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Europe
EU rejects murder as tool to fight terror
2007-07-13
The European Union does not support the idea of using assassinations in the fight against terrorism, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini was quoted as saying on Thursday. Frattini was responding to comments made by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said in an interview that Germany should clarify under what conditions the constitution permits the state to target and kill terrorists.

“The fact that we fight terrorism cannot mean that we kill people. I’m against all forms of the death penalty.”
“The fact that we fight terrorism cannot mean that we kill people,” Frattini said in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland daily. “I’m against all forms of the death penalty,” he added.
Jeesix H. Christ Almighty. Can we at least rough 'em up?
Panties on their heads is right out.
In an interview published in this week’s issue of German weekly Der Spiegel, Schaeuble said: “Imagine someone knew what cave Osama bin Laden is sitting in. A remote-controlled missile could then be fired in order to kill him.” Schaeuble also pressed for changes in laws to allow pre-emptive detention of suspected militants and said authorities should have the right to prevent people they deem dangerous from using the Internet and mobile phones.
Link


Europe
EU launches new Fundamental Rights Agency
2007-03-02
VIENNA - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso inaugurated a new EU Fundamental Rights Agency on Thursday in Vienna to advise on European Union legislation.
Fundamental rights are kinda like Human Rights, only they're more... ummm... fundmental.
But the new agency, which replaces and extends the scope of the current Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) founded in 1998, will be limited to collecting and analysing data on states’ observance and application of EU legislation. “A Europe that only monitored the most serious disease of racism and xenophobia -- the two shames that made the EUMC necessary -- would, in today’s world, be doing only half the work needed to promote and protect fundamental rights,” EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said at the inauguration ceremony.
I thought governments had that responsibility, but this is Y'urp we're discussing ...
The result of long negotiations started in 2003 by the 25 EU members and concluded in December, the agency, with its 80 to 100 staff, will have limited powers and lack the authority to file suits against states or examine individual complaints.
Little to do except enjoy lunch and look important.
The EU 25 also decided it could not intervene in matters of judicial and police cooperation between states -- arguably the area in which it could have done the most work -- following strong opposition from Britain and Germany especially.

The agency’s expertise will instead be used in implementing Union policies -- on the common market and transport for example -- where there are discrimination and racism issues, in the 27 current EU members. The EU’s new agency will work above all in the legislation preparation phase, Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik said while Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer added it will have an advisory duty so that “fundamental rights do not suffer because of tensions caused by the fight against terrorism.”
Because terrorists have fundamental rights too, you know.
Link


Europe
EU and US in new passenger data deal
2006-10-07
The US and the European Union have struck a new deal for sharing transatlantic airline passenger data. The new interim agreement replaces a 2004 deal ruled illegal for technical reasons by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in May. The agreement followed a transatlantic video conference lasting at least seven hours. EU justice ministers will meet later on Friday to discuss and back the deal. Negotiations were primarily over which information will be shared with the American counter-terrorist organisations such as the FBI or the CIA.

Negotiations collapsed last week, creating a legal vacuum where airlines risked losing landing rights in the US if they did not supply the data or legal action in the EU if they did. The deal involves 34 pieces of data about passengers flying from Europe to US destinations, including addresses, telephone numbers and credit card numbers. The data — including passengers' names, addresses and credit card details — must be transferred to US authorities within 15 minutes of a US-bound flight's departure.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said new mechanisms had been agreed to distribute data from airlines to the US, the BBC reported. US officials will now only be able to access data by having information "pushed" from airline computer systems. Previously the US could "pull" data from the systems whenever it was needed. The new accord will expire at the end of July 2007 and negotiations over a permanent deal will start in November.
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Europe
Guardian: Flight logs reveal hundreds of CIA flights to Europe
2005-12-01
More than 300 CIA flights have landed at European airports, a British newspaper said, adding a new element to claims that Washington has been transporting terrorist suspects to secret prisons in Europe. The Guardian daily said it had seen flight logs documenting the flights by 26 planes operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Guardian said the flight logs were obtained from Federal Aviation Administration data and sources in the aviation industry. The information showed an "unprecedented" amount of travel by the agency but did not reveal which planes took part in alleged prison transfers, it said.
"Candygram."
No doubt the WaPo revelation on CIA chartered air freight businesses made it easier for them.

Outrage over the reports mounted in all the correct circles in Europe this week as EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini threatened sanctions on Monday for any member nation hosting CIA prison camps on their soil. The Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly has announced a probe into reports of the clandestine prisons, including one that may be in Romania. Poland and Romania have denied hosting CIA prisons. The United States has promised a timely and forthright reply to a EU letter demanding answers following the reports. The issue threatens to dominate a five-day swing through the continent next week by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after European Union chiefs warned member states involved in the alleged scheme could face sanctions. Rice received the two paragraph letter from British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Germany and nearly a dozen other European countries have launched their own investigations into alleged CIA flights transporting detainees via their territories. The United States has defended the use of methods outside normal legal procedures for terror suspects by arguing it is fighting a "different kind of war" against terrorism which renders traditional methods obsolete. But it contends correctly that it has not broken international law, or infringed its own constitution.
Link


Europe
No evidence yet on CIA prisons in Europe: justice chief
2005-11-30
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said he has no evidence the CIA has secret prisons in Europe, but repeated that he would take action against the states involved if any were found. Frattini said he had spoken to officials in a number of European Union member states and that Washington had promised to get back to him with any details it might have. "I'm not a super prosecutor of course, but I've spoken directly to several ministers of the interior of member states. They denied the allegations. Without evidence, I trust these ministers of course," he told reporters.

"We have asked the US administration to give an answer, to give a response, and ... the US State Department promised to give a formal response to our request for more information," he said. "It is absolutely clear that if there would be evidence of state or candidate allowing or having allowed on its territory camps or prisons or something like that not in compliance with European and international standards on the treatment of prisoners, we would have the duty to declare a serious violation" of EU treaties, he said.

The United States has acknowledged European concerns over the reports of secret CIA prisons and transport flights for terror suspects, calling them "legitimate questions" that deserve a response. US officials had previously said little amid an uproar over reports that broke in the last month of clandestine interrogation centers and prisoner transport flights, including suggestions of on-board torture sessions. They refused to confirm or deny the existence of such facilities but defended in general terms the use of tough tactics in the war on terror.

Frattini threatened sanctions on Monday for any EU nation found to have allowed secret CIA prison camps to operate on its soil.
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