14 DAY TRIAL // Several organizations have created yet another petition to ask European leaders to take action against the United States and any other countries that are carrying out mass surveillance programs.
In the fallout of the NSA scandal, more people are trying to get their leaders to act against such practices and to get them to respect the privacy of their citizens.
Now, a petition asking to put a stop on abuse of human rights is supported by Index on Censorship, English PEN, Article 19, Privacy International, Open Rights Group and Liberty.
These are trying to convince Europe’s leaders to take action against mass surveillance programs that target emails, phone calls and general Internet usage.
“We, the undersigned, call on our Heads of Government to clearly and unambiguously state their opposition to all systems of mass surveillance including the US's NSA PRISM system and similar systems in several countries in Europe. Europe’s leaders have not yet taken any action to stop this abuse of our right to privacy and freedom of expression,” the petition claims.
The points made by these organizations are valid, since the European leaders have not taken much of a stand against the United States NSA and other countries that are involved in PRISM and all other mass-spying programs.
While they have demanded answers from the White House and made a few acid comments, diplomacy is the currency they chose to use most.
The letter is addressed to Prime Ministers, Presidents, European Union Member States, but also to Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council’s president.
The petition needs to get 1000 signatures and although it has only just been launched, it already had about 70 signatures and the number is growing quickly.
On June 6, the first articles regarding the NSA surveillance programs were published and more information continues to come through.