UN slams US, UK spying on Internet

The United Nations’ top official for counterterrorism and human rights has slammed the mass Internet surveillance techniques by the US and the UK, describing them as a “systematic interference” and a clear violation of human rights to privacy.

In a damning report, the UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, Ben Emmerson QC, condemned the Internet spying of individuals by government agencies such as the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Responding to a question from Press TV’s correspondent, Emmerson said he was equally concerned about efforts by Western governments to suppress “extremist speech” in coordination with the owners of Twitter and Facebook.

“It is an important question. It covers a very wide substantive scope, because suppression of extremist views depends upon who is deciding on whether a view or an organization is extremist,” he said.

In presenting his report to the UN General Assembly, Emmerson warned that intelligence and law enforcement agencies were able to inspect literally every Internet user in countries such as the UK, France and the US.

“States with high levels of Internet penetration can thus gain access to the telephone and email content of an effectively unlimited number of users and maintain an overview of Internet activity associated with particular websites,” he said.

The special rapporteur said the spy agencies contravene Article 17 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which he described as the most important legally-binding treaty provision guaranteeing the right to privacy at the universal level.

“This [surveillance] amounts to a systematic interference with the right to respect the privacy of communications and requires a correspondingly compelling justification,” Emmerson stated.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in exile in Russia, revealed mass surveillance efforts by the NSA and the GCHQ last year.

According to the documents, US intelligence agencies, with help from their counterparts in the UK, were prying on the communications of non-US citizens, including their use of sites such as social network Facebook and Internet search engine Google.

Snowden also revealed the agencies’ spying on the mobile phone records of senior European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

SB/HRJ