{UAH} Fwd: FW: News Online: 26 March 2015 (06/15)
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Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 18:07:34 +0000
To: statewatch@gn.apc.org
From: statewatch-off@geo2.poptel.org.uk
Subject: News Online: 26 March 2015 (06/15)
Statewatch News Online, 26 March 2015 (06/15)
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NEWS
http://www.statewatch.org/news/
Top stories and analyses from Statewatch
1. Smart borders? Operation AMBERLIGHT: lLIke in JPO Mos Maiorum people will be "apprehended" and sanctioned
2. UK: NUJ and CIJ Submit a damning critique of the proposed Code of Practice on remote access to computers
3. EU: Med plan for "ad hoc cooperation" with north African states to return refugees
4. Statewatch: Viewpoint: Is it time to go back to the typewriter, carbon paper and Tippex?
NEWS
1. EU-USA: DATA PROTECTION "UMBRELLA" AGREEMENT: European Parliament Press release
2. EU-UK: House of Lords Select Committee: UK's opt-in protocol
3. UK: Stop and search
4. UK: The Monitoring Group: Press release on behalf of the Mark Duggan family
5. CJEU: Face book privacy case in court
6. SPAIN: "Lily", the tracking device in her car
7. Institute of Race Relations (IRR): Dying for Justice
8. UK: Home Office to compile "blacklist" of extremists
9. EU: Council of the European Union: Update on serious organised crime
10. UK: "BLACKLISTING" CASE: "This may be the law, but it's not justice
11. UK: Home Office Security Exhibition
12. EU: Council of the European Union: Handbook for police forces on trafficking human beings
13. EU-PNR (Passenger Name Record): Commission Internal Security Fund is supporting the development of national systems
14. EU: DATA PROTECTION REGULATION: Purpose Limitation would be "meaningless and void": Article 29 Working Party
15. EU: Study for Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament: Transparency and open standards
16. GREECE: European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): The reality of first "Reception" at Evros
17. EU: European Parliament Study: Impact of the crisis on fundamental rights
18. UK: Terrorism prevention orders in 2013 report
19. Europol: responses to questions on right-wing extremism
20. EU Council of the European Union: LIMITE documents: Data Protection Regulation, EPPO & Ombudsman letter
21. EU DATA RETENTION: EU heading for a piecemeal response to the CJEU's judgment that the Data Retention Directive is "unlawful"?
22. UK: Political philosophy now illegal
23. German justice: from Jeremiah Duggan to Halit Yozgat
24. EU-PNR: Substantial reservations expressed by Article 29 Working Party on data protection
EU-UK-GCHQ-USA-NSA SURVEILLANCE
http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm
1. UK: SNOWDEN: Surveillance of Guardian journalists a "state secret"
2. UK: GCHQ: UK government claims power for broad hacking of computers and phones
3. WHISTLEBLOWERS: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly and Snowden
Selected stories from NEWS DIGEST (156 news links from across the EU, so far in March, updated daily)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
1. EU C-T coordinator: "Jail is a major incubator of radicalisation"
2. EU: PICUM: Protecting undocumented children
3. BELGIUM: Belgium's Foreign Minister thought it was a good idea to wear blackface
4. Snowden: Be concerned about trickle down of NSA surveillance to local police
5. SWITZERLAND: US officials can violate Swiss laws with consequences - Snowden: US spies comfortable there
6. CoE: Parliamentary Assembly: Access to justice is still all to often a luxury
7. FRANCE: CoE: "worried" about new anti-terror plans
8. EU: Tighten borders with construction of Croatia's "Schengen Wall"
9. WALES: Solidarity Against Spycops
10. UK: Blacklisting: The next chapter is waiting to be written
11. Video: Migrant prisons of Libya: Europe or die
12. GERMANY-BULGARIA: Courts refuse to extradite prisoners to Bulgaria
13. TURKEY: Fact-funding visit to Turkey on countries of transit
14. IRELAND: Reports of Racism - ENAR Ireland
15. ITALY: Report of visits to Catania
16. SPAIN: Ruling party ran secret fund for 18 years, judge finds
17. EU: Fading promise of Europe's Dublin System
18. Danes to vote in ending EU opt-outs
19. N IRELAND: State involved in mass murder.. colluded with loyalist paramilitaries
20. SCOTLAND: Refugee hunger strikers claim Home Office is misleading over severity of protest
21. HUNGARY: Government has taken control of the Constitutional Court
22. UK: Harmondsworth: Asylum-seeker sews up mouth in protest at conditions
23. USA: A police gadget tracks phones
24. ECRE: Using the Charter of Fundamental Rights to improve reception and detention standards
25. SCOTLAND: Legal challenge to Scotland's plans for "through the back door" identity database
USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE
Top Stories
1. Smart borders? Operation AMBERLIGHT: "Overstaying" in the EU: a problem for internal security and the need for "harmonised" laws which are enforceable - like in JPO Mos Maiorum people will be "apprehended" and sanctioned
• "Overstayers" to be checked at external borders in Joint Police Operation (JPO) in April
• "Overstayers" refers to visitors, students and others on visas and undocumented migrants
• Member States to report on: "Further procedure in Member States, and sanctions imposed" - law enforcement agencies will "apprehend" and sanction people
The document says that: "No personal data will be collected within the activity" - the same claim was made by the Italian Council Presidency during: Joint Operation "Mos Maiorum": Council's explanation is "economical with the truth" which argued that was only a data collection operation when in fact nearly 20,000 people were "apprehended": The Mos Maiorum JPO: Final report (LIMITE doc no: 5474/15).
"Overstayers" to be checked at external borders: Joint Police Operation (JPO): Council: Presidency activity AMBERLIGHT 2015 (LIMITE doc no: 5195-15, pdf) It is planned to take place in the period from 1-14 April 2015 or from 18 to 30 April 2015)
2. UK: National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) have today submitted to the Home Office a damning critique of the proposed Code of Practice which would allow remote access to any computer anywhere in the world: Submission:: NUJ and CIJ joint response to the interception of communications and equipment interference: draft codes of practice (pdf)
"The NUJ and CIJ are concerned about the implications for press freedom if the UK intelligence and security agencies are permitted to access journalist's computers remotely and break encryption codes (both inside and outside the UK)..
The adoption of the new surveillance powers in the draft codes enables the authorities to access computers remotely. The NUJ and CIJ believe these powers should be the subject of primary legislation and should not be introduced via secondary legislation in a code of practice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) which itself is not limited to terrorism and serious crime but covers all crimes....
Accessing computers or other devises allows the intelligence services to obtain vast amounts of information. It would mean the authorities would have control over targeted devices and access to any information stored including encrypted data and communications. This information could include documents, emails, diaries, contacts, photographs, internet messaging chat logs, and the location records on mobile equipment. It would also mean having powers to access anything typed into a device, including login details/passwords, internet browsing histories, other materials and communications. Draft documents and deleted files could also be accessed. In addition, the microphone, webcam and GPS-based locator technology could be turned on and items stored could be altered or deleted."
See proposed: Equipment Interference Code of Practice (pdf) and also: New Code of Practice: "Equipment Interference" to give the intelligence and security agencies direct access to computers to by-pass encryption and to use "remote access" to "obtain information.. in pursuit of intelligence requirements" or to "remove or modify software" Statewatch) and: GCHQ is authorised to "spy on the world" but the UK Interception of Communications Commissioner says this is OK as it is "lawful" (Statewatch Analysis, May 2014)
3. EU: MEDITERREAN PLAN TO SET UP "ad hoc operational cooperation mechanisms" between the EU and north African states, which will have a "real deterrent effect so that less and less migrants would be ready to put their life at risk to reach the European coasts" - to block refugees leaving Africa and hand them over to North African states"
See: Non Paper on Possible Involvement of Third Countries in Maritime Surveillance and Search and Rescue from the Italian delegation (Confidential Note discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 12 March 2015, pdf)
The proposal involves the "direct involvement of reliable third countries", namely Egypt and Tunisia, as "Libya is unable to patrol their coasts" and to "take them [the migrants] to their own ports [ie: to Egypt and Tunisia]" where "competent authorities" will carry out "international protection procedures, provide assistance to vulnerable people and return irregular migrants to their country of origin".
