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EU: Major report
from Statewatch and the Transnational Institute:
NeoConOpticon
- The EU Security-Industrial Complex by Ben Hayes (pdf):123,411 copies
downloaded. Executive
Summary
(pdf) and NeoConOpticon
blog
EU-USA SWIFT AGREEMENT:
European Parliament is to debate on Wednesday 10 February and
vote on 11 February on Report from the Committee on Civil Liberties
(LIBE) calling for the proposal for the Interim Agreement to
be rejected - the Agreement covers the transfer of financial
data from the EU banks to the USA for the purpose of tackling
terrorism. The Committee says it has not been given enough time,
not been given the documents it needs and has major privacy and
data protection reservations (reflecting those of EU data protection
bodies).
Hilary Clinton
(US Secretary of State) and Timothy Geithner (US Secretary of
Treasury) are putting pressure on the parliament urging the parliament
to change its mind: Clinton-Geithner
letter to EP
(pdf). Letter from the President of the European Parliament to
the Council of the European Union: EP
Letter
(pdf). And in the flurry of activity the Council (27 governments)
has adopted a Declaration: Draft
Council declaration (pdf) and under pressure from the parliament to
provide more information have published: Declassified
Council Decision (pdf)
Background:
- SWIFT:
Civil Liberties Committee recommends rejecting the agreement (EP press release (pdf)
- Draft
EP Resolution
(pdf)
- Opinion
of the EP Legal Service
- Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor (pdf)
- Opinion
of the Article 29 Working Party (pdf)
- Draft
EU-USA SWIFT Agreement (pdf)
UK: Fast
and fair?: A report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman on the
UK Border Agency (pdf): "clearly demonstrates that the
Agencys failure to resolve applications within reasonable
timescales can have serious implications for the individuals
involved, for society in general and for the public purse."
EU: 500,000
EU computers can access private British data (Observer, link)
Dutch Iraq inquiry a slap on the
wrist for the government: "In January of this year the Davids committee
presented its very thorough report. The main conclusion was that
the military action of the US and the UK against Iraq had
no sound mandate under international law. The famous US
Security Council Resolution 1441 cannot reasonably be interpreted
(as the government did) as authorising individual Member States
to use military force to compel Iraq to comply with the Security
Councils resolutions without authorisation from the Security
Council.
US: The
Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual: Or, Notes on Demilitarizing
American Society (THES, link): "The Counter-Counterinsurgency
Manual - its authors call it a pamphlet - may well come to be
regarded as the most important work to emerge from America's
social sciences so far this millennium. It was written by some
of the founders of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists (NCA),
11 anthropologists who came together in 2007 to express their
concerns over recent efforts to militarise the discipline."
See: Network
of Concerned Anthropologists (link)
EU: Note of the
Meijers Committee (Standing Committee of experts on international
immigration, refugees and criminal law) on: Proposals
for recasting the Qualification Directive (COM(2009) 551) and
the Procedures Directive (COM(2009) 554) (pdf)
ITALY: Medecins
sans Frontieres: Abstract:
Over the Wall: A tour of Italys migrant centres. January
2010
(pdf)
EU: Note of the
Meijers Committee (Standing Committee of experts on international
immigration, refugees and criminal law) on: Amended
proposal for the Eurodac Regulation (COM (2009) 342) and the
Decision on requesting comparisons with Eurodac data by Member
States law enforcement authorities and Europol for law
enforcement purposes (COM (2009) 344) (pdf)
UK: Parliament:
Joint Human Rights Committee report: Legislative
Scrutiny: Digital Economy Bill (pdf). The Bill raises substantive issues:
"We do not believe that such a skeletal approach to powers
which engage human rights is appropriate. There is potential
for these powers to be applied in a disproportionate manner which
could lead to a breach of internet users rights to respect
for correspondence and freedom of expression... Without a clear
picture of the criteria for the imposition of technical measures
it is difficult to reach a final conclusion on the fairness of
the process for the imposition of technical measures."
EU: Malta
and Frontex missions: No chance if the rules are changed (Malta Indpendent Online,
link): "Malta will certainly not take part in any Frontex
operation this year if the rules are changed to the effect that
people rescued off the sea are taken to the host nation rather
than the nearest port of call, this newspaper has learned."
European Parliament:
SWIFT:
Civil Liberties Committee recommends rejecting the agreement (European Parliament
press release (pdf): "Parliament should withhold its
consent to the EU's interim agreement on banking data transfers
to the USA via the SWIFT network, the Civil Liberties Committee
recommended today. The deal will be put to a plenary vote in
Strasbourg on Thursday 11 February. Withholding Parliament's
consent would render the agreement legally void - in effect,
a rejection. The committee report, approved with 29 votes in
favour, 23 against and 1 abstention." The Resolution
now goes to the parliament's plenary session next week. See:Draft
Resolution
(pdf) and Opinion
of the EP Legal Service. See: MEPs
threaten to derail EU-US data-transfer deal (European Voice, link);
Bank
data deal under heavy fire from EU Parliamentarians (link) and Clinton
calls Buzek on SWIFT - Washington concerned about threat to counter-terrorism
measure
(European Voice, link)
Council of Europe:
Resolution: The
detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe (pdf): "The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted
a resolution on the detention of asylum seekers and irregular
migrants in Europe. The resolution, adopted on 28 January, states
in no unclear terms that detention results from political decisions
that represent a "hardening attitude towards irregular migrants
and asylum seekers". The resolution goes on to criticise
the overpopulation of detention centres, and the deterioration
of conditions and safeguards for asylum seekers and irregular
migrants alike. The resolution states that the "conditions
and safeguards afforded to immigration detainees who have committed
no crime are often worse than those of criminal detainees."
