Statewatch News Online, 4 November 2013 (19/13): Metropolitan police detained David Miranda for promoting ‘political’ causes

November 4, 2013

4 November 2013 — Statewatch

1.   EU: Council of the European Union: POST-STOCKHOLM PROGRAMME
2.   EU: Council of the European Union: “Foreign fighters”, Migratory “pressures”, EEAS review & 2012 World Human Rights report
3.   EU: EUROPOL REGULATION: DRAFT Second Opinion of the Joint Supervisory Body of Europol
4.   EU-CIA: Poland asks court to hear CIA jails case in private
5.   NETHERLANDS: Dutch State should provide basic need for undocumented migrants
6.   UK: EU JHA OPT-OUT: “purely symbolic”:
7.   GERMANY: DRONES: ECCHR expert opinion
8.   UK: The Last Ambush? Aspects of mental health in the British armed forces
9.   UN HUMAN RIGHTS: Drone attacks: UN rights experts express concern about the potential illegal use of armed drones
10. UK: Metropolitan Police accused of ‘spying’ on Green Party Councillor
11. EU Council of the European Union: Seasonal workers, final text
12. EU: EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDER
13. EU virtual border scheme based on ‘creative’ figures
14. UK: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Home Affairs Select Committee: Committee launches counter-terrorism inquiry
15. UK: Whats wrong with APNR?

EU-UK-USA DATA SURVEILLANCE
See Statewatch Observatory: http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm

16. Metropolitan police detained David Miranda for promoting ‘political’ causes
17. Portrait of the NSA: no detail too small in quest for total surveillance
18. EU-UK-GCHQ: GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance
19. SPAIN-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA ‘monitored 60m Spanish calls in a month’
20. AUSTRALIA-UK-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Exposed: Australia’s Asia spy network
21. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA/CIA “Special Collection Service” (SCS) based on 80 locations world-wide
22. EU-SPAIN-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: El CNI facilitó el espionaje masivo de EEUU a España
23. NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say
24. U.S. Says France, Spain Aided NSA Spying — Update
25. ITALY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA, «spiate 46 milioni di telefonate in Italia»
26. GERMANY-USA-DATA-PROTECTION: Appearances and Reality: Merkel Balks at EU Privacy Push
27. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: How embassy eavesdropping works
28. GERMANY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Partner Merkel, Obama im Mai 2012 in Camp David
29. UN: US DATA SURVEILLANCE: General Assembly: Draft Resolution on Privacy
30. GERMANY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA Surveillance: Merkel cell phone is since 2002

USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE

NEWS

1. EU: Council of the European Union: POST-STOCKHOLM PROGRAMME: Discussion Paper on the future development of the JHA area (pdf):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-future-asfj-14898-13.pdf

“The European Council will hold a discussion at its June 2014 meeting to define strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning in the area of freedom, security and justice (pursuant to Article 68 TFEU). In preparation for that meeting, the incoming Presidencies are invited to begin a process of reflection within the Council. The Commission is invited to present appropriate contributions to this process.”[emphasis added]

The Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) “Stockholm Programme” (2010-2014) will be followed by new one to be agreed in June 2014 by the European Council with a view to its formal adoption under the Italian Council Presidency (July-December 2014). The new Programme will set the JHA agenda for the following five years. The European Commission can express a view and the European Parliament can too – but the final decision is taken by the European Council (the EU’s fourth institution). However, it is hard to see how the European Parliament can express a meaningful view unless it receives a draft by the end of the year as its final plenary session is on 14-17 April and European elections are on 22-25 May – it does not meet again in full session until 14-17 July 2014, followed by a summer break until 15-18 September.

2. EU: Council of the European Union: “Foreign fighters”, Migratory “pressures”, EEAS review & 2012 World Human Rights report

– Workstream on foreign fighters – Questionnaire (pdf):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-work-stream-foreign-fighters-cm-4763-13.pdf

“The large majority of Member States supported the CTC proposal to establish workstreams on foreign fighters. They suggested a number of important aspects that could be examined, which could be divided into three major areas of work: departure, travel and return.”

