NSA spy scandal may scuttle EU-US anti-terrorist agreement – EU commissioner
The European Union is threatening to suspend a data-sharing deal with the United States used for tracking terrorist bank funding over suspicions the National Security Agency was stealing financial data from law-abiding Europeans.
The European Union is threatening to suspend a data-sharing deal with the United States. It is supposed to track terrorist bank funding, but there are suspicions the National Security Agency was stealing financial data from law-abiding Europeans.
Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU commissioner responsible for investigating the implications of the NSA and GCHQ spy scandal, said the Terror Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) of 2010, which supplies bank and credit card transaction information to the US treasury in an effort to trace funding to terrorist groups, may be in jeopardy if it is determined the Americans were abusing the agreement.
Malmstrom said she was unhappy with the information supplied by the US government, saying the Americans need to provide more data
"I am not satisfied with what we have received so far," the commissioner told a European parliament committee debating the NSA disclosures. "Whilst from the US reactions last week we now have some understanding of the situation, we need more detailed information in order to credibly assess reality and to be in a position to judge whether the obligations of the US side under the agreement have been breached.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is a British intelligence agency that has also come under suspicion of EU commissioners when it was revealed the organization was collecting all online and telephone data in the UK via the Tempora program, also revealed in the NSA disclosures.
"A decision to maintain the agreement or to consider proposing its suspension is a serious matter,”Malmstrom admitted.
Ever since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, a number of controversial security measures were passed under then President George W. Bush. Much of the legislation, however, was put into effect without any public debate.
Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU commissioner responsible for investigating the implications of the NSA and GCHQ spy scandal, said the Terror Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) of 2010, which supplies bank and credit card transaction information to the US treasury in an effort to trace funding to terrorist groups, may be in jeopardy if it is determined the Americans were abusing the agreement.
Malmstrom said she was unhappy with the information supplied by the US government, saying the Americans need to provide more data
"I am not satisfied with what we have received so far," the commissioner told a European parliament committee debating the NSA disclosures. "Whilst from the US reactions last week we now have some understanding of the situation, we need more detailed information in order to credibly assess reality and to be in a position to judge whether the obligations of the US side under the agreement have been breached.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is a British intelligence agency that has also come under suspicion of EU commissioners when it was revealed the organization was collecting all online and telephone data in the UK via the Tempora program, also revealed in the NSA disclosures.
"A decision to maintain the agreement or to consider proposing its suspension is a serious matter,”Malmstrom admitted.
Ever since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, a number of controversial security measures were passed under then President George W. Bush. Much of the legislation, however, was put into effect without any public debate.
The Terror Financing Tracking Program (TFTP) was one such piece of legislation that is now, following the NSA revelations, raising eyebrows among some of America’s leading allies.
TFTP is a collaborative effort between the Central Intelligence Agency and US Treasury that has provided US officials “with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities," Stuart Levey, an undersecretary at the Treasury, said in an interview with The New York Times in June 2006.
The agreement required EU authorities to transfer data to the US treasury from the Brussels-based system Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
This provided US officials with a large amount of data since the majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. According to the SWIFT website, “more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries…exchange millions of standardized financial messages”daily.
Although Levey ensured that “multiple safeguards” were put in place to protect against any unwarranted searches of records, EU MEPs are demanding that TFTP be scrapped following recent reports that the NSA was “also tapping into the SWIFT databases to gain access to the private data of Europeans on their financial dealings,” The Guardian reported.
A New York Times report ("Bank data is sifted by U.S. in secret to block terror," June 23, 2006) on the program detailed a “significant departure” as to how the government acquires financial records through TFTP.
“Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative (SWIFT),” it said.
Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament, said the US spying activities aimed at the European Union meant that bilateral agreements - including another one divulging European air passenger details to US authorities - should be canceled.
"For me the TFTP agreement is effectively dead ... null and void," she said, as quoted by The Guardian.
The EU parliament, however, does not have the authority to cancel agreements with the United States. Such a move would require proof that the NSA had abused its powers, and then propose a cancellation of the EU-US agreement to which all 28 EU member states would need to endorse unanimously.
Britain, for example, which played a large part in the NSA surveillance work, would be able to veto any legislation that moved to punish the United States over the scandal.
Senior EU officials and a SWIFT executive denied the reports that the NSA was collecting financial data on European citizens.
SWIFT's lawyer, Blanche Petre, told the EU members that the financial organization had "no reason to believe that there has been an unauthorized access to our data."
Meanwhile, Rob Wainwright, head of Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, possessed no evidence that crimes had been committed against the Brussels-based financial institution.
However, Wainwright said the agency had not been asked by any EU government to investigate the NSA scandal.
