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Edward Snowden made the allegations in a videoconference to PACE today.© FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images
Former US intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden’s latest allegations point to a very real risk that human rights defenders have been the targets of mass surveillance by the US and British spy agencies. Snowden, who is living in exile in Moscow, made the remarks this afternoon, 8 April 2014, via a videoconference link to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France. When asked if the US National Security Agency (NSA) or its British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) were actively spying on human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others, he said: “Without question, yes, absolutely …The NSA has in fact specifically targeted the communications of either leaders or staff members in a number of purely civil or human rights organizations of the kind described”.
Posts Tagged ‘digital security’
Snowden alleges spy agencies have targeted human rights defenders
April 9, 2014Cambridge Activists Train Human Rights Defenders in Sweden
April 8, 2014On 8 April 2014 Sarah Cortes posted a short report on Cambridge Community Television about how Cambridge internet freedom advocates trained human rights defenders at the recent Civil Rights Defenders Conference in Stockholm.
Civil Rights Defenders [CRD] brought 121 human rights defenders from over 30 countries together last weekend to share their stories and participate in training by legal, security and technology specialists. One of them is Andrew Lewman from Cambridge-based Tor who provided training in internet and digital security to help activists who may be under surveillance from governments whose policies and activities they protest. “Activists may not realize the extent to which their governments may monitor their computers, cellphones and other devices,” said Lewman. “Learning to improve digital security may save their life, in some cases“. CRD itself has not yet published a general report.
The post describes also the Natalia Project, named in memory of Natalia Estemirova, a Russian activist murdered in 2009. See my earlier posts via: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/natalia-project/
Jobs and volunteer posts at Front Line Defenders
March 20, 2014Dublin-based Front Line Defenders seeks to recruit staff and volunteers in an open and transparent manner and to increase cultural diversity within the Front Line Defenders staff. Therefore, all positions are advertised via its website. Due to the volume of requests, it is not possible to keep general applications or CVs on file but it will respond to all applications by email. Two posts are open at the moment:
- Digital Security Consultant Southeast Asia region
- Digital Security Consultant MENA region
Front Line is also looking for:
- Regional internship: Middle East & North Africa, Arabic-speaking
- Regional internship: Europe, Central Asia & Asia, Russian-speaking
- Admin & Publications Internship
- Regional Internship: Africa & Americas Internship, Portuguese speaking
- Frank Jennings Internship 2014/2015 (in Dublin and Geneva)
- Front Line Defenders Internship for postgraduate students of Peking University China (in Dublin)
Vacancy at APC: Internet outreach and capacity-building coordinator for Maghreb region
March 18, 2014The Association for Progressive Communications [APC] is partnering with a number of member organisations to build a culture of online human rights and digital security through capacity building and networking of human rights defenders in the Maghreb-Machrek region. The project aims to make regulatory frameworks governing the internet in the region more rights-oriented and to empower human rights defenders, women’s rights groups and others in civil society to use the internet effectively, safely and securely. 
As part of this project, APC is hiring an Internet rights outreach and capacity-building coordinator. Information on the job is available at:
https://www.apc.org/en/news/job-opportunity-internet-rights-outreach-and-capac
The deadline for application is 24 March 2014!
Right to Privacy in the Digital Age: 24 February expert seminar in Geneva
February 17, 2014The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, is organising an expert seminar on The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, a topic of great importance for human rights defenders. It will take place on Monday 24 February 2014, in room XXI in the Palais des Nations, Geneva. It purpose is to examine the international human rights law framework of the right to privacy, and identify challenges raised by modern communications technologies; foster understanding of how the right to privacy is implemented by governments, as well as addressed by the private sector and civil society; examine the extent to which domestic and extraterritorial surveillance may infringe on an individuals’ right to privacy; and identify ways forward to ensure the protection and promotion of the right to privacy.
Registration: Owing to limited space, reservation is recommended as soon as possible: alice.priddy[at]geneva-academy.ch. Please note that a live streaming of this seminar will be webcast. Read the rest of this entry »
Witness makes available beta version of the InformaCam App
January 10, 2014The reliability of images captured and transmitted by HRDs is crucial to keep the value of their hard-won evidence high . The InformaCam application proposed by Witness uses the built-in sensors in modern smartphones as well as wi-fi, bluetooth, and cell-tower information to create a snapshot of the environment in which an image or video was captured. This validates the date, time and location of capture. Digital signatures and encryption ensure that the images haven’t been tampered with and can only be opened by the intended recipient.
I have always tried to keep you up to date on technological developments that can benefit human rights defenders. On 5 September 2013 I listed several new ideas (Natalia bracelet; Panic Button; Silent Circle; Security in a Box) and added the question who among the hard-pressed human rights defenders on the ground have the time and energy to sort through all this and pick what is most meaningful for them?.