See: EU considering plan to outsource Mediterranean migrant patrols to Africa Exclusive: Under Italian proposals the EU would cut deals with countries such as Egypt and Tunisia to fund them in rescue missions (Guardian, link)
and Brussels plans migration centres outside EU to process asylum applications - European commission wants to use offices and embassies outside EU to process applications for asylum and refugee status before migrants reach Europe (Guardian, link): "The interior ministries have also been discussing plans to establish and finance refugee camps or "reception centres" for migrants in North Africa and the Middle East to try to keep them from coming to Europe as well as out of the hands of the traffickers, and to set up "European" asylum-processing offices outside the EU in the same region."
EU considering plan to outsource Mediterranean migrant patrols to Africa Exclusive: Under Italian proposals the EU would cut deals with countries such as Egypt and Tunisia to fund them in rescue missions (Guardian, link)
4. Statewatch: Viewpoint: Is it time to go back to the typewriter, carbon paper and Tippex? (pdf) by Tony Bunyan
"The "white-washing" report on GCHQ, MI5 & MI6 by the Intelligence and Security Committee published on 12 March 2015 was preceded by a draft Code of Practice "Equipment Interference" to allow the UK intelligence and security agencies to "legally" access computers to gather and break encryption codes and allow "remote access" to "interfere" with any targeted computer anywhere in the world.
The deadline for comments on the Code is 20 March 2015 after which it will be "laid" before parliament and usually be adopted without debate."
NEWS
1. EU-USA: DATA PROTECTION "UMBRELLA" AGREEMENT: European Parliament Press release: Civil liberties MEPs make case for data protection during Washington visit (pdf):
"A delegation from the civil liberties committee visited Washington DC last week to find out the latest information on issues such as data protection and legislation on surveillance activities from their American counterparts. The MEPs also provided updates on the EU's data protection reform and on counter-terrorism initiatives, including the passenger name records (PNR) proposal"
See also:Close your Facebook account is you do not want to be spied on: EU-US data pact skewered in court hearing (euobserver, link) Extraordinary statement by Commission lawyer in Court of European Justice (CJEU):
"A lawyer for the European Commission told an EU judge on Tuesday (24 March) he should close his Facebook page if he wants to stop the US snooping on him, in what amounts to an admission that Safe Harbour, an EU-US data protection pact, doesn't work.
"You might consider closing your Facebook account, if you have one," European Commission attorney Bernhard Schima told attorney-general Yves Bot at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg."
2. EU-UK: House of Lords Select Committee: The UK's opt-in Protocol: implications of the Government's approach (pdf) and See: House of Lords recommends to change the Governement's strategy on the UK's opt-in (EASFJ, link) and also: Lords slams UK's 'splendid isolation' on EU justice opt-out (euractiv, link)
3. UK: Stop and search: Police 'must record vehicle stops (BBC News, link) and Too little progress on stop and search, says police watchdog - Many officers lack understanding of impact on lives of young black people, says Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (Guardian, link)
See: Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary report: Stop and search powers 2: are the police using them effectively and fairly? March 2015 (pdf)
4. UK: The Monitoring Group: Press release on behalf of the Mark Duggan family: Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) Report into the killing of Mark Duggan: The Duggan family are no longer surprised by the endeavours of the IPCC in the case of Mark Duggan's killing by police. This report merely confirms their belief that the IPCC are 'unfit for purpose' (pdf)
See: Mark Duggan shooting: police watchdog clears officers of wrongdoing - IPCC calls for urgent improvement in accountability, including recording of radio communications during undercover firearms operations (Guardian, link)
And also: IPPC report: The fatal police shooting of Mr Mark Duggan on 4 August 2011 (4MB, pdf)
5. CJEU: Facebook data privacy case opens in European court - European Court of Justice to hear arguments arising from High Court case here last year (Irish Times, link):
" Europe's highest court will today examine a complaint that United States technology companies and their Dublin-based subsidiaries participate in a global data dragnet in breach of European Union law.
In a case with far-reaching consequences for EU-US relations, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will hear arguments arising from a complaint filed in Ireland last year with the High Court, demanding the State's data-protection commissioner investigate whether Facebook was in breach of EU law for allegedly passing European user data to US intelligence services."
See also:: Europe v Facebook: the beginning of the end for NSA spying on EU citizens? (EU Law Analysis, link)
6. Blog: 'Lily', the tracking device and her fight against surveillance (Undercover Research, link):
"Recently a GPS tracking device was found under the car of an activist in Valencia. The activist was 'Lily', who is part of the group of women suing the Metropolitan Police; she was deceived into a two-year relationship with undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.....n this article we provide the bits so far not covered in the English speaking press, in a translation approved by Lily herself."
See: About Undercover Research link): "The Undercover Research Group comprises a small set of dedicated activist-investigators who individually and collectively have already been diligently researching the subject of state and corporate spying for a number of years....
Having worked on aspects of this topic individually for several years before joining forces, the core group is now committed to work extensively on this project for the coming two years. We cooperate with a larger group of around 20 people, drawn from a broad spectrum of politically progressive activism, such as CorporateWatch, Statewatch, Netpol in the UK, buro Jansen & Janssen in the Netherlands, and other activist researchers across Europe. This network of people contributes specific knowledge or skills, donating their time and expertise when they can."
7. Institute of Race Relations (IRR): Dying for Justice (pdf link):
"509 people from BAME, refugee and migrant communities who have died between 1991-2014 in suspicious circumstances in which the police, prison authorities or immigration detention officers have been implicated.....the wronged will not rest – the families' movement, in particular, will not go away. Their cry goes up from the streets: there must be an end to dying for justice."
8. UK: Home Office to blacklist extremists to protect public sector - Theresa May says new extremism analysis unit is compiling list of legal but unacceptable individuals and groups to prevent another Trojan horse scandal (Guardian, link):
"A Home Office blacklist of extremist individuals and organisations with whom the government and public sector should not engage is being drawn up, Theresa May has revealed. The list of legal but unacceptable organisations is being compiled by a new Home Office "extremism analysis unit","
9. EU: Council of the European Union: Europol: To: Standing Committee on operation cooperation on internal security (COSI) Subject: Interim SOCTA 2015: An update on Serious and Organised Crime in the EU (LIMITE doc no: 7271-15,pdf)
10. UK: "BLACKLISTING" CASE: This may be the law, but it's not justice" – blacklisted worker loses court case on technicality (Union Solidarity International, link):
"Dave Smith, an engineer and UCATT safety rep, was forced to leave the construction industry after he was placed on the Consulting Association blacklist for complaining about unpaid wages and raising concerns about safety issues such as asbestos and overflowing toilets on building sites under the control of different Carillion Group companies in the 1990s. But yesterday he lost his test case in the Court of Appeal after judges ruled he was not protected by UK employment law because was on site via an employment agency and not directly by the company that blacklisted him.
He said: "What is the point of employment law or the Human Rights Act? Even with mountains of documentary evidence and an admission from the company that they blacklisted me because I was a trade union member who had raised safety concerns, I still cannot win. This might be the law, but it is not justice."
See: Full-text of the Court of Appeal ruling (pdf) and see: No hope of justice for blacklist victim as court rules agency builders not protected by law (Mirror, link)
11. UK: The Secret Policeman's Toy Shop: The UK Home Office's Security and Policing Exhibition is a trove of Orwellian goodies (Sky News, link)
And see: Home Office exhibition ensures police, security and military firms are kept away from prying eyes (Statewatch database) The " Security & Policing Exhibition, a high-profile event aimed at "police, law enforcement and security professionals who are tasked with security, civil protection and National Resilience," and has a "strict visitors criteria" which "enables exhibitors to display products which would be too sensitive to show in a more open environment."
