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News digest: 13 September 2012

CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech police to shred part of DNA database (Prague Daily Monitor): "The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU) has ordered the shredding of some data from the National Crime database of DNA Profiles whose storage does not reflect the gravity of a crime, UOOZ head Igor Nemec said Wednesday"

CZECH REPUBLIC: FBI to train Czech police in fighting corruption, cyber crime (Prague Daily Monitor): "The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will train the Czech police in fighting corruption and cyber crime, Czech Deputy Interior Minister Jaroslav Hruska told CTK after his talks at the FBI headquarters in Washington Friday"

CZECH REPUBLIC: Ombudsman: CzechREp breaches EU law over foreigners' stay (Prague Daily Monitor): "The Visapoint system via which foreigners make appointments with the office at which they apply for permanent residency is at variance with the Czech Republic's EU commitments, Pavel Porizek, from the ombudsman's office, said Tuesday"

EU: Euro Parliament proposes 'distribution key' for relocation of migrants (Times of Malta): "A resolution approved by the European Parliament calls for a mechanism for the relocation of migrants according to their needs and the demands faced by member states." See: Asylum policy: MEPs call for fair shares and solidarity (European Parliament press release)

France, EU, seek action on Roma from Romania (Balkan Insight): "The French Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, and the Minister for European Affairs, Bernard Cazeneuve, are to come to Romania on Wednesday to discuss the sensitive situation of Roma from Romania who are immigrants in France"

FRANCE: Paris Starbucks under fire for racist caricacture (France 24): "A racist illustration drawn by a Starbucks employee in Paris has the coffee chain in hot water after a photo of the caricature was posted online, sparking a cross-Atlantic outcry and talk of similar incidents at other branches"

German federal police warn of Neo-Nazi terrorism (Spiegel Online): "In an internal report, Germany's federal criminal police have warned that the threat of right-wing extremist terrorism remains high in the country. The paper obtained by SPIEGEL notes that in addition to foreigners and immigrants, police, politicians and celebrities could also be at risk"

GERMANY: Intelligence agency tried to recruit Uwe Mendlos (Spiegel Online): "German politicians are outraged at the revelation that the military intelligence agency withheld information about trying to recruit as an informer a man who would later become a member of the neo-Nazi terror cell currently under investigation. Chancellor Merkel has promised that the case will be cleared up"

GERMANY: Ruling shows court's weakness in EU matters (Spiegel Online): "The ruling on Wednesday by the Federal Constitutional Court on the euro bailout fund makes one thing very clear: The Karlsruhe-based institution will not stop European integration because it can't. The justices have created expectations among the people that they are no longer able to fulfill"

GERMANY: Germany's Somali pirate trial is pointless (Spiegel Online): "When 10 Somali pirates were brought to trial earlier this year in Hamburg, many viewed it as promising a minor victory against lawlessness on the high seas. But the trial has turned into a pointless and expensive circus. The battle against piracy off the Horn of Africa won't be won in German courtrooms"

GREECE: Golden Dawn sues Dendias (Athens News): "Golden Dawn parliamentary spokesman Christos Pappas on Wednesday filed a civil suit against Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias and the chief of the Greek Police, Lt Gen Nikos Papagiannopoulos, for slander, "perversion of institutions", and "suppressing legal public actions" with the Supreme Court prosecutor." See also: Golden Dawn, police at loggerheads (Ekathimerini)

GREECE: Greek man attacked for entering foreign-owned barber shop (Athens News): "A Greek man was attacked yesterday by two unidentified men because he chose to have his hair cut in a Pakistani-owned barbershop in central Athens." See also: Pakistani-owned hairdresser's torched, customer stabbed (Ekathimerini)

Israel considering leasing Greek island for navy training, says report (Ekathimerini): "Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked his country’s Defense Forces two weeks ago to consider leasing or buying a Greek island to use as a training area for the navy, Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday"

GREECE: Justice minister condemns racist violence (Athens News): "The justice ministry is considering tougher penal treatment of crimes involving racist violence by the courts, including jail terms exceeding three years and restrictions on the ability to convert or suspend sentences, Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis announced on Wednesday"

Rise in Greeks being deported from Australia (Ekathimerini): "Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship on Wednesday confirmed reports in the Greek-Australian community newspaper, Neos Kosmos, that a significant number of Greek visitors had been detained pending deportation after authorities were unconvinced by their claims to be tourists"

GREECE: Officer took part in market attack  (Ekathimerini): "A 44-year-old police officer who had been assigned to the personal guard of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) MP Costas Barbarousis has been suspended from work and is facing expulsion from the force after it emerged that he played an active role in the far-right group’s raid on an open-air market Mesolongi, western Greece, on Saturday"

GREECE: Xenios Zeus raids lead to fewer arrests (Ekathimerini): "A total of 645 migrants were temporarily detained by police officers in downtown Athens late on Wednesday as part of the ongoing Xenios Zeus operation aimed at curbing illegal immigration, the Hellenic Police said in a statement on Thursday"

ITALY: 51 immigrants from Bangladesh reach the cost of Apulia (AGI)

ITALY: 8,000 migrant landings this year, down from 60,000 (Gazzetta del Sud): "Only 8,000 illegal immigrants have landed on Italian shores so far this year - well below the 60,000 recorded last year, Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said Wednesday. She praised the "growing cooperation offered by countries of origin or transit of illegal migration flows" as contributing to the decrease"

Italy must change policies marginalising Roma, says Amnesty (Gazzetta del Sud): "Italy must urgently change "discriminatory laws, policies and practices that marginalize the country's Roma," said a report released by human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Wednesday." See the Amnesty report: On the edge: Roma, forced evictions and segregation in Italy (pdf)

Italy renegotiates migrant arrangement with Libya (Times of Malta): "The Italian government is renegotiating its arrangement on immigration with the new Libyan government, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Giulio Terzi"

ITALY: Senate justice committee moves to make torture an offence (Gazzetta del Sud)

ITALY: Two Milan police officers to trial for beating 63-year-old (Gazzetta del Sud): "Two 24-year-old police officers in Milan must face trial for beating up a 63-year-old man while they were off-duty last May"

MALTA: 80 migrants brought to Malta (Times of Malta)

Malta and Italy to work together over migrants (Times of Malta): "A commission expected to be set up today will seek a solution to the long-standing disputes between Malta and Italy over the rescue of migrants at sea"

Romania faces new delay on joining Schengen (Balkan Insight): "The EU has postponed a key meeting that would have considered Romania’s accession to the Schengen area"

Spain and Morocco remove sub-Saharan immigrants from Isla de Tierra (El Pais): "The Moroccan and Spanish authorities took action late on Monday night to remove a group of around 70 sub-Saharan would-be immigrants from the islet of Isla de Tierra, where they had assembled with the hope of making it to mainland Europe." See: "When Spain hands us over to Morocco, this is what they do to us" (El Pais)

UK: Is the UK listening to the European Court of Human Rights? (UK Human Rights Blog): "The Ministry of Justice has published its annual report to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Government response to human rights judgments 2011–12. By signing up to the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK has committed to “abide by” judgments of the court. This commitment is monitored by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The report presents a snapshot of the current state of play in relation to the European Court of Human Rights." See UK Ministry of Justice report: Responding to human rights judgments: Report to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the Government response to human rights judgments 2011-12 (pdf)

UK: Trafficked children in UK council care 'going missing' (BBC News): "Some children trafficked into the UK are going missing from local authority care, a Council of Europe report says." See the full: Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by the United Kingdom (pdf)

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