Europol löscht NoBorder-Initiativen aus Terrorbericht

3 days 21 hours ago

"Der TE-SAT-Bericht belegt jedes Jahr, wie die Mitgliedstaaten die Definition von Terrorismus missbrauchen und Aktivisten als Bedrohung für die nationale Sicherheit bezeichnen«, sagt Romain Lanneau von Statewatch zu dem nach seiner Ansicht einmaligen Vorgang einer Löschung. Die britische Bürgerrechtsorganisation gehört zu den Trägern einer Kampagne zu Auskunftsersuchen bei Europol. Mutmaßlich Betroffene sollen bei der Polizeiagentur anfragen, welche Daten dort über sie gespeichert sind und etwaige »Treffer« den Organisatoren zurückmelden."

Full story here.

Statewatch

Svensken som ska hålla Frontex på mattan: ”Kan inte vara överallt”

3 days 21 hours ago

"I samband med att Grimheden tillträdde sin post år 2021 stärktes hans inflytande. Frontex ledning måste nu ta hans råd i beaktande. Tidigare var detta inget krav.

En som noga håller koll på Frontex förehavanden i Grekland och andra länder är Yasha Maccanico på organisationen Statewatch. Han säger att Jonas Grimheden är en man med ett svårt, nästintill omöjligt, uppdrag.

– Frontex är en myndighet vars principiella uppgift är att sätta stopp för så kallad illegal migration, med det ultimata målet att deportera så många som möjligt. Så det finns en hel del att kritisera, men Grimheden opererar också i en kontext där det är svårt att inte kränka vissa rättigheter eller acceptera att sådana sker.

Om inte, skulle Grimheden behöva driva ett flerfrontskrig för att göra förändringar på flera plan inom Frontex. Han har istället valt att laga efter läge, säger Yasha Maccanico.
– Han vill inte ställa till för många problem.

Om denna hållning kan man enligt Yasha Maccanico tycka vad man vill. Men om Frontex skulle ha en chef för mänskliga rättigheter som ständigt rör om i grytan skulle det kunna försvåra myndighetens arbete i vissa länder.

– Frontex är beroende av medlemsstaternas goda vilja och måste välkomnas av dem, säger han."

Full article here (paywall).

Statewatch

People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes

3 days 23 hours ago

"When pressed on how a decade of ideas and proposals to curb the smuggling business has actually led to a historic profits among smugglers, the European Commission was unable to provide answers.

"We have to understand this in a broader context of organised criminal landscape," responded Ylva Johansson, the EU's home affairs commissioner.

Asked if state-perpetrated pushbacks created business opportunities for smugglers, Johansson said EU states had an obligation to protect their borders.

An internal report the EU's police agency Europol, cited by London-based NGO Statewatch, says the demand for people-smugglers has indeed increased. But it also says this demand "is fuelled by increased 'push factors' in key regions of origin, combined with the increase in technical obstacles."

Statewatch says those "technical obstacles" include border walls, surveillance technologies, and other forms of border controls that fall within the remit of the EU and its member states."

Full story here.

Statewatch

Visafreiheit: USA wollen Zugriff auf EU-Biometriedaten bilateral durchsetzen

3 days 23 hours ago

"Für Chris Jones, den Direktor der britischen Bürgerrechtsorganisation Statewatch, steht aber außer Frage, dass die USA weiter "Zugriff auf die wachsende Palette biometrischer Datenbanken der EU" begehrten. Es sei daher wichtig, möglicherweise schon laufende Verhandlungen über bilaterale Übereinkünfte im Blick zu behalten. Bislang hinterfragten etwa die deutsche und die französische Regierung den Mehrwert der geforderten "Partnerschaft". Ein Punkt war dabei die mit dem VWP eigentlich gewährte "vollständige Gegenseitigkeit" des Datenzugangs. Denn schon Anfang des Jahres merkte die damalige schwedische EU-Ratspräsidentschaft an, dass es an einer solchen Reziprozität mangele. Dies deutet laut Statewatch daraufhin, "dass die USA mehr erhalten wollten, als sie bereit waren zu geben".

Full story here, and see our article here.