– EU Action on Migratory Pressures – A Strategic Response – 3rd Biannual Update See detailed ANNEX, p3-87.:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-migratory-pressure-strategic-response-14934-13.pdf

– EEAS Review – indications relating to the legal and institutional issues raised by the recommendations (pdf): “EEAS Review – indications of the legal and institutional issues raised by the recommendations”
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-eeas-review-14458-13.pdf

– EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World in 2012 (Country Reports):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-world-human-rights-report-2012-contry-report-9431-add-1rev3-13.pdf

3. EU: EUROPOL REGULATION: DRAFT Second Opinion of the Joint Supervisory Body of Europol (Opinion 13/56) with respect to the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Training (Europol):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-jsb-opinion-proposed-europol-regulation.pdf

The Joint Supervisory Body concludes that the proposed Regulation “would result in a much weaker Europol data protection regime”. For example, the JSB questions why the long-standing definition of a serious crime is replaced by the criterion “forms of crime which affect a common interest covered by a Union policy“?

and see: European Commission: Proposal for a Regulation on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Training (Europol) and repealing Decisions 2009/371/JHA and 2005/681/JHA:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-com-proposed-europol-regulation.pdf

4. EU-CIA: Poland asks court to hear CIA jails case in private (Reuters, link):
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/30/uk-poland-cia-prisons-idUKBRE99T17820131030

“Poland’s government has asked the European Court of Human Rights to exclude the media and the public from a court hearing on whether Poland hosted a secret CIA prison on its territory. The request for a private hearing was criticised by a Polish human rights group, which accuses the state of trying to conceal its involvement in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” programme behind a veil of secrecy.”

See: Application no. 28761/11 Abd Al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad AL NASHIRI against Poland lodged on 6 May 2011 STATEMENT OF FACTS:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/nov/cia-echr-al-nashri-poland.pdf

and Application no. 7511/13 Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad HUSAYN (ABU ZUBAYDAH) against Poland lodged on 28 January 2013 STATEMENT OF FACTS
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/nov/cia-echr-husayn-poland.pdf

5. NETHERLANDS: Dutch State should provide basic need for undocumented migrants:

The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) has ruled, in a ‘decision on immediate measures’ (on October 25 2013) that the Dutch state has an obligation to provide for basic needs (shelter, food and clothing) to persons living in the Netherlands who are not granted residence permits.
“to such an extent that undocumented migrants have access to shelter, food and clothing in order to safeguard their human dignity and prevent further harm”

This is a provisory ruling, the definitive is still to come. But it could also set a precedent for other European countries denying undocumented migrants these rights. The ruling was done on the request of a claim by the Dutch Protestant Churches, via the Conference of European Churches.

See the full text of the decision here:
http://www.kerkinactie.nl/site/uploadedDocs/02E902013decisiononimmediatemeasures.pdf

6. UK: EU JHA OPT-OUT: “purely symbolic”: House of Commons, Justice Committee: Ministry of Justice measures in the JHA block opt-out :
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/nov/uk-hoc-justice-cttee-uk-jha-eu-opt-out.pdf

“We note that the UK already meets all the standards concerned, and conclude that the arguments for opting into these measures are “primarily symbolic”, and those arguments do not “outweigh the disadvantages of bringing wide areas of criminal justice in the UK unnecessarily into the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union” and

Home Affairs Select Committee: Pre-Lisbon Treaty EU police and criminal justice measures: the UK’s opt-in decision:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/nov/uk-hoc-home-affairs-cttee-uk-jha-eu-opt-out.pdf

“If the Government proceeds with the opt-in as proposed, we note that it will not result in ny repatriation of powers. Indeed, the increased jurisdiction of the ECJ may result in a net flow of powers in the opposite direction.”