12. EU: Council of the European Union: Handbook on trafficking in human beings - indicators for investigating police forces, (LIMITE doc no: 14630-rev-2-15, pdf): The term "search and rescue" is not referred to. It includes the use of "Special Investigative tools":
"investigations into human trafficking envisage the use of investigative techniques and tools to combat organised crime and serious crimes, as well as special operations and undercover activities. The latter, however, are not adopted in Malta, Slovakia and Sweden....
Not all Member States use wire-tapping and communication interception. According to the results of the questionnaire, they are not used in Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Malta, while Cyprus reports the strict conditions that must be met to apply these investigative tools, which are not commonly used.... Only Slovakia, Spain and Germany stressed the presence of "joint investigative teams" [emphasis added]
Background: Europol: Joint operational team launched to combat irregular migration in the Mediterranean (pdf) announcing the launch of Joint Operational Teams (JOT) Mare.Intelligence Centre
The JOT Mare intelligence Centre will work Frontex agency and with the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR). It monitors third-country ports and targeted ships. Thirteen member states: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom - are taking part in JOT Mare.
13. EU-PNR (Passenger Name Record): While the European Parliament is discussing the proposal to introduce EU-PNR the European Commission Internal Security Fund is supporting the development of national systems: See: Internal Security Fund Police Police (2014-2020): Law Enforcement Information Exchange (pdf) Funding:
"cross-border information exchange and cross border information exchange and data sharing between Passenger Information Units...
More specifically, in the area of Passenger Name Record (PNR) , the Commission provides co-funding to 14 Member States that set up PNR systems on the basis of national legislation as part of the programme on the "Prevention of and Fight against Crime" (ISEC). It seeks to foster the processing of PNR data in a coherent way while applying strict conditions and effective safeguards to comply with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights."
And see: Travel surveillance: PNR by the back door (Statewatch database)
14. EU: DATA PROTECTION REGULATION: PURPOSE LIMITATION WOULD BE "MEANINGLESS AND VOID": Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection: Press release on Chapter II of the draft regulation for the March JHA Council (pdf):
"The Working Party is very much concerned about the proposed provisions on further processing, especially in the context of Big Data. In fact, according to the Council, it will be possible for a data controller to further process data even if the purpose is incompatible with the original one as long as the controller has an overriding interest in this processing.
This new possibility offered to the data controller opens serious concerns in the data protection community. The Working Party considers that this situation would render one of the fundamental principles of the data protection framework, the purpose limitation principle, meaningless and void. The principle is enshrined in Article 8(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU."
15. EU: Study for Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament: Ensuring utmost transparency -- Free Software and Open Standards under the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (pdf): tackles the question of the use of open standards and free software in the European Parliament:
16. GREECE: European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): What's in a name? The reality of First "Reception" at Evros: AIDA fact-finding visit to Greece (pdf) and see: Press summary (link): "The ECRE delegation visited Evros between 1 and 5 December 2014. The visit was organised in close collaboration with the Greek Council for Refugees and as part of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project"
"The conditions in the Fylakio Detention Centre are extremely bad, in particular as migrants may be detained for prolonged periods of time up to 18 months. The dormitories in Fylakio Detention Centre are large cells, behind bars, containing between 50 to 60 bunk beds, access to the courtyard of the detention centre is limited to 3 hours a day, weather permitting. The ECRE delegation found the place to be cold and damp. There is no doctor present in the detention centre and detainees
only receive paracetamol, irrespective of any medical complaint they have.
Although women with small children and babies are regularly detained there, including at the time of the ECRE visit, the detention centre neither provides baby food nor baby milk. Access to free legal assistance is very limited as there is only one lawyer, deployed by the Greek Council for Refugees, which is clearly insufficient to meet the needs of the persons wishing to challenge either their detention or a negative decision relating to their asylum application."
17. EU: European Parliament Study: The impact of the crisis on fundamental rights across Member States of the EU Comparative analysis (218 pages, pdf):
"this study presents a synthesis of studies conducted in seven Member States regarding the impact of financial and economic crises, and austerity measures imposed in response thereto, on fundamental rights of individuals. The Member States studied are: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal"
See: Country Studies: Cyprus (link), Belgium (link), Ireland (link), Greece (link) Italy (link), Spain (link) and Portugal (link)
18. UK: Terrorism prevention and investigation measures in 2013: 2nd report of the Independent Reviewer on the Operation of the Terrorism and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (pdf) by David Anderson QC Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
19. Europol: responses to questions on right-wing extremism
Europol's press office has finally responded to questions from Statewatch on the agency's work relating to right-wing extremism in Europe. The questions were submitted to the agency in January for an article that was published last month. The answers were provided nearly two months later and are reproduced here.
20. EU Council of the European Union: LIMITE documents: Data Protection Regulation, EPPO & Ombudsman letter
- General Data Protection Regulation: Chapters III-VIII (LIMITE doc no: 7084-15, 63 pages, pdf):includes 168 Footnotes with Member States' positions. Chapter III: Rights of Data Subject and Chapter VIII covers: Remedies, Liability and Sanctions
- EPPO: Proposal for a Council Regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office - Presidency draft text on Articles 7-12 in the Regulation (LIMITE doc no DS 1169-15, pdf). This document is not only a LIMITE one which means it is not accessible to the public, it is also a "DS document" and therefore is not listed in the Council public register of documents.
21.EU DATA RETENTION: Is the EU heading for a piecemeal response to the CJEU's judgment that the Data Retention Directive is "unlawful"?: Germany moves closer towards bill on data retention (euractiv, link): :"A compromise is possible, said Wolfgang Bosbach, the chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee (Christian Democratic Union) on Monday (16 March). "As we are no longer bound to the requirements of an EU Directive, we have our own scope of design," Bosbach told the Passauer Neue Presse."
Last week, following the Justice and Home Affairs Council the Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos explicitly ruled out a new European directive on data protection, more specifically telecommunications data: "There'll be no new directive", stated Avramopoulos. (Agence Europe)
22. UK: Political philosophy now illegal in the UK (Crooked Timber, link):
"he British government has just produced the guidance for its "Prevent" scheme for education, which aims to stop young people from being drawn into "extremism". The elite at Oxford and Cambridge have been granted a specific exemption, allowing them to hear dangerous ideas that might corrupt the ordinary youth, and universities haven't been given specific guidance on what they may teach. Colleges of further education, on the other hand, have been told that "All relevant curriculum areas will need to be engaged, with a single contact point for delivery of Prevent-related activity." This so that students are not exposed to arguments that involve: "active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual tolerance of different faiths and beliefs."" [emphasis added]
See: HMG Prevent duty guidance (pdf)
also: Oxford and Cambridge Unions avoid terror ban on extremist speakers - Lobbying by Tory peers has helped the two historic student societies escape from the home secretary's crackdown on extremism in higher education (Guardian, link) and see: Final version of Prevent guidance published (Going further and higher, link)
23. German justice: from Jeremiah Duggan to Halit Yozgat (IRR News Service, link):
"In the latest twist at the NSU trial, the state premier of Hesse has been asked to take the witness stand. Why is Volker Bouffier's evidence important for the family of Halit Yozgat, the NSU's ninth victim, as well as to the family of Jeremiah Duggan?
The trial of Beate Zschäpe and four co-defendants in the case of the National Socialist Underground (NSU, a German neo-Nazi cell which murdered at least ten people, mostly men of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007) has been ongoing at the Munich Higher Regional Court since May 2013."
24. EU-PNR: Substantial reservations expressed in: Letter from the Article 29 data protection Working Party to Claude moraes, Chair of the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) (pdf) with detailed Appendix.
