Migrant insists on claim that AFM made forced repatriation to Libya
An Eritrean migrant – who claims to have been part of a group of 264 migrants forced to return to Libya by a Maltese army patrol boat in 2005 – has rebuked the AFM Commander’s denial in MaltaToday and insisted that he has no reason to lie. [maltatoday.com] In a letter sent to this newspaper […]
Battening Down the Hatches: Secret State Monitors Protest, Represses Dissent
As social networking becomes a dominant feature of daily life, the secret state is increasingly surveilling electronic media for what it euphemistically calls "actionable intelligence." Take the case of Elliot Madison. The 41-year-old anarchist was arrested in Pittsburgh September 24 at the height of G20 protests. Madison, a social worker and volunteer with The People’s […]
Citizen patrols hit Italy streets
The first, legal, citizens‘ patrols have appeared on the streets of Italy. [news.bbc.co.uk] Supporters say the patrols will enable ordinary people to help police carry out their role of protecting neighbourhoods. But opponents have argued the groups are no more than vigilantes, many of which are being set up in areas with high immigrant populations. […]
Intergraph® Security Incident Management Solutions Successfully Protect Delegates, Guests and Infrastructure at 35th G8 Summit
Team led by SELEX Sistemi Integrati, a Finmeccanica company, delivered integrated security system to provide common operating picture to ensure situational awareness [intergraph.com] Intergraph®, as part of a team led by SELEX Sistemi Integrati (SSI), the systems integrator for the Finmeccanica Group, played a vital role in successfully ensuring the safety and security of world […]
Selex Sistemi Integrati obtained contract for the RIS in Serbia
The River Information System in Serbia, launched and financed by the EU, is the first river traffic monitoring system. [emportal.rs] Selex Sistemi Integrati, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, obtained a 6.4-million euro contract for the river Information Service (RIS) on the stretch of the Danube that crosses Serbia, as team leader of a temporary association of businesses […]
Italian security firm sets up shop in Kenya
Global leader in surveillance defence systems— Selex Sistemi Integrati —is on an aggressive expansion plan into Kenya and East Africa. The Italian-based company which recently signed a Sh2.7 billion contract with Kenya Civil Aviation Authority(KCAA), last week opened an office in Nairobi to act as a stepping-stone into the region. The repositioning, the firm says, […]
Attack of the drones
Military technology: Smaller and smarter unmanned aircraft are transforming spying and redefining the idea of air power [economist.com] FIVE years ago, in the mountainous Afghan province of Baghlan, NATO officials mounted a show of force for the local governor, Faqir Mamozai, to emphasise their commitment to the region. As the governor and his officials looked […]
EU embryonic Home Office set up in secret talks under Lisbon Treaty
Plans for an embryonic EU "Home Office" to organise intelligence sharing and lead the fight against terrorism and crime were agreed in secret talks last week, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. [telegraph.co.uk] Acting under a little-noticed section of the Lisbon Treaty, officials set up a Standing Committee on Internal Security (Cosi) to implement what […]
Taking Stock: Databases and Systems of Information Exchange in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
By Florian Geyer [aei.pitt.edu] Exchange of information in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, using new technologies like biometric identifiers and creating large-scale centralised EU databases is a highly topical, yet equally controversial issue. A number of EU databases and systems of information exchange are already in place, others will soon become operational. In […]
Reclaim your data from the European police authorities!
Campaign to exercise the right to access European databases [euro-data.noblogs.org] Throughout Europe, the data of millions of people is stored in information systems operated and checked by the police and and intelligence services as a matter of course. The various national systems are supplemented by centralized databases such as the Schengen Information System (SIS) and […]
Swedish Presidency – “Civilian and military actors must cooperate more”
Better cooperation between civilian and military actors will contribute to improved maritime surveillance and more effective peace support operations. The EU defence ministers were agreed on this at the informal meeting in Göteborg on Monday. [isria.com] In addition to the defence ministers, others attending the meeting included Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU Common […]
EU: G6 Interior Ministers + USA to meet in secret in future
[statewatch] The G6 meetings of Interior Ministers is comprised of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and the UK – the meetings in September 2008 and March 2009 were also attended by the US Secretary of Homeland Security. At the G6 meetings in March 2009 it was agreed that: "No formal conclusions would be issued after […]
Belgrade hosts conference on organized crime
BELGRADE — A regional ministerial conference on the fight against organized crime began this Monday in Belgrade. [b92.net] The two-day conference will gather interior and justice ministers from around the region to discuss cooperation in combating organized crime. European officials, and representatives of many organizations, including OSCE, the Council of Europe, Europol, Interpol and Eurojust […]
Pittsburgh police use sub-lethal weapons against protestors
[ubisurv.wordpress.com] Mega-events are often the time for some surveillance / control / security innovation and experimentation by states. In what seems to be a rather unwelcome first, the Pittsburgh police have used a military sonic canon to clear protestors off the streets at the G20 summit. These devices are among many so-called ’sub-lethal weapons’ (see […]
NeoConOpticon – The EU Security-Industrial Complex by Ben Hayes
Major new report by Statewatch and the Transnational Institute "Despite the often benign intent behind collaborative European ‘research’ into integrated land, air, maritime, space and cyber-surveillance systems, the EU’s security and R&D policy is coalescing around a high-tech blueprint for a new kind of security. It envisages a future world of red zones and green […]
The EU wants to monitor everything online
Max Majewski [neowin.net] George Orwell would be most amused to hear about the latest development in the EU. Ten countries of the European Union have agreed to help develop computer programs that monitor the internet and CCTV images, according to Telegraph.co.uk. Just like in the novel,1984, the EU’s project aim is to detect any abnormal […]
EU funding ‚Orwellian‘ artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for „abnormal behaviour“
The European Union is spending millions of pounds developing „Orwellian“ technologies designed to scour the internet and CCTV images for „abnormal behaviour“. By Ian Johnston [.telegraph.co.uk] A five-year research programme, called Project Indect, aims to develop computer programmes which act as „agents“ to monitor and process information from web sites, discussion forums, file servers, peer-to-peer […]
Anti-Terrorism Laws of France & Germany (FAQs)
By Sarah Sherif Abdelaziz In the first part , we tackled the security, immigration, and anti-terror laws in the UK. In this part, we will go through the anti-terror laws of another two European countries —namely Germany and France. [islamonline.net] France and Germany have for a long time been victims of terrorism. For instance, Germany has faced […]
Anti-Racist Action Days in Berlin October 17th till October 20th
[antiratage.blogsport.de] Racism in everyday life is a common problem and seems almost „natural“ in many people’s way of thinking. People are often confronted with their „otherness“ and are forced to feel that they don‘t belong. Current politics defines human value by someone’s immediate utility. The inhumane conditions in Germany prevent many from leading a life […]
What next for ‚jungle‘ residents?
By Chris Mason The operation began at 0739 (0539 GMT). Clutching batons and riot helmets, 600 officers from the CRS – the French riot police – moved into the rough patch of wasteland known here as "the jungle". [bbc.co.uk] Local residents, who live within yards of the camp, looked on from their front doorsteps. A […]