7. GERMANY: ECCHR expert opinion on German Federal Prosecutor’s decision to discontinue investigations into killing of German national by a drone (engl. Version): “The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights analyzed the German prosecutor’s decision to discontinue investigations into the death of Bünyamin E. in Pakistan in October 2010. According to the ECCHR’s examination, the decision raises a number of serious doubts as to the application and interpretation of the law and shows insufficient investigations. The expert opinion is intended to enable the family of Bünyamin E. to exercise their rights.” http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/ecchr-drones-expert-opinion-2013-10-30.pdf

8. UK: The Last Ambush? Aspects of mental health in the British armed forces (Forces Watch, link): “ForcesWatch published a major report detailing how post-war mental health problems are most common in young soldiers from disadvantaged backgrounds; also in veterans who left the forces in the last decade. The report, and our campaign to raise the age of recruitment to 18, got considerable media attention”
http://www.forceswatch.net/content/last-ambush

9.UN HUMAN RIGHTS: Drone attacks: UN rights experts express concern about the potential illegal use of armed drones (link)
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13905&LangID=E

10. UK: Metropolitan Police accused of ‘spying’ on Green Party Councillor (link):
http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2013/10/28/metropolitan-police-accused-of-spying-on-green-party-councillor/

“The accusations follow a Freedom of Information request revealing 22 police records relating to the Councillor Ian Driver’s activities as a campaigner in his local area. The majority of entries relate to Driver’s role as an organiser of a campaign protesting against the export of live animals from Ramsgate and Dover ports. One record notes a meeting in support of equal marriage organised by Councillor Driver. The records released to Driver by the Metropolitan Police after he submitted a Data Protection Subject Access Request include 22 database entries covering the period June 2011 until June 2013.”

Everyone should read this response to the FOI request: Details of the surveillance of Councillor Driver:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/uk-driver-police-report.pdf

11. EU Council of the European Union: Seasonal workers, final text: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of seasonal employment [First reading] – Approval of compromise text (15033-13, 25-10-13, pdf): http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-seasonal-compromise-multicolumn-15033-13.pdf

12. EU: EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDER: Council of the European Union: Initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Estonia, the Kingdom of Spain, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Slovenia and the Kingdom of Sweden for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding the European Investigation Order in criminal matters – Approval of a package of the main elements in the file in view of its final agreement: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/eu-council-eio-comprise-15196-13.pdf

This nearly final “compromise” between the Council and the European Parliament manages to suggest the ‘correct’ interpretation of all of human rights clauses in the pre-Lisbon measures. However, the impression is that the EP had to trade off this improvement against all the improvements that it wanted to make concerning covert investigations, telephone interception etc.

See also the European Parliament’s “Orientation Vote” setting out its negotiating position before entering secret trilogue meetings with the Council: EIO position (8.5.12): http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/ep-eio-orientation-vote.pdf

13. EU virtual border scheme based on ‘creative’ figures (euobserver, link): “A European Parliament civil liberties report suggests the European Commission used misleading arguments to back its billion-euro plus proposal to finger print non-Europeans on visit to the EU.”
http://euobserver.com/justice/121923

See: European Parliament study: The Commission’s legislative proposals on Smart Borders: their feasibility and costs:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/ep-smart-borders-study.pdf

14. UK: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Home Affairs Select Committee: Committee launches counter-terrorism inquiry (link):
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/130723-counter-terrorism-new-inquiry/

and Evidence submitted (link):
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/home-affairs/CT%20Written%20Evidence.pdf

15. UK: Whats wrong with APNR? (no to cctv, link):
http://www.no-cctv.org.uk/docs/Whats%20Wrong%20With%20ANPR-No%20CCTV%20Report.pdf

“This report focuses on the police use of ANPR as a mass surveillance tool. This is a network of police ANPR cameras that are used alongside a variety of databases that can be used to identify cars and their occupants. The data collected from the cameras is stored in local force databases (known as Back Office Facility or BOF) and in a centralised database the (National ANPR Data Centre or NADC). The data can then be used alongside data mining tools. The details of all vehicles passing police ANPR cameras are stored in these databases – the time, date, location and direction of travel of the vehicle and the image of the license plate are stored for two years and a photograph of the whole car and driver is stored for 90 days”

