What's New on the Statewatch website: 2008
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August 2008
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Over
70 migrants feared killed on crossing to Europe (Guardian, link)
UK-USA: US
warning to court in alleged torture case (Guardian, link)
"The US state department yesterday warned that disclosure
of secret information in the case of a British resident said
to have been tortured before he was sent to Guantánamo
Bay would cause "serious and lasting damage" to security
relations between the countries."
EU: Proposed
new EU border control system (pdf) Report for the European Parliament
LIBE Committee by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex
EU: An
analysis of the Commission Communications on future development
of Frontex and the creation of a European Border Surveillance
System (EUROSUR) (pdf) Report for the European Parliament LIBE
Committee by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex.
"The
[Commission] evaluation, however, falls short of critically assessing
the consistence of Frontex activities with the fundamental values
upheld by the EU. In this
regard, it seems important to recall that Frontex is a first-pillar,
Community body, which should not only respect the EU fundamental
values in its activities, but also work for their promotion,
particularly in a field which touches upon critical questions
related to migration and freedom of movement."
EU: Commission finally publish full decision on air travel passenger
rules: Regulation
laying down measures for the implementation of the common basic
standards on aviation security (pdf)
UK: MI5
criticised for role in case of torture, rendition and secrecy (Guardian, link)
UK: Swarms
of robots join the army (Guardian, link) Intelligent
swarms of autonomous robots that look like insects could soon
be deployed for military information-gathering and reconnaissance
Council of Europe: Application of Convention
108 to the profiling mechanism (pdf)
France: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Concluding
observations of the Human Rights Committee: France (pdf)
UK: Border Agency: A strong new force
at the border
(pdf)
Italy: Silvio
Berlusconi under fire as Pope appears to back warning about fascism (Guardian, link)
UK: Unmanned
spy planes to police Britain (Independent, link) The
Government is drawing up plans to use unmanned "drone"
aircraft currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to counter
terrorism and aid police operations in Britain.
UK: PRIVATE SECURITY: The
new spies
by Stephen Armstrong (New Statesman, link) When the Cold War
ended, it didn't spell curtains for the secret agent. Private
espionage is a booming industry and environmental protest groups
are its prime target.
EU: Statewatch analysis: The surveillance
of travel where everyone is a suspect (pdf) by Tony Bunyan.
- “all
travellers are... considered a priori as potential law breakers”
- travellers to be checked by “an automated gate and
kiosk” (machines)
IRELAND: Irish
bus pass is ‘identity card by stealth’ (Times,
link)
EU/US
security “channel” - a one-way street?
What the "Outcomes" of EU-US meetings show is the extraordinary influence that the US has on EU justice and home affairs policies and practice. The dominant theme is US demands for access to EU data, intelligence and databases and ensuring that US interests are not threatened (eg: by EU data protection standards). There is also evidence of "policy-laundering", for example, detailed G8 questionnaires drafted by the US which all EU governments have to respond to (eg: use of intelligence in criminal investigation and prosecution).
UK: MANDATORY RETENTION OF ALL INTERNET USAGE: Home Office
consultation: Transposition
of Directive 2006/24/EC (pdf), which concerns:
"the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks.. [to] ensure that certain data is retained to enable public authorities to undertake their lawful activities to investigate, detect and prosecute crime and to protect the public."
In plain english the government wants to keep and access everyone's internet usage and internet telephony in the UK - more than 1 billion items a day.
See: 'Snooper's
charter' to check texts and emails (Guardian, link) and
Statewatch's Observatory: The Surveillance of telecommunications
in the EU
ITALY: Fundamental Rights Agency Incident Report:
Violent attacks against Roma in the Ponticelli district of Naples,
Italy
(pdf)
EU-PNR: European travel operators and travel agents' comments
on the EU-PNR (passenger name record) system reveal strong reservations
on the proposal: European
Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations letter
to Council Presidency (EU doc no: 12360/08, pdf).
- Scope: the
Framework Decision: "ECTAA considers that the proposal
for a Framework Decision should only cover data for passengers
on flight into and out of the EU. It is essential that it is
not extended to intra-EU flights."
- Scope: "it is fundamental that data will not be
used other than for border purposes"
- Costs: "This proposal will have significant technical, operational and financial consequences for carriers. Inevitably that cost will be passed on by the carriers to the end user, the passenger" - so we will be paying for our own surveillance
- US demands: PNR data is currently transmitted to the USA after a flight departs. The USA demand for data 24 hours in advance and immediately after flight closure is called "an uneccessary duplication". In addition: "Charter carriers in particular rarely receive such information in advance of 24 hours" and "To put in place an advance system for charter carriers would be costly and require considerable time as the current systems used by tour operators do not lend themselves to this."
Background: The Council working party has abandoned discussions on the Commission's proposal for an EU-PNR scheme and are going to start again drawing up their own proposal because a number of EU governments want to go much further. With the UK in the lead a number of member states want:
- the system
to cover not just flights in and out of the EU but also flights
between EU countries plus all flights within each country;
- the system to cover not just all flights but all sea and land
travel as well;
- the data and information gathered to be used not just
for entry-exit but also for any law enforcement purpose.
