The 'Enemy Within"
State Watcher | 23.08.2001 07:54
"The plans by EU governments to counter protests threaten the
right of free movement and the right to protest. They were rushed
through in secret meetings in just two weeks without any reference
to national or European parliaments."
right of free movement and the right to protest. They were rushed
through in secret meetings in just two weeks without any reference
to national or European parliaments."
STATEWATCH Press Release, 22 August 2001
THE "ENEMY WITHIN":
EU PLANS FOR THE SURVEILLANCE OF PROTESTORS
and THE CRIMINALISATION OF PROTESTS
A special report by Statewatch on the EU's plans to combat future
protests at EU and international meetings in Europe shows the EU
plans would:
* give control of operations to the newly-created EU "Task Force of
Chief Police Officers" which has no legal basis for its activities
* create mechanisms for "operational" cooperation for which there
are no legal powers
* legitimise the ongoing surveillance by "police and intelligence
officers" (internal security services) of "persons or groups likely to
pose a threat to public order and security"
* create national databases of "troublemakers" based on suspicion
and supposition without any legal standards or data protection and
allow the unregulated exchange of this data
* allow EU member states to pass laws to prevent people from
going to protests in other countries if their names have been
recorded as "suspects" or if they have been convicted of minor
public order offences (ie: obstructing the highway)
Statewatch editor, Tony Bunyan, commented:
"The plans by EU governments to counter protests threaten the
right of free movement and the right to protest. They were rushed
through in secret meetings in just two weeks without any reference
to national or European parliaments.
The plans will have little effect on the ground where we are likely to
see more authoritarian policing of protests on the streets. But a
green light has been given to the law enforcement agencies to put
groups concerned with global issues under surveillance on the
grounds that they are all potential "troublemakers".
EU governments should spend their time and resources resolving
the underlying issues which are bringing the people onto the
streets instead of targeting a new "enemy within" which smacks of
Cold War ideology."
The report and full-text documentation is on:
http://www.statewatch.org/news
For further information:
00 44 208 802 1882 (international)
0208 802 1882 (UK)
THE "ENEMY WITHIN":
EU PLANS FOR THE SURVEILLANCE OF PROTESTORS
and THE CRIMINALISATION OF PROTESTS
A special report by Statewatch on the EU's plans to combat future
protests at EU and international meetings in Europe shows the EU
plans would:
* give control of operations to the newly-created EU "Task Force of
Chief Police Officers" which has no legal basis for its activities
* create mechanisms for "operational" cooperation for which there
are no legal powers
* legitimise the ongoing surveillance by "police and intelligence
officers" (internal security services) of "persons or groups likely to
pose a threat to public order and security"
* create national databases of "troublemakers" based on suspicion
and supposition without any legal standards or data protection and
allow the unregulated exchange of this data
* allow EU member states to pass laws to prevent people from
going to protests in other countries if their names have been
recorded as "suspects" or if they have been convicted of minor
public order offences (ie: obstructing the highway)
Statewatch editor, Tony Bunyan, commented:
"The plans by EU governments to counter protests threaten the
right of free movement and the right to protest. They were rushed
through in secret meetings in just two weeks without any reference
to national or European parliaments.
The plans will have little effect on the ground where we are likely to
see more authoritarian policing of protests on the streets. But a
green light has been given to the law enforcement agencies to put
groups concerned with global issues under surveillance on the
grounds that they are all potential "troublemakers".
EU governments should spend their time and resources resolving
the underlying issues which are bringing the people onto the
streets instead of targeting a new "enemy within" which smacks of
Cold War ideology."
The report and full-text documentation is on:
http://www.statewatch.org/news For further information:
00 44 208 802 1882 (international)
0208 802 1882 (UK)
State Watcher