|
News online - current lead stories
Follow
us on  and
 
Top 20 stories - for full
contents see: Statewatch News
online or What's New:
lists all items on the website.
JUNE 2016: STATEWATCHING
EUROPE: European conference marking Statewatch's 25th anniversary
Statewatch Observatory: Refugee crisis in the Med and inside
the EU - a humanitarian emergency: Daily news and document updates
Migrant
crisis: Turkish guards hit migrant boat with sticks (BBC News, link): "The
BBC has been given a video showing Turkish coastguard using sticks
against a boat full of migrants as they sail to Greece in the
Aegean Sea. The incident is said to have happened in Turkish
waters as the migrants were on their way to the island of Lesbos."
UNHCR Daily Report, 11.3.16:
"Turkish
Minister of EU Affairs, Volkan Bozkir, stated that the agreement,
under which Turkish authorities are to readmit refugees and migrants
from Greece does not apply to people who have already reached
the Greek islands but to those who will arrive once the agreement
begins to be implemented." [emphasis added]
Refuge crisis: EU-TURKEY DEAL: Majority
of Spanish Congress against EU refugee deal signed by acting
PM - This is the first time that the lower house has opposed
a European agreement (El Pais, link):
"Acting
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will go to the European Council
on March 17 to defend a position that most of Spanish Congress
radically rejects.
Except for
his own Popular Party (PP), all other congressional groups –
227 deputies out of a total of 350 – feel that the European
Union’s deal with Turkey to expel refugees is illegal....
This is the first time that a vast majority of Congress has rejected
a deal subscribed to by the EU government. Socialist leader Pedro
Sánchez said the European deal with Turkey was “immoral”
and possibly even “illegal.”
“We have
a week to change this agreement. The European Council of March
17 and 18 cannot approve this pact of shame,” he said."
Danish
children’s rights activist fined for people trafficking (Guardian, link): "Lisbeth
Zornig says her fine for giving a lift to family of Syrians is
‘criminalising decency’ amid asylum clampdown in Denmark
A high-profile Danish campaigner for children’s rights was
prosecuted on Friday under people trafficking laws, shining a
spotlight once more on the country’s crackdown on asylum,
as Scandinavian countries compete to make themselves unattractive
destinations for refugees.
Lisbeth Zornig, the country’s former children’s ombudsman
and a well-known author, was fined DKr22,500 (£2,328) –
the maximum demanded by the prosecutor – by a court in Nykøbing
Falster, southern Denmark, for allowing a family of Syrians to
hitch a ride with her to Copenhagen. er husband was fined the
same amount for taking the family into his home for coffee and
biscuits, and then driving them to the railway station, where
he bought them tickets to Sweden. “This was a political
trail, using me and my husband to send a strong message: don’t
try to help refugees,” Zornig said after the verdict. “I
am very angry because the only thing we did was the decent thing,
the same that hundreds of others did. They are criminalising
decency.” Zornig has decided to appeal against the verdict."
EU:
ECRE
Memorandum to the European Council Meeting 17 – 18 March
2016: Time to Save the Right to Asylum (pdf): "Ahead of the European
Council Summit meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016, ECRE urges Heads
of State or Government to assume political leadership and pave
the way for a concerted EU response to what primarily continues
to be a refugee crisis and not only a migratory phenomenon. Such
a response must be based on the principle of solidarity and fair
sharing of responsibility and respect for human rights. Current
fragmented national approaches have added to the suffering of
refugees and migrants."
And see: Letter
sent to President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President
of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker and EU Heads of
State or Government (link):
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (11.3.16)
EU:
Justice and Home Affairs Council: 10-11 March 2015: Final Press
release, 10-11-3-16 (pdf)
Justice
and Home Affairs Council adopts Conclusions on "migrant
smuggling" and facilitating "illegal entry & transit"
- the "humanitarian
exception" of helping refugees is seen as an "obstacle"
to prosecutions - the term "refugee" is not mentioned
once
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director,
comments:
"Has the threat to criminalise
NGOs, volunteers and local people disappeared? On the contrary,
it has moved formally onto the agenda for Eurojust to conclude
that the "humanitarian exception" of helping refugees
in need is an "obstacle" to the investigation and prosecution
of "migrant smugglers".
At the same time, here and
now, in Greece NGOs and volunteers are being required to register
with the state-police and account to them for all their actions."
