14 DAY TRIAL // Amnesty International is going to take legal action against the British government as it fears that its communications have been illegally tapped into by the country’s intelligence services.
The human rights organization has taken the decision following revelations from the media based on Edward Snowden’s stash of top-secret documents, The Guardian reports.
Amnesty International believes that it is highly likely that its emails and phone calls have been intercepted.
“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 troubles by the prospect that the communications of our staff may have been intercepted,” said Michael Bochenek, director of law and policy for the organization.
The human rights defender has filed a claim at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal where it argues that if its communications have been intercepted, it would be in breach of the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression of the Human Rights Act.
Given the revelations of the past months, including the countless programs that the NSA delves into, such as Tempora and Prism, and the role that the British intelligence agency has in the entire scandal, Amnesty International believes that it is highly likely that it has been put on watch.
“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. Any prospect that this type of communication is being intercepted by the US and UK through their mass surveillance programmes raises substantive concerns and presents a real threat to the effectiveness of Amnesty International’s work,” said Bochenek.
The organization has asked for a public hearing into its claims, saying that it would be quite ironic if the investigation into secret surveillance programs were also secret.