"First, the necessity of an EU PNR scheme still has to be justified. Precise argumentation and evidence are still lacking in that respect. Further restrictions should also be made to ensure that the data processing is proportionate to the purpose pursued, in particular considering that the report now includes intra-EU flights in the data processing...
the scope of the offences concerned should be further reduced and the retention period shortened and clearly justified....
the WP29 insists on the necessity to present as soon as possible a detailed evaluation of the efficiency of the PNR scheme. A sunset clause should also be inserted into the directive to assist in ensuring periodic review of the necessity of the system....
to reduce the list to the crimes for which the use of PNR data would effectively prove necessary for the police investigators and, in any case, to justify, for each category of crime currently listed, that the use of PNR data is necessary for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of these crimes....
at the very least, philosophical belief, trade union membership, health data and sex life should be added to the list of data on the basis of which no decision producing adverse legal effects, such as regarding pre-assessment of passengers, must be taken." [emphasis added]
EU-UK-GCHQ-USA-NSA SURVEILLANCE
http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm
1. UK: SNOWDEN: Surveillance of Guardian journalists: UK Police Deem Snowden Leak Investigation a State Secret (The Intercept, link):
"British police claim a criminal investigation they launched into journalists who have reported on leaked documents from Edward Snowden has to be kept a secret due to a "possibility of increased threat of terrorist activity.....
the Met, says everything about the investigation's existence is a secret and too dangerous to disclose. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from this reporter, the force has repeatedly refused to release any information about the status of the investigation, how many officers are working on it, or how much taxpayer money has been spent on it. The Met wrote in its response:
"to confirm or deny whether we hold any information concerning any current or previous investigations into the alleged actions of Edward Snowden could potentially be misused proving detrimental to national security.""
See Full-text of the Met's refusal to respond to FOI request (pdf)
2. UK: GCHQ: UK government claims power for broad, suspicionless hacking of computers and phones (PI, link)
"The British Government has admitted its intelligence services have the broad power to hack into personal phones, computers, and communications networks, and claims they are legally justified to hack anyone, anywhere in the world, even if the target is not a threat to national security nor suspected of any crime....Buried deep within the document, Government lawyers claim that while the intelligence services require authorisation to hack into the computer and mobile phones of "intelligence targets", GCHQ is equally permitted to break into computers anywhere in the world even if they are not connected to a crime or a threat to national security."
See:GCHQ Tribunal document: Investigatory Powers Tribunal - Government's Open Response: News Article - 18 Mar 2015 (link)
This evidence confirms: New Code of Practice: "Equipment Interference" to give the intelligence and security agencies direct access to computers to by-pass encryption and to use "remote access" to "obtain information.. in pursuit of intelligence requirements" or to "remove or modify software" Statewatch) and: GCHQ is authorised to "spy on the world" but the UK Interception of Communications Commissioner says this is OK as it is "lawful" (Statewatch Analysis, May 2014)
3. WHISTLEBLOWERS: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly: Calls for Snowden to return home and be allowed a public interest defence:
"The Assembly calls on... the United States of America to allow Mr. Snowden to return without fear of criminal prosecution under conditions that would not allow him to raise the public interest defence.".
"Council of Europe member states and the EU should enact whistleblower protection laws also covering employees of national security or intelligence services and of private firms working in this field, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights concluded today...
The Committee also stressed the need to grant asylum, if possible under national law, to whistleblowers threatened by retaliation in their home countries provided their disclosures qualify for protection under the principles advocated by the Assembly."
See Report adopted: Improving the Protection of Whistleblowers (pdf) and Call for protection of whistleblowers in national security-related fields (link):
And see: US Threatened Germany Over Snowden, Vice Chancellor Says (The Intercept, link): "German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said this week in Homburg that the U.S. government threatened to cease sharing intelligence with Germany if Berlin offered asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden or otherwise arranged for him to travel to that country. "They told us they would stop notifying us of plots and other intelligence matters," Gabriel said".
And see: NEWS DIGEST (156 news links from across the EU, so far in March, updated daily)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
1. EU counter-terrorism coordinator: "Jail is a major incubator of radicalisation" (EP, link): "With the threat of terrorism growing every day, the task of Gilles de Kerchove, the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator, becomes increasingly more important. It's his job to coordinate the Council's work in combating terrorism, keep an eye on all the instruments available to the EU and make policy recommendations. We talked to him about how terrorism should be fought and the role the European Parliament could play."
2. EU: PICUM: Protecting undocumented children: Promising policies and practices from governments (link)
3. BELGIUM: Belgium's Foreign Minister Thought It Was A Good Idea To Wear Blackface (BuzzFeed News, link)
4. Snowden at SXSW: Be very concerned about the trickle down of NSA surveillance to local police (Privacysos, link)
5. SWITZERLAND: US officials can violate the Swiss laws without consequences, whistleblower said - Snowden: US spies "comfortable" in Switzerland (New Europe, link)
6. CoE: Parliamentary Assembly: Access to justice is still all too often a luxury (link) And see: Draft report (pdf)
7. FRANCE: Council of Europe rights chief 'worried' by French bill - Europe's rights body has criticized French anti-terror efforts. The government wants to give intelligence services legal backing to vacuum up metadata in the hope of preventing an imminent terror attack. (DW, link): ""Limiting human rights to fight against terrorism is a serious mistake and an inefficient measure that can even help the terrorists' cause," Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks said." and see: French surveillance bill would legalize data monitoring (New Europe, link)
8. EU Tightens Borders With Construction of Croatia's 'Schengen Wall' (Sputnik, link)
9. Solidarity Against Spycops (South Wales Anarchists, link): "It has been over five years since we learned that Mark "Marco" Jacobs was not just another anarchist in the south Wales activist scene, but was actually an undercover police officer.... police lawyers have attempted to obstruct justice, giving a "Neither Confirm Nor Deny" defence... On Wednesday 25th March we will be in the Royal Courts of Justice in London attempting to strike out this non-defence."
10. Blacklisting: The next chapter is waiting to be written (NUJ, link)
11. Video: Migrant Prisons of Libya: Europe or Die (Full Length) (VICE News, link): "As Libya descends further into civil war and lawlessness, migrants from Africa and the Middle East continue to journey to the country's coast in search of smugglers to take them across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe."
12. GERMANY-BULGARIA: German courts refuse to extradite prisoners to Bulgaria (euractiv, link): "German courts have declined to hand over inmates to Bulgaria due to concerns over dire prison conditions in the European Union's poorest country"
13. TURKEY: Fact-finding visit to Turkey on countries of transit: meeting new migration and asylum challenges (CoE Parliamentary Assembly, link)
14. IRELAND: Reports of Racism Quarterly (ENAR Ireland, link)
15. ITALY: Report of visits in the Palaspedini stadium of Catania and the CIE-CARA of Caltanissetta (Open Access Now, link)
16. Spain's ruling party ran secret fund for 18 years, investigating judge finds - National court clears way for trial of former People's party treasurer Luis Barcenas over claims of corruption that have also engulfed PM Mariano Rajoy (Guardian, link)
17. EU: Not Adding Up: The Fading Promise of Europe's Dublin System (Migration Policy Institute, link) See: Report (link)
18. Danes to vote on ending EU opt-outs (New Europe, link)
19. N IRELAND: State 'involved in mass murder on British soil, colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in 80 deaths between 1972 and 1978' (Belfast Telegraph, link)
20. SCOTLAND: Dungavel's refugee hunger strikers claim Home Office is misleading public over severity of protest (Herald Scotland, link)
21. Hungary's Government Has Taken Control of the Constitutional Court (Liberties EU, link)
22. UK: Harmondsworth: Detained asylum-seeker sews up mouth in protest at conditions (The Independent, link)
23. USA: A Police Gadget Tracks Phones? Shhh! It's Secret (New York times, link)
24. ECRE: Using the Charter of Fundamental Rights to improve reception and detention standards (link)
25. SCOTLAND: Human rights legal challenge threat to Scotland's plans for "through the back door" identity database (Herald Scotland, link) and see: Say no to a Scottish national ID system (link)
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Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 18:07:34 +0000
To: statewatch@gn.apc.org
From: statewatch-off@geo2.poptel.org.uk
Subject: News Online: 26 March 2015 (06/15)
Statewatch News Online, 26 March 2015 (06/15)