See: Note from the Austrian delegation: EU doc no: 11724/08 Council Presidency Note: EU do no: 11281/08 and Council Presidency Note: 11772/09 plus penultimate draft of the proposal during discussions in the Council's Multidisciplinary group on organised crime: EU doc no: 7656/08 Rev 2
EU: Schengen
police cooperation handbook - National Fact Sheets (618k, pdf) Contains
useful summary of national laws/powers concerning the carrying
of guns by officers, surveillance and pursuit plus listing of
relevant agencies.
UK: Tories
pledge to grant police greater surveillance powers -
for non-terrorist cases (Guardian, link)
UK: Uproar
at plan to hold inquests in secret (Times, link)
Italy: European Race Bulletin: The Italian
general election and its aftermath (IRR link, pdf)
EU: Secret report on new five year plan for "European Home
Affairs" proposes creation of an EU-USA Area of cooperation
for "freedom, security and justice" (justice and home
affairs): Future
Report: Freedom, Security, Privacy – European Home Affairs
in an open world (full-text, pdf)
"By 2014 the European Union should make up its mind with
regard to the political objective to realise a Euro-Atlantic
area of cooperation in the field of freedom, security and justice
with the United States."
Contrary to some press reports (see below) the proposed Area of EU-USA JHA cooperation would not just cover terrorism and passenger data but would cover the whole area of justice and home affairs - policing, immigration, sharing database data and biometrics and harmonising laws.
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"All the evidence from dozens of high-level EU-USA meetings on justice and home affairs since 11 September 2001 shows that it is a one-way street with the EU trying to fend off USA demands. When the EU does not cave in the USA simply negotiates bilateral deals with individual member states.
A permanent
EU-USA pact would be disastrous for privacy and civil liberties."
See:
- Secret
EU security draft risks uproar with call to pool policing and
give US personal data (Guardian, link)
- EU
plan: The rise and rise of the securocrats (Daily Telegraph, link)
- Interesting background: Bush
letter to the EU, 16 October 2001
EU: FUTURE GROUP - JUSTICE REPORT: In addition to the above report
on "European Home Affairs" the EU Future Group has
also presented a report by the High Level Advisory Group on:
The
Future of European Justice Policy Proposed Solutions for the
Future EU Justice Programme (pdf)
UK: Home
Office: Police use of taser figures as at August 2008 (pdf) and Police:
Amnesty voices concern as use of Taser guns grows (Guardian, link)
UK-USA: European
Court of Human Rights (Press release) and Abu
Hamza extradition postponed for hearing (Channel 4 News, link)
EU: Report from UK House of Lords Select Committee: Initiation
of EU Legislation (216 pages, pdf):
"The purpose of this report is to explore the processes by which ideas are transformed into EU legislation, principally by the Commission, and to draw conclusions as to the appropriateness of those processes in today’s EU. Our starting point was to ask: “Where do the ideas for legislation come from?” and “How are ideas developed to the point when they are brought forward as formal legislative proposals?”
UK: TERRORIST LAW - 42 DAYS: House of Lords: Select
Committee on the Constitution: Counter-Terrorism Bill: The Role
of Ministers, Parliament and the Judiciary (pdf). See: Terrorism:
Lords say 42-day law will put fair trials at risk (Guardian, link)
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Atlanta
Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right
of Access to Information (pdf)
"We, over 125 members of the global access to information community from 40 countries, representing governments, civil society organizations, international bodies and financial institutions, donor agencies and foundations, private sector companies, media outlets and scholars, gathered in Atlanta, Georgia from February 27-29, 2008, under the auspices of the Carter Center and hereby adopt the following Declaration and Plan of Action to advance the passage, implementation, enforcement, and exercise of the right of access to information"
UK-USA-RENDITION: Reprieve Press Release: As
New Evidence Emerges that ‘War on Terror’ Prisoners
were Held on Diego Garcia, Reprieve Demands Immediate Action
from the British Government (pdf)
July 2008
ITALY: Deployment
of armed forces to guarantee security in cities
UK: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women: Concluding
observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (pdf) Northern Ireland
Human Rights Commission, Press release: UN
urges greater protection for women’s rights in Northern
Ireland
(pdf) NIHRC Submission: Shadow
Report on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland (pdf)
UK: Statement
from The Corner House and Campaign Against Arms Trade in response
to Law Lords' judgments in BAE-Saudi appeal by The Corner House
and Campaign Against Arms Trade (link) Full-text
of Lords judgment (pdf)
UK: Human Genetics Commission report: A
Citizens’ Inquiry into the Forensic Use of DNA and the National
DNA Database
(1 MB, pdf) Summary
of report
(pdf). See: DNA
records 'criminalise people' (BBC News, link) "Thousands of
DNA samples from innocent people are now retained. DNA profiles
of those not convicted of a crime should be removed from the
database in England and Wales, a government-funded inquiry has
said."