EU-UK-USA Data Surveillance
See Statewatch Observatory: http://www.statewatch.org/eu-usa-data-surveillance.htm

16. UK-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Metropolitan police detained David Miranda for promoting ‘political’ causes Justification for airport detention of partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald alarms human rights groups and Tory MP (The Observer, link)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/02/david-miranda-detained-political-causes/print

“The detention of the partner of a former Guardian journalist has triggered fresh concerns after it emerged that a key reason cited by police for holding him under terrorism powers was the belief that he was promoting a “political or ideological cause”.

The detention order under Schedule 7 said:

“We assess that Miranda is knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people’s lives. Additionally the disclosure or threat of disclosure is designed to influence a government, and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism and as such we request that the subject is examined under schedule 7.”

17. USA- NSA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Portrait of the NSA: no detail too small in quest for total surveillance The NSA gathers intelligence to keep America safe. But leaked documents reveal the NSA’s dark side – and show an agency intent on exploiting the digital revolution to the full (The Observer, link):
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/02/nsa-portrait-total-surveillance/print

18. EU-UK-GCHQ: GCHQ and European spy agencies worked together on mass surveillance Edward Snowden papers unmask close technical cooperation and loose alliance between British, German, French, Spanish and Swedish spy agencies (Guardian, link):
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/01/gchq-europe-spy-agencies-mass-surveillance-snowden/print

“The German, French, Spanish and Swedish intelligence services have all developed methods of mass surveillance of internet and phone traffic over the past five years in close partnership with Britain’s GCHQ eavesdropping agency…..In the intelligence world, far more than it managed in diplomacy, Britain has made itself an indispensable bridge between America and Europe’s spies.”

The documents used by the Guardian also reveal that the UK’s internal security agency MI5 (Security Service) and MI6 (SIS, Secret Intelligence Service) work with GCHQ not only to extend the technical capabilities of other EU state agencies but also to advise them on how to get round their national laws, for example:

“”We have been assisting the BND (along with SIS [Secret Intelligence Service] and Security Service) in making the case for reform or reinterpretation of the very restrictive interception legislation in Germany,”

See also: National Security Agency: Relationships and Authorities (pdf): including: “Leverage unique key corporate partnerships to gain access to high-capacity international fiber-optic cables, switches and/or routers throughout the world”:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/nov/nsa-relationships-sso1.pdf

19. SPAIN-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA ‘monitored 60m Spanish calls in a month’ (BBC News, link):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24699733?print=true

“The US National Security Agency secretly monitored 60 million phone calls in Spain in one month, Spanish media say….They say the NSA collected the numbers and locations of the caller and the recipient, but not the calls’ content.”

see: La NSA rastreó 60 millones de llamadas en España en un mes (El Pais, link)
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2013/10/27/actualidad/1382912344_420746.html

and see: US struggling to contain Europe spying scandal (euobserver, link):
http://euobserver.com/foreign/121912

20. AUSTRALIA-UK-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Exposed: Australia’s Asia spy network (Sydney Morning Herald, link): “Australian embassies are being secretly used to intercept phone calls and data across Asia as part of a US-led global spying network, according to whistleblower Edward Snowden and a former Australian intelligence officer.”:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/exposed-australias-asia-spy-network-20131030-2whia.html

See also: US spy leaks: How intelligence is gathered (BBC News, link)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24717495

21. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA/CIA “Special Collection Service” (SCS) based on 80 locations world-wide used by NSA for surveillance: Full document (pdf): http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/scs-global-presence-2.pdf

22. EU-SPAIN-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: El CNI facilitó el espionaje masivo de EEUU a España (Il Mundo, link):
http://www.elmundo.es/espana/2013/10/30/5270985d63fd3d7d778b4576.html

