{UAH} FW: News Online: 13 March 2016 (06/15)

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> Statewatch News Online, 13 March 2016
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> NEWS
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> http://www.statewatch.org/news/
>
>
> Statewatch - with links to 12 free resources and
> databases
>
>
> 1.    EU arrest warrant: Warning over
> ECJ
> opinions
>
> 2.    EU: Justice and Home Affairs
> Council: 10-11 March
> 2015: Final Press release
>
> 3.    UK: Ex-MI5 boss: Private firms
> spy like us
>
> 4.    EU wants to give police greater
> digital
> access
>
> 5.    FRANCE: A look at the latest French
> laws on
> intelligence collection
>
> 6.    UK: Parliamentary Office Science
> & Technology:
> briefing paper digital forensics and crime
>
> 7.   UK: Inspectors: Refugees held in
> "wholly unacceptable"
> conditions in freight shed
>
> 8.   EU: Group of Personalities" need for
> "military
> research"
>
> 9.   German Bundeswehr to gain combat drones
>
> 10. UK: IP BILL: Why are the intelligence agencies
> revealing their spying
> techniques?
>
> 11. UN: Joint report: freedom of peaceful assembly
> and of
> association
>
> 12. UNDERCOVER POLICING: Secrecy battle at Pitchford
> Inquiry; campaigner
> confronts police spy
>
> 13. INCLO Launch Report on Crowd Control Weapons
>
> 14. EU: MEPs refuse to vote on PNR before Council
> strengthens data
> protection
>
> 15. EU-USA: US-EU Cooperation against terrorism
>
> 16. EU: Proposed new counter-terrorism law: Joint
> NGO critique
>
> 17. UK: Shortage of asylum seeker accommodation and
> "appalling"
> prejudice, says report
>
> 18. Council EU: C-T Directive, Checks at borders, Border
> Guards and
> Vienna Declaration
>
> 19. EP: Report: safeguards for children suspected or
> accused in criminal
> proceedings:
>
> 20, UK: Stephen Lawrence: former police officer
> avoids charges over
> alleged spying
>
> 21. UK: Police 'used sexualised violence against
> fracking
> protesters'
>
> 23. Greece: Council of Europe: Anti-torture
> Committee publishes report on
> Greece
>
> 24. Council of Europe: Human Rights: France:
> Anti-racism commission
> concerned at hate speech
>
> 25. Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly: final
> responses on CIA
> 'secret prisons'
>
> 26. EU: Council of EU: New Directive on combatting
> terrorism
>
> 27. The Corporate Greed of Strangers: spread of
> corporate involvement in
> asylum housing
>
> 28. ECHR: The CIA's abduction and extrajudicial
> transfer to Egypt of the
> imam Abu Omar
>
> 29. European Court of Human Rights: Khlaifia and Others
> v. Italy
> (application no. 16483/12)
>
> 30. SWEDEN- Joint NGO submission during its 116th
> session, 7-31 March
> 2016
>
> 31. EU: DATABASE CHECKS AT BORDERS: Council of the
> European Union
>
> 32. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Council of the European
> Union
>
> 33. EU: Council questioned over CIA rendition programme
>
>
> EU-UK-USA: NSA-GCHQ
>
>
> 1. EU-USA: Are the European Commission and the
> Parliament sharing the
> same Umbrella?
>
> 2, EU-USA: NSA can still spy under new 'Privacy
> Shield' agreement with
> Europe
>
> 3. EU-USA: Restoring "trust" in transatlantic
> data flows
>
> 4. Report: German intelligence spied on EU
> foreign minister
> Ashton
>
> 5. EU-USA: Why the Judicial Redress Act is worthless
>
> 6. EU-USA: "UMBRELLA AGREEMENT" TO EXCHANGE
> PERSONAL DATA
>
> 7. USA: NSA targets world leades for US geopolitical
> interests
>
> 8. EU-USA Data protection: EPIC:
> 'Judicial Redress Act' Provides
> Little Redress
>
>
> And see: News Digest: updated daily, dozens
> of news links every
> month:
>
>
> http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
>
>
> NEWS
>
>
> 1. EU: EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT: Warning over ECJ
> opinions that
> propose prioritising "mutual recognition" over
> human
> rights
>
>
>
>
> Fair Trials joins with criminal justice experts on European
> Arrest
> Warrant (Fair Trials, link): "Experts in
> criminal justice
> from across the European Union have united in expressing
> their concerns
> regarding the protection of human rights in the fast-track
> extradition
> system; the European Arrest Warrant, as well as the poor and
> inhumane
> prison conditions in EU member states.
>
>
> ...if the court were to follow the opinion it would mean the
> human
> rights-based grounds for refusing European Arrest Warrants
> applied in
> national implementing laws, are incompatible with the EAW
> Framework
> Decision."
>
>
> The letter:
>
> AG Bot's Opinion in Aranyosi
>
> and Caldararu - a Threat to Justice in Europe
> (pdf):
> "We believe that the Opinion of AG Bot should prompt
> a
> fundamental review of the Commission's approach. In
> outline, his
> conclusion is that "Article 1(3) ... must be
> interpreted in a way
> that it does not create a ground for non-execution of an
> Arrest Warrant
> ... on the basis of a risk of a violation in the requesting
> state of the
> human rights of the requested person". We recognise, of
> course, that
> this is not a legally-binding decision and that the Court
> will ultimately
> issue an opinion. However, we are writing now given the
> grave importance
> of the Court's ultimate response to the questions
> referred to it and the
> Advocate General's unexpected and deeply troubling
> advice to the
> Court.
>
>
> The implications of this approach - according the principle
> of mutual
> recognition a higher legal status than protection for
> fundamental human
> rights - cannot be under-stated. If adopted by the Court, it
> would place
> the EU legal order out of line with overwhelming global
> consensus that
> there is an absolute and non-derogable right for a person
> not to be
> extradited to countries in which there is a real risk that
> they would be
> subject to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.