COE-ITALY: Memorandum:
full-text
(38 pages, pdf) Press release: Italy: “Immigration
policy must be based on human rights principles and not only
on perceived security concerns”, says Commissioner Hammarberg
presenting a special report (pdf)
"Mr Hammarberg criticised the decision to criminalise migrants’ entry and irregular stay. He sees this as a worrying departure from established international law principles. “These measures may make it more difficult for refugees to ask for asylum and is likely to result in a further social stigmatisation and marginalisation of all migrants - including Roma. Commissioner Hammarberg also noted with grave concern that Italy had forcibly returned migrants to certain countries with proven records of torture."
EU-USA:
United
States Plans New Travel Procedures for 27 Countries (US EU Mission, link)
Known as ESTA (Electronic System of Travel Authorisation). An
application to travel to the USA has to be made and authorisation
given prior to boarding a plane or boat.
This will apply to the EU countries currently included in the Visa Waiver Programme who are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In addition, the following are being considered for inclusion at a later date include Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Malta - all of whom have signed MOUs with the USA.
The ESTA form asks about health, any criminal record including those "involving moral turpitude or a violation related to a controlled substance" (whether spent or not under EU law), whether you are seeking "entry to engage in criminal or immoral activities" and whether you have ever been involved in espionage, sabotage or terrorism.
The European Commission has yet to decide whether ESTA constitutes a breach of the visa waiver programme (see below). See also: US to screen foreign air passengers (euobserver, link)
UK:
Annual Report: Report
of the Intelligence Services Commissioner for 2007 (pdf). As usual a bland
repetition of the legal position and little more.
Greece:
"Humanitarian
crisis" at Greek migrant camp - MSF (Reuters, link)
EU: VISA WAIVER RECIPROCITY: Commission: Fourth
Report on certain third countries' maintenance of visa requirements
in breach of the principle of reciprocity.. the third countries
whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing
the external borders (COM 486, pdf) Press release: "No
tangible progress has been made regarding the USA" (pdf) Threat to impose
visa conditions on US diplomats threatened.
Ireland
strongly opposed to Lisbon revote (euobserver, link) and
Poll reveals Irish animosity towards referendum rerun (euractiv, link)
UK: Report from the parliamentary Joint Human Rights Committee:
UN
Convention Against Torture: Discrepancies in Evidence Given to
the Committee About the Use of Prohibited Interrogation Techniques
in Iraq
(pdf). MPs
'misled' over interrogation (BBC News, link) "MPs and peers
have said they may have been misled over UK troops' use of banned
interrogation methods in Iraq. Not all troops had known "conditioning"
techniques such as hooding and sleep deprivation were banned,
the Joint Committee on Human Rights said."
ITALY: "State emergency" extended from three regions
to whole country: According to a press release from the Italian
Council of Ministers meeting of today (25 July 2008), the government
has declared the "state of emergency" for the whole
of Italy in relation to the persistent and extraordinary influx
of non-EU citizens, as proposed by the Interior Minister Maroni,
with the aim of strengthening the activities of fighting and
management of the phenomena. The "state of emergency"
is thus enlarged from 3 regions to all Italian territory. A decree
will probably be issued by the government together with orders,
as for the "nomads' emergency". See full background
below.
EU-ECJ: Grand Chamber judgment: Judgment overturning Akrich and
making it absolutely clear that third country national family
members can enter without any requirement of prior lawful residence
in another MS: Full-text
of judgment
(pdf) See: Court
gives backing to foreign spouses of EU citizens (euobserver, link)
Profit
and power: the privatisation of asylum control (Corporatewatch, link)
UK-IRELAND: Since 1925, 83 years ago, there has been a Common
Travel Area between the Republic of Ireland and the UK. The UK
Home Office is proposing to introduce border controls and biometric
checks: Home
office consultation (pdf) Partial
Impact Assessment (pdf) Proposals
for controls on UK and Ireland travel (Irish Times, link)
EU-PNR: EU
endorses idea of collecting air passenger data (euobserver, link).
EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers say they have "reached
an agreement on the principle of the European PNR". In fact,
they have abandoned discussions on the Commission's proposal
for an EU-PNR scheme and are going to start again drawing up
their own proposal because a number of EU governments want to
go much further. With the UK in the lead a number of member states
want:
- the system
to cover not just flights in and out of the EU but also flights
between EU countries plus all flights within each country;
- the system to cover not just all flights but all sea and land
travel as well;
- the data and information gathered to be used not just
for entry-exit but also for any law enforcement purpose.
See: Note from the Austrian delegation: EU doc no: 11724/08 Council Presidency Note: EU do no: 11281/08 and Council Presidency Note: 11772/09 plus penultimate draft of the proposal during discussions in the Council's Multidisciplinary group on organised crime: EU doc no: 7656/08 Rev 2
EU: JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL Brussels, 24-25 JULY 2008:
Press
release for 24 July 2008 (pdf). Background
Note
(pdf) "A"
Points agenda
(pdf) "B"
Points agenda
(pdf)
ITALY: SECURITY PACKAGE & DOCUMENTATION: On 23 July the Italian
Senate approved the law transforming the security package decree
into law: Link
to full-text.
