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1. UK: Metropolitan Police and the killing of Blair Peach in 1979:
2. ITALY: COE: Committee on Torture concern at detention regime for terrorism suspects
3. EU: Council of the European Union:Justice and Home Affairs Council
4. EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 23 April 2010, Brussels: Press release
5. UK: Airline pilot cleared of role in 9/11 after ‘nine years of hell’
6. ITALY-TUNISIA: ECtHR rules against Italy in Trabelsi expulsion case
7. EU: ACTA agreement: ACTA negotiating parties finally succumb to pressure
8. EDRI: ACTA: European Commission transparently ignores European Parliament
9. EU: Commission: Proposal for a Directive: sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
10. USA: EPIC Press release:Petition for Suspension of TSA Full Body Scanner Program
11. German civil society calls for a definitive end to telecommunications data retention
12. European Commission: Stockholm Programme Action Plan: Statewatch Analysis
13. Statewatch Analysis: The right to protest: “Troublemakers” to be recorded on database and targeted
14. Statewatch Analysis: EU proposals to increase the financial transparency of charities
15. EU: Council of the European Union: New measures
16. EU: Council of the European Union:Annual report: Regulation for public access to EU documents
17. Spain: Report on conditions and abuses in Basque centre for unaccompanied foreign minors
18. FRONTEX: Indymedia: Presentation of the current role and future of the agency

1. UK: Metropolitan Police and the killing of Blair Peach in 1979: INQUEST: Press release:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/uk-blair-peach-inquest-press-release-cass-report.pdf

Link to full-text of report: www.met.police.uk/foi/units/blair_peach.htm

Celia Stubbs, partner of Blair Peach, said:

“This report totally vindicates what we have always believed – that Blair was killed by one of six officers from Unit 1 of the Special Patrol Group whose names have been in the public domain over all these years: Insp Murray, PC White, PC Richardson, PC Scottow, PC Freestone and PS Lake. That serves only to emphasise that there can be no excuse for the way in which the writer of the report, like the police generally, sought to criminalise the many protestors including Blair at the demonstration against the National Front election meeting.”

Footnote: Blair Peach was killed by the member of the Met’s Special Patrol Group (SPG) in Southall at a massive protest against the National Front in April 1979. The then Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, David McNee, said at a press conference on 14 June 1979 introducing his annual report: “If you keep off the streets of London and behave yourself you won’t have to worry about the SPG”

2. ITALY: Council of Europe’s Committee on Torture (CPT) express concern at detention regime for terrorism suspects: Report (April 2010):
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/italy-cpt-coe-report.pdf

3. EU: Council of the European Union: A number of measures which could not be adopted at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 23 April (see below) were adopted by the General Affairs Council on 26 April 2010:

– Council Conclusions on an Action Plan to implement the concerted strategy to combat cybercrime:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-cyber-crime-action-plan-5957-rev2-10.pdf

– Council Resolution on a Model Agreement for setting up joint cooperation teams under Chapter 5 of Decision 2008/615/JHA:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-joint-teams-terr-crime-7991-10.pdf

– Council Conclusions on strengthening cooperation between national bodies or structures responsible for analysis of the terrorist threat:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-nat-cooperation-terr-8571-10.pdf

– Council Decision supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union:
register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/10/st08/st08089.en10.pdf

4. EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 23 April 2010, Brussels: Press release:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-jha-council-23-4-10-prov-prel.pdf

“B” Points agenda: www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-jha-b-points-agenda-23-4-10.pdf
“A” Points: non-legislative: www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-jha-a-points-non-legislative-agenda-23-4-10.pdf

“Due to the fact that not enough member states were represented at ministerial level, the Council couldn’t adopt any of the agenda items, including A-items. They will be adopted at a later Council.”

The “B” Points agenda included: EU-USA-SWIFT: European Commission proposals for new SWIFT negotiations with the USA for access to all financial transactions in the EU: SEC(2010)315 final: Full-text: www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-usa-swift-II-proposals-2.pdf

5. UK: Airline pilot cleared of role in 9/11 after ‘nine years of hell’ (Guardian, link):
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/23/airline-pilot-cleared-9-11-lotfi-raissi/print

“The pilot falsely accused of training the hijackers responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks has won his almost decade-long miscarriage of justice battle. Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian living in Britain who lost his career as an airline pilot, suffered wrongful imprisonment and damage to his health, will now be eligible for up to £2m compensation.”

Previous coverage: Two “terrorist” suspects, held for months in prison, freed by the court for lack of evidence:
www.statewatch.org/news/2002/feb/11freed.htm

6. ITALY-TUNISIA: ECtHR rules against Italy in Trabelsi expulsion case
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/04italy-tunisia.htm

7. EU: ACTA agreement: ACTA negotiating parties finally succumb to pressure; release draft document of the agreement:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/ep-acta-press-release.pdf

Released text of draft ACTA agreement:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-com-acta-docs-apr-10.pdf

“”The decision to release a draft document of the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement is, above all, a belated act of common sense from the side of the negotiating parties. For the last 2 years, the future of internet as we know it has been negotiated behind closed doors, without the least care for public scrutiny. This is now changing.”

