[P2P-F] Fwd: [opennetcoalition] France's New Anti-Terror Bill: All Presumed Terrorist Until Proven Guilty?

Wed Jul 23 04:56:59 CEST 2014

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <contact at laquadrature.net>
Date: Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 11:05 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] France's New Anti-Terror Bill: All Presumed
Terrorist Until Proven Guilty?
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net

Themes: PROPOSED FRENCH ANTI-TERRORISM LAW, CENSORSHIP, FREEDOM OF
COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION, SURVEILLANCE, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, MANUEL VALLS

La Quadrature du Net – For immediate release

Permanent link:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/frances-new-anti-terror-bill-all-presumed-terrorist-until-proven-guilty

France's New Anti-Terror Bill: All Presumed Terrorist Until Proven Guilty?

*** Paris, 22 July 2014 — The proposed French anti-terrorism law [1]
presented by Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister of the Interior of the Valls
government, was discussed by the Law Commission [2] of the French National
Assembly [3] today and will next be discussed in plenary session in
September. It introduces deeply anti-democratic measures that presume a
person's guilt and attempt to prevent intention rather than actions,
bypassing judiciary control in the name of the fight against terrorism. ***

This new bill institutes a permanent state of emergency on the Internet
that allows the judicial system to be largely bypassed and favours instead
recourse to police and administrative systems that, besides failing to
guarantee fair hearing, are largely disproportionate, ill-equipped and thus
ineffective in reaching the stated goal of fighting terrorism. The
anti-democratic measures introduced by the bill are based on vague concepts
whose application can easily be extended, such as “apologie du terrorisme”
(apology of terrorism), and that restrict the right to freedom of movement
(art. 1), freedom of the press (art. 4), freedom of information and
communication (art. 9), the protection of journalistic sources (art. 11),
the right to a fair trial (art. 13) or that are simply disproportionate
(art. 12, 14).

These provisions have already drawn significant opposition from
associations of legal professionals, freedom of speech and information
advocates, human right defenders, as well as several advisory bodies. See
for example the Syndicat de la Magistrature's (magistrate union)
observations [4], Reporters Without Borders' press release [5], the memo
[6] publlished by the CNNum (French Digital Council) and this op-ed [7]
published by some of its members. The French parliament's Digital Committee
also issued [8] a recommendation critical of the bill to the Law Commission.

“We must not let the French government force on us a repeat of the
repressive policies all too common during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. We
can't allow to be slowly put in place a system that suspects everyone,
presumes the guilt of everyone and creates an ‘intention police’ which
bypasses judiciary control. Government censorship and attacks on freedom of
communication and information can not be justified by this crass
exploitation of fear. The French parliament is risking a lot: should French
MPs prove unable to kill or modify the bill, our fundamental rights will be
threatened in new and dangerous ways. Will France go the way of the United
States and the NSA's indiscriminate mass surveillance, and simply presume
that everyone is a potential terrorist? We cannot stand by and let this
happen!” declared Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of La Quadrature du Net.

* References *

1. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/projets/pl2110.asp [fr]

2.
https://wiki.laquadrature.net/Contactez_vos