Human rights organization Amnesty International has declared it will take legal action against British security services. Amnesty claims its calls have been intercepted by UK intelligence agencies.
"As a global organization working on many sensitive issues
that would be of particular interest to security services in the
US and UK, we are deeply troubled by the prospect that the
communications of our staff may have been intercepted,"
Michael Bochenek, Amnesty’s director of law and policy told the
Guardian.
The group has issued a claim at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal
(IPT) saying that the alleged actions by UK intelligence would be
in breach of article 8 (right to privacy) and article 10 (right
to freedom of expression) of the Human Rights Act.
"We regularly receive sensitive information from sources in
situations that mean their co-operation with Amnesty could
present a real risk to their safety and the safety of their
family," Bochenek said.
Amnesty has also demanded that the IPT hold public hearings of
the process – contrary to the body’s usual practice of reviewing
the complaints secretively and in an unregulated manner.
"It would be a ridiculous irony if the investigation into
surveillance that has been carried out in secret was itself
secret," Bochenek said.
This is not the only case of an organization suing security
services over unauthorized access to their data. Human rights
groups Liberty, Privacy International and Big Brother Watch have
taken the issue to court, and legal proceedings are underway.
This is the latest among cases taken to court in the wake of
Edward Snowden’s disclosures.
The Amnesty’s move follows revelations that British GCHQ
(Government Communications Headquarters) and the NSA (National
Security Agency) in the US have been using programs to access the
users’ and companies’ data on the Internet. The programs include
PRISM and Tempora, and can take in huge amounts of information
shared between the two countries.