Elsewhere, the resolution criticises the European Union's adoption
of the so-called Returns Directive, for adopting the "lowest
common standard in regard to detention length." (thanks
to NADC).
UK: Report on
UK Terorrism Act 2005: FIfth
Report of the Independent Reviewer pursuant to Section 14.3 of
the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005: Lord Carlile QC (pdf)
Statewatch analyses:
Homeland
Security comes to Europe (pdf) by Ben Hayes. The legacy of the
war on terror is a new way of thinking about security
and a cash cow for the defence industry and Germany:
A network being networked: the Federal Criminal Police Office
databases and the surveillance of troublemakers (pdf) by Eric Topfer
Terre des hommes
(Switzerland) report: Disappearing,
departing, running away A surfeit of children in Europe? Study
carried out in Belgium, France, Spain and Switzerland on the
disappearances of unaccompanied foreign minors placed in institutions (pdf)
UN: Human Rights
Council: Joint study on global practices in relation to secret
detention in the context of countering terrorism: Executive
Summary
(pdf) and Full-report (221 pages, pdf)
EU: New case
taken to the European Court of Justice on access to EU documents:
Case
T-529/09 before the General Court - Sophie in 't Veld v. Council
of the European Union (pdf). ALDE MEP Sophie in 't Veld's case concerns
access to the Council Legal Services' Opinion on the EU-USA SWIFT
Agreement. In the Turco case the ECJ decide that access to could
given to the Opinion of the Legal Service concerning policy matters.
France: Statements
in support of the Kurdish refugees who landed in Corsica: Fourteen Corsican organisations issued
a joint statement in support of the Kurds from Syria who landed
in Bonifacio on 22 January
Spain: Vic
town council norms to stop sans papiers becoming residents withdrawn: Following opposition from trade unions,
migrant and anti-racist groups and social organisations, and
the intervention of the central government, the town council
of Vic (Catalunya) has withdrawn a norm that amended the criteria
for registration in the residents' register (padrón) which
excluded irregular migrants, as it would not have allowed foreigners
to register unless they had a valid residence permit or could
offer proof that procedures for it to be issued or renewed were
underway.
Security before liberty - An EU-US joint
declaration on aviation security shows the powerful influence
of US homeland security policy (Guardian, link) by Tony Bunyan
EU: Migreurop:
2010, the year of the right to migrate? and Italian, French (links)
EU: The Schengen
Information System (SIS) has "over half a million terminals
located in the security services of the Member States":
The reference to "security services" refers to police,
immigration, customs and internal security agencies. See EU
doc no: 13305/09 (see p3, pdf). This extraordinary figure of more
than 500,000 access terminals is given in a Note from the French
delegation bidding to house the planned Agency for large-scale
IT systems. The previously known figure for the number of terminals
with access to the SIS was given in 2003 when there were 13 member
states with of access to the Schengen Information System (SIS)
when the figures clearly surprised the Council of the European
Union (the EU governments) who found there were: "125,000
access points !!! (exclamation marks in original) (EU
doc no: 8857/03, pdf) Now there are now 25 Schengen member states.
Moreover, the new SIS II system will allow access by all
agencies to all the data held - under the existing SIS
system data can only be access by agencies in the same field,
ie: police agencies can only access police data. Tony Bunyan,
Statewatch editor, comments: "The number of access points
throughout the EU there will be as new databases are started
and new agencies are created is going to be gigantic. It is well
known that the greater the points of access the greater the number
of people who have access the greater is the chance that data
will be misplaced, lost or illegally accessed. Private security
firms, multinationals and internal and foreign agencies as well
as criminals all use their "contacts" to get unauthorised
access to personal data. The idea that mass databases can be
totally secure and that privacy can be guaranteed is a fallacy."
Just over the horizon the surveillance
society and the state in the EU, by Tony Bunyan, Race & Class, January
2010 (SAGE, link): "In cold war times, the West espoused
liberal democracy and freedom from surveillance and control.
It is thus ironic that with the cold war a distant memory
though it only ended less than twenty years ago the EU
and its member states are set on a path which will, in just a
few years time, turn it into the most surveilled, monitored region
in the world. The wider context for all this is increased state
racism (both at the national and EU levels), combined with the
emergence of the policing state , engendered by a political
and governmental authoritarianism that legitimises itself through
the trappings of representative democracy."
