2020

Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use an RSS feed to get instant alerts.

20 February 2020

Eyes wide shut: collective punishment of Roma in 21st-century Europe

Violence, discrimination and intimidation of Roma people continues across Europe. Governments must be forced to take action.

17 February 2020

EU diplomats call for changes to Operation Sophia so "chances to conduct rescue operations are lower"

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has called on EU governments to limit the saving of lives at sea by Operation Sophia. A note sent to the member states' permanent representatives in Brussels says the mission should prioritise the enforcement of a UN arms embargo on Libya, rather than monitoring migrant smuggling activities, and suggests that ships could be placed "at least 100km off the Libyan coast, where chances to conduct rescue operations are lower."

17 February 2020

EU: Joint statement: The new Pact on Asylum and Migration: An Opportunity Seized or Squandered?

Will the new Commission's 'Pact on Asylum and Migration' support the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees?

17 February 2020

New analysis: Spain: Will the new ‘progressive’ government uphold freedom of expression?

Civil liberties in Spain have deteriorated markedly in recent years. Will the new 'progressive' government take action?

17 February 2020

UK: British father pled “not guilty” to terrorism charges for supporting his son, an anti-Daesh YPG volunteer

The father and brother of a man who volunteered to fight for the anti-ISIS Kurdish group the YPG have been charged with terrorism offences.

17 February 2020

German police arrest 12 over far-right plot to spark 'civil-war-like situation'

Members of an extreme-right 'prepper' group have been arrested in Germany - and a police officer is amongst those arrested.

17 February 2020

Germany is not implementing its promise to accept refugees

An article in Tagesspiel outlines that despite promising to relocate a quarter of the people who were dismebarked in southern Europe since September 2019, Germany has failed to do so.

13 February 2020

Un-Owned Personal Data – Interoperable EU Borders and Transitioning Rights

A new project from the European University Institute and the Migration Policy Centre looking at the EU's 'interoperable' databases.

13 February 2020

Classified documents: Great Britain has been massively violating Schengen rules for years

An overview of the long-running saga of the British authorities' misuse and abuse of the Schengen Information System.

13 February 2020

UK: Police keeping drink-driver's DNA breached his rights, judges rule

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the UK's policy of indefinite retentiono of DNA data is unlawful.

13 February 2020

Ireland: Facial recognition used in public services card programme, department says

The Irish Department of Social Protection has announced that it uses facial recognition technology for the public services card programme, reversing its previous position.

13 February 2020

Internal Council report on the implementation of the EU Internal Security Strategy

"Delegations will find attached the joint paper of the outgoing Finnish Presidency and the Croatian Presidency on the implementation of the renewed EU Internal Security Strategy.

12 February 2020

Refugee Camps at EU External Borders, the Question of the Union’s Responsibility, and the Potential of EU Public Liability Law

Catharina Ziebritzki argues that public liability law could prove useful in trying to hold EU agencies legally accountable for human rights violations in the 'hotspots' in Italy and Greece.

 

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