The main measures adopted - having an impact on EU and non-EU
citizens - are similar to those already contained in the decrees:
- Aggravating circumstance of being irregular on Italian soil:
being a clandestine/illegal immigrant becomes an aggravating
circumstance: penalties are 1/3 higher for illegal immigrants
who commit a crime; this is valid for EU citizens and non-EU
citizens (which amounts to a discrimination on the basis of nationality
among EU citizens);
- Easier Expulsions: judges can order expulsions in a wider series of circumstances; foreigners, including EU citizens, can be expelled if they have no revenue or have been caught committing a crime. Expulsion, also of EU citizens, can be ordered for crimes punished with 2 years detention (before it was 10 years). Those who violate the repatriation order, including EU citizens, can be punished with a custodial sentence of between 1 and 4 years (violation of the free movement directive);
- "Centri di permanenza temporanea" (Cpt - Centers for temporary permanence) and "centri di permanenza temporanea e assistenza" (Cpta - Centers for temporary permanence and assistance) are renamed and becorme "centri di identificazione ed espulsione" (Cie - Centers for identification and expulsion). Those who admit false identity risk a penalty of between 3 and 6 years;
- Prison for those who provide housing to clandestines: anybody renting or anyway providing housing to foreigners who are not regularly on the Italian soil can bee punished with a custodial sentence of between 6 months and 3 years. The house or apartment can also be seized;
- Mayors and Prefects will have more powers in terms of public order, while local and State police will collaborate more. The Mayor will indicate those who are in an irregular situation on Italian soil to be expelled (the application of the free movement directive is left to local authorities, making it difficult to check compliance)
- SECURITY A LA ITALIANA: Fingerprinting, Extreme Violence and Harassment of Roma in Italy - by European Roma Rights Centre, Open Society Institute, Romani Criss, Roma Civic Alliance in Romania and Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
- European Parliament Resolution: Census of the Roma on the basis of ethnicity in Italy: European Parliament resolution of 10 July 2008 on the census of the Roma on the basis of ethnicity in Italy
- Letter from Jonathan Faull, Director General DG Justice, Freedon and Security, to Italian government Permanent Representative in Brussels: Letter full-text (pdf)
- Italy to jail clandestine migrants (euobserver, link)
EU-LATIN
AMERICA: THE "OUTRAGEOUS" RETURNS DIRECTIVE: Letter
to EU governments and parliamentarians (Six languages, pdf) Signed by people
from: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, USA,
Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela:
"It seems
that a convenient amnesia prevents Europe from remembering what
Europe would be like without cheap labor from abroad, and without
the services that the entire world has provided her with. Europe
would not be Europe without the massacre of indigenous peoples
in the Americas and without the enslavement of the sons and daughters
of Africa, to mention only a few forgotten examples.
Europe should apologise to the world, or at the very least give
thanks for what the world has given her, instead of legalising
the hunting down and punishment of hard
working people who have come to Europe, fleeing the hunger and
the wars that the masters of the world have sent them."
EU:
TERRORIST FINANCING: Counter-Terrorism Coordinator:
Revised Strategy on Terrorist Financing (pdf)
EU: VISA WAIVER RECIPROCITY: Commission press release: "No
tangible progress has been made regarding the USA" (pdf) Threat to impose
visa conditions on US diplomats threatened.
EU: JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL Brussels, 24-25 JULY 2008:
Background
Note
(pdf) "A"
Points agenda
(pdf) "B"
Points agenda
(pdf)
Italy
to jail clandestine migrants (euobserver, link)
UK-UN
REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS LEVELS VERY STRONG CRITICISMS AT UK GOVERNMENT:
Concluding
Observations of the Human Rights Committee (pdf). Including:
On deporting people to countries where there is evidence of torture or inhumane or degrading treatment:
"The State party should ensure that all individuals, including persons suspected of terrorism, are not returned to another country if there are substantial reasons for fearing that they would be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The State party should further recognise that the more systematic the practice of torture or cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment, the less likely it will be that a real risk of such treatment can be avoided by diplomatic assurances, however stringent any agreed follow-up procedure may be. The State party should exercise the utmost care in the use of such assurances and adopt clear and transparent procedures allowing review by adequate judicial mechanisms before individuals are deported, as well as effective means to monitor the fate of the affected individuals."
On rendition:
"The
Committee notes with concern that the State party has allowed
the use of the British Indian Ocean Territory as a transit point
on at least two occasions for rendition flights of persons to
countries where they risk being subjected to torture or ill-treatment.(arts.
2, 7 and 14).
The State party should investigate allegations related to transit
through its territory of rendition flights and establish an inspection
system to ensure that its airports are not used for such purposes."