> Despite AG Bat's
> arguments, international human rights standards allow for no
> "
> balancing" of this right against the interests of
> law-enforcement or
> judicial efficiency."
>
>
> The opinions of Advocate-General Bot in the two cases in
> question are
> available on the CJEU website in various languages including
> French,
> German and Spanish. They are currently unavailable in
> English. See:
>
> Aranyosi and
>
> Caldararu (links).
>
>
> 2. EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council: 10-11 March
> 2015: Final
>
> Press release, 10-11-3-16 (pdf)
>
>
>
>
> "B" Points Agenda (for discussion, pdf)
> and
>
> "A" Points Agenda (adopted without
> discussion, pdf)
> and
>
> Background Note (pdf)
>
>
> Border Guard Agency:
>
>
> See:
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
> of the
> Council on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing
> Regulation
> (EC) No 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council
> Decision
> 2005/267/EC - Provisions on return (LIMITE doc
> no:6884-16, pdf)
> and
>
>
>
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of
> the Council
> on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing
> Regulation (EC) No
> 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council Decision
> 2005/267/EC (LIMITE doc no: 6652, pdf)
>
>
> -
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of
> the Council
> on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing
> Regulation (EC) No
> 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council Decision
> 2005/267/EC -
> State of play (LIMITE doc no: 6744-16, pdf)
>
>
> Counter-Terrorism:
>
>
> -
>
> State of play on implementation of the statement of the
> Members of the
> European Council of 12 February 2015, the JHA Council
> Conclusions of 20
> November 2015, and the Conclusions of the European Council
> of 18 December
> 2015 (LIMITE doc no: 6785-16, pdf)
>
>
> -
>
> Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of
> the Council on
> combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework Decision
> 2002/475/JHA
> on combating terrorism [First reading] - General
> approach (LIMITE
> doc no: 6655-16, pdf)
>
>
> 3. UK:
>
> Ex-MI5 boss: Private firms spy like us
> (Evening Standard,
> link): "Private firms are compiling detailed
> personal profiles of
> ordinary citizens using methods that are "just as
> intrusive" as those
> deployed by Britain's intelligence agencies, the former
> head of MI5 has
> warned.
>
>
> Baron Evans of Weardale said the companies were using
> "open source"
> material to learn "an awful lot about what you do on a
> daily basis and
> who you associate with" to an extent that "would be very
> surprising" to
> most of the public.
>
>
> Lord Evans, who served as director general of the Security
> Service until
> 2013, added that the firms had "really effective and
> powerful
> investigative capabilities" but faced only limited legal
> controls that
> were much weaker than those applied to the intelligence
> agencies."
>
>
> And see:
> Spying
> on a see through world: the "Open Source"
> intelligence
> industry, by Ben Hayes (Statewatch Journal,
> January-March
> 2010)
>
>
> 4.  EU wants to
> give police greater digital access (EUobserver,
> link):
> "The European Commission is set to propose expanding
> police
> access to sensitive digital data, including details of
> financial
> transactions made inside the EU and biometric data of asylum
> seekers.
>
>
> The idea is laid out in an internal document, seen by this
> website, from
> EU counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove.
>
>
> The paper, dated 4 March 2016, says the commission is
> mulling proposals
> to broaden the Terrorist Financing Tracking Program (TFTP),
> also known as
> the Swift agreement."
>
>
> See: European Counter-Terrorism Coordinator:
>
> State of play on implementation of the statement of the
> Members of the
> European Council of 12 February 2015, the JHA Council
> Conclusions of 20
> November 2015, and the Conclusions of the European Council
> of 18 December
> 2015 (LIMITE doc no: 6785-16, pdf)
>
>
> 5.  FRANCE:
>
> A look at the latest French laws on intelligence
> collection
> (Electrospaces.net, link): "Over the last year,
> The French
> parliament passed new laws granting additional powers to
> intelligence
> services regarding interception of communications and data
> requests. This
> is part of a broader reform aimed at creating a legal
> framework for
> intelligence practices which were not formally authorized by
> law before
> 2015. In the press, it was said that these laws allowed
> sweeping new
> surveillance powers, legalizing highly intrusive methods
> without
> guarantees for individual freedom and privacy.
>
>
> This article will focus on the provisions related to
> communications
> intelligence (COMINT), including targeted telephone tapping
> (lawful
> interception or LI), metadata collection and data requests
> to internet
> service providers (ISPs). Targeted interception of the
> content of
> internet communications is not regulated by these new laws,
> but only by
> older decrees which are still a bit unclear. The new laws
> are only about
> collection the metadata of internet
> communications."
>
>
> 6.  UK: Parliamentary Office of Science and
> Technology: new
> briefing paper on digital forensics and crime
>
>
> "Digital forensic science is the process of
> obtaining,
> analysing and using digital evidence in investigations or
> criminal
> proceedings. Digital evidence ranges from images of child
> sexual
> exploitation to the location of a mobile phone. This note
> looks at how
> evidence is obtained, legislation and regulation, and
> efforts to address
> challenges faced by practitioners."
>
>
> See:
>
> POSTNOTE: Digital Forensics and Crime (pdf)
>
>
> 7.UK:
>
> Inspectors: Refugees held in "wholly
> unacceptable" conditions in
> freight shed (Free Movement, link): "An
> unannounced
> inspection of short term detention facilities for refugees
> and migrants
> crossing the Channel into the UK has revealed that hundreds,
> including
> many children, have been held in "wholly unacceptable"
> and insanitary
> conditions. Many were held in a disused freight shed and
> forced to sleep
> on concrete floors, with no food, drink or clothing
> provided.