See: NGOs
and volunteers helping refugees in Greece to be placed under
state control and Refugee
crisis: latest news and documents (10.3.16)
UN human rights chief to discuss "very serious concerns"
over proposed EU-Turkey deal during Brussels trip
"The
EU's draft arrangement with Turkey earlier this week raises a
number of very serious concerns. We do not yet have full details
of this draft, and I plan to discuss my concerns in full during
my visit to Brussels early next week, before the two-day EU Summit
which begins on 17 March. Among my concerns is the potential
for collective and arbitrary expulsions, which are illegal. Border
restrictions which do not permit determination of the circumstances
of each individual violate international and European law.
Full
statement: Statement
by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, to the Human Rights Council's 31st session (10 March 2016, pdf)
and: Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (11.3.16): joint NGO statement
against border closures; non-assistance to migrants in distress;
interview with International Organisation for Migration director.
Prison
capital: UK locks up more people than any other EU member state
The latest Council of Europe
(CoE) prison statistics show that the UK imprisons more people
than any other member of the European Union, with over 95,000
behind bars. Of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe,
only Russia (671,027 people) and Turkey (151,451) have more people
in prison. Within the UK, Scotland has the highest rate of incarceration,
and between 2005 and 2014 the country's prison population rate
rose by over twice as much as in England and Wales.
Across the 47 member states of
the Council of Europe, there has been a decline in overcrowding
but it remains a serious problem. Europe's prisons "remain
close to the top of their capacity, holding 1,600,324 people."
The countries with the most overcrowded penal institutons in
2014 were Hungary, Belgium, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Greece, Albania, Spain, France, Slovenia, Portugal, Serbia and
Italy. The most common crimes for which people are imprisoned
are drug offences (17% of the total prison population) and theft
(14%).
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."
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council: 10-11 March 2015: Press
release, 10-3-16 (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)
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)
See: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
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
European Parliament: MEPs demand details
of the EU-Turkey deal and compliance with international law (Press release, pdf):
"MEPs
demanded details on Wednesday of the deal struck by EU leaders
with Turkey on the management of migrant and refugee flows, underlining
that the international asylum rules must be respected. In a plenary
debate with the Council and the Commission, most political group
leaders insisted that EU accession negotiations with Turkey and
talks on visa liberalisation for Turkish nationals travelling
to the EU should not be linked to the refugee issue....
Note to editors:
Visa exemption rule changes entail switching the country concerned
from one annex to Regulation 539/01 to another (such changes
are subject to co-decision by Parliament and the Council)."
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (9.3.16)
UNHCR Daily Report (9.3.16): "In Izmir, Turkey, Greek
Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras chaired the fourth Greek-Turkish
High-Level Cooperation Council with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoðlu. Transport, trade, tourism and the refugee issue
were exceptionally added to the agenda. Tsipras and Davutoðlu
signed the previously announced readmission agreement, according
to which people who do not qualify for international protection
in Greece will be returned to Turkey."
Comment: This
would appear to mean that refugees will have to be brought ashore
in Greece and due process undertaken to determine whether or
not a person qualifies for international protection.
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?"
Greece
and Turkey intensify joint work on migrants (euobserver link): "Greek
prime minister Alexis Tsipras met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu in Izmir on Tuesday and signed several agreements to
pave the way for the EU-Turkey deal to work.
Tsipras told
a joint news conference that the EU deal “sends a clear
message to migrants coming from third countries, rather than
countries at war ... that there is neither the political
will nor the ability to cross to Europe”. [emphasis added]
Comment: This
appears to mean that refugees from countries where there are
ongoing conflicts - Syria, Irag and Afghanistan - will not be
returend under these agreements.
Also: Europe
finds no delight in Turkish deal - Planned deal with Turkey attacked
from all sides (politico, link):
"German
and EU leaders have portrayed the proposed arrangement as a major
breakthrough; Europe’s best, possibly last, hope to bring
the refugee crisis under control. But a broad spectrum of critics,
from national and European MPs, to the UN’s refugee agency
to Amnesty International, assailed the plan, arguing it would
force the EU to abandon its core principles.