Home page: http://www.statewatch.org/
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NEWS
http://www.statewatch.org/news/
Top stories and analyses from Statewatch
1. Smart borders? Operation AMBERLIGHT: lLIke in JPO Mos Maiorum people will be "apprehended" and sanctioned
2. UK: NUJ and CIJ Submit a damning critique of the proposed Code of Practice on remote access to computers
3. EU: Med plan for "ad hoc cooperation" with north African states to return refugees
4. Statewatch: Viewpoint: Is it time to go back to the typewriter, carbon paper and Tippex?
NEWS
1. EU-USA: DATA PROTECTION "UMBRELLA" AGREEMENT: European Parliament Press release
2. EU-UK: House of Lords Select Committee: UK's opt-in protocol
3. UK: Stop and search
4. UK: The Monitoring Group: Press release on behalf of the Mark Duggan family
5. CJEU: Face book privacy case in court
6. SPAIN: "Lily", the tracking device in her car
7. Institute of Race Relations (IRR): Dying for Justice
8. UK: Home Office to compile "blacklist" of extremists
9. EU: Council of the European Union: Update on serious organised crime
10. UK: "BLACKLISTING" CASE: "This may be the law, but it's not justice
11. UK: Home Office Security Exhibition
12. EU: Council of the European Union: Handbook for police forces on trafficking human beings
13. EU-PNR (Passenger Name Record): Commission Internal Security Fund is supporting the development of national systems
14. EU: DATA PROTECTION REGULATION: Purpose Limitation would be "meaningless and void": Article 29 Working Party
15. EU: Study for Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament: Transparency and open standards
16. GREECE: European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): The reality of first "Reception" at Evros
17. EU: European Parliament Study: Impact of the crisis on fundamental rights
18. UK: Terrorism prevention orders in 2013 report
19. Europol: responses to questions on right-wing extremism
20. EU Council of the European Union: LIMITE documents: Data Protection Regulation, EPPO & Ombudsman letter
21. EU DATA RETENTION: EU heading for a piecemeal response to the CJEU's judgment that the Data Retention Directive is "unlawful"?
22. UK: Political philosophy now illegal
23. German justice: from Jeremiah Duggan to Halit Yozgat
24. EU-PNR: Substantial reservations expressed by Article 29 Working Party on data protection
EU-UK-GCHQ-USA-NSA SURVEILLANCE
http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm
1. UK: SNOWDEN: Surveillance of Guardian journalists a "state secret"
2. UK: GCHQ: UK government claims power for broad hacking of computers and phones
3. WHISTLEBLOWERS: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly and Snowden
Selected stories from NEWS DIGEST (156 news links from across the EU, so far in March, updated daily)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
1. EU C-T coordinator: "Jail is a major incubator of radicalisation"
2. EU: PICUM: Protecting undocumented children
3. BELGIUM: Belgium's Foreign Minister thought it was a good idea to wear blackface
4. Snowden: Be concerned about trickle down of NSA surveillance to local police
5. SWITZERLAND: US officials can violate Swiss laws with consequences - Snowden: US spies comfortable there
6. CoE: Parliamentary Assembly: Access to justice is still all to often a luxury
7. FRANCE: CoE: "worried" about new anti-terror plans
8. EU: Tighten borders with construction of Croatia's "Schengen Wall"
9. WALES: Solidarity Against Spycops
10. UK: Blacklisting: The next chapter is waiting to be written
11. Video: Migrant prisons of Libya: Europe or die
12. GERMANY-BULGARIA: Courts refuse to extradite prisoners to Bulgaria
13. TURKEY: Fact-funding visit to Turkey on countries of transit
14. IRELAND: Reports of Racism - ENAR Ireland
15. ITALY: Report of visits to Catania
16. SPAIN: Ruling party ran secret fund for 18 years, judge finds
17. EU: Fading promise of Europe's Dublin System
18. Danes to vote in ending EU opt-outs
19. N IRELAND: State involved in mass murder.. colluded with loyalist paramilitaries
20. SCOTLAND: Refugee hunger strikers claim Home Office is misleading over severity of protest
21. HUNGARY: Government has taken control of the Constitutional Court
22. UK: Harmondsworth: Asylum-seeker sews up mouth in protest at conditions
23. USA: A police gadget tracks phones
24. ECRE: Using the Charter of Fundamental Rights to improve reception and detention standards
25. SCOTLAND: Legal challenge to Scotland's plans for "through the back door" identity database
USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE
Top Stories
1. Smart borders? Operation AMBERLIGHT: "Overstaying" in the EU: a problem for internal security and the need for "harmonised" laws which are enforceable - like in JPO Mos Maiorum people will be "apprehended" and sanctioned
• "Overstayers" to be checked at external borders in Joint Police Operation (JPO) in April
• "Overstayers" refers to visitors, students and others on visas and undocumented migrants
• Member States to report on: "Further procedure in Member States, and sanctions imposed" - law enforcement agencies will "apprehend" and sanction people
The document says that: "No personal data will be collected within the activity" - the same claim was made by the Italian Council Presidency during: Joint Operation "Mos Maiorum": Council's explanation is "economical with the truth" which argued that was only a data collection operation when in fact nearly 20,000 people were "apprehended": The Mos Maiorum JPO: Final report (LIMITE doc no: 5474/15).
"Overstayers" to be checked at external borders: Joint Police Operation (JPO): Council: Presidency activity AMBERLIGHT 2015 (LIMITE doc no: 5195-15, pdf) It is planned to take place in the period from 1-14 April 2015 or from 18 to 30 April 2015)
2. UK: National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) have today submitted to the Home Office a damning critique of the proposed Code of Practice which would allow remote access to any computer anywhere in the world: Submission:: NUJ and CIJ joint response to the interception of communications and equipment interference: draft codes of practice (pdf)
"The NUJ and CIJ are concerned about the implications for press freedom if the UK intelligence and security agencies are permitted to access journalist's computers remotely and break encryption codes (both inside and outside the UK)..
The adoption of the new surveillance powers in the draft codes enables the authorities to access computers remotely. The NUJ and CIJ believe these powers should be the subject of primary legislation and should not be introduced via secondary legislation in a code of practice under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) which itself is not limited to terrorism and serious crime but covers all crimes....
Accessing computers or other devises allows the intelligence services to obtain vast amounts of information. It would mean the authorities would have control over targeted devices and access to any information stored including encrypted data and communications. This information could include documents, emails, diaries, contacts, photographs, internet messaging chat logs, and the location records on mobile equipment. It would also mean having powers to access anything typed into a device, including login details/passwords, internet browsing histories, other materials and communications. Draft documents and deleted files could also be accessed. In addition, the microphone, webcam and GPS-based locator technology could be turned on and items stored could be altered or deleted."
See proposed: Equipment Interference Code of Practice (pdf) and also: New Code of Practice: "Equipment Interference" to give the intelligence and security agencies direct access to computers to by-pass encryption and to use "remote access" to "obtain information.. in pursuit of intelligence requirements" or to "remove or modify software" Statewatch) and: GCHQ is authorised to "spy on the world" but the UK Interception of Communications Commissioner says this is OK as it is "lawful" (Statewatch Analysis, May 2014)
3. EU: MEDITERREAN PLAN TO SET UP "ad hoc operational cooperation mechanisms" between the EU and north African states, which will have a "real deterrent effect so that less and less migrants would be ready to put their life at risk to reach the European coasts" - to block refugees leaving Africa and hand them over to North African states"
See: Non Paper on Possible Involvement of Third Countries in Maritime Surveillance and Search and Rescue from the Italian delegation (Confidential Note discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 12 March 2015, pdf)
The proposal involves the "direct involvement of reliable third countries", namely Egypt and Tunisia, as "Libya is unable to patrol their coasts" and to "take them [the migrants] to their own ports [ie: to Egypt and Tunisia]" where "competent authorities" will carry out "international protection procedures, provide assistance to vulnerable people and return irregular migrants to their country of origin".