“According to the document seen by El Mundo, the US classifies cooperation with various countries on four different levels. In the first group – “Comprehensive Cooperation” – are the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The second group – “Focused Cooperation” – of which Spain is a member, includes 19 countries, all of them European, apart from Japan and South Korea. The third group – “Limited cooperation” – consists of countries such as France, Israel, India and Pakistan; while the fourth – “Exceptional Cooperation” – is made up of countries that the US considers to be hostile to its interests.” (Guardian take on story)

see also New NSA leak: High level of Danish and US intelligence sharing (Copenhagen Post, link):
http://cphpost.dk/international/new-nsa-leak-high-level-danish-and-us-intelligence-sharing

23. NSA infiltrates links to Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say (Washington Post, link):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-infiltrates-links-to-yahoo-google-data-centers-worldwide-snowden-documents-say/2013/10/30/e51d661e-4166-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html

“The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials. By tapping those links, the agency has positioned itself to collect at will from hundreds of millions of user accounts, many of them belonging to Americans. The NSA does not keep everything it collects, but it keeps a lot.

The NSA’s principal tool to exploit the data links is a project called MUSCULAR, operated jointly with the agency’s British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters . From undisclosed interception points, the NSA and the GCHQ are copying entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information among the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants.”

and Spying scandal: Will the ‘five eyes’ club open up? (BBC News, link)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24715168

24. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: U.S. Says France, Spain Aided NSA Spying — Update (Wall Street Journal, link):
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131029-711921.html

“Widespread electronic spying that ignited a political firestorm in France and Spain recently was carried out by their own intelligence services and not by the National Security Agency, U.S. officials say…..U.S. officials said the Snowden-provided documents had been misinterpreted and actually show phone records that were collected by French and Spanish intelligence agencies, and then shared with the NSA, according to officials briefed on those discussions.” and

N.S.A. Head Says European Data Was Collected by Allies (New York Times, link): “The head of the National Security Agency on Tuesday vigorously challenged recent reports that the United States had been gathering the phone records of millions of Europeans, saying that the records had in fact been turned over by allied spy services. “This is not information we collected on European citizens,” said the agency’s director, Gen. Keith B. Alexander. “It represents information that we and our NATO allies have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations…… General Alexander and James R. Clapper Jr., director of national intelligence, broadly defended the N.S.A.’s practice of spying on foreign leaders. Such espionage, they said, was a basic pillar of American intelligence operations that had gone on for decades. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/us/politics/u-s-intelligence-officials-defend-surveillance-operations-on-capitol-hill.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

and see: Europeans spy just as much, US intelligence chiefs say (euobserver, link)
http://euobserver.com/foreign/121941

25. ITALY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA, «spiate 46 milioni di telefonate in Italia» [“NSA: 46 million telephone calls in Italy were spied on”] (corriere della sera, link): http://www.corriere.it/esteri/13_ottobre_28/nsa-spiate-46-milioni-telefonate-italia-63a64e10-3f6e-11e3-849f-64e2eb8e7cda.shtml

and Is Italy next in line for NSA spying revelations? (ZD net, link)
http://www.zdnet.com/is-italy-next-in-line-for-nsa-spying-revelations-7000022512/

Also: NSA faces sweeping review into extent of surveillance – Senate intelligence committee chair Dianne Feinstein, who has been a loyal defender of the NSA, demands a ‘total’ surveillance review (Guardian, link):
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/28/nsa-surveillance-dianne-feinstein-opposed-allies

and US to ‘review’ spying activities amid European outrage (euobserver, link)
http://euobserver.com/foreign/121926

26. GERMANY-USA-DATA-PROTECTION: Appearances and Reality: Merkel Balks at EU Privacy Push (Spiegel Online, link):
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/germany-impedes-eu-privacy-efforts-despite-outrage-at-nsa-spying-a-930488.html

Chancellor Merkel ends up backing UK PM to delay the Regulation on Data Protection:

“Chancellor Merkel has put on a good show of being outraged by American spying. But, at the same time, she has impeded efforts to strengthen data security. Does she really want more privacy, or is she more interested in being accepted into the exclusive group of info-sharing countries known as the ‘Five Eyes’ club?