“Clearly,
Europe is willing to do anything, including compromising essential
human rights and refugee law principles, to stem the flow of
refugees and migrants to Europe,” Aurelie Ponthieu,
a top official at Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement." [emphasis added]
Refugee
crisis: The UN, Council of Europe and UNHCR condemn EU leaders'
plan for mass refoulement (8.3.16)
EU-Turkey
deal could see Syrian refugees back in war zones, says UN (Guardian, link):
"Refugees
chief questions legality of agreement to send people back to
Turkey without guarantees for their protection. A senior UN official
says he is very concerned that a hasty EU deal with Turkey could
leave Syrian refugees unprotected and at risk of being sent back
to a war zone.
Filippo Grandi,
the UN high commissioner for refugees , questioned the legality
of an outline deal struck by the EU and Turkey. “As a first
reaction I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would
involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another,
without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under
international law,” he said on Tuesday....
Speaking to
the European parliament in Strasbourg, Grandi said asylum seekers
should only be returned to other states if there was a guarantee
that that they would not then be sent back to the place they
had fled."
UNHCR's
reaction to Statement of the EU Heads of State and Government
of Turkey, 7 March (lpdf):
"As for
the statement released yesterday after the meeting between EU
and Turkey, UNHCR is not a party to it nor privy to all
the details and modalities of implementation.
On the face
of what appears to have been agreed, we are, however, concerned
about any arrangement that involves the blanket return of all
individuals from one country to another without sufficiently
spelt out refugee protection safeguards in keeping with international
obligations.
An asylum-seeker
should only be returned to a third state, if (a) responsibility
for assessing the particular asylum application in substance
is assumed by the third country; (b) the asylum-seeker will be
protected from refoulement; (c) the individual will be able to
seek and, if recognized, enjoy asylum in accordance with accepted
international standards, and have full and effective access to
education, work, health care and, as necessary, social assistance.
Legal safeguards
would need to govern any mechanism under which responsibility
would be transferred for assessing an asylum claim. Pre-departure
screening would also need to be in place to identify heightened
risk categories that may not be appropriate for return even if
the above conditions are met.
Details of
all these safeguards should be clarified before the next meeting
of the EU Council on 17 March." [emphasis added]
Top reports
See: Resources for researchers:
Statewatch Analyses: 1999-ongoing
SECILE Project:
Borderline: The EU's New Border Surveillance Initiatives:
Assessing the Costs and Fundamental Rights Implications of EUROSUR
and the "Smart Borders" Proposals (pdf) A study by the
Heinrich Böll Foundation. Written by Dr. Ben Hayes and Mathias
Vermeulen: "Unable to tackle the root of the problem,
the member states are upgrading the Union’s external borders.
Such a highly parochial approach taken to a massive scale threatens
some of the EU’s fundamental values - under the pretence
that one’s own interests are at stake. Such an approach
borders on the inhumane."
How the EU works and justice and home
affairs decision-making (pdf)
Statewatch's
20th Anniversary Conference, June 2011: Statewatch
conference speeches
TNI/Statewatch:
Counter-terrorism,
'policy laundering' and the FATF - legalising surveillance, regulating
civil society
(pdf) by Ben Hayes
Statewatch publication:
Guide
to EU decision-making and justice and home affairs after the
Lisbon Treaty
(pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex,
with additional material by Tony Bunyan
Neoconopticon: the EU security-industrial
complex
(pdf) by Ben Hayes
The Shape of Things to Come (pdf) by Tony Bunyan
The
Statewatch website
Since its launch this website
has had 15,518,136 user sessions and
119,760,374 "hits" [September 2015]
In the year
2014 there were: 817,219
users sessions and 10,088,230 hits
Join Statewatch regular e-mail
list for new stories: Join Statewatch news e-mail list
The Statewatch
database now holds more than 32,000 records (news,
features, analyses and documentation).
If you use this site regularly,
you are encouraged to make a donation
to Statewatch to support future research.
Statewatch is a non-profitmaking
voluntary group founded in 1991, see: About
Statewatch
Contributions to News online
and bulletin are welcomed, please
get in touch.
The Statewatch
website is hosted by the Phone Co-op:
Statewatch is
funded by
  Friends of Statewatch
Statewatch does not have a corporate
view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are
those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content
of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute
an endorsement.
Statewatch is registered under
the Data Protection Act. Information supplied will be not be
passed to third parties. Registered UK charity number: 1154784.
Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name:
The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office:
10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE.
© Statewatch
ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals/"fair
dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on
our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed
only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the
relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing
Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms
and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.
|