>
>
> The increase in numbers making the crossing to the UK in the
> summer of
> 2015 was found to have "overwhelmed" the Home Office and
> contractors but
> the emergency arrangements were still in place several
> months later, when
> the inspection took place. The increase in arrivals over the
> summer was
> predictable and the report questions why no adequate plans
> were put in
> place."
>
>
> See the report:
>
> HM Chief Inspector of Prisons: Longport freight shed,
> Dover Seaport
> and Frontier House (pdf)
>
>
> 8. EU:
>
> New "Group of Personalities" (GoP) advance need
> for
> "military research" in EU following the
> "security
> research" initiative:
>
>
>
>
> Report of the Group of Personalities on the Preparatory
> Action for
> CSDP-related research: EUROPEAN DEFENCE RESEARCH:
> The case for an
> EU-funded defence R&T programme (5 MB, pdf)
>
>
> "Europe's capacity to provide for its own security
> depends on our
> ability to continuously innovate to ensure technological
> leadership and
> be a credible partner to our allies. The recent dramatic
> falls in
> investment in R&T risk undermining our efforts to
> support the sector
> and our broader defence and security goals....
>
>
> This work on research in defence is part of a broader policy
> goal to
> strengthen European defence cooperation. To that effect, the
> Commission
> will present an Action Plan on defence this year."
>
>
>
>
> Members of the GoP: High-level group of personalities on
> defence
> research (pdf) Not an NGO/civil society in sight.
>
>
> See: EU
> DEFENCE UNION: Yet another elite "Group of
> Personalities" set
> up: Bienkowska launches high-level defence research
> group
> (Statewatch database) and
> EU:
> Commission proposes military research programme
> (Statewatch
> database)
>
>
> And:Statewatch publications: Security research
> initiative:
>
> Neoconopticon: the EU security-industrial
> complex (pdf) by Ben
> Hayes and
>
> Arming Big Brother: the EU's Security Research
> Programme by Ben
> Hayes.
>
>
> 9.
>
> German Bundeswehr to gain combat drones
> (link):
>
>
> "For the interim period, an Israeli model is to be
> leased; over
> the next ten years, European arms companies are to develop a
> competitive
> "Euro-drone"
>
>
> The German Bundeswehr has now selected a model of combat
> drone for future
> use. It plans to lease "three to five" of the latest
> "TP" version (Block
> 2) of the Heron family of drones, developed by Israel
> Aerospace
> Industries. The prime contractor for the leasing arrangement
> is the
> Airbus Group, which entered into a teaming agreement with
> the Israeli
> manufacturer on marketing in Europe."
>
>
> 10. UK: IP BILL:
>
> Why are the intelligence agencies revealing their spying
> techniques? (Guardian, link) "Now that the
> security
> services are allowed to record us through our phones,
> privacy has become
> impossible – unless we renounce modern telecoms....And is
> it a good idea
> to take a chainsaw to your computer or incinerate your
> iPhone? Certainly,
> if you have something illegal to hide – although doing so
> will inevitably
> limit your ability to commit more crimes. For the rest of
> us, it all
> depends on whether we value our personal privacy more highly
> than the
> convenience of using modern communications – and whether
> we think the
> agencies are on our side." and
>
> Snooper's charter: wider police powers to hack
> phones and access web
> history (Guardian, link): "Latest
> version of
> investigatory powers bill will allow police to hack
> people's computers
> and view browsing history."
>
>
> See:
>
> Equipment Interference: DRAFT Code of Practice
> [Spring] 2016
> (pdf)
>
>
> And Statewatch:
>
> Remote access to computers: Is it time to go back to
> the typewriter,
> carbon paper and Tippex? (March 2015) by Tony Bunyan
> and
>
> EU agrees rules for remote computer access by police
> forces
> (September 2009) by Tony Bunyan
>
>
> 11. UN:
>
> Joint report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to
> freedom of
> peaceful assembly and of association and the Special
> Rapporteur on
> extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on the proper
> management
> of assemblies (pdf)
>
>
> See: UN experts
> provide a roadmap to avoid human rights violations during
> protests (link): "GENEVA – Two United
> Nations human
> rights experts presented today a new report to the UN Human
> Rights
> Council offering extensive recommendations to States and
> police forces
> around the world on how best to manage public
> gatherings." And:
>
> Factsheet: Recommendations on managing
> assemblies
> (pdf)
>
>
> 12.
>
> UNDERCOVER POLICING: Battle over secrecy at Pitchford
> Inquiry;
> campaigner confronts police spy who deceived her
>
>
> As the Pitchford Inquiry into the practice of undercover
> police in
> England and Wales approaches, the police are hoping to have
> the
> possibility to submit secret evidence, and to continue to
> use the
> "neither confirm nor deny" response to crucial
> questions on
> their practices and activities.
>
>
> On the other side of the globe, a campaigner has tracked
> down a former
> undercover officer, John Dines, who deceived her into a
> two-year
> relationship. Dines is now teaching police in Sydney, on a
> course that
> involves the topics "human rights" and
> "gender
> sensitivity". A New South Wales politician has stated
> that: "It
> is offensive in the extreme that John Dines can be involved
> in teaching
> these matters to police in this State."
>
>
>
>
> What's the Pitchford Hearing About? (Campaign
> Opposing Police
> Surveillance, link): "How much of the public
> inquiry into
> undercover policing will be held in secret? How much of the
> police's
> information will be revealed?"
>
>
> 13.
>
> International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations
> (INCLO) Launch
> Report on Crowd Control Weapons (ICCL, link):
> "Over the
> past number of years, law enforcement and security forces
> have
> increasingly turned to the use of crowd-control weapons
> (CCWs) to respond
> to popular protests. Today, the International Network of
> Civil Liberties
> Organizations (INCLO) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)
> release
> "Lethal in Disguise: The Health Consequences of
> Crowd-Control
> Weapons", a report documenting the health effects of
> these weapons.