See: EU considering plan to outsource Mediterranean migrant patrols to Africa Exclusive: Under Italian proposals the EU would cut deals with countries such as Egypt and Tunisia to fund them in rescue missions (Guardian, link)
and Brussels plans migration centres outside EU to process asylum applications - European commission wants to use offices and embassies outside EU to process applications for asylum and refugee status before migrants reach Europe (Guardian, link): "The interior ministries have also been discussing plans to establish and finance refugee camps or "reception centres" for migrants in North Africa and the Middle East to try to keep them from coming to Europe as well as out of the hands of the traffickers, and to set up "European" asylum-processing offices outside the EU in the same region."
EU considering plan to outsource Mediterranean migrant patrols to Africa Exclusive: Under Italian proposals the EU would cut deals with countries such as Egypt and Tunisia to fund them in rescue missions (Guardian, link)
4. Statewatch: Viewpoint: Is it time to go back to the typewriter, carbon paper and Tippex? (pdf) by Tony Bunyan
"The "white-washing" report on GCHQ, MI5 & MI6 by the Intelligence and Security Committee published on 12 March 2015 was preceded by a draft Code of Practice "Equipment Interference" to allow the UK intelligence and security agencies to "legally" access computers to gather and break encryption codes and allow "remote access" to "interfere" with any targeted computer anywhere in the world.
The deadline for comments on the Code is 20 March 2015 after which it will be "laid" before parliament and usually be adopted without debate."
NEWS
1. EU-USA: DATA PROTECTION "UMBRELLA" AGREEMENT: European Parliament Press release: Civil liberties MEPs make case for data protection during Washington visit (pdf):
"A delegation from the civil liberties committee visited Washington DC last week to find out the latest information on issues such as data protection and legislation on surveillance activities from their American counterparts. The MEPs also provided updates on the EU's data protection reform and on counter-terrorism initiatives, including the passenger name records (PNR) proposal"
See also:Close your Facebook account is you do not want to be spied on: EU-US data pact skewered in court hearing (euobserver, link) Extraordinary statement by Commission lawyer in Court of European Justice (CJEU):
"A lawyer for the European Commission told an EU judge on Tuesday (24 March) he should close his Facebook page if he wants to stop the US snooping on him, in what amounts to an admission that Safe Harbour, an EU-US data protection pact, doesn't work.
"You might consider closing your Facebook account, if you have one," European Commission attorney Bernhard Schima told attorney-general Yves Bot at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg."
2. EU-UK: House of Lords Select Committee: The UK's opt-in Protocol: implications of the Government's approach (pdf) and See: House of Lords recommends to change the Governement's strategy on the UK's opt-in (EASFJ, link) and also: Lords slams UK's 'splendid isolation' on EU justice opt-out (euractiv, link)
3. UK: Stop and search: Police 'must record vehicle stops (BBC News, link) and Too little progress on stop and search, says police watchdog - Many officers lack understanding of impact on lives of young black people, says Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (Guardian, link)
See: Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary report: Stop and search powers 2: are the police using them effectively and fairly? March 2015 (pdf)
4. UK: The Monitoring Group: Press release on behalf of the Mark Duggan family: Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) Report into the killing of Mark Duggan: The Duggan family are no longer surprised by the endeavours of the IPCC in the case of Mark Duggan's killing by police. This report merely confirms their belief that the IPCC are 'unfit for purpose' (pdf)
See: Mark Duggan shooting: police watchdog clears officers of wrongdoing - IPCC calls for urgent improvement in accountability, including recording of radio communications during undercover firearms operations (Guardian, link)
And also: IPPC report: The fatal police shooting of Mr Mark Duggan on 4 August 2011 (4MB, pdf)
5. CJEU: Facebook data privacy case opens in European court - European Court of Justice to hear arguments arising from High Court case here last year (Irish Times, link):
" Europe's highest court will today examine a complaint that United States technology companies and their Dublin-based subsidiaries participate in a global data dragnet in breach of European Union law.
In a case with far-reaching consequences for EU-US relations, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will hear arguments arising from a complaint filed in Ireland last year with the High Court, demanding the State's data-protection commissioner investigate whether Facebook was in breach of EU law for allegedly passing European user data to US intelligence services."
See also:: Europe v Facebook: the beginning of the end for NSA spying on EU citizens? (EU Law Analysis, link)
6. Blog: 'Lily', the tracking device and her fight against surveillance (Undercover Research, link):
"Recently a GPS tracking device was found under the car of an activist in Valencia. The activist was 'Lily', who is part of the group of women suing the Metropolitan Police; she was deceived into a two-year relationship with undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.....n this article we provide the bits so far not covered in the English speaking press, in a translation approved by Lily herself."
See: About Undercover Research link): "The Undercover Research Group comprises a small set of dedicated activist-investigators who individually and collectively have already been diligently researching the subject of state and corporate spying for a number of years....
Having worked on aspects of this topic individually for several years before joining forces, the core group is now committed to work extensively on this project for the coming two years. We cooperate with a larger group of around 20 people, drawn from a broad spectrum of politically progressive activism, such as CorporateWatch, Statewatch, Netpol in the UK, buro Jansen & Janssen in the Netherlands, and other activist researchers across Europe. This network of people contributes specific knowledge or skills, donating their time and expertise when they can."
7. Institute of Race Relations (IRR): Dying for Justice (pdf link):
"509 people from BAME, refugee and migrant communities who have died between 1991-2014 in suspicious circumstances in which the police, prison authorities or immigration detention officers have been implicated.....the wronged will not rest – the families' movement, in particular, will not go away. Their cry goes up from the streets: there must be an end to dying for justice."
8. UK: Home Office to blacklist extremists to protect public sector - Theresa May says new extremism analysis unit is compiling list of legal but unacceptable individuals and groups to prevent another Trojan horse scandal (Guardian, link):
"A Home Office blacklist of extremist individuals and organisations with whom the government and public sector should not engage is being drawn up, Theresa May has revealed. The list of legal but unacceptable organisations is being compiled by a new Home Office "extremism analysis unit","
9. EU: Council of the European Union: Europol: To: Standing Committee on operation cooperation on internal security (COSI) Subject: Interim SOCTA 2015: An update on Serious and Organised Crime in the EU (LIMITE doc no: 7271-15,pdf)
10. UK: "BLACKLISTING" CASE: This may be the law, but it's not justice" – blacklisted worker loses court case on technicality (Union Solidarity International, link):
"Dave Smith, an engineer and UCATT safety rep, was forced to leave the construction industry after he was placed on the Consulting Association blacklist for complaining about unpaid wages and raising concerns about safety issues such as asbestos and overflowing toilets on building sites under the control of different Carillion Group companies in the 1990s. But yesterday he lost his test case in the Court of Appeal after judges ruled he was not protected by UK employment law because was on site via an employment agency and not directly by the company that blacklisted him.
He said: "What is the point of employment law or the Human Rights Act? Even with mountains of documentary evidence and an admission from the company that they blacklisted me because I was a trade union member who had raised safety concerns, I still cannot win. This might be the law, but it is not justice."
See: Full-text of the Court of Appeal ruling (pdf) and see: No hope of justice for blacklist victim as court rules agency builders not protected by law (Mirror, link)
11. UK: The Secret Policeman's Toy Shop: The UK Home Office's Security and Policing Exhibition is a trove of Orwellian goodies (Sky News, link)
And see: Home Office exhibition ensures police, security and military firms are kept away from prying eyes (Statewatch database) The " Security & Policing Exhibition, a high-profile event aimed at "police, law enforcement and security professionals who are tasked with security, civil protection and National Resilience," and has a "strict visitors criteria" which "enables exhibitors to display products which would be too sensitive to show in a more open environment."