MEPs Stavros Lambrinidis (Greece), Francoise Castex (France), Alexander Alvaro (Germany) and Zuzana Roithova (Czech Republic)

8. EDRI: ACTA: European Commission transparently ignores European Parliament (link):
www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.8/acta-transparency-european-comission

9. EU: European Commission: Proposal for a Directive on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, repealing Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-com-directive-sexual-abuse-pornography-com-94-10.pdf

10. USA: Electronic Priacy Information Centre (EPIC) Press release:Petition for Suspension of TSA Full Body Scanner Program:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/aclu-petition-body-scanners.pdf

“More than thirty organizations across the political spectrum have filed a formal petition with the Department of Homeland Security, urging the federal agency to suspend the airport body scanner program.”

11. German civil society calls for a definitive end to telecommunications data retention (link):
www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/362/79/lang%2Cen/

12. European Commission: Stockholm Programme: Statewatch Analysis: Commission: Action Plan on the Stockholm Programme: A bit more freedom and justice and a lot more security by Tony Bunyan:
www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-95-stockholm-action-plan.pdf

“The “harnessing of the digital tsunami” as advocated by the EU Future Group and the surveillance society, spelt out in Statewatch’s “The Shape of Things to Come” is embedded in the Commission’s Action Plan as it is in the Stockholm Programme…There is no mention of the European Security Research Programme (ESRP). Much of the technological development is being funded under the 1.4 billion euro security research programme.”

– Statewatch Briefing: European Commission: Action Plan on the Stockholm Programme: Comments by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex:
www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-94-stockholm-action-plan-comments-steve-peers.pdf

– Full-text: Communication from the Commission: Delivering an area of freedom, security and justice for Europe’s citizens Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme (COM 171/2010):
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-com-stockholm-programme.pdf

– European Parliament: GUE (United Left): Commission criminal justice and data plan “a dream come true for security fetishists:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/ep-gue-stockholm-prel.pdf

13. The Action Plan includes proposals to track “troublemakers”: Statewatch Analysis: The right to protest: “Troublemakers” and “travelling violent offenders [undefined] to be recorded on database and targeted by Tony Bunyan:
www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-93-troublemakers-apr-10.pdf

“Since the onset of the EU’s response to the “war on terrorism” the prime targets have been Muslim and migrant communities together with refugees and asylum-seekers. Now there is an emerging picture across the EU that demonstrations and the democratic right to protest are among the next to be targeted to enforce “internal security”.

14. Statewatch Analysis: EU proposals to increase the financial transparency of charities and non-profit organisations by Ben Hayes:
www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-92-briefing-eu-financial-transparency-charities.pdf

“The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has strongly promoted the thesis that terrorist organisations use laundered money for their activities, and that charities are a potential conduit for terrorist organisations.”

15. EU: Council of the European Union (27 govenments):

– The European Public Prosecutor’s Office in the European judicial area. Council Presidency discussion paper:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-european-public-prosecutors-office-8614-10.pdf

“Article 86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides for the possibility of establishing a European Public Prosecutor’s Office in order to combat crimes affecting the financial interests of the Union, and also provides in paragraph 4 for the possibility of the European Council, at the same time or subsequently, extending the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to include serious crime having a cross-border dimension.

– Draft Council Conclusions on the use of a standardised, multidimensional semistructured instrument for collecting data and information on the processes of radicalisation in the EU: www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-info-gathering-uardicalisation-8570-10.pdf

“it is recommended that the Member States take steps to share information on radicalisation and put in place mechanisms to systematically analyse and assess the extent of radicalisation on the basis of a multidisciplinary approach”

– Draft Council conclusions on strengthening cooperation between national bodies or structures responsible for analysis of the terrorist threat:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-terrorist-coordination-8571-10.pdf

“Promote interaction, on a voluntary and informal basis, between the coordination bodies or structures, or nominated as such, through regular meetings of their heads and experts to address matters of common interest, in particular:

– evaluation of the national threat,
– best practices in the field of data integration, and
– training of analysts.”

16. EU: Council of the European Union: 8th Annual report for 2009 on the Regulation for public access to EU documents:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/eu-council-annual-report-2009-access-regulation.pdf

17. Spain: Report on conditions and abuses in Basque centre for unaccompanied foreign minors:
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/03spain-basque-unaccompanied-foreign-minors.htm

“SOS Racismo Gipuzkoa’s (Mugak) working group on unaccompanied foreign minors has produced a report on the conditions in which minors held in the centre in Oilur de Deba were kept and the unlawful practices that they suffered.”

18. FRONTEX: Indymedia: Presentation of the current role and future of the agency (French):
www.statewatch.org/news/2010/apr/indymedia-frontex-presentation.pdf

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