> The report focuses on the dangers of so-called "less
> lethal weapons",
> particularly when used to control or manage assemblies. It
> is unique in
> its format of linking medical literature and data on
> weapons' health
> effects with case studies highlighting their human toll.
>
>
> The report was launched at the United Nations in Geneva on
> the occasion
> of the presentation of a joint report on the proper
> management of
> assemblies, prepared by the Special Rapporteur on the rights
> to freedom
> of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, and the
> Special
> Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
> executions, Christof
> Heyns. The Special Rapporteurs' report was presented to
> the 31st session
> of the Human Rights Council."
>
>
> Full report:
>
> Lethal in Disguise: The Health Consequences of
> Crowd-Control
> Weapons (pdf)
>
>
> 14. EU:
>
> MEPs refuse to vote on PNR before Council strengthens
> data
> protection (euractiv, link): "A joint
> initiative of the
> conservative EPP and the ECR groups, the proposal to place
> the PNR on the
> agenda of the current plenary session was rejected by
> virtually all the
> other political families. They fear a vote on PNR may allow
> member states
> to abandon the personal data protection package they have
> promised as a
> counterweight to the new surveillance powers." and
>
>
>
>
> MEPs at war over blocked PNR vote (Parliament
> Magazine, link):
> "Parliamentary groups accuse each other of playing
> 'dirty political
> games' after request to include PNR in plenary voting
> agenda
> denied."
>
>
> 15.  EU-USA:
>
> U.S.-EU Cooperation Against Terrorism (CRS,
> pdf):
>
>
> "Congressional decisions related to data privacy,
> intelligence-gathering, border controls, visa policy, and
> transport
> security may affect how future U.S.-EU counterterrorism
> cooperation
> evolves. EU officials have welcomed passage of the
> Judicial Redress
> Act (P.L. 114-126) to provide EU citizens with a limited
> right of
> judicial redress for privacy violations in a law enforcement
> context,
> but they have expressed unease with some provisions in the
> Visa Waiver
> Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of
> 2015 (passed
> as part of P.L. 114-113 in the wake of the Paris attacks and
> heightened
> U.S. concerns about European citizens fighting with
> terrorist groups
> abroad).
>
>
> Given the European Parliament's growing influence in many
> of these policy
> areas, Members of Congress may be able to help shape the
> Parliament's
> views and responses through ongoing contacts and the
> existing
> Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD)."
>
>
> 16. EU: Proposed new counter-terrorism law:
>
> Joint NGO critique (pdf): "In this
> submission, Amnesty
> International, the International Commission of Jurists
> (ICJ), and the
> Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and the Open Society
> European
> Policy Institute (OSEPI) analyse and offer recommendations
> on the
> European Commission's December 2015 proposal for a
> Directive on Combating
> Terrorism and Replacing Council Framework Decision
> 2002/475/JHA on
> Combating Terrorism ("the proposed Directive") in light
> of Member States'
> obligations under international law, in particular
> international human
> rights law...
>
>
> This submission seeks to specifically address:
>
> The failure to provide sufficient guarantees of human
> rights
> protection in the implementation of the Directive by Member
> States;
> The overbroad scope and vague delineation of many of
> the offences
> to be established under the Directive, with consequences for
> the
> principle of legality and the prohibitions on arbitrary,
> disproportionate
> and discriminatory interference with human rights;
> The designation of ancillary and inchoate offences
> with a low
> degree of proximity to the principal offence of commission
> of a
> terrorism-related act;
> The imprecise definition of the specific intent
> required to incur
> responsibility for a number of offences and lack of
> requirements for
> wilful or voluntary conduct;
> The potential of the Directive to undermine states'
> obligations
> under international humanitarian law and international
> criminal law,
> where those regimes are applicable."
>
>
> 17.UK:
>
> Shortage of asylum seeker accommodation and
> "appalling"
> prejudice, says report (parliament.uk):
> "The Commons Home
> Affairs Committee says the red doors and wrist bands
> scandals leave major
> questions to be answered about the running of the COMPASS
> contract
> providing asylum support services. It says delivery of the
> contract has
> been mostly unsatisfactory to date, with these episodes
> highlighting
> flaws in accountability and oversight of the contracts, and
> a failure to
> ensure that the way asylum seekers are treated and housed
> meets basic
> standards.
>
>
> The Committee also warns of an impending shortage of asylum
> seeker
> accommodation and a lack of fair and equal dispersal
> throughout the
> country."
>
>
> The report: House of Commons Home Affairs Committee:
>
> The work of the Immigration Directorates (Q3
> 2015)
> (pdf)
>
>
> 18.  Council of the European Union:
>
> C-T Directive, Checks at borders, Border Guards and
> Vienna
> Declaration
>
>
> - Counter Terrorism Directive:
>
> Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and
> of the Council
> on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework
> Decision
> 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism [First reading] -
> General
> approach (6655-16, pdf):
>
>
> "The Council is invited to reach a general approach
> on the text,
> as set out in the Annex, which will constitute the basis for
> future
> negotiations with the European Parliament in the context of
> the ordinary
> legislative procedure. Changes compared to the Commission
> proposal are
> marked in bold."
>
>
> -
>
> EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator: State of play on
> implementation of
> the statement of the Members of the European Council of 12
> February 2015,
> the JHA Council Conclusions of 20 November 2015, and the
> Conclusions of
> the European Council of 18 December 2015 (LIMITE doc
> no: 6450-16,
> pdf):
>
>
> "information sharing still does not reflect the
> threat: while
> there are now five times more person entities in
> Europol's Focal Point
> Travellers database compared with last year, the analysis
> file still
> contains only 2,786 verified foreign terrorist fighters
> (FTF) entered by
> EU Member States.