On the use of plastics bullets/projectiles:
"The State party should closely monitor the use of Attenuating Energy Projectiles (AEPs) by police and army forces and consider banning such use if it is established that AEPs can cause serious injuries."
EU:
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL Brussels, 24-25 JULY 2008: Background
Note
(pdf)
UK: SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY: A
Surveillance Society?: The Government reply to the report from the Home
affairs Committee (pdf). See: Government
stands by data sharing: The Home Office has said that joining
up existing government systems reduces the need for big new databases (link) Background: Report
on the "Surveillance society" by the House of Commons
Home Affairs Select Committee: Report:
Vol 1
(1.5 MB, pdf) Evidence
Vol 2
(1.6 MB, pdf).
EU-USA: Letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
to the European Parliament: Full-text of ACLU
letter
(pdf)
"The negotiations underway between U.S. security agencies and their European counterparts over the transatlantic transfer of personal data are just the latest efforts to overcome a looming problem...The European Union, having enacted strong legislation to protect the privacy of its citizens, cannot be asked to render that legislation meaningless by allowing its citizens’ data to be shared with a country that is, in privacy terms, all but lawless.
If Europe agrees to data-sharing with the United States under the current U.S. open records law, then European citizens will have far fewer protections for their data in the United States than U.S. citizens will have in Europe. U.S. privacy laws are weak; they offer little protection to citizens and virtually none to non-citizens."
Background: EU-USA: How America is snooping on YOU ... and may soon be snooping a whole lot more (link to Mail on Sunday) and EU-US: Final Report by EU-US High Level Contact Group on information sharing and privacy and personal data protection (pdf) This report was presented at the EU-US Summit on 12 June 2008.
CROATIA: Every
day the Croatian Government is removing tourists, mostly Asians
and Africans, from the train between Budapest and Venice - people with visas
for their destination - people who are not warned they will be
passing through Croatia until it's too late - They are left on
the border in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere
- while travellers from Western countries are allowed to continue
their journey unhindered.
EU-ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Council capitulates and agree to give
Mr Turco a document containing the Opinion of the Legal Service:
New
reply to the confirmatory application made by Mr Maurizio TURCO
(1/02) following the judgment of the Court of Justice (Grand
Chamber) in Joined Cases C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P (pdf)
Background: MAJOR VICTORY FOR ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE JUDGMENT ON ACCESS TO LEGAL OPINIONS - TURCO CASE:
"THE
COURT AUTHORISES, IN PRINCIPLE, ACCESS TO LEGAL ADVICE GIVEN
TO THE COUNCIL ON LEGISLATIVE QUESTIONS
The transparency of the legislative process and the strengthening
of the democratic rights of European citizens are capable of
constituting an overriding public interest which justifies the
disclosure of legal advice.... The Court takes the view that
disclosure of documents containing the advice of an institution’s
legal service on legal questions arising when legislative initiatives
are being debated increases transparency and strengthens the
democratic right of European citizens to scrutinise the information
which has formed the basis of a legislative act." (Court press release)
and:
"As regards, first, the fear expressed by the Council that disclosure of an opinion of its legal service relating to a legislative proposal could lead to doubts as to the lawfulness of the legislative act concerned, it is precisely openness in this regard that contributes to conferring greater legitimacy on the institutions in the eyes of European citizens and increasing their confidence in them by allowing divergences between various points of view to be openly debated. It is in fact rather a lack of information and debate which is capable of giving rise to doubts in the minds of citizens, not only as regards the lawfulness of an isolated act, but also as regards the legitimacy of the decision-making process as a whole." (Judgment)
The Court's judgment means that the Council (and the Commission) can no longer claim blanket refusals for the opinions of their Legal Services on legislative matters. The Court's judgment is also interesting because it reasserted the principle of an "overriding public interest" in allowing disclosure.
Currently the Opinions of the Council's Legal Service on legislative matters carries the following warning:
"This
document contains legal advice protected under Article 4(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European
Parliament, Council and Commission documents, and not released
by the Council of the European Union to the public. The Council
reserves all its rights in law as regards any unauthorised publication." [BOLD emphasis in original]
- Press
release
- Court
judgment - full-text
- Turco
press statement
UK: New
Criminal Information Quango sighted - Ex-mandarin hides plans
for world domination behind criticism of Police (Register, link). Report:
Review
of Criminal Information” (ROCI) (156 pages, pdf) and see: Technology
and Policing: Implications for Fairness and Legitimacy, by Peter Neyroud and
Emma Disley (Policing, link)
ITALY: The
bloody battle of Genoa (Guardian feature by Nick Davies, link)
Multimillion
pound security project shelved by ministers (Guardian, link) SCOPE project.
