"Police forces from 34 countries have been investigating criminal networks in South Eastern Europe since 2017, money comes from the Internal Security Fund of the European Union. In addition to all kinds of espionage and wiretapping technology, they also pay informers."
"The Covid-19 crisis has hit the media sector hard at a time when it plays a crucial role in providing accurate information and countering disinformation about the pandemic."
"The French government has been forced to delay the debate and vote in the National Assembly regarding its controversial coronavirus contact tracing app, StopCovid, following privacy concerns."
"The European Commission launched a new formal procedure against reforms in Poland on Wednesday (29 April), giving Warsaw two months to alleviate concerns about a December law that the EU executive says threaten judicial independence."
"Brussels and UK officials will clash over the increasingly fraught question of whether the European Union can open an office in Belfast."
"The EU is financially supporting Libyan and Italian authorities, who are responsible for grave violations of migrant rights, with some 90 million euros. In a complaint submitted to the European Court of Auditors, GLAN and our partners at ASGI and ARCI demonstrate that this support enables Libyan authorities to intercept and return migrant boats to Libyan territory, contrary to fundamental rules of refugee law; and that it is often funnelled into one of the world’s most notorious detention systems where migrants are held in deplorable conditions and subjected to extreme violence and in some cases, sold into slavery."
"The publication of this report marks approximately one month since the Coronavirus Act 2020 was passed into law on 25th March 2020, and since the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 were made by statutory instrument on 26th March. This remarkable legislative change has fundamentally altered the balance of power between citizens and the state and afforded breath-taking powers to Ministers and law enforcement authorities."
"Convicted terrorists are extremely unlikely to reoffend compared with other prisoners, research by academics and security services in Europe has found."
"In Italy, social media monitoring companies have been scouring Instagram to see who's breaking the nationwide lockdown. In Israel, the government has made plans to “sift through geolocation data” collected by the Shin Bet intelligence agency and text people who have been in contact with an infected person. And in the UK, the government has asked mobile operators to share phone users’ aggregate location data to “help to predict broadly how the virus might move”."
"The rule of law requires that administrative decisions can be reviewed. People must not simply be imprisoned. Nor must people be sent back without a formal procedure; they must have access to legal remedies. Border procedures contribute to making legal protection structurally difficult and often a matter of resources. Border procedures encourage human rights violations."
"The EU should stop channeling funds to Libya to manage migration and to train its coastguard, as the violation of human rights of migrants and asylum-seekers continues."
"ARTICLE 19 is concerned about the use of Spain’s Penal Code against people who have shared and created false information and jokes about coronavirus online. Misinformation about coronavirus is a significant challenge for all governments that should be taken seriously. However, attempts to address misinformation must not be at the expense of freedom of expression. Criminal prosecutions should be the last resort, reserved for the most serious speech related crimes. Instead, governments should tackle misinformation by being transparent about their responses to the pandemic, encouraging the sharing of verified information and promoting media freedom."
"The UK Government’s communication with the public has been admirably clear and simple: stay home. But it has been one-dimensional and one directional, whilst the challenges presented by COVID-19 are multiple, and they are far from simple."
"The housing and accommodation of asylum seekers in Ireland has become a billion-euro industry."
"The follow-up and reactions to the massacre of 12 migrants in the waters between Malta and Libya in the days just after Easter continue to offer surprises. In addition to the phantom fleet of Libyan-Maltese fishing boats used by Valletta to illegally repel the shipwrecked migrants to Libyan prison camps, there is a deliberate plan to obtain money from the EU and have Libya declared a "safe port"."
"Experts have identified extreme right-wing terrorism - also referred to as far-right or racially and ethnically motivated terrorism - as a unique form of political violence with often fluid boundaries between hate crime and organized terrorism. It is a not a coherent or easily defined movement, but rather a shifting, complex and overlapping milieu of individuals, groups and movements (online and offline) espousing different but related ideologies, often linked by hatred and racism toward minorities, xenophobia, islamophobia or anti-Semitism."
"The EDPB generally considers that data and technology used to help fight COVID-19 should be used to empower, rather than to control, stigmatise, or repress individuals. Furthermore, while data and technology can be important tools, they have intrinsic limitations and can merely leverage the effectiveness of other public health measures. The general principles of effectiveness, necessity, and proportionality must guide any measure adopted by Member States or EU institutions that involve processing of personal data to fight COVID-19."
"The joint action plan has been signed by Immigration Minister, Chris Philp, and Greece’s Alternate Migration and Asylum Minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, today signalling a firm commitment from both governments to increase cooperation as illegal migration into Europe via Greece remains high."
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