Statewatch

Migrazioni: l’Unione Europea pianifica nuovi accordi con Egitto e Tunisia mentre continua a sostenere la Libia nella lotta alle partenze

3 days 23 hours ago

"La Commissione europea pianifica nuovi accordi da stringere con Tunisia ed Egitto entro la fine dell’anno, nonostante le denunce di lunga data di abusi contro migranti e rifugiati in entrambi i paesi nordafricani, scrive l’Organizzazione Non Governativa basata a Londra Statewatch. Il piano per questi nuovi partenariati è menzionato in un allegato contenuto in una lettera della presidente della Commissione europea, Ursula von der Leyen, inviata al Consiglio europeo prima della riunione di ottobre."

Full story here and see our article here.

Statewatch

EU will drohendes Grenzchaos mit Biometrie und App verhindern

3 weeks 6 days ago

"Mit einiger Verspätung will die EU in einem Jahr ihr „Einreise-/Ausreisesystem“ (EES) starten. Dann müssen auch Reisende aus Ländern, mit denen Brüssel die gegenseitige Visafreiheit vereinbart hat, an den Außengrenzen vier Fingerabdrücke und ihr Gesichtsbild abgeben. Die spanische EU-Präsidentschaft warnt nun in einem Schreiben die 27 Mitgliedstaaten vor einer „Überlastung der Grenzübergangsstellen“ und kündigt eine Reihe von Maßnahmen an, mit denen die Behörden Chaos vermeiden sollen. Das Dokument hat die britische Organisation Statewatch online gestellt."

Full story here.

Statewatch

Greek data watchdog to rule on AI systems in refugee camps

1 month ago

"In a report published in July, the research outfit Statewatch compared commission funds to Greece between 2014 and 2020 and those projected to be paid between 2021 and 2027, finding that “the funding directed specifically towards borders has skyrocketed from almost €303m to more than €1bn – an increase of 248%”.

Greece’s Centre for Security Studies, a research and consulting institution overseen by the Greek minister of citizen protection, for example, received €12.8m in EU funds to develop border technologies – the most of any organisation analysed in the report during an eight-year period that ended in 2022."

Full story here.

Statewatch

Annual activity report 2022

1 month 3 weeks ago


Read the full report here (pdf). You can find our full annual report and accounts on the website of the Charity Commission.

Rights, freedom and democracy: the struggle is continuous

In a media and information environment dominated by clickbait, sensationalism, misinformation and outright propaganda, the work of Statewatch remains uniquely valuable for its commitment to cold, hard, facts; clear and critical analysis; and straightforward language.

In the midst of multiple ongoing crises that are, in various ways, being used to enhance state power and accelerate militarisation and ‘securitisation’ – wars, the mass displacement of people, racism, the growing normalisation of the far-right, huge increases in the cost of living, ecological devastation – we have continued to carry out our core task of providing critical research, policy analysis and investigative journalism that aims to contribute to the movements and struggles that seek to address them.

In 2022, we did so in the framework of the new strategic plan that we drew up over the course of 2021. This is the first time that Statewatch has adopted such a detailed, long-term plan. It does not introduce any fundamental changes in what we do or why, but has provided an invaluable framework and reference to guide our work, clarity over our objectives, and has already led to some important achievements.

Our first overarching objective is to strengthen civil society’s access to information. In 2022, the primary means by which we pursued this objective was by providing direct access to official documentation that would otherwise not be public: we published more than 100 documents that allow people to see for themselves what is normally discussed behind closed doors, enabling interventions by civil society organisations into secretive legislative deliberations that should take place in public, democratic fora.

Our second overarching objective is to expose and challenge new means of surveillance, coercion and control. We have undertaken in-depth investigations into the externalisation of EU border controls, the new powers granted to EU police agency Europol, post-Brexit policing and security cooperation between the UK and EU, and published an in-depth guide to the EU’s ballooning security budgets.

These issues may not always have immediate impact, nor obvious media appeal – but they represent broader structural changes in state activity that will have a substantial impact over the years to come. The fact that many of our investigations from previous years continue to be cited by other civil society organisations demonstrates the long-term value of this approach.

At the same time, we have also sought to address more ‘immediate’ issues. Our work on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act has contributed to a vital civil society effort to seek human rights protections in a law that, if it does as its drafters intend, will shape the global regulatory environment for a key technology for many years to come, and which will have substantial effects on policing, security, immigration and criminal justice policy. Equally, our news service continued to provide a vital source of information to campaigners, advocacy organisations and journalists seeking up-to-date information: over the course of 2022, we published almost 160 news articles to draw attention to key developments in ongoing legislative and policy discussions.