>
>
> The European Information System (EIS) contains only 1,473
> FTF entered by
> Member States. This despite well-founded estimates that
> around 5,000 EU
> citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join DAESH and
> other
> extremist groups. It should also be noted that more than 90%
> of the
> contributions by Member States regarding verified FTFs in FP
> Travellers
> in 2015 originate from just 5 Member States."
>
>
> - Checks at external borders:
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
> of the
> Council amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 as regards the
> reinforcement
> of checks against relevant databases at external borders -
> General
> approach (6673-16, pdf):
>
>
> "The changes vis-à-vis the Commission proposal are
> highlighted in
> underline."
>
>
> - EU Border Guards:
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
> of the
> Council on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing
> Regulation
> (EC) No 2007/2004, Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 and Council
> Decision
> 2005/267/EC (LIMITE doc no: 6746-16, dated 3
> March 2016, pdf):
> "It is noted that the new (vis-à-vis doc. 6483/16)
> proposed
> changes are highlighted in bold, underline and
> strikethrough."
>
>
> - EU Border Guards:
>
> As above 6483-16 (LIMITE doc, pdf):
>
>
> "The most recent compromise suggestions reflecting
> the
> discussions so far on these provisions and the relevant
> contributions by
> delegations are highlighted in bold/underline/strikethrough;
> the
> compromise suggestions which had been submitted by the
> Presidency in
> previous discussions are marked with underline."
>
>
> - EU Border Guards:
>
> As above: 6359-REV-1-16 (pdf):
>
>
> "the Presidency believes that the compromise text
> included in the
> Annex and in 6283/16 and 6330/16 has a sufficient degree of
> support by
> delegations. It invites the Committee to confirm this with a
> view to
> preparing the upcoming negotiations with the European
> Parliament on this
> file."
>
>
> - Declaration agreed by Croatia, Slovenia and
> Austria:
>
> Conference "Managing Migration Together",
> Vienna, 24
> February 2016 (6481-16, pdf)
>
>
> 19. European Parliament:
>
> Report on the proposal for a directive of the European
> Parliament and
> of the Council on procedural safeguards for children
> suspected or accused
> in criminal proceedings: Committee on Civil Liberties,
> Justice and Home
> Affairs Rapporteur: Caterina Chinnici (pdf)
>
>
> 20, UK:
>
> Stephen Lawrence: former police officer avoids
> charges over alleged
> spying (The Guardian, link): "A former
> senior police
> officer has avoided disciplinary charges over an alleged
> plot to spy on
> the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.
>
>
> Former commander Richard Walton retired in January from his
> post as the
> head of the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism
> command.
>
>
> On Wednesday, the Independent Police Complaints Commission
> announced that
> its two-year investigation had found that Walton and another
> retired
> officer, Bob Lambert, would have had a case to answer for
> misconduct if
> they had still been employed by the police."
>
>
> See:
>
> IPCC publishes investigation report about meeting with
> undercover
> officer (IPCC, link) and the report:
>
> Ellison Review - Walton, Lambert, Black: An
> investigation into the
> circumstances surrounding a meeting between A/Detective
> Inspector Richard
> Walton and an undercover officer on 14 August 1998
> (pdf).
> Previous IPCC report:
>
> IPCC independent investigation into complaints following
> "The
> Boys Who Killed Stephen Lawrence" (pdf)
>
>
> And:
>
> Richard Walton dodging questions and keeping his
> pension
> (Undercover Research Group, link)
>
>
> 21. UK:
>
> Police 'used sexualised violence against fracking
> protesters'
> (The Guardian, link): "Police at the Barton
> Moss
> anti-fracking camp near Manchester used "sexualised
> violence" to target
> female protesters, it is alleged.
>
>
> Protesters told academics from York and Liverpool John
> Moores
> universities that officers groped and pressed their groins
> up against
> women as they cleared demonstrations against test drilling
> at the
> site.
>
>
> They are now calling for a public inquiry to investigate the
> relationship
> between police and the fracking firm IGas, the
> proportionality of police
> tactics and the use of bail to restrict the right to
> protest."
>
>
> The report:
>
> Keep moving! Report on the policing of the Barton Moss
> community
> protection camp, November 2013-April 2014 (pdf) and
> a summary:
>
> New report recommends public inquiry into policing of
> Barton Moss
> protest (Netpol, link)
>
>
> 22. European Parliament Study:
>
> Female refugees and asylum seekers: the issue of
> integration
> (pdf):
>
>
> "Upon request by the FEMM Committee, the study
> presents an
> overview of the most important issues faced by refugees and
> asylum
> seeking women in their host country regarding access to
> appropriate
> housing, including privacy and shelter in case of domestic
> violence,
> training and language courses, the labour market, and the
> health systems,
> including psychological support and trauma healing. A
> summary of
> international standards and of applicable European laws, as
> well as
> details on available funding from the European level are
> provided.
> International promising projects illustrate the way
> forward."