EU: Council Presidencies JHA Programme: French,
Czech and Swedish Presidencies: Draft Programme of the trio of
Presidencies in JHA (pdf)
EU: Legislative Update: The "state of play" on the
following measures:
- Report on European Parliament plenary session: Common Consular Instructions on visas for diplomatic and consular posts in relation to the introduction of biometrics including provisions on the organisation of the reception and processing of visa applications See also: The European Parliament plenary session has backed a report by Sarah Ludford MEP (ALDE) calling for the fingerprinting of children to only be allowed for those 12 year old and over - the Council of the European Union (the governments) want it to be just six years old and over. The report was supported by 455 MEPs and opposed by 64, mainly from the conservative PPE group. There were 41 abstentions. Full-text of Resolution (pdf).
- EMPLOYER SANCTIONS: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council providing for sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals and EU doc no: 11000/08 plus EU doc no: 11727/08
- EJN: Draft Council Decision on the European Judicial Network
EU: EXIT-ENTRY SYSTEM: Briefing Paper for the European Parliament:
Proposed
new EU border control systems (pdf) by Professor Steve Peers, University
of Essex
USA: RENDITION-TORTURE-US ASSURANCES: Report from the UK House
of Commons foreign Affairs Committee: Human
Rights Annual Report 2007 (pdf). It includes the following Conclusions:
"We conclude that, given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the Government does not rely on such assurances in the future."
"We conclude that it is extremely important that the veracity of allegations that the Government has “outsourced” interrogation techniques involving the torture of British nationals by Pakistani author authorities should be ities investigated."
"We conclude that the Government has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that flights that enter UK airspace or land at UK airports are not pa part of the “rendition rt circuit”, even if they do not have a detainee on board during the time they are in UK territory. We recommend that the Government should immediately raise questions about such flights with the US authorities in order to ascertain the full scale of the rendition problem, and inform the Committee of the replies it rece receives in its response ives to this Report."
G8: G8
Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting, Tokyo, 11-13 June,
2008: Concluding Declaration Conclusions including Counter-Terrorism (pdf) and G8
Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Declaration on Capacity
Building Assistance (pdf)
EU: Electronic Identity Management (eIDM): Commission press release:
Electronic
Identity: easy access to public services across the EU (pdf) A
Roadmap for a pan-European eIDM Framework by 2010 (pdf) and Factsheet (pdf)
"For eGovernment and eBusiness to function to their full potential, people need a secure, convenient and effective way of identifying themselves – replacing signatures and stamps used on paper – when using electronic communication. To make this a reality, EU Member States are investing tens of billions of euros in interoperable Electronic Identity Management (eIDM)."
EU: HAGUE PROGRAMME: Report
on implementation of the Hague Programme (pdf) Brussels, 2.7.2008,
COM(2008) 373 final, (SEC(2008) 2048}
{SEC(2008) 2049} plus useful SEC documents giving details of
implementation and compliance (or non-compliance) at national
and institutional levels: SEC
(2008) 2048: Commission Stafff Working Document: Annex to the
Communication: Report on the implementation of The Hague programme
for 2007: Follow-up of the implementation of legal instruments
in the fields of justice, freedom and security at national level:
2007 Implementation Scoreboard - Table 2 (pdf) and SEC(2008)
2049: Commission Staff Working Document: Annex to the Communication:
General overview of instruments and deadlines provided for in
the Hague Programme and Action Plan in the fields of justice,
freedom and security for 2007 (Institutional Scoreboard): Report
on the implementation of The Hague programme for 2007 (Institutional
Scoreboard – Table 1 (pdf)
EP: Useful country reports from European Parliament delegations
from the Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) looking at "reception
of asylum seekers and irregular migrants": Cyprus (pdf), Denmark (pdf) and Poland (pdf)
EU: CRIMINAL RECORDS: Council
Decision on the exchange of information extracted from criminal
records – Manual of Procedure (103 pages, pdf) Interesting summary
country by country of the information stored and that required
for requests from criminal records from another member state.
EU-JHA-PASSERELLE: Statewatch
Analysis: Changing the institutional framework for EU Justice
and Home Affairs law without the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex.
IRELAND-LISBON TREATY: Ireland
will have to vote again on Lisbon, says Sarkozy (Irish Times, link).
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"An unspoken timetable has already been decided in Brussels. In October EU governments will agree on a Declaration to be attached to the Treaty, then it will declared that Ireland will vote again in March next year - and 1st April 2009 has already been pencilled in for the formal adoption of the Treaty."
ITALY: Frattini
pide un banco de datos europeo con huellas y ADN de niños
de etnia gitana (link)
"EFE ROME.- Frattini asks for a European database containing the fingerprints and DNA of Roma children
'If Europe does not adopt this solution, we will adopt it anyway' 'The first way to protect a minor is to give him an identity and a document'. The Italian foreign affairs minister, Franco Frattini, believes that a European database containing the fingerprints and DNA of all the children of the Roma ethnic group(*) living in nomad camps is necessary as, without an identity, they have no rights, nor can they be protected.
The former
European justice commissioner pointed out in an interview with
Italian newspaper 'Il Messaggero', that "the first way to
protect a minor is to give them an identity and a document",
know who s/he is, because without this "a Roma child has
no right to health or school".
