News
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 our RSS feed to get instant alerts.
Europol told to hand over personal data to Dutch activist labelled "terrorist" by Dutch police
Europol has been admonished by the European Data Protection Supervisor for the second time this year, for failing to comply with a request from a Dutch political activist to access the data held on him by the policing agency. The European Data Protection Supervisor's investigation found a series of failings by the agency to comply with the law, at a time when its powers to gather and process data have been vastly increased by a recent legal reform.
Spain: New artificial intelligence agency must put "human rights and social justice at the centre"
An open letter signed by 60 organisations from Spain and beyond, including Statewatch, calls on the Spanish government to ensure that civil society groups and independent experts have a say in designing the recently-proposed Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA). The letter calls for "a clear and a clear and defined civil society participation strategy in the processes and policy development related to Artificial Intelligence," in order to put "human rights and social justice at the centre."
EU to provide €80 million to Egyptian coast guard
The European Commission has confirmed that €23 million will be allocated in 2022 and €57 million in 2023 to provide equipment and services to Egyptian authorities for "search and rescue and border surveillance at land and sea borders".
€72 million for EU security and immigration mission in Niger
The Council of the EU is set to authorise a fresh budget of €72 million for the EU's security and immigration mission in Niger, which is tasked with aiding "Nigerien security actors in the fight against terrorism and organised crime" and the development of "policies, techniques and procedures to effectively control and fight immigration."
Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community: participating agencies named
The state agencies participating in the Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) have been named in a response to a European parliamentary question. Thirty African states are currently participating in the AFIC. The response also says that "Risk Analysis Cells", of which eight have been set up in African states with the assistance of Frontex, are "the backbone" of the AFIC.
External migration control efforts spawn sub-groups and action plans
Various sub-groups and action plans have emerged from the various 'migration dialogues' that have been set up over the last decade, such as the Khartoum Process, the Rabat Process and the Budapest Process. This includes cooperation on operational action. The 'dialogues' bring together EU member states along with other European, African, Central Asian and other states. A recent set of presentations given to a Council of the EU working group make no mention of democratic scrutiny or legitimacy.
EU: “If you build it, the law will come”: bypassing democracy to boost police powers
The European Commission is preparing to award a new round of funding to build a system for cross-border searches of “police records”. A legal proposal currently under negotiation would require the establishment of a European Police Records Index System (EPRIS) involving every member and Schengen state and, later on, potentially the UK. The current funding is part of a long-standing attempt to lay the technical foundations for the system before the law is in place, as has happened with previous EU surveillance schemes.
UK: Unprecedented coalition calls on MPs to vote against the Rights Removal Bill
Statewatch, along with 122 other human rights, civil society and community organisations, is calling on MPs to vote against the proposed 'Bill of Rights', introduced to replace the Human Rights Act and water down or replace the protections afforded to individuals by the Act. The 'Bill of Rights', more widely-known as the Rights Removal Bill, "is unnecessary, unevidenced, unworkable, and unwanted – and it is individuals who will bear the brunt of its harmful effects," says a new joint briefing, a copy of which has been sent to every MP.
European police facial recognition system must be halted, warns new paper
A new position paper published today by the European Digital Rights (EDRi) network calls for MEPs to oppose plans to create an EU-wide police facial recognition system that may, in the future, also include the UK. The plans are part of the 'Prüm II' proposals that instrumentalise one of the fundamental principles of the EU – the free movement of people between states – to legitimise the need for even more policing.
Statement on French visa policy: discrimination and injustice
28 organisations from France, Morocco, Tunisia and Belgium yesterday published a statement denouncing France's refusal of visas to citizens of Maghreb countries "as a sanction because the latter refuse to repatriate their undocumented nationals." The statement condemns the approach of the French authorities as "a collective, unfair punishment, indiscriminately targeting all Algerians, Moroccans or Tunisians."
UK-EU: Police cooperation: the Home Office gets it wrong on data protection
Back in March, members of the House of Lords discussed the state-of-play of police and judicial cooperation between the UK and EU, and were informed by a government minister that such cooperation does not depend on maintaining adequate data protection standards. The text of the relevant UK-EU treaty, however, says otherwise.
EU: Council establishes new working party on defence industry as part of military push
On 29 June, member state ambassadors to the EU agreed to create an 'Ad hoc Working Party on defence industry'. This Working Party will report to the EU Foreign Affairs Council, providing advice on draft legislative acts and other legal acts on issues related to the European defence industrial and technological base (EDTIB) – that is, the military industry at large.
EU: Police plans for the “future of travel” are for “a future with even more surveillance”
Plans hatched by Europol and Frontex to develop a “European System for Traveller Screening” that would require massive data processing and automated profiling have been condemned as ushering in “a future with even more surveillance” by German left MEP Cornelia Ernst, who told Statewatch that “the daily lives of millions of people” should not be shaped by “agencies that long ceased to be controllable by the public and the parliament.”
USA: Attorneys and journalists illegally searched during visits with Julian Assange sue CIA and Michael Pompeo
Plaintiffs call on DOJ to drop charges; Members of legal team were illegally surveilled inside Ecuadorian embassy, violating fourth amendment. Indictment against Julian Assange cannot stand as a result of gross government misconduct.
Frontex celebrates "expanding footprint" beyond the EU in report on third country cooperation
EU border agency Frontex is obliged to report annually to the European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the EU on its cooperation with non-EU countries. The 2021 report, obtained by Statewatch and published here, focuses on an expanding influence in the Western Balkans, information sharing, the expansion of the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) to non-EU states, and deportations.
Italy: Migration, borders and freedom of information: decree aims to “nullify any glimmer of transparency”
The decree, approved quietly in March, provides a blueprint for official opacity – vast swathes of documents are now deemed “inaccessible”.
UK: New campaign to keep Campsfield immigration detention centre closed
In 2019, Campsfield detention centre near Oxford was closed following the publication of a government review on the treatment of vulnerable people in immigration detention. Local campaigners had staunchly opposed the centre for years. Now, the government intends to reopen it and house up to 400 men there, pending deportation - possibly to Rwanda. A new campaign aims to halt the plans.
Minutes of the EU-USA justice and home affairs ministerial meeting
The meeting was held in Paris on 23 June 2022. Cybercrime, ransomware, child sexual abuse, environmental crime and judicial cooperation were all discussed under the heading of "prospects for strengthening transatlantic coooperation".
UK: Deployment of armed forces in support of civilian authorities on the rise
The use of the armed forces to support civilian authorities in the UK increased sharply in recent years, peaking during the Covid-19 pandemic emergency. From 2016 to 2019 there were between 123 and 157 requests per year within the Military Aid to Civilian Authorities (MACA), marked by a slow progressive increase. Requests grew to 550 in 2020 and then fell to 332 in 2021, returning close to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 (with 76 requests received until 26 May).
European Ombudsman: more transparency and fundamental rights training needed at Frontex
A strategic inquiry into Frontex's compliance with fundamental rights obligations under its enhanced mandate (2019 Regulation) concluded in January, with the Ombudsman “ask[ing] Frontex to improve its accountability”. The results are very mild compared to the OLAF report, excerpts of which were leaked by Der Spiegel on 28 July.
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