Statewatch News Online: France-Libya: Legal complaint lodged against the French firm AMESYS of complicity in acts of torture perpetrated by the Gaddafi regime in Libya
28 March 2012
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France/Libya 
Legal complaint
lodged against the French firm AMESYS of complicity in acts of
torture perpetrated by the Gaddafi regime in Libya
On 19 October the International Human Rights League and the French Human Rights League lodged a complaint with the Paris Court of First Instance against the French firm Amesys. According to the Ministry of Defence's online registry, Amesys specialised in "electronic warfare".
The company is said to
have been compliciy in acts of torture perpetrated by the Libyan
regime following the signature in 2007 of a contract agreeing
to assistance with the interception of telecommunication and
associated data processing. Cooperation allegedly included the
selling of technology, training of Libyan users and monitoring
activities.[1]
Last August, the Wall Street Journal revealed foreign firms had
helped Gaddafi's regime spy on Libyans, chiefly through the selling
of computer systems. Documents found by journalists in the abandoned
compounds of the former intelligence services include emails
dating from February 2011, i.e. after start of the uprising against
the dictatorial regime.[2]
Amesys's logo was found on many of the documents discovered in
August. Asked about its contribution to the regime's surveillance
network and the oppression of the Libyan people, the company
replied that:
"The contract only concerned the sale of materials capable
of analysing a fraction of existing internet connections, only
a few thousand".[3]
According to the website OWNI, the Eagle surveillance system
sold by Amesy intercepted a much broader range of telecommunications
including traffic (internet), mobile and landline telephone networks,
WiFi, satellite, radio signals and microwaves.
Further the company ensured its activities were "in strict
accordance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of
international, European and French conventions" in a press
release (which has apparently been withdrawn and cannot be found
online).[4]
It is argued by the French
Secretary of Defence and General Security that no prior approval
was required for the export of the Eagle system. The French government
is therefore denying any knowledge of the business relations
between Gaddafi's regime and Amesys.
However, this seems to be in contradiction with a 2005 official
decree on financial activities in foreign countries according
to which "Research, development, production or selling activities
in relation to the interception of correspondence and the remote
surveillance of conversations" (Article R.153-5) should
be approved first by the Ministry of Economy (Article L. 151-3).
Moreover, in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, a
former military officer who worked with Amesys in the training
of Libya engineers in 2008 to set up the Libyan surveillance
system confirmed that "the entire country was under surveillance".
[5]
Journalistic investigation suggests the involvement of Amesys
in Libya earlier. Mediapart revealed that Ziad Takieddine, a
French-Lebanese businessman, had acted as an intermediary in
negotiating the selling by Amesys, then I2E, of an encryption
system (Cryptowall) capable of protecting the Libyan intelligence
services from interception by the American Echelon system. [6]
Takieddine's role in France's relations with Libya and Syria,
particularly in the negotiation of arms contracts, has been exposed
over the past weeks by French media.
Finally, the French State and its Public Loan and Investment
Bank (Caisse des dépôts) are the third largest holder
of Amesys shares [7], which may suggest that the companies' activities
may have been known, if not monitored, by public officials.
Sources
[1] La
FIDH et la LDH déposent plainte mettant en cause la société
Amesys pour complicité d'actes de torture
[2] Wall
Street Journal, Firms aided Libyan spies
[3] OWNI,
A guide to Libya's surveillance network
[4] OWNI,
Doing business with Gaddafi: making millions and risking lives
[5] Le Figaro, Comment
j'ai mis 5 millions de Libyens sur écoute
[6] Libération, Affaire
Takieddine, une liaison dangereuse en Sarkozie
[7] Libération, Amesys,
la bienveillance de l'Etat et la fille de Gérard Longuet
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