Moreover, "without an identity, it is impossible to rescue
these little innocent souls from the hands of paedophiles and
child traffickers". Frattini considered that "a European
database with the names, fingerprints, DNA indicators of all
these children" is necessary "to make their lives safer".
The minister indicated that "if Europe does not adopt this
solution, that of fingerprints, of DNA, which strikes me as being
the only possible one, we will adopt it anyway", although
he explained that they will always respect European norms.
The Italian government has embarked upon a process to create a census of the people living in underprivileged neighbourhoods and settlements, that includes the taking of fingerprints, including those of minors."
* Statewatch translation Note: " gitano ", the term used in the Spanish original, would translate as " gypsy " or " zingaro ", the problem being that both in the UK and Italy the term is derogatory, while in Spain a lot of work has been carried out to give it back its positive connotations, largely to do with culture, performing arts and dark beauty... the same has not happened, at least not to the same extent, in Italy and the UK. " Roma " is what tends to be used, but it is inadequate, as there are different ethnic groups (Rom and Sinti in Italy, Calò in Spain, travellers in the UK.
LIBYA-EU: Libya
urges EU to revise illegal immigration rules (Reuters, link)
"Libya called on the European Union to revise new rules
against illegal immigration on Monday, saying it would urge African
Union members to take action if the EU stuck by measures that
treated African migrants as criminals.
EU ministers have backed French proposals for a European pact to stem illegal immigration and attract highly skilled job-seekers, weeks after the EU decided illegal immigrants could be detained for up to 18 months and face a 5-year re-entry ban.
"Africa will not accept any law based on repression and in dealing with African migrants, including children and disabled people, as criminals," Libya's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Libyan news agency Jana...... "
ITALY:
Memorandum:
Request for expedited engagement of follow-up procedure and/or
Urgent Action/Early Warning Procedure concerning Italy ICERD
Compliance
(pdf) Petitioning Organisations: Centre on Housing Rights and
Evictions, Associazione Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione
(“ASGI”), The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the
National Roma Centrum (NRC), Cultural Center “O Del Amenca”,
Policy Center for Roma and Minorities (“PCRM”), Roma
Center for Social Intervention and Studies (“Romani CRISS”),
Roma Women Association in Romania (RWAR):
"The CERD Committee reviewed Italy’s compliance with the ICERD Convention in February 2008, and duly issued Concluding Observations:
Threats to non-citizen Roma have been severely heightened following the election in April 2008 and the formation on 8 May 2008 of a new right-wing national government including extremist xenophobic and racist elements, as well as success in local elections by the extreme right in a number of municipalities, including the capital Rome. This, combined with years of anti-Roma propaganda by the Italian media, which has unceasingly portrayed Roma primarily as vagrants and criminals, has resulted in exceptional levels of discrimination throughout Italy, as well as other issues implicating emergency aspects of the Convention."
UK:
Outsourcing
abuse: The use and misuse of state-sanctioned force during the
detention and removal of asylum seekers A report by Birnberg Peirce & Partners,
Medical Justice and the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation
Campaigns (pdf)
ITALY: Rape
threats, beatings and racist chants: 15 Italians jailed for abuse
of G8 Genoa protesters: Verdict likely to embarrass Berlusconi government
(Guardian, link)
"Fifteen Italian police officers and doctors were last
night sentenced to jail terms of up to five years after being
found guilty of abusing protesters detained during riots at the
2001 G8 summit in Genoa."
See Statewatch coverage on Genoa and the trials on: Observatory on reactions to protests in the EU
USA: US
Terrorism Watch List Tops 1 Million (link)
MALTA-FOI: Citizens
and NGOs convened for Freedom of Information forum (link)
EU-VISAS-FINGERPRINTING CHILDREN: The European Parliament plenary
session has backed a report by Sarah Ludford MEP (ALDE) calling
for the fingerprinting of children to only be allowed for those
12 year old and over - the Council of the European Union (the
governments) want it to be just six years old and over. The report
was supported by 455 MEPs and opposed by 64, mainly from the
conservative PPE group. There were 41 abstentions. Full-text
of Resolution
(pdf). The Green/EFA rapporteur said:
"Speaking
on behalf of the Greens/EFA political group, Ms Tatjana ZDANOKA
(Greens/EFA - LV):
• stated that her political group cannot accept any use
of biometrics in the EU until its necessity is proven beyond
reasonable doubt. The introduction of biometrics has crucial
implications for data security and for fundamental rights. Therefore
the Greens/EFA political group cannot vote in favour of the report
at all."
and:
Speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL political group, Ms Sylvia Yvonne KAUFMANN (GUE/NGL - DE):
• noted that the introduction of biometrics in visa is not acceptable, in particular regarding small children. She asked for an intensive study to verify the implication of such an approach."