TFTP is a collaborative effort between the Central Intelligence Agency and US Treasury that has provided US officials “with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities," Stuart Levey, an undersecretary at the Treasury, said in an interview with The New York Times in June 2006.
The agreement required EU authorities to transfer data to the US treasury from the Brussels-based system Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
This provided US officials with a large amount of data since the majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. According to the SWIFT website, “more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries…exchange millions of standardized financial messages”daily.
Although Levey ensured that “multiple safeguards” were put in place to protect against any unwarranted searches of records, EU MEPs are demanding that TFTP be scrapped following recent reports that the NSA was “also tapping into the SWIFT databases to gain access to the private data of Europeans on their financial dealings,” The Guardian reported.
A New York Times report ("Bank data is sifted by U.S. in secret to block terror," June 23, 2006) on the program detailed a “significant departure” as to how the government acquires financial records through TFTP.
“Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative (SWIFT),” it said.
Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament, said the US spying activities aimed at the European Union meant that bilateral agreements - including another one divulging European air passenger details to US authorities - should be canceled.
"For me the TFTP agreement is effectively dead ... null and void," she said, as quoted by The Guardian.
The EU parliament, however, does not have the authority to cancel agreements with the United States. Such a move would require proof that the NSA had abused its powers, and then propose a cancellation of the EU-US agreement to which all 28 EU member states would need to endorse unanimously.
Britain, for example, which played a large part in the NSA surveillance work, would be able to veto any legislation that moved to punish the United States over the scandal.
Senior EU officials and a SWIFT executive denied the reports that the NSA was collecting financial data on European citizens.
SWIFT's lawyer, Blanche Petre, told the EU members that the financial organization had "no reason to believe that there has been an unauthorized access to our data."
Meanwhile, Rob Wainwright, head of Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, possessed no evidence that crimes had been committed against the Brussels-based financial institution.
However, Wainwright said the agency had not been asked by any EU government to investigate the NSA scandal.
Brazil's Rousseff to UN: US surveillance an 'affront'
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lambasted US spying on her country at Tuesday’s UN summit, calling it a “breach of international law.” She further warned that the NSA surveillance, revealed since June, threatened freedom of speech and democracy.
“Meddling in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and as such it is an affront to the principles that should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations,” Rousseff said.
“Without the right to privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion,” Rousseff told the gathering of world leaders. “And therefore, there is no actual democracy,” she added, criticizing the fact that Brazil had been targeted by the US.
“A country's sovereignty can never affirm itself to the detriment of another country's sovereignty,” she added.
Rousseff went on to propose a multilateral, international governance framework to monitor US surveillance activity. “We must establish multilateral mechanisms for the world wide web,” she said.
“A country's sovereignty can never affirm itself to the detriment of another country's sovereignty,” she added.
Rousseff went on to propose a multilateral, international governance framework to monitor US surveillance activity. “We must establish multilateral mechanisms for the world wide web,” she said.
Rousseff said that the US’s arguments for spying on Brazil and other UN member states were“untenable”, adding that “Brazil knows how to protect itself” and that the country has been “living in peace with our neighbors for more than 140 years.”
Brazil’s specific targeting in US surveillance practices prompted Rousseff’s government to announce that it intends to adopt both legislation and technology aimed at protecting itself and its businesses from the illegal interception of communications.
A week ago, Rousseff canceled an impending state visit to Washington, scheduled to take place in October, because of indignation over spying revelations. Rousseff has stated she wants an apology from Obama and the United States.
The revelations that the US National Security Agency has been intercepting Rouseff’s own phone calls and e-mails, in addition to those of her aides and officials at state-controlled oil and gas firm Petrobras, have prompted an outcry in Brazil.
The revelations that the US National Security Agency has been intercepting Rouseff’s own phone calls and e-mails, in addition to those of her aides and officials at state-controlled oil and gas firm Petrobras, have prompted an outcry in Brazil.
Rousseff’s predecessor as Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, said earlier this month that Obama should“personally apologize to the world.” Lula accused the US of “thinking that it can control global communications and ignore the sovereignty of other countries” in an interview with India’s English-language daily The Hindu, published Sept. 10.
Latin America voices widespread indignation at US activities
US relations with all of Latin America have recently soured. In addition to Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Venezuela have all voiced anger with the US over the NSA’s surveillance of their countries this year. Bolivia has been especially bitter.
“I would like to announce that we are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” President Morales told reporters Friday in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. He branded the US president as a “criminal” who had violated international law.
In early July, a plane carrying Morales from Moscow to the Bolivian capital, La Paz, was grounded for 13 hours in Austria after it was banned from European airspace because of US suspicions it was carrying fugitive Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who has been responsible for the majority of leaks regarding NSA spying practices since June.
