Government surveillance does not breach human rights -- Amnesty International disagrees

  • 7 December 2014
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By Mark Wilson
 
Amnesty International hit out at a court ruling that found communication surveillance carried out by UK secret services did not breach human rights. Amnesty UK and Privacy International brought the case to court following revelations by Edward Snowden that showed GCHQ (UK secret services) and the NSA had been spying on people by monitoring their correspondence.
But a panel of judges found that the actions of GCHQ do not contravene the European Convention of Human Rights. Amnesty said the result was "disappointing if unsurprising" and indicated that it will appeal at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
 
The appeal has to take place in Strasburg because rulings by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal cannot be appealed in the UK. Amnesty International -- in conjunction with Liberty and Privacy International as well as other groups -- says that the dragnet style of surveillance not only breached individuals' right to privacy, but also their freedom of expression.
 
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 Submitted by Mike Rispoli on Fri, 12/05/2014
 
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) today followed its previous judgments in finding that UK security services’ may in principle carry out mass surveillance of all fibre optic cables entering or leaving the UK under RIPA, the 2000 law that pre-dates the modern internet.
In summary, the Tribunal in today's decision said the system of mass surveillance disclosed by Edward Snowden could in principle be lawful. But the Tribunal has asked for more submissions about whether receiving bulk intercepted material from foreign intelligence agencies (such as the NSA) has been lawful until up now. This is because until the recent hearings, the rules and procedures governing intelligence sharing have been kept totally secret. The European Convention on Human Rights usually requires that the rules and procedures be public.
The Tribunal has not yet decided whether the bulk surveillance disclosed by Edward Snowden is justified.
 
 Investigatory Powers Tribunal rules GCHQ mass surveillance programme TEMPORA is legal in principle | Privacy International

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