Summary
The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights is deeply
concerned about mass surveillance and large-scale intrusion practices
disclosed since June 2013 by Mr Edward Snowden. The disclosures
have provided compelling evidence of the existence of far-reaching,
technologically advanced systems put in place by US intelligence
services and their partners in certain Council of Europe member
States to collect, store and analyse communication data, including
content, location and other metadata, on a massive scale. In several countries,
a massive “Surveillance-Industrial Complex” has evolved, which risks
escaping democratic control and accountability and threatens the
free and open character of our societies.
The surveillance practices disclosed endanger fundamental
human rights, including the rights to privacy (Article 8 of the
European Convention on Human Rights), freedom of information and
expression (Article 10), and the rights to a fair trial (Article
6) and freedom of religion (Article 9). The committee is also deeply
worried about threats to Internet security by the practice of certain
intelligence agencies of seeking out systematically, using and even
creating “back doors” and other weaknesses in security standards
and implementation, which could easily be exploited also by terrorists
and cyberterrorists or other criminals.
The committee also recognises the need for transatlantic co-operation
in the fight against terrorism and other forms of organised crime.
But it considers that such co-operation must be based on mutual
trust based on respect for human rights and the rule of law. In
order to rebuild trust, a legal and technical framework must be put
in place at the national and international level which ensures the
protection of human rights, especially that which secures the right
to privacy. An effective tool for the enforcement of such a legal
and technical framework, besides enhanced judicial and parliamentary
scrutiny, is credible protection extended to whistle-blowers who
expose violations.