- Full
contents of Statewatch News online with news, analysis
and documentation
- In the News carries
link to news coverage from across the EU
- What's New covers all new
items on the website
Top reports 2004-2009
See: Tony Bunyan's column in
the Guardian: View
from the EU
SPECIAL STATEWATCH
REPORT: The
Shape of Things to Come - the EU Future Group (Version.1.3) by Tony
Bunyan: 50,784 copies downloaded. The report calls for
a meaningful and wide-ranging debate before it is
too late for privacy and civil liberties. The proposals
set out by the shadowy "Future Group" set up by the
Council of the European Union include a range of highly controversial
measures including new technologies of surveillance, enhanced
cooperation with the United States and harnessing the "digital
tsunami". In the words of the EU Council presidency: "Every
object the individual uses, every transaction they make and almost
everywhere they go will create a detailed digital record. This
will generate a wealth of information for public security organisations,
and create huge opportunities for more effective and productive
public security efforts." This major new report The
Shape of Things to come (60 pages) examines the proposals of
the Future Group and their effect on civil liberties. It shows
how European governments and EU policy-makers are pursuing unfettered
powers to access and gather masses of personal data on the everyday
life of everyone on the grounds that we can all be safe
and secure from perceived threats. The Statewatch
report calls for a meaningful and wide-ranging debate
before it is too late for privacy and civil liberties.
See also ongoing: Statewatch Observatory: The Stockhom
Programme
Statewatch publication:
Border
wars and asylum crimes by Frances Webber (38 pages, pdf - 4.685 copies
downloaded: "When the pamphlet Crimes of Arrival
was written, in 1995, the title was a metaphor for the way the
British government, in common with other European governments,
treated migrants and especially, asylum seekers. Now, a decade
on, that title describes a literal truth.... There is a frightening
continuity between the treatment of asylum claimants and that
of terrorist suspects. In the name of the defence of our way
of life and our enlightenment values from attack by terrorists
or by poor migrants, that way of life is being destroyed by creeping
authoritarianism, and those values amongst which the most
important is the universality of human rights betrayed."
See also: Crimes
of arrival: immigrants and asylum-seekers in the new Europe (12 pages, 1995, pdf).
To order hard-copy see: Statewatch Publications
EU: Major report
on the: Criminalisation
and victimisation of migrants in Europe (255 pages, pdf) directed by Salvatore
Palidda: 16,909 downloads.
EU: The dream of total data collection by Heiner Busch. Status
quo and future plans for EU information systems
Terrorist
lists" still above the law by Ben Hayes
EU:
Secret trilogues and the democratic deficit by Tony Bunyan
EU:
Returns Directive: "Against the Outrageous Directive" speech given by Yasha
Maccanico in EP
Cementing
the European state by Tony Bunyan, New emphasis on internal security
and operational cooperation at EU level
EU-SIS Schengen Infornation
System Article 99 report by Ben Hayes
Policing
protests in Switzerland, Italy and Germany
The
surveillance of travel in the EU where everyone is a suspect by Tony Bunyan
EU: Statewatch
Report: Arming
Big Brother: new research reveals the true costs of Europe's
security-industrial complex by Ben Hayes (pdf, April 2006). The
European Union is preparing to spend hundreds of million on new
research into surveillance and control technologies, according
to Arming Big Brother, a new report by the Transnational Institute
(TNI) and Statewatch. Press
release
(English) Press
release
(Spanish, link) Copy
of full report (English, pdf) Copy
of full report (Spanish, pdf) Hard copies of Arming Big Brother
can be obtained from: The Transnational Institute, please send
an e-mail to: wilbert@tni.org with your request.
EU: "Unaccountable
Europe" by Tony Bunyan (Statewatch editor) in Special
issue of Index on Censorship: "Big Brother Goes Global"
(December 2005)
Europe: Launch
of the European Civil Liberties Network (link) - The ECLN was launched on 19
October 2005 as a long-term project to develop a platform for
groups working on civil liberties issues across Europe. A collection
of "Essays
in defence of civil liberties and democracy" was published
to mark the launch the ECLN
Global surveillance:
Global
coalition launch report and international surveillance campaign: Statewatch, with partner
organisations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Focus
on the Global South, Friends Committee (US) and the International
Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (Canada) today publishes an
in-depth report: "The emergence of a global infrastructure
for registration and surveillance" (20 April, 2005).
Statewatch report: Journalism,
civil liberties and the war on terrorism (full-report/request
printed copy) - Special report by the International Federation
of Journalists and Statewatch including an analysis of current
policy developments as well as a survey of 20 selected countries
in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin Amercia, the Middle East and the
USA (published World press freedom day, 1 May 2005)
Statewatch analysis: The
exceptional and draconian become the norm - G8 and EU counter-terrorism
plans
(updated 26 March 2005 pdf)
Statewatch
"Scoreboard" on EU counter-terrorism plans (pdf) agreed in the
wake of the Madrid bombings. Our analysis shows that 27 out of
the 57 EU proposals have little or nothing to do with tackling
terrorism - they deal with crime in general and surveillance:
Analysis
in Spanish
(March 2004)
The road to "1984"
Part II: Everyone
in the EU will have to have their fingerprints taken to get a
passport
(February 2004)
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