Council of Europe urged to make use of biometric data more transparent 31 March 2011 – In response to concerns that European governments are collecting increasing amounts of biometric data from members of the public, Access Info Europe has joined an international civil society alliance in calling on the Council of Europe to collect and publish information about the legal framework regulating biometrics.
Access for Rights: Planned Information Request Actions 1 February 2011, Madrid/London: During the project on Access for Rights, Access Info Europe and Statewatch will use Europe’s access to information laws to get comparative data on civil liberties issues. The goal is to generate information that can be used in advocacy to defend democratic rights. The issues that we will be focusing on include: • Mandatory Data Retention – right to privacy. • EU- Passenger Name Record – right to privacy / freedom of movement • New policing techniques – freedom of assembly. • Biometric Identity Documents – right to privacy
Action: Joint Requests on Data Retention 10 March 2011, Madrid/London: Access Info and Statewatch are inviting civil society across Europe to take part in the first joint information request campaign under the Access for Rights Project.The goal is to present the same request to governments across Europe and then compile the responses for use in human rights advocacy work.
Access Info and Statewatch launch website design competition 17 June 2011: Access Info and Statewatch welcomes all designers and website creators to participate in a competition for the new AccessForRights website. The site aims to bring together activists from all areas of civil society, including of course individuals, who are interested in protecting our civil liberties. Access Info wants to use this website to encourage the public to file access to information requests to public bodies, that relate to our fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, the right to free speech, to freedom of assembly, or to privacy.
Freedom Not Fear Madrid, 11 September 2010 – Access Info Europe participated in the European Action “Freedom Not Fear” with a street action to raise people’s awareness of increased surveillance and data retention. The action will also inform the public that Spain is one of the most secretive countries in Europe with a state secrets law approved in 1968 by General Franco which has never been repealed and no access to information law.
Reform of the European Court of Human Rights Access Info has joined human rights groups from around Europe in calling for the European Court of Human Rights to be given the resources needed to function properly, but not at the expense of other Council of Europe human rights mechanisms. This campaign is in response to planned reforms of the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg and representing 47 European member states and 800 million individuals. In more than 80% of rulings, states are found to have violated human rights. A letter signed by 150 organisations, calls for a
Ireland, Germany, Spain lagging behind on police transparency Ireland is the only country in Europe to exclude the police from the scope of its freedom of information law, in Germany the right to know does not apply to all police forces, and Spain is the largest EU country without an access to information law and so no public right to obtain information from the police. These findings are contained in our new report, The Right to Know: Europe and the Police presented at a conference on police transparency held at the Centre for Freedom of Information, Dundee (Scotland) on 26
Commitment to Review Counter-Terror Laws in Europe On Wednesday 7 October Access Info joined 40 organisations in sending an open letter to the Council of Europe’s new Secretary General Thorbjoern Jagland calling for follow up to the commitment made by member states at a meeting held in Reykjavik in May 2009 to review the impact of counter-terror laws on freedom of expression and access to information. We have since received news that the letter has been received and is on the agenda of the next meeting of the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Media and New Communication Services (CDMC)
Transparency of the Stockholm Programme On 15 April 2009, Access Info joined other members of the European Civil Liberties Network in a statement raising concerns about the potential detrimental impact of the EU's "Stockholm programme" on civil liberties in Europe. The "Stockholm Programme" sets the agenda for EU justice and home affairs and internal security policy from 2010 to 2014 and will extend militarised border controls, discriminatory immigration policies, mandatory and proactive surveillance regimes and an increasingly aggressive external security and defence policy. Access Info is calling for the process of adopting and reviewing any new measures to be transparent.
Promoting access to information for defence of civil liberties and human rights In the past decade, the European Union and its member states have introduced a large number of measures which are designed to prevent and combat terrorism. These measures include communications data retention, biometric passports, DNA collection and CCTV surveillance. In the post-September 11th climate it has proven remarkably easy for governments to advance and adopt measures which impact on fundamental rights including the rights to privacy, freedom of association and expression, detention without trial, and freedom of movement.