…American tech corporations could hardly believe their luck at having Merkel’s support. Now they’re hoping for more leeway to water down the data-protection law as soon as the furor over the latest spying scandal has subsided. One high-ranking American tech-company executive told the Financial Times: “When we saw the story about Merkel’s phone being tapped … we thought we were going to lose.” But, he added: “It looks like we won.” “

27. EU-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: How embassy eavesdropping works (Duncan Campbell.org, link): “Secret US espionage activity against Germany, from Germany and revealed this week by Der Spiegel has added new evidence to European concerns about the interception of the phones of the Germany’s Chancellor Merkel and other world leaders. Duncan was a consultant to Der Spiegel for the enquiry and identified the listening “windows” shown”: http://www.duncancampbell.org/embassy-bugging

and The embassy spy centre network (link): “Over 70 US embassies around the world hide joint NSA-CIA “Special Collection Service” (SCS) electronic monitoring centres. The images here show some of the more prominent sites in Europe and the Middle East. All feature rooftop sheds packed with surveillance antenna and equipment: http://www.duncancampbell.org/content/embassy-spy-centre-network

28. GERMANY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: Partner Merkel, Obama im Mai 2012 in Camp David (Die Spiegel, link, 7 MB, large pdf):
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Flinksunten.indymedia.org%2Fde%2Fsystem%2Ffiles%2Fdata%2F2013%2F10%2F6202791715.pdf&ei=Em5uUuXzFbSy7AairoGYBw&usg=AFQjCNGnM0KFr9F7PM2tP9yJLDi8LLw2KQ&bvm=bv.55123115,d.ZGU&cad=rja

CIA/NSA Special Collection Service – The Special Collection Service is a joint CIA-NSA surreptitious entry agency which breaks into targeted facilities to steal secret information. Based on documents addressed to: “USA, AUS,CAN, GBR,NZL” (the “Five-Eyes”)

29. UN: US DATA SURVEILLANCE: General Assembly: Draft Resolution on Privacy (pdf):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2013/oct/un-draft-resolution-on-privacy-us-surveillance.pdf

Including:

“Affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular the right to privacy, including in the context of the surveillance of communications.. [and Calls on all States]

To take measures to put an end to violations of these rights and to create the conditions to prevent such violations, including by ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their international human rights obligations and is effectively implemented”

30. GERMANY-USA: DATA SURVEILLANCE: NSA Surveillance: Merkel cell phone is since 2002 on U.S. eavesdropping list (Spiegel Online, translation, link): http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dder%2Bspiegel%2Bonline%26client%3Dfirefox-beta%26hs%3Dcej%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D652&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=de&u=http:/www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/nsa-ueberwachung-merkel-steht-seit-2002-auf-us-abhoerliste-a-930193-druck.html&usg=ALkJrhjPUYApiy57R0TPS21WopZmx5wFtw

and US bugged Merkel’s phone from 2002 until 2013, report claims (BBC News, link):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24690055?print=true

It appears that Merkel’s telecommunications were placed under surveillance by the NSA’s Special Collection Service (SCS) from 2002, two years after she was elected the CDU’s party leader. Her party was then in opposition and this suggests that the net cast by the SCS operations in Berlin (and in other capitals) extended not just to governments but to potential future government parliamentarians too.

And see: Thousands gather in Washington for anti-NSA ‘Stop Watching Us’ rally – Statement from whistleblower Edward Snowden read to crowd featuring groups from left and right of political spectrum (Guardian, link):
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/26/nsa-rally-stop-watching-washington-snowden/print

USING THE STATEWATCH WEBSITE

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tel: +44(0)20-8802-1882; fax: +44(0)20-8880-1727
http://www.statewatch.org

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Statewatch News Online, 4 November 2013 (19/13): Metropolitan police detained David Miranda for promoting ‘political’ causes

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