[meryem.marzouki at dial.oleane.com: [adh] ECHELON : la France porterait plainte contre les USA et le Royaume Uni]

JC Helary helary at eskimo.com
Thu Feb 10 17:46:06 PST 2000


(the beginning of the post is in French, the rest in English) If some of you have more info about this issue please let me know.

After checking further it looks like Times misunderstood what a lawyer said about France being technically able to sue the UK and USA. Still...

JC Helary

----- Forwarded message from Meryem Marzouki <meryem.marzouki at dial.oleane.com> -----

Bonjour,

D'après Le Times, la France porterait plainte contre les USA et le Royaume Uni pour espionnage au moyen du système Echelon (voir article en anglais ci-après). Si quelqu'un a plus de renseignements à ce sujet, merci d'avance de nous en informer.

Je rappelle que l'une des recommandations (R-IRIS-61) du dernier rapport d'IRIS (novembre 99) est de "Faire toute la lumière sur le système ECHELON et rendre compte de l'éventuelle implication de la France dans ce système, à quelque niveau que ce soit (implication mentionnée dans un document du Parlement européen).[...]" (http://www.iris.sgdg.org/documents/rapport-lsi/rapport-lsi.html). Par ailleurs, il était aussi demandé la création d'une commission d'enquête parlementaire nationale, en liaison avec le Parlement européen, pour le suivi et le contrôle de tous les dispositis susceptibles de porter atteinte à la vie privée et à la protection des données personnelles. Ces recommandations ont été reprises dans la motion des participants aux deuxièmes Assises de l'INMS (http://www.assises.sgdg.org/motion-finale-assises99.html).

Meryem ------------


> The Times
> http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/02/10/timfgneur01007.html?999
>
> February 10 2000 EUROPE
>
>
>
> French to sue US and Britain
> over network of spies
>
> FROM ADAM SAGE IN PARIS
> THE British and US Governments are to be sued in France after claims that
> they have spied on French companies, diplomats and Cabinet ministers.
> Lawyers are planning a class action after confirmation last week that a
> global anglophone spy network exists.
>
> Codenamed P-415 Echelon, the world's most powerful electronic spy system was
> revealed in declassified US National Security Agency documents published on
> the Internet, and is capable of intercepting telephone conversations, faxes
> and e-mails.
>
> The system was established in the 1980s by the UKUSA alliance, which unites
> the British, American, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian secret services.
> In Europe, its listening devices are at Menwith Hill defence base in
> Yorkshire. French MPs claim to have evidence that the European Airbus
> consortium lost a Fr35 billion (£3.5 billion) contract in 1995 after its
> offer was overheard and passed to Boeing. Georges Sarre, a left-wing MP,
> said: "The participation of the United Kingdom in spying on its European
> partners for and with the US raises serious and legitimate concerns in that
> it creates a particularly acute conflict of interest within the European
> Union."
>
> The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee will study a report on
> the Echelon network on February 23. The debate is certain to fuel criticism
> of Britain's role.
>
> Until this month, the network was an official secret recognised by none of
> the members of the UKUSA alliance. But the documents published by the George
> Washington University prove its existence and its capacity to intercept
> civilian satellite communications.
>
> Jean-Pierre Millet, a Parisian lawyer, said that Echelon tracked every
> mobile and satellite call, but only decoded those involving a key figure.
> "You can bet that every time a French government minister makes a mobile
> phone call, it is recorded," he said.
>
> M Millet said that Echelon's system leaves it open to legal challenge under
> French privacy laws. "The simple fact that an attempt has been made to
> intercept a communication is against the law in France, however the
> information is exploited." Yesterday he said that he would bring an action
> on behalf of French civil liberty groups.

-- Meryem Marzouki - Pages personnelles : http://asim.lip6.fr/~marzouki IRIS - 294 rue de Charenton, 75012 Paris, France Tel/Fax: +33(0)144749239 - http://www.iris.sgdg.org

-- iris-adh

----- End forwarded message -----



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