2020

Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use an RSS feed to get instant alerts.

10 June 2020

Scaled-up surveillance: the EU builds a massive biometric database

Journalist Daniel Trilling explores the EU's interoperability initiative and the construction of the enormous 'Common Identity Repository' database.

10 June 2020

UK: Four UK neo-Nazis jailed for membership of National Action

Four ongoing members of National Action - a neo-Nazi group that was proscribed by the UK government in 2016 - have been sent to prison for their membership of the group.

10 June 2020

UK may have been complicit in torture of 15 more people, court hearing reveals

Reprieve highlight yet more cases of torture potentially involving the UK authorities.

10 June 2020

A Joint Enterprise: How the UK and the US co-operate on drone warfare

Drone Wars UK has published a new report examining UK-USA cooperation in the field of drone warfare.

08 June 2020

Spain/Portugal/Italy: Partial relief: migrant regularisations during the COVID-19 pandemic

The uncertainty that the Covid-19 outbreak has brought to every sphere of life has had a major impact on already vulnerable groups, such as undocumented migrants. People who, for whatever reason, lack official authorisation to stay, live and work in a particular state usually live with constant fear of being detained or receiving an expulsion order after a spontaneous stop by the police. Among the different measures approved by European countries under states of emergency, some have addressed the situation of migrant populations. This article looks at the cases of Portugal, Italy and Spain, which have been praised by the general public for appearing to offer regularisation, or an end to detention. However, the positive tone - probably exacerbated by the need for good news - has set aside details that suggest a less optimistic outcome.

08 June 2020

Viewpoint: Greece-Finland: Ambassador's condemnation of an academic study on the hotspots shows the link between migration policy and authoritarianism

A letter sent by the Greek ambassador in Finland to a group of academics studying the "hotspots" appears to herald governmental persecution of civil society actors beyond what is already the case and intimidation of researchers, by suggesting they should primarily rely on information from Greek authorities and be careful about voicing criticism.

08 June 2020

UK: Revealed: online covid tests refused to those not on credit check database

The UK's proposed "test and trace" system may be inaccessible to those who do not pass credit checks or who do not want them carried out.

08 June 2020

UK: Simeon Francis: Investigation launched after black man dies in police custody in Devon

"A black man has died in British police custody after “becoming unresponsive” in a cell."

08 June 2020

EU-Libya collaboration - pull-backs by remote control

German newspaper Taz is launching a new report looking at how the EU and Libya collaborate to 'pull-back' migrants in the Mediterranean from Libya.

08 June 2020

EU: Another new "centre" launched at Europol

The EU's police agency has launched a 'European Financial and Economic Crime Centre', coming on top of specialised "centres" for cybercrime, terrorism and migrant smuggling.

08 June 2020

Something to declare? Surfacing issues with immunity certificates

The Ada Lovelace Institute highlights six key issues with proposed "immunity certificates" or "immunity passports" that must be taken into consideration by policy-makers.

08 June 2020

Can the EU make AI “trustworthy”? No – but they can make it just

European Digital Rights sets out the main points of their response to the European Commission's consultation on "trustworthy AI".

08 June 2020

UK-Ireland: First post-Brexit request for UK extradition now before the High Court

A Welsh man is facing an extradition hearing in Ireland after the British authorities made their first post-Brexit extradition request to the country.

08 June 2020

Immediate action needed to disembark migrants held on ships off Malta’s coast

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights says keeping more than 400 people detained on private ships outside of Malta's territorial waters is "unsustainable and requires immediate action".

05 June 2020

Europe’s COVID crisis does little to disparage Mediterranean migrants

"Having been expelled from Algeria, Alfa Jafo has spent the last few months working in the kitchen at a restaurant in the historic city of Agadez in Niger, a launchpad for irregular migration in the Sahel."

05 June 2020

Covid-19 makes it clearer than ever: access to the internet should be a universal right

Tim Berners-Lee argues that argues that access to the internet and the web must become a reality for all.

05 June 2020

Responding to Covid-19: Surveillance, Trust and the Rule of Law

An analysis by Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas looks at how the surveillance-based responses to the COVID-19 pandemic affect "law, rights, trust and citizenship."

05 June 2020

Hostility towards migrants and those working to support them continues as state policy in Lesvos

Lesvos Legal Centre documents some of the ways in which hostility is embedded into everyday life on the island of Lesvos.

05 June 2020

Germany struggles to face its own police racism

An article in DW examines racism in the German policing and criminal justice systems.

05 June 2020

Project Interoperability: EU to pay 300 million EUR for face and fingerprint recognition

As part of the EU's 'interoperability' initiative that will interconnect a host of policing, migration and judicial cooperation databases, a new contract to build the 'shared Biometric Matching System' (sBMS) has just been signed.

 

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