMDOC's Legislative Observatory.
To subscribe to SEMDOC: click here
Italy: Moroccan G8 protestor expelled: Report
New chair for European Parliament's Committee
on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights: Report
Spanish Presidency of the EU (January-June
2002): Programme
US government vetoes
Statewatch access to EU-US agendas: Report
- Council of European
Union says it has no choice but to back US veto
- Refusal of access follows two successful complaints to the
European Ombudsman
- Decision would exclude from access any document on international
policy vetoed by third parties
New EU Regulation on
access to documents: Report
- the first major
problem is going to be what will, and what not, be on the public
registers of documents
- the second will be the exclusion of "internal documents"
- the third will be the right of "third parties" (like
the US) to veto access to EU documents
All refugees and asylum-seekers to be
vetted under new EU terrorism policy:
* All refugees to be
vetted for any connection with "terrorism" * Four measures
by-pass any democratic accountability
* Application of measures not legally accountable * Measures
adopted by "written procedure"
Statewatch
report
(9.1.02)