Dutch Advisory Council broadly endorses Government’s human rights policy
January 10, 2014On 24 September 2013 the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs [AIV] published its advice on the Government’s policy letter (a kind of white paper) on human rights (“Respect and Justice for All”) of June 2013. The Council, which can be quite critical, has broadly endorsed the proposed policy. The link to the full document is below but the highlights are as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
NEW TACTICS in Human Rights: 2013 accomplishments and plans for 2014
January 3, 2014We start the year with a little survey of what New Tactics in Human Rights accomplished in 2013: they trained 114 human rights defenders from the Middle East and North Africa [MENA region] on Strategic Effectiveness method and expanded their capacity in the MENA region for training and mentorship for human rights defenders. New material, including 20 new human rights tactics, were added to the website and there is now a French-language landing page. New Tactics also launched an Arabic version of its website and online community. In the Arabic-language community, it hosted 6 online conversations that engaged 60 human rights defenders from around the MENA region. In its English-language community, it hosted 10 online conversation that engaged 153 human rights defenders. Summaries of all of these conversations can be found on its website. In 2014 it will launch its New Tactics Strategy Toolkit, an online collection of tools to help defenders create effective strategies.
Ugandan Human Rights Defenders Accuse Government of Illegal On-line Surveillance
December 3, 2013PC Tech Magazine of 3 December carries a story from the Ugandan Daily Monitor about human rights defenders in the country accusing the government of allegedly recruiting two foreign firms to secretly carry out surveillance on individuals’ private digital equipment such as computers and mobile telephones in a move they say infringes on citizens’ right to privacy. The activists allege that the two firms are doing voice and data surveillance without permission from the telecommunication providers. “We are aware that the surveillance companies operate without permission from the telecommunication providers but have access to do surveillance. This is dangerous because people cannot have quality conversations and yet the government is supposed to protect people’s rights to privacy,” said Mr Geoffrey Ssebaggala, the chief executive officer of the Unwanted Witness- Uganda [UW-U]. He was speaking at the closure of a training workshop for journalists and business operators on the risks involved while using internet in Kampala. Mr Ssebaggala added: “Our preliminary inquiry shows that these companies send surveillance Malware to individual citizens’ computers as long as they have their Internet Protocol address to track peoples’ activities on computer and their telephones,” he said, revealing that UW-U in partnership with the Parliamentary Committee on ICT have started formulating a law to protect privacy. However, the executive director of the Uganda Media Centre, Mr Ofwono Opondo, said he was not aware of the recruitment of the said companies but insisted that whatever is done by the government is within the law. He explained that the move seeks to protect the public from terrorism and other criminal acts such as money laundering.
via Unwanted Witness – Uganda Accuses Government of Illegal Online Surveillance | PC Tech Magazine.
International Human Rights Day celebrated in Geneva on 5 December with Tim Berners-Lee
December 3, 2013International Human Rights Day this year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Human Rights Office and will be celebrated with events around the world throughout the week, including a day of discussions on 5 December in Geneva on a range of pressing human rights issues. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and founder of the World Wide Web Foundation, will join UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in a discussion over access to the Web and the balance between security and privacy online. Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been working to ensure that the World Wide Web is made freely available to all, and to establish the Web as a global public good and a basic right. The discussion will be moderated by prominent TV presenter Tim Sebastian, former host of the BBCs Hardtalk programme. The High Commissioner and the President of the Human Rights Council, Remigiusz Achilles Henczel will also deliver speeches at the opening of the event. Hina Jilani, former Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders and Christof Heyns, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, will lead panel discussions on protecting the space for human rights defenders and building a vision for an effective human rights system over the next 20 years and beyond. Panelists will also engage on the importance of ensuring the participation and inclusion of all individuals, regardless of their background or status, in the economic and political life of a State. The panels will be moderated by journalist Ghida Fakhry Khane, who was until recently one of the primary anchors for Al Jazeera English. Civil society representatives from Zimbabwe, Colombia, Tunisia and Norway will also lend their perspectives and rich experience to the discussions. The day will end with a performance by renowned musician Salif Keita, from Mali. Known as the “Golden Voice of Africa“, Mr. Keita was born with albinism and, in 2005, founded the Salif Keita Global Foundation to raise awareness about albinism.
The event will be held on Thursday, 5 December 2013, at the Palais des Nations in Room XX, from 9h30 to 17h00. The full programme and biographies of the participants can be found on http://at20.ohchr.org/events.html.
via Human Rights Day – 20 years of working for your rights – World News Report.
Related articles
- Tim Berners-Lee calls for protection of basic rights online (computerweekly.com)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 