Venezuela wrote to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the end of last week, requesting that he take action in response to the apparent denial of US visas to some members of the Venezuelan delegation who were scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.
President Nicolas Maduro said that the denial seemed intended to “create logistical obstacles to impede”the visit, and further requested that the UN “demand that the government of the US abide by its international obligations” as host of the 68th UN General Assembly.
Tension between Venezuela and the US rose Thursday when Venezuela’s foreign minister, Elias Jaua, told media outlets that the US had denied a plane carrying Maduro entrance into its airspace. The aircraft was en route to China. Washington later granted the approval, stating that Venezuela’s request had not been properly submitted. Jaua denounced the move as “an act of aggression.”
President Nicolas Maduro said that the denial seemed intended to “create logistical obstacles to impede”the visit, and further requested that the UN “demand that the government of the US abide by its international obligations” as host of the 68th UN General Assembly.
Tension between Venezuela and the US rose Thursday when Venezuela’s foreign minister, Elias Jaua, told media outlets that the US had denied a plane carrying Maduro entrance into its airspace. The aircraft was en route to China. Washington later granted the approval, stating that Venezuela’s request had not been properly submitted. Jaua denounced the move as “an act of aggression.”
Breaking UN Protocol, Brazil Lambastes US Spying
by Thalif Deen, September 25, 2013
Throwing diplomatic protocol to the winds, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff launched a blistering attack on the United States for illegally infiltrating its communications network, surreptitiously intercepting phone calls, and breaking into the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations.
Departing from a longstanding tradition of closed-door diplomacy on bilateral disputes, she dropped a political bombshell on a room overflowing with world leaders, foreign ministers and ambassadors from 193 countries sitting in rapt silence.
Justifying her public criticism, she told delegates Tuesday that the problem of electronic surveillance goes beyond a bilateral relationship. “It affects the international community itself and demands a response from it.”
Rousseff said recent revelations concerning the activities of a global network of electronic espionage have caused indignation and repudiation in public opinion around the world.
But in Brazil, she said, “The situation was even more serious, as it emerged that we were targeted by this intrusion.”
She said that personal data of citizens was intercepted indiscriminately. Corporate information, often of high economic and even strategic value, was at the center of espionage activity.
At the same time, Brazilian diplomatic missions, among them the Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the president’s office, had their communications intercepted, she charged.
Rousseff unleashed her attack even as US President Barack Obama was awaiting his turn to address the General Assembly on the opening day of the annual high-level debate, which concludes Oct. 4.
By longstanding tradition, Brazil is the first speaker, followed by the United States.
Even though Obama had the right of reply, he did not address the issues raised by Rousseff, who also canceled a proposed official visit to the White House last week protesting the electronic surveillance of her country.
“We have let the US government know our disapproval, and demanded explanations, apologies and guarantees that such procedures will never be repeated,” she said.
According to documents released by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, the illegal electronic surveillance of Brazil was conducted by the US National Security Agency (NSA).
There has been considerable speculation that Brazil may initiate a General Assembly resolution condemning surveillance of member states by outside intelligence agencies. If it is brought before the Assembly, the United States and its Western allies may oppose it.
There have been reports that the NSA had also conducted similar surveillance of European countries and also the office of the European Union located in the UN neighborhood.
Rousseff called on the United Nations to play a leading role in the effort to regulate the conduct of member states with regard to these technologies and the importance of the Internet and social networks as a way to build democracy worldwide.
She said Brazil will present proposals for the establishment of a civilian multilateral framework for the governance and use of the Internet and to ensure the effective protection of data that travels through the web.
The Germany-based Der Spiegel magazine reported last month that NSA technicians have managed to decrypt the UN’s internal video teleconferencing (VTC) system, as part of its surveillance of the world body.
The combination of this new access to the UN and the cracked encryption code have led to “a dramatic improvement in VTC data quality and (the) ability to decrypt the VTC traffic,” the NSA agents reportedly said.
In the article, titled “How America Spies on Europe and the UN”, Spiegel said that in just under three weeks, the number of decrypted communications increased from 12 to 458.
Rousseff said she was publicly taking up the issue of surveillance because it was a matter of great importance and gravity.
Tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and is an affront to the principles that must guide the relations among them, especially among friendly nations, she added.
“A sovereign nation can never establish itself to the detriment of another sovereign nation,” she said.
The right to safety of citizens of one country can never be guaranteed by violating the fundamental human and civil rights of another country’s citizens, she added.
And it’s even worse when private sector companies participate in this type of spying activity, she said.
Responding to the US argument that any surveillance outside the United States was aimed only at monitoring terrorist activities, she said, “Brazil knows how to protect itself. We reject, fight and do not harbor terrorist groups.”
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