The third overarching objective set out in our strategic plan is to build a more effective and sustainable organisation. This has required making more time for one-to-one discussions between the director and other staff, ensuring that questions of training, learning and staff development are regularly discussed, and that any problems or concerns can be frankly and openly discussed. It has also required an improvement in material conditions: despite our work largely being financed by grants for projects, in 2022 it was possible to institute a pay increase for all staff. As always, the board has been invaluable in providing advice, guidance and support with these and other questions.

These improvements should not disguise the fact that all our work was carried out on a limited budget and with extremely limited staff time – a total of just 14 working days per week. The size of the organisation is a constant surprise to people familiar with our work but unfamiliar with our internal administration, and the amount achieved in 2022, as every year, is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff, the board and Statewatch’s network of contributors and volunteers.

As this report demonstrates well, 2022 was another productive year for Statewatch. Our reporting, analysis and publications continue to be widely-used by advocacy groups, campaigning organisations, lawyers and many others, and our work is regularly featured in the press across Europe and the wider world, influencing public and political debate. Our audience continues to grow steadily and our work is considered reliable, authoritative and timely. The question for 2023 and beyond is how to build upon these foundations so that we can more effectively contribute to the movements for rights, freedoms and democracy that are so desperately needed in Europe and beyond.

Chris Jones
Executive Director

Read the full report here (pdf). You can find our full annual report and accounts on the website of the Charity Commission.

Statewatch

Dünya çapında kullanılıyor: İngiltere, derhal durdurmaları için harekete geçti!

1 month 3 weeks ago

"Statewatch ve dünya çapında 30'dan fazla kuruluş, teknolojinin getirdiği yasal, etik ve diğer endişelere dikkat çekti.

Big Brother Watch, daha önce de yüz tanıma kameralarının Birleşik Krallık'ta çoğu zaman rıza olmaksızın milyonlarca "yüz izi" almasına dikkat çekmiş ve bunu "tehlikeli bir emsal" olarak nitelendirmişti. Bu tür bir teknoloji "mahremiyetimize ve özgürlüklerimize yönelik bir tehdit" olarak görülüyordu."

Full story here.

Statewatch

Surge in police use of facial recognition sparks concerns over wrongful targeting

2 months 1 week ago

Chris Jones, director of Statewatch, said: “There is a significant possibility for innocent people to be wrongly identified and potentially even charged and convicted through the use of this technology.”

Mr Jones warned that use of RFR could perpetuate discriminatory profiling: “We should also be asking who those people are most likely to be.

“The Casey Review confirmed that the Metropolitan Police are institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic, while Avon and Somerset’s own chief constable has admitted her force is institutionally racist.”

Full story here.

Statewatch

Vacancy: Communications Worker

2 months 1 week ago

Statewatch is seeking to recruit a Communications Worker to improve the communication of our work, our engagement with internal and external partners, and to raise the public profile of the organisation. This is a new role within the organisation and you will be key to ensuring that our work is disseminated more effectively to a broader audience, in order to help meet the objectives set out in our strategic plan.

The successful candidate will bring enthusiasm, ideas and creativity to the organisation, along with good organizational and communication skills, attention to detail, and a passion for effectively communicating topics and issues that can be as complex and confusing as they are socially and politically important.

You can find full details of the role and apply here.

Questions and answers about the role

Here we will be posting answers to questions that we have received about the role.

  • What kind of software do you use currently and what do you expect the applicant to use in the role?

At the moment we use open source graphic software (GIMP and occasionally Inkscape). We do not currently produce any video or audio content. We have a preference for using open source software but recognise that this may not always be the most appropriate choice. There will be a budget available to purchase software for the role, if necessary.

Statewatch

Brexit: EU issues guidance after Britons 'wrongfully held' at Schengen borders

2 months 2 weeks ago

"The European Commission has been forced to issue guidance to EU member states on the treatment of UK citizens with post-Brexit residence rights transiting the Schengen borders, after it emerged some were wrongfully detained last year.

The document was distributed on July 14th to national delegations of EU countries, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland/Liechtenstein, but it was made public only on September 5th by Statewatch, a charity reporting on civil liberties."

Full story here.

Statewatch
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