>
>
> And:
>
> International Women's Day: providing support for
> women
> refugees (Press release, pdf)
>
>
> Also:
>
> Report: the proposal for a directive of the European
> Parliament and of
> the Council on procedural safeguards for children suspected
> or accused in
> criminal proceedings (COM(2013)0822 – C7-0428/2013 –
> 2013/0408(COD))
> Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
> Rapporteur:
> Caterina Chinnici (pdf)
>
>
> 23. Greece: Council of Europe:
>
> Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on
> Greece (link):
>
>
> "The CPT's findings from the 2015 visit illustrate
> once again the
> widespread and deep-rooted problem of police ill-treatment
> in Greece and
> the report makes specific reference to the excessive use of
> force
> employed by the Delta motorcycle police unit in Athens. The
> CPT urges the
> authorities to fully acknowledge the phenomenon of police
> ill-treatment
> and calls for a comprehensive strategy and determined action
> to address
> it. The findings detailed in the report also demonstrate
> that the current
> system of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment
> by law
> enforcement officials is characterised by a number of
> systemic failings
> by the police and judicial authorities. The result is that
> investigations
> often remain ineffective and the report is notably critical
> of the lack
> of action taken by prosecutorial authorities. Further, there
> has been no
> progress as regards the practical implementation of formal
> safeguards
> against ill-treatment, notably the rights of notification of
> custody,
> access to a lawyer and access to a doctor as from the very
> outset of
> deprivation of liberty.
>
>
> In their response, the Greek authorities refer to their zero
> tolerance
> policy towards human rights violations. However, no concrete
> information
> is provided regarding the effectiveness of investigations
> into police
> ill-treatment allegations."
>
>
> And see:
>
> Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece
> carried out by
> the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and
> Inhuman for
> Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 14 to 23 April
> 2015
> (pdf)
> and
> Greek government response (pdf)
>
>
> 24. Council of Europe: Human Rights:
> France:
>
> Anti-racism commission concerned at rise of hate speech
> and violence
> motivated by intolerance (link):
>
>
> "Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has endorsed a
> new report on
> France which reveals a rise in hate speech and racist
> violence.
>
>
> "I commend the significant efforts made by the French
> authorities to
> combat racism and intolerance," Jagland said on the
> publication today of
> the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
> (ECRI)
> report.
>
>
> "However, hate speech, which has become commonplace in the
> public sphere,
> remains a matter of concern. I call on political leaders in
> particular to
> refrain from making comments which stigmatise already
> vulnerable groups
> and fuel tensions in French society."
>
>
> The ECRI report reveals alarm at the rise of hate speech and
> the increase
> in racist, antisemitic and islamophobic violence."
>
>
> See:
>
> ECRI REPORT ON FRANCE: (fifth monitoring
> cycle) (pdf)
>
>
> 25. Council of Europe: Parliamentary Assembly:
>
> As ten-year torture inquiry ends, Council of Europe
> states give final
> responses on CIA 'secret prisons' (link):
>
>
> "Pedro Agramunt, the President of the Parliamentary
> Assembly of
> the Council of Europe (PACE), has welcomed a third and final
> round of
> responses from the governments of Council of Europe member
> States to
> questions on their possible involvement in illegal CIA
> detentions in
> Europe or "rendition flights" through European airspace
> in the years
> after the 9/11 terrorist attack.
>
>
> Seven states – Austria, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania,
> Poland, Romania and
> the UK – provided additional information to the inquiry,
> prior to its
> closure earlier this month by Council of Europe Secretary
> General
> Thorbjørn Jagland, information which is made public today.
> The inquiry
> was begun in 2005 by Mr Jagland's predecessor, using
> powers under the
> European Convention on Human Rights, which explicitly
> prohibits
> torture."
>
>
>
>
> Timeline: the Council of Europe's investigation into
> CIA secret prisons
> in Europe (link) and
>
> Third round of responses (Pdf)
> also:
> 2nd round responses by country (link) and
>
> 1st round responses (link)
>
>
> 26. EU: Council of the European Union:
>
> Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and
> of the Council
> on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework
> Decision
> 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism - Examination of the
> revised
> text (LIMITE doc no: 6326-16, pdf): Pages
> 4-27 set out the
> amended draft of the Council's negotiating position:
> "Changes
> compared to the previous version of the text are marked in
> bold
> underlined..."
>
>
> And see: Background:
>
> Directive on combating terrorism (SEMDOC, link)
>
>
> 27.
>
> The Corporate Greed of Strangers (IRR, link):
> "John Grayson
> reveals the spread of corporate involvement in the provision
> of asylum
> housing in the UK and northern Europe, and how outsourcing
> and private
> companies are tarnishing northern Europe's 'welcome'
> to
> refugees."
>
>
> 28. European Court of Human Rights:
>
> The CIA's abduction and extrajudicial transfer to Egypt
> of the imam
> Abu Omar infringed the applicants' rights under the
> Convention
> (Press release, 23.2.16, pdf):
>
>
> "In today's Chamber judgment1 in the case of Nasr
> and Ghali v.
> Italy (application no. 44883/09) the European Court of Human
> Rights held,
> unanimously, that there had been:– with regard to Mr
> Nasr
>
> :
>
> - violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman
> or degrading
> treatment) of the European Convention on Human Rights,
>
> - a violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security)
> of the
> European Convention,
>
> - a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and
> family life)
> and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy)
> read in
> conjunction with Articles 3, 5 and 8
>
> – with regard to Ms Ghali:
>
> - violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman
> or degrading
> treatment),
>
> - violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and
> family life)
> and
>
> - violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy)
> read in
> conjunction with Articles 3 and 8
>
>
> The case concerned an instance of extrajudicial transfer (or
> "extraordinary rendition"), namely the abduction by CIA
> agents, with the
> cooperation of Italian officials, of the Egyptian imam Abu
> Omar, who had
> been granted political asylum in Italy, and his subsequent
> transfer to
> Egypt, where he was held in secret for several
> months."
>
>
> See:
>
> Judgment (pdf)
>
>
> 29. European Court of Human Rights:
>
> Khlaifia and Others v. Italy (application no.
> 16483/12)
> (pdf):
>
>
> "The following case has been referred to the Grand
> Chamber of the
> European Court of Human Rights. Khlaifia and Others v. Italy
> (application
> no. 16483/12): which concerns the detention in a
> reception centre on
> Lampedusa and subsequently on ships moored in Palermo
> harbour, as well as
> the return to Tunisia, of clandestine migrants who had
> landed on the
> Italian coast in 2011 during the events linked to the
> "Arab
> Spring"......
