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.
As part of EDRi's series on 'COVIDTech', Greek digital rights organisation Homo Digitalis examines how the pandemic has provided the perfect opportunity for Greek police to make use of new rules allowing the deployment of drones for law enforcement purposes.
Migration scholar Bridget Anderson examines how and why politicians can declare that 'Black Lives Matter' whilst ignoring how racism and contemporary migration policies intersect.
Press release issued by HIAS on 6 July 2020.
The EXCHANGE project, run by the University of Minho in Portugal, has been investigating the cross-border transfer of DNA through the EU's Prüm system and has produced a number of articles of interest.
German interior minister Horst Seehofer wants to press pause on a planned study on racial profiling by the country's police forces, but the justice minister, Christine Lambrecht, has said it is "right and important" that the study take place.
Following six suicide attempts by rescued persons, the crew of the Ocean Viking ship have declared a state of emergency on board. Repeated requests to Italy and Malta to provide a port for disembarkation have either been refused or gone unanswered.
According to press reports, the Danish government is claiming that Damascus is 'safe' and is now undertaking a review of the residence permits of some 900 Syrian refugees from the city.
The German Council Presidency has asked member states whether they are using passenger data collected by airline companies to track people infected with COVID-19, with an eye to expanding the scope of EU legislation on the issue. Currently EU rules are limited to using passenger data for "preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting terrorist offences and serious crime."
Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty, calls for the repeal of the UK's draconian Coronavirus Act, 100 days after it passed into law.
Press release from Oxfam and the Greek Council for Refugees.
A study on the implementation of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) commissioned by the European Parliament's civil liberties commitee (LIBE) concludes that it "has simplified and sped up handover procedures, including for some high-profile cases of serious crime and terrorism," but that there are ongoing challenges "concerning judicial independence, the nature of mutual recognition and its relationship with international and EU law and values, constitutional principles and additional harmonisation measures."
KISA, a human rights organisation based in Cyprus, was recently convicted by the Supreme Court of “defamation” and “harmful forgery” over a 2010 document calling on the government to rescind the appointment of Christos Clerides and Xenis Xenofontos to the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Wired reports on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the justice system, where the vast majority of hearings in magistrates' courts are now being conducted by videolink.
The Court of Justice of the EU has ruled that restrictions imposed by Hungary on civil society organisations - which require registration, declaration and publication for certain categories of groups receiving funds from abroad - are "discriminatory and unjustified", on the grounds that they restrict the free movement of capital and unjustifably impunge upon the fundamental rights to privacy, data protection and freedom of association.
The Swiss Committee for the Defence of the Rights of Migrants has called on the UN Committee Against Torture to launch an inquiry into Italy's role in 'pull-backs' to Libya. A formal inquiry by the Committee would be able to establish the legal facts surrounding Italy's practices.
A new report from Amnesty International looks at how police forces across Europe have enforced lockdown restrictions - and finds that ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups have been disproportionately targeted.
London, 29 June 2020 - The civil liberties organisation Statewatch has today delivered an open letter [1] with hundreds of signatories to Mr Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of International Maritime Organization (IMO), calling on him to revoke the Libyan maritime search and rescue (SAR) zone [2] in order to prevent the so-called Libyan Coast Guard undertaking 'pull-backs' of migrants to Libya, where they face violence, abuse and mistreatment.
The Council of Europe issues a strong statement on World Refugee Day calling for an end to "blatant violations of refugees' rights."
Updated statistics from the Institute of Race Relations lay bare the degree of impunity for the deaths in custody of black, ethnic minority, migrant and refugee persons.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, protests across the Netherlands call for the government to take in 500 unaccompanied child refugees stuck in appalling conditions on Greek islands.
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