12. EU: Council of the European Union: Handbook on trafficking in human beings - indicators for investigating police forces, (LIMITE doc no: 14630-rev-2-15, pdf): The term "search and rescue" is not referred to. It includes the use of "Special Investigative tools":
"investigations into human trafficking envisage the use of investigative techniques and tools to combat organised crime and serious crimes, as well as special operations and undercover activities. The latter, however, are not adopted in Malta, Slovakia and Sweden....
Not all Member States use wire-tapping and communication interception. According to the results of the questionnaire, they are not used in Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Malta, while Cyprus reports the strict conditions that must be met to apply these investigative tools, which are not commonly used.... Only Slovakia, Spain and Germany stressed the presence of "joint investigative teams" [emphasis added]
Background: Europol: Joint operational team launched to combat irregular migration in the Mediterranean (pdf) announcing the launch of Joint Operational Teams (JOT) Mare.Intelligence Centre
The JOT Mare intelligence Centre will work Frontex agency and with the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR). It monitors third-country ports and targeted ships. Thirteen member states: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom - are taking part in JOT Mare.
13. EU-PNR (Passenger Name Record): While the European Parliament is discussing the proposal to introduce EU-PNR the European Commission Internal Security Fund is supporting the development of national systems: See: Internal Security Fund Police Police (2014-2020): Law Enforcement Information Exchange (pdf) Funding:
"cross-border information exchange and cross border information exchange and data sharing between Passenger Information Units...
More specifically, in the area of Passenger Name Record (PNR) , the Commission provides co-funding to 14 Member States that set up PNR systems on the basis of national legislation as part of the programme on the "Prevention of and Fight against Crime" (ISEC). It seeks to foster the processing of PNR data in a coherent way while applying strict conditions and effective safeguards to comply with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights."
And see: Travel surveillance: PNR by the back door (Statewatch database)
14. EU: DATA PROTECTION REGULATION: PURPOSE LIMITATION WOULD BE "MEANINGLESS AND VOID": Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection: Press release on Chapter II of the draft regulation for the March JHA Council (pdf):
"The Working Party is very much concerned about the proposed provisions on further processing, especially in the context of Big Data. In fact, according to the Council, it will be possible for a data controller to further process data even if the purpose is incompatible with the original one as long as the controller has an overriding interest in this processing.
This new possibility offered to the data controller opens serious concerns in the data protection community. The Working Party considers that this situation would render one of the fundamental principles of the data protection framework, the purpose limitation principle, meaningless and void. The principle is enshrined in Article 8(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU."
15. EU: Study for Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament: Ensuring utmost transparency -- Free Software and Open Standards under the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament (pdf): tackles the question of the use of open standards and free software in the European Parliament:
16. GREECE: European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE): What's in a name? The reality of First "Reception" at Evros: AIDA fact-finding visit to Greece (pdf) and see: Press summary (link): "The ECRE delegation visited Evros between 1 and 5 December 2014. The visit was organised in close collaboration with the Greek Council for Refugees and as part of the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) project"
"The conditions in the Fylakio Detention Centre are extremely bad, in particular as migrants may be detained for prolonged periods of time up to 18 months. The dormitories in Fylakio Detention Centre are large cells, behind bars, containing between 50 to 60 bunk beds, access to the courtyard of the detention centre is limited to 3 hours a day, weather permitting. The ECRE delegation found the place to be cold and damp. There is no doctor present in the detention centre and detainees
only receive paracetamol, irrespective of any medical complaint they have.
Although women with small children and babies are regularly detained there, including at the time of the ECRE visit, the detention centre neither provides baby food nor baby milk. Access to free legal assistance is very limited as there is only one lawyer, deployed by the Greek Council for Refugees, which is clearly insufficient to meet the needs of the persons wishing to challenge either their detention or a negative decision relating to their asylum application."
17. EU: European Parliament Study: The impact of the crisis on fundamental rights across Member States of the EU Comparative analysis (218 pages, pdf):
"this study presents a synthesis of studies conducted in seven Member States regarding the impact of financial and economic crises, and austerity measures imposed in response thereto, on fundamental rights of individuals. The Member States studied are: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal"
See: Country Studies: Cyprus (link), Belgium (link), Ireland (link), Greece (link) Italy (link), Spain (link) and Portugal (link)
18. UK: Terrorism prevention and investigation measures in 2013: 2nd report of the Independent Reviewer on the Operation of the Terrorism and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (pdf) by David Anderson QC Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
19. Europol: responses to questions on right-wing extremism
Europol's press office has finally responded to questions from Statewatch on the agency's work relating to right-wing extremism in Europe. The questions were submitted to the agency in January for an article that was published last month. The answers were provided nearly two months later and are reproduced here.
20. EU Council of the European Union: LIMITE documents: Data Protection Regulation, EPPO & Ombudsman letter
- General Data Protection Regulation: Chapters III-VIII (LIMITE doc no: 7084-15, 63 pages, pdf):includes 168 Footnotes with Member States' positions. Chapter III: Rights of Data Subject and Chapter VIII covers: Remedies, Liability and Sanctions
- EPPO: Proposal for a Council Regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office - Presidency draft text on Articles 7-12 in the Regulation (LIMITE doc no DS 1169-15, pdf). This document is not only a LIMITE one which means it is not accessible to the public, it is also a "DS document" and therefore is not listed in the Council public register of documents.
21.EU DATA RETENTION: Is the EU heading for a piecemeal response to the CJEU's judgment that the Data Retention Directive is "unlawful"?: Germany moves closer towards bill on data retention (euractiv, link): :"A compromise is possible, said Wolfgang Bosbach, the chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee (Christian Democratic Union) on Monday (16 March). "As we are no longer bound to the requirements of an EU Directive, we have our own scope of design," Bosbach told the Passauer Neue Presse."
Last week, following the Justice and Home Affairs Council the Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos explicitly ruled out a new European directive on data protection, more specifically telecommunications data: "There'll be no new directive", stated Avramopoulos. (Agence Europe)
22. UK: Political philosophy now illegal in the UK (Crooked Timber, link):
"he British government has just produced the guidance for its "Prevent" scheme for education, which aims to stop young people from being drawn into "extremism". The elite at Oxford and Cambridge have been granted a specific exemption, allowing them to hear dangerous ideas that might corrupt the ordinary youth, and universities haven't been given specific guidance on what they may teach. Colleges of further education, on the other hand, have been told that "All relevant curriculum areas will need to be engaged, with a single contact point for delivery of Prevent-related activity." This so that students are not exposed to arguments that involve: "active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual tolerance of different faiths and beliefs."" [emphasis added]
See: HMG Prevent duty guidance (pdf)
also: Oxford and Cambridge Unions avoid terror ban on extremist speakers - Lobbying by Tory peers has helped the two historic student societies escape from the home secretary's crackdown on extremism in higher education (Guardian, link) and see: Final version of Prevent guidance published (Going further and higher, link)
23. German justice: from Jeremiah Duggan to Halit Yozgat (IRR News Service, link):
"In the latest twist at the NSU trial, the state premier of Hesse has been asked to take the witness stand. Why is Volker Bouffier's evidence important for the family of Halit Yozgat, the NSU's ninth victim, as well as to the family of Jeremiah Duggan?
The trial of Beate Zschäpe and four co-defendants in the case of the National Socialist Underground (NSU, a German neo-Nazi cell which murdered at least ten people, mostly men of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007) has been ongoing at the Munich Higher Regional Court since May 2013."
24. EU-PNR: Substantial reservations expressed in: Letter from the Article 29 data protection Working Party to Claude moraes, Chair of the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) (pdf) with detailed Appendix.