>
>
> In its Chamber judgment of 1 September 2015, the European
> Court of Human
> Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of
> Article 5 §§
> 1, 2 and 4 of the Convention, finding that the applicants
> had been
> deprived of their liberty without a sufficient legal basis,
> that they had
> not been duly informed of the reasons for the measure, and
> that they had
> been unable to challenge it."
>
>
> 30. SWEDEN:
>
> Sweden's compliance with the International Covenant on
> Civil and
> Political Rights (ICCPR) - Joint NGO submission for the UN
> Human Rights
> Committee's review of Sweden during its 116th session,
> 7-31 March
> 2016 (pdf): "The situation for civil and
> political rights
> in Sweden is generally good in comparison with many other
> countries.
> There are, for example, oversight mechanisms to safeguard
> the freedom of
> opinion, assembly, speech and religion, as well as
> protection for due
> process and legal certainty. At the same time there are
> significant human
> rights concerns in Sweden, in particular in regard to the
> rights
> protection for minority populations and other vulnerable
> groups. This
> report aims at pointing the Committee's attention to some
> of these
> concerns. The report does not claim to be exhaustive. As
> such, Civil
> Rights Defenders and the undersigned organizations (the
> signatory
> organizations) do not contend that the issues addressed
> below describe
> all human rights concerns under the Covenant in Sweden. The
> issues
> addressed in this report have been selected because these
> are areas where
> the signatory organizations possess specific
> expertise"
>
>
> 31. EU: DATABASE CHECKS AT BORDERS: Council of the
> European Union:
>
> Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and
> of the
> Council amending Regulation No 562/2006 (EC) as regards the
> reinforcement
> of checks against relevant databases at external
> borders (LIMITE
> doc no: 6181-16, pdf):
>
>
> "The intention of the Presidency, in line with the
> aforementioned
> mandates from the Council and the European Council, is to
> confirm a
> general approach on the compromise text at the JHA Council
> on 25 February
> 2016. It is noted that the changes vis-à-vis the Commission
> proposal are
> demonstrated in underline and the latest changes following
> the Coreper
> meeting on 10 February are indicated in bold and
> underline."
>
>
> See: Previous document:
>
> LIMITE no: 5808-16 (pdf) and
>
> Commission Proposal (pdf)
>
>
> 32. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Council of the European
> Union:
>
> Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and
> of the Council
> on combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework
> Decision
> 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism - Examination of the
> revised
> text (LIMITE doc no 5982-16, pdf) :
>
>
> "On 8 February 2016, the Working Party on
> Substantive Criminal
> Law (DROIPEN) continued its examination of the revised text
> of the draft
> Directive. Articles 9, 11, 15 and 16 were withheld from this
> discussion
> to allow for more time for preparing a compromise text on
> these
> provisions. SI, RO and PT have a general scrutiny
> reservations. PL, SI,
> EE and CZ have a parliamentary scrutiny reservation."
>
>
> 33. EU: Council questioned over CIA rendition
> programme
>
>
> The European Parliament's civil liberties committee
> (LIBE) has
> submitted a number of questions to the Council of the EU
> over its work in
> relation to the CIA rendition programme. The committee is
> seeking answers
> on, amongst other things:
>
> whether the Council has apologised for providing
> incomplete
> information to the Parliament on meetings with US officials;
>
> whether the Council has formally acknowledged Member
> States'
> involvement in the rendition programme; and
> whether the Council has cooperated fully with "the
> truth-finding
> and accountability processes in the Member States".
>
>
> The questions were tabled on 2 March. The Council is yet to
> respond.
>
>
> See: Question for oral answer to the Council submitted
> by Claude Moraes,
> on behalf of the committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and
> Home Affairs:
>
> Follow-up to the resolution of Parliament of 11 February
> 2015 on the
> US Senate report on the use of torture by the CIA
> (2014/2997(RSP)) (pdf) and on
>
> the European Parliament website (link).
>
>
> EU-UK-USA: NSA-GCHQ
>
>
> http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm
>
>
> 1.
> EU-USA:
> While
> President Obama signs the Judicial Redress act, are the
> European
> Commission and the Parliament sharing the same
> Umbrella? (EASFJ,
> link):
>
>
> "The European Commission is dealing with challenges
> on another
> EU-U.S. data sharing deal: the Parliament legal service
> and MEPs argued
> that the so-called Umbrella Agreement, which will be brought
> into being
> with the signature of the Judicial Redress Act, does not
> comply with EU
> law."
>
>
> 2, EU-USA:
>
> NSA can still spy under new 'Privacy Shield'
> agreement with
> Europe (Yahoo News, link):
>
>
> "The new Privacy Shield was published in full a few
> days ago,
> showing the principles that would govern the exchange of
> digital
> information between EU consumers and U.S. companies.
> However, the new
> agreement also has provisions that explain how and when the
> NSA can
> continue bulk data collection in the region."
>
>
> 3. EU-USA:
>
> Restoring "trust" in transatlantic data
> flows
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Restoring trust in transatlantic data flows through strong
> safeguards:
> European Commission presents EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
> (press
> release, pdf): "The European Commission today
> issued the legal
> texts that will put in place the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and
> a
> Communication summarising the actions taken over the last
> years to
> restore trust in transatlantic data flows since the 2013
> surveillance
> revelations. In line with President Juncker's political
> guidelines, the
> Commission has (i) finalised the reform of EU Data
> protection rules,
> which apply to all companies providing services on the EU
> market, (ii)
> negotiated the EU-U.S. Umbrella Agreement ensuring high data
> protection
> standards for data transfers across the Atlantic for law
> enforcement
> purposes, and (iii) achieved a renewed sound framework for
> commercial
> data exchange: the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield."
