1. EU: Commission to resurrect biometric ID cards?
2. EU: European Commission work programme for 2006
3. Swiss Police face jail for nearly killing two activists in Evian 2003
4. Spain: The number of migrant deaths rises again
5. Report from an Autistic Country by Dennis Tollborg, Sweden
6. Freedom of speech is not an absolute: an interview with A. Sivanandan
7. USA: General Accountability Office (GAO) report:"Secure Flight" programme
8. UK: Harry Stanley family disgust at decision not to discipline police
9. EU-ECJ: Opinion of the Advocate-General of the ECJ: EU-USA PNR case
10. Amnesty International report: Guantánamo: Lives torn apart
11. UK: Joint Committee on Human Rights: Government response to report on the Terrorism Bill
12. Freedom of Information: Overview of FOIA Countries Worldwide
13. UK: Racial profiling and anti-terror stop and search, IRR News Service
14. EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 21 February
15. EU: Final text of Data retention Directive
16. UK: First official review of Terrorism Act 2005
17. Greece: Prime minister and top officials' phones tapped
18. EU: Commission: White Paper on a European Communication Policy
19. ECJ rule against Spain on refusal of entry based on SIS alert
20. EU: Communication on cooperation with third countries migration and asylum

1. EU: Commission to resurrect biometric ID cards?
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/02com-Id-cards.htm

- Belgium and Czech Republic insist that biometrics are not automatically added to national ID cards
- European Commission admits "there are doubts about the legal bases"
- Attempt to treat introduction of biometrics as a "technical" issue

2. EU: European Commission work programme for 2006:
Justice and home affairs issues (or JLS as they call them, 17 pages, pdf):
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/com-forward-program-jha-06.pdf

Full programme (128 pages, pdf):  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/com-forward-program-06.pdf

Most initiatives could be predicted including the forgotten EU PNR (passenger name record) system which will give law enforcement agencies access to personal data for flights "to, through, or from the EU". The proposal to allow for the exchange of information in national registers (JLS 116) would appear to extend the so-called "principle of availability" to non-police databases (such as vehicles, residence and so on). See also: Biometric ID cards (above)

3. Swiss Police face jail for nearly killing two activists in Evian 2003
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/05evian-trial.htm

4. Spain: The number of migrant deaths rises again:
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/03spain-migrants-deaths.htm

5. Report from an Autistic Country by Dennis Tollborg, Sweden (pdf):
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/T%F6llborg-report-from-an-autistic-country.pdf

Far-ranging lecture on the use and abuse of national security, the role of intelligence agencies and how the lives of people targeted can be ruined.

6. Freedom of speech is not an absolute: an interview with A. Sivanandan, Director of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR News Service, link):
 http://www.irr.org.uk/2006/february/ha000014.html

7. USA: General Accountability Office (GAO) report on the "Secure Flight" programme which monitors domestic flights finds that the: "lack of progress indicates that the program has not been effectively managed and is at risk of failure" (p43). For example, none of the privacy and redress protections have ben put in place. International flights are to be monitored through the Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) scheme: See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/us-gao-secure-flight.pdf

8. UK: Harry Stanley family disgust at decision not to discipline police: Press release (pdf):
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/harry-stanley-press-release.pdf

9. EU-ECJ: Opinion of the Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice (delivered on 22 November 2005) Now avaiable in English. Case C-317/04: European Parliament v Council of the European Union on the transfer of PNR (passenger name record data) to the USA:
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/ecj-pnr-opinion.pdf

10. Amnesty International report: Guantánamo: Lives torn apart ­ The impact of indefinite detention on detainees and their families (link):
See:  http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510072006

11. UK: Joint Committee on Human Rights: Government response to report on the Terrorism Bill, Deportation and exclusion and the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill (pdf):  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/jt-hr-cttee-terrorismgov-resp-06.pdf

The Committee's report, December 2005 (pdf):
 http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/jt-hr-cttee-terrorism-05.pdf

12. Freedom of Information: Overview of FOIA Countries Worldwide ­ 1, February 2006. Excellent overview compiled by Roger Vleugels with help from the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIA Network):  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/foia-feb-2006.pdf

13. UK: Racial profiling and anti-terror stop and search (IRR News Service, link):
See:  http://www.irr.org.uk/2006/january/ha000025.html

14. EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 21 February, Brussels: B Point agenda (pdf). Note no document number are included.
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/jha-B-Point-agenda.pdf

15. EU: Final text of Data retention Directive (Council doc. 3677/05, 3.2.06, pdf):
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/st03677-05.pdf

For background see Statewatch Observatory on the surveillance of telecommunications in the EU:
 http://www.statewatch.org/eu-data-retention.htm

16. UK: First official review of Terrorism Act 2005 calls for release of 8 men held pending "security deportation" (pdf):
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/laws-against-terror.pdf

In his first annual review of the PTA 2005, Lord Carlisle, the UK's "independent" reviewer of terrorism legislation, has expressed "real concern about the detention under deportation procedures (even where bail has been granted) of persons who in practice cannot be deported at present and are unlikely to be capable of legally compliant deportation within a reasonable time". Calling for the release of 8 men under "control orders", Lord Carlile also recorded his "anxiety about the duration of control orders in relation to individual controlees, if the system is (as I expect) continued".

17. Greece: Prime minister and top officials' phones tapped by "unknown individuals" (Guardian, 3.2.04, link):
See:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0%2C%2C5390556-103681%2C00.html

The mobile phones of Greek prime minister Costas Caramanlis and top government and security officials were tapped by unknown individuals during the Athens 2004 Olympics and for nearly a year after, the government said yesterday. The list of about 100 people whose telephones were tapped included the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, public order and justice. Most of Greece's top military and police officers were also targeted, as were foreign ministry officials. The phone tappers used interceptors traced to the vicinity of the US embassy.

18. EU: Commission: White Paper on a European Communication Policy (pdf) COM(2006) 35 final:
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/jan/com-comm-white-paper.pdf

19. ECJ rule against Spain on refusal of entry based on SIS alert - judgment:
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/01com-spain-ecj.htm

20. EU: Commission Communication on Thematic programme for the cooperation with third countries in the areas of migration and asylum COM(2006) 26 final
See:  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/jan/com-third-coun-mig-26.pdf


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