14 DAY TRIAL // Edward Snowden has said on several occasions that governments like to keep their spying activities under wraps and have taken on to extreme measures to make sure everything remains secret.
The British government, for instance, has made not-so-veiled threats to the media to stop publishing information based on the top-secret NSA files, effectively triggering a slew of protests as the freedom of the press seems to be nothing more than a story.
Now, seventy of the world’s human rights organizations have signed a joint letter to David Cameron, warning that the government’s reaction to the reports published thus far is eroding not only the freedom of the press, but other fundamental rights and freedoms in the United Kingdom.
The organizations come from some 40 countries and they’ve all expressed their alarm at the way the government has been handling the situation.
“We have joined together as an international coalition of free speech, media freedom and human rights organisations because we believe that the United Kingdom government's response to the revelations of mass surveillance of digital communications is eroding fundamental human rights in the country. The government's response has been to condemn, rather than celebrate, investigative journalism, which plays a crucial role in a healthy democratic society,” the letter reads.
They signal out a few of the events that have happened over the past several months, including the detainment of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner, under the Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, the sustained pressure put on the Guardian, including the destruction of the newspaper’s hard drives and the incoming inquiry into the publication’s reporting on the subject as part of an anti-terrorism case.
“We believe these actions clearly violate the right to freedom of expression, which is protected under British, European and international law. Under such laws, the right to freedom of expression includes the protection of both journalists, and those that assist them in the course of their vital work,” the letter states.
Furthermore, the human rights organizations from across the world and media institutes signing the message sent to David Cameron point out that while targeted surveillance might play an important role in protecting national security, but this should not be done by eroding “the very values it seeks to protect.”