>
>
> Commission Communication:
>
> Transatlantic Data Flows: Restoring Trust through
> Strong
> Safeguards (COM(2016) 117 final, pdf)
>
>
> 4.
>
> Report: German intelligence spied on EU foreign minister
> Ashton
> (DW, link):
>
>
> "Allegations emerged in the German media that the
> BND spy agency
> targeted Catherine Ashton, the former EU Foreign Minister.
> The news comes
> in the aftermath of the NSA scandal and the BND's
> assistance to US
> intelligence.
>
>
> According to a German media report released on Saturday, the
> country's
> Federal Intelligence Service (BND) spied on the British
> politician
> Catherine Ashton during her time as the European Union's
> top
> diplomat.
>
>
> The BND, wrote the "Spiegel" news outlet,
> collected information
> on Ashton beginning in 2009 and for several years onward.
>
>
> The Briton was the first ever High Representative of the
> Union for
> Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, a position now held by
> the Italian
> Federica Mogherini. This position also made her Vice
> President of the
> European Commission."
>
>
> 5. EU-USA:
>
> Why the Judicial Redress Act is worthless
> (papersplease.org,
> link): Edward Hasbrouck: "I've posted a
> detailed takedown of this
> law and why it should not be relied on as the basis for an
> adequacy
> finding, a new Safe Harbor or Privacy Shield, or the EU-US
> "umbrella
> agreement", Is the Judicial Redress Act really so
> historic? And will
> it actually "ensure that all EU citizens have the right to
> enforce data
> protection rights in U.S. courts"? Sadly, no.
>
>
> Europeans should not be fooled by statements such as those
> from
> Commissioner Jourová or his counterparts in other EU
> institutions. As
> we know from our own experience in court as US citizens,
> there are almost
> no real-world cases in which the Judicial Redress Act will
> provide any
> actual protection or enforceable legal rights to citizens or
> residents of
> the EU, or anywhere else." [emphasis added]
>
>
> 6. EU-USA: "UMBRELLA AGREEMENT" TO EXCHANGE
> PERSONAL DATA:
> European Commission:
>
> The signature of the Judicial Redress Act by President
> Obama is a
> historic achievement in our efforts to restore trust in
> transatlantic
> data flows, paving the way to the signature of the EU-US
> Data Protection
> Umbrella Agreement (pdf): "
>
>
> "The entry into force of the Judicial Redress Act will
> pave the way
> for the signature of the EU-U.S. Data Protection Umbrella
> Agreement. This
> agreement will guarantee a high level of protection of all
> personal
> data..."
>
>
> The Commission is oblivious to contrary views:
>
> EU-USA Data protection: EPIC: 'Judicial
> Redress Act' Provides Little
> Redress
>
>
> "The Judicial Redress Act of 2015, which amends
> the Privacy
> Act of 1974, has been passed by Congress and moved on to the
> President
> for signature. The Act fails to extend Privacy Act
> protections to
> non-US citizens, and as adopted coerces EU countries to
> transfer data to
> the US.." and
>
>
> European Parliament Legal Service:
>
> Legal opinion: EU-US Umbrella agreement concerning
> the protection of
> personal data and cooperation between law enforcement
> authorities in the
> EU and US (pdf)
>
>
> 7. USA: NSA Targets World
> Leaders for US Geopolitical Interests (Wikileaks,
> link)
>
>
> "Today, 23 February 2016 at 00:00 GMT, WikiLeaks
> publishes highly
> classified documents showing that the NSA bugged meetings
> between UN
> Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's and German Chancellor
> Angela Merkel,
> between Israel prime minister Netanyahu and Italian prime
> minister
> Berlusconi, between key EU and Japanese trade ministers
> discussing their
> secret trade red-lines at WTO negotiations, as well as
> details of a
> private meeting between then French president Nicolas
> Sarkozy, Merkel and
> Berlusconi.
>
>
> The documents also reveal the content of the meetings from
> Ban Ki Moon's
> strategising with Merkel over climate change, to
> Netanyahu's begging
> Berlusconi to help him deal with Obama, to Sarkozy telling
> Berlusconi
> that the Italian banking system would soon "pop like a
> cork".
>
>
> Some documents are classified TOP-SECRET / COMINT-GAMMA and
> are the most
> highly classified documents ever published by a media
> organization."
>
>
> See: WikiLeaks: US
> spied on Merkel, Ban Ki-moon (euobserver, link):
> "Whistleblower site WikiLeaks has published new
> evidence that the
> US spied on EU leaders in trade talks, climate talks, and on
> Israel. The
> five secret US documents published on Tuesday (23 February)
> indicate that
> the National Security Agency (NSA) tapped 13 phone lines
> between 2006 and
> 2011 linked to government officials and offices in Austria,
> Belgium,
> France, Italy and Switzerland."
>
>
> 8.
>
> EU-USA Data protection: EPIC: 'Judicial Redress
> Act' Provides Little
> Redress
>
>
> "The Judicial Redress Act of 2015, which amends
> the Privacy
> Act of 1974, has been passed by Congress and moved on to the
> President
> for signature. The Act fails to extend Privacy Act
> protections to
> non-US citizens, and as adopted coerces EU countries to
> transfer data to
> the US.."
>
>
>
>
> USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE
>
>
> News Online:
>
> http://www.statewatch.org/news/newsfull.htm
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
> Database, over 31,000 items:
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> Statewatch European Monitoring & Documentation
> Centre on
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>
> http://www.statewatch.org/semdoc/
>
> JHA Archive - EU Justice and Home Affairs documents
> from 1976
> onwards:
>
> http://www.statewatch.org/semdoc/index.php?id=1143
>
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