UK: Data
Sharing Review report (pdf) Annexes (pdf) Submissions (link). Comment: Voters'
data 'should not be sold' (BBC News, link)
EU
Transparency Proposal Criticised by Sweden (link)
UK: Government threatens 11 countries that unless they change
their policies on deportations or removals of their nationals
and cooperate on crime and terrorism then their citizens visiting
the UK will have to get visas: Home Office Press release:
Results Of Britains First Global Visa Review (pdf) Statement
by Home Secretary on Visa Waiver Test (pdf) These are: are: Bolivia; Botswana;
Brazil; Lesotho; Malaysia; Mauritius; Namibia; South Africa;
Swaziland; Trinidad and Tobago; and Venezuela. These countries
have a combined population of over 300 million – nearly
five per cent of the world’s population.
"The criteria for the test included looking at passport security and integrity; the degree of co-operation over deportation or removal of a country’s nationals from the UK; levels of illegal working in the UK and other immigration abuse; levels of crime and terrorism risk posed to the UK; and the extent to which a country’s authorities were addressing these threats."
The "criteria" are a mix of establishing who is wanting to visit and much broader cooperation on policies such as crime and terrorism. It should be noted that Brazil, Malaysia and Venezuela are the European Commission's "white list" of countries not requiring visas.
ITALY: Census
of the Roma on the basis of ethnicity in Italy: European Parliament
resolution of 10 July 2008 on the census of the Roma on the basis
of ethnicity in Italy (pdf). This Resolution was passed by 336 votes
to 220 with 77 abstentions. It was backed by MEPS from the PSE
(Socialist group), ALDE (Liberal group), Greens, GUE (United
Left) and opposed by the PPE (Conservative group) and UEN (rightwing
Europe of Nations group).
- Letter from
Jonathan Faull, Director General DG Justice, Freedon and Security,
to Italian government Permanent Representative in Brussels: Letter
full-text
(pdf)
- ALDE Press release: Roma in Italy:
Extraordinary measures are unjustified. EPP deft to appeals from
civil society
(pdf)
EU:
CONCORD Press release: European
NGOs condemn putting aid at the service of immigration control (pdf):
"While European and G8 countries are failing to deliver on their international aid commitments, European Development NGOs are deeply concerned about linking immigration control and development cooperation."
EU:
Fortress Europe blog details 185 deaths in June. The Fortress
Europe blog which tracks the deaths of migrants, details 185
deaths in June alone, 173 of which have taken place in the Channel
of Sicily, where arrivals have risen three-fold, with other deaths
also reported in the Canary Islands, Venice harbour, Turkey,
where a Somali man was shot during a demonstration in a detention
centre, and Israel, where three refugees were shot by police
along the border with Egypt, including a seven-year-old Sudanese
girl. The bulk of the deaths refer to a shipwreck in the high
sea off the Libyan coast at Zuwarah on 7 June 2008, in which
one survivor was rescued, 40 dead bodies were recovered and at
least 100 people disappeared.
For full details,
see: http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/giugno-2008.html (original, in Italian)
http://fortresseurope.blogspot.com/2006/01/june-2008.html (English version)
EU:The
French Council Presidency is hosting: European
Police Chiefs Task Force (EPCTF) Expanded Troika Meeting in Paris on 11 July.
What is interesting is that in this Council document: European
Council (19 and 20 June 2008): Progress report from the Presidency
to the European Council - Preparatory work in view of the entry
into force of the Lisbon Treaty (pdf) it says that the new structures
under the Lisbon Treaty meant:
"It was accepted that there would no longer be a need for a formal role for the Police Chiefs Task Force."
Background: Statewatch analysis: The EU's Police Chief Task Force - a tale of self-regulation and self-definition by a body with no legal or constitutional basis, by Tony Bunyan
UK:
Biometric Assurance Group (BAG): Biometrics
Assurance Group Annual Report 2007 (pdf) A government expert group has
warned of a 'large impact' on the National Identity Scheme from
those who cannot use fingerprinting, such as many elderly people.
The Biometrics Assurance Group (BAG), in its annual report for
2007, recommends more funding for the handling of people who
cannot provide usable biometrics. The report describes the more
than 4m people over the age of 75 in Britain as "a group
for which it is hard to obtain good quality fingerprints"
"Enrolling people with challenging biometrics: Having reviewed the composition of the test group, which is composed of those with potentially challenging characteristics, BAG suggested that the group should be expanded to include individuals with the following characteristics: being elderly, mute, non-English speaking, blind or visually impaired."
Report fingers prints as ID scheme's point of failure (Register, link)
USA: Passport
record system open to abuse, IG finds (link)
"A State Department passport record system that holds
personal data on more than 120 million Americans is wide open
to abuse and unable to prevent or detect unauthorized access"
Privacy
issue will dictate data debate (Computing, link):
"What might the government learn about each of us were it to piece together fragments of our lives scattered across disparate departmental databases? The fundamental principle of data protection legislation is that personal data should only be used for the purpose for which it was originally recorded. Excessive cross-matching would be a clear and controversial infringement ­ but you can be sure the government will look for more situations where it can claim that the benefits outweigh the risks."