"First, the necessity of an EU PNR scheme still has to be justified. Precise argumentation and evidence are still lacking in that respect. Further restrictions should also be made to ensure that the data processing is proportionate to the purpose pursued, in particular considering that the report now includes intra-EU flights in the data processing...
the scope of the offences concerned should be further reduced and the retention period shortened and clearly justified....
the WP29 insists on the necessity to present as soon as possible a detailed evaluation of the efficiency of the PNR scheme. A sunset clause should also be inserted into the directive to assist in ensuring periodic review of the necessity of the system....
to reduce the list to the crimes for which the use of PNR data would effectively prove necessary for the police investigators and, in any case, to justify, for each category of crime currently listed, that the use of PNR data is necessary for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of these crimes....
at the very least, philosophical belief, trade union membership, health data and sex life should be added to the list of data on the basis of which no decision producing adverse legal effects, such as regarding pre-assessment of passengers, must be taken." [emphasis added]
EU-UK-GCHQ-USA-NSA SURVEILLANCE
http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm
1. UK: SNOWDEN: Surveillance of Guardian journalists: UK Police Deem Snowden Leak Investigation a State Secret (The Intercept, link):
"British police claim a criminal investigation they launched into journalists who have reported on leaked documents from Edward Snowden has to be kept a secret due to a "possibility of increased threat of terrorist activity.....
the Met, says everything about the investigation's existence is a secret and too dangerous to disclose. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request from this reporter, the force has repeatedly refused to release any information about the status of the investigation, how many officers are working on it, or how much taxpayer money has been spent on it. The Met wrote in its response:
"to confirm or deny whether we hold any information concerning any current or previous investigations into the alleged actions of Edward Snowden could potentially be misused proving detrimental to national security.""
See Full-text of the Met's refusal to respond to FOI request (pdf)
2. UK: GCHQ: UK government claims power for broad, suspicionless hacking of computers and phones (PI, link)
"The British Government has admitted its intelligence services have the broad power to hack into personal phones, computers, and communications networks, and claims they are legally justified to hack anyone, anywhere in the world, even if the target is not a threat to national security nor suspected of any crime....Buried deep within the document, Government lawyers claim that while the intelligence services require authorisation to hack into the computer and mobile phones of "intelligence targets", GCHQ is equally permitted to break into computers anywhere in the world even if they are not connected to a crime or a threat to national security."
See:GCHQ Tribunal document: Investigatory Powers Tribunal - Government's Open Response: News Article - 18 Mar 2015 (link)
This evidence confirms: New Code of Practice: "Equipment Interference" to give the intelligence and security agencies direct access to computers to by-pass encryption and to use "remote access" to "obtain information.. in pursuit of intelligence requirements" or to "remove or modify software" Statewatch) and: GCHQ is authorised to "spy on the world" but the UK Interception of Communications Commissioner says this is OK as it is "lawful" (Statewatch Analysis, May 2014)
3. WHISTLEBLOWERS: Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly: Calls for Snowden to return home and be allowed a public interest defence:
"The Assembly calls on... the United States of America to allow Mr. Snowden to return without fear of criminal prosecution under conditions that would not allow him to raise the public interest defence.".
"Council of Europe member states and the EU should enact whistleblower protection laws also covering employees of national security or intelligence services and of private firms working in this field, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights concluded today...
The Committee also stressed the need to grant asylum, if possible under national law, to whistleblowers threatened by retaliation in their home countries provided their disclosures qualify for protection under the principles advocated by the Assembly."
See Report adopted: Improving the Protection of Whistleblowers (pdf) and Call for protection of whistleblowers in national security-related fields (link):
And see: US Threatened Germany Over Snowden, Vice Chancellor Says (The Intercept, link): "German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said this week in Homburg that the U.S. government threatened to cease sharing intelligence with Germany if Berlin offered asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden or otherwise arranged for him to travel to that country. "They told us they would stop notifying us of plots and other intelligence matters," Gabriel said".
And see: NEWS DIGEST (156 news links from across the EU, so far in March, updated daily)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
1. EU counter-terrorism coordinator: "Jail is a major incubator of radicalisation" (EP, link): "With the threat of terrorism growing every day, the task of Gilles de Kerchove, the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator, becomes increasingly more important. It's his job to coordinate the Council's work in combating terrorism, keep an eye on all the instruments available to the EU and make policy recommendations. We talked to him about how terrorism should be fought and the role the European Parliament could play."
2. EU: PICUM: Protecting undocumented children: Promising policies and practices from governments (link)
3. BELGIUM: Belgium's Foreign Minister Thought It Was A Good Idea To Wear Blackface (BuzzFeed News, link)
4. Snowden at SXSW: Be very concerned about the trickle down of NSA surveillance to local police (Privacysos, link)
5. SWITZERLAND: US officials can violate the Swiss laws without consequences, whistleblower said - Snowden: US spies "comfortable" in Switzerland (New Europe, link)
6. CoE: Parliamentary Assembly: Access to justice is still all too often a luxury (link) And see: Draft report (pdf)
7. FRANCE: Council of Europe rights chief 'worried' by French bill - Europe's rights body has criticized French anti-terror efforts. The government wants to give intelligence services legal backing to vacuum up metadata in the hope of preventing an imminent terror attack. (DW, link): ""Limiting human rights to fight against terrorism is a serious mistake and an inefficient measure that can even help the terrorists' cause," Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks said." and see: French surveillance bill would legalize data monitoring (New Europe, link)
8. EU Tightens Borders With Construction of Croatia's 'Schengen Wall' (Sputnik, link)
9. Solidarity Against Spycops (South Wales Anarchists, link): "It has been over five years since we learned that Mark "Marco" Jacobs was not just another anarchist in the south Wales activist scene, but was actually an undercover police officer.... police lawyers have attempted to obstruct justice, giving a "Neither Confirm Nor Deny" defence... On Wednesday 25th March we will be in the Royal Courts of Justice in London attempting to strike out this non-defence."
10. Blacklisting: The next chapter is waiting to be written (NUJ, link)
11. Video: Migrant Prisons of Libya: Europe or Die (Full Length) (VICE News, link): "As Libya descends further into civil war and lawlessness, migrants from Africa and the Middle East continue to journey to the country's coast in search of smugglers to take them across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe."
12. GERMANY-BULGARIA: German courts refuse to extradite prisoners to Bulgaria (euractiv, link): "German courts have declined to hand over inmates to Bulgaria due to concerns over dire prison conditions in the European Union's poorest country"
13. TURKEY: Fact-finding visit to Turkey on countries of transit: meeting new migration and asylum challenges (CoE Parliamentary Assembly, link)
14. IRELAND: Reports of Racism Quarterly (ENAR Ireland, link)
15. ITALY: Report of visits in the Palaspedini stadium of Catania and the CIE-CARA of Caltanissetta (Open Access Now, link)
16. Spain's ruling party ran secret fund for 18 years, investigating judge finds - National court clears way for trial of former People's party treasurer Luis Barcenas over claims of corruption that have also engulfed PM Mariano Rajoy (Guardian, link)
17. EU: Not Adding Up: The Fading Promise of Europe's Dublin System (Migration Policy Institute, link) See: Report (link)
18. Danes to vote on ending EU opt-outs (New Europe, link)
19. N IRELAND: State 'involved in mass murder on British soil, colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in 80 deaths between 1972 and 1978' (Belfast Telegraph, link)
20. SCOTLAND: Dungavel's refugee hunger strikers claim Home Office is misleading public over severity of protest (Herald Scotland, link)
21. Hungary's Government Has Taken Control of the Constitutional Court (Liberties EU, link)
22. UK: Harmondsworth: Detained asylum-seeker sews up mouth in protest at conditions (The Independent, link)
23. USA: A Police Gadget Tracks Phones? Shhh! It's Secret (New York times, link)
24. ECRE: Using the Charter of Fundamental Rights to improve reception and detention standards (link)
25. SCOTLAND: Human rights legal challenge threat to Scotland's plans for "through the back door" identity database (Herald Scotland, link) and see: Say no to a Scottish national ID system (link)
USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE
News Online: http://www.statewatch.org/news/newsfull.htm
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In the News: http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
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Analyses (1999 - ongoing): http://www.statewatch.org/analyses.htm
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Statewatch Journal: Archive: Since 1991: http://www.statewatch.org/subscriber/
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Statewatch European Monitoring & Documentation Centre on Jutice and Home Affairs in the EU: http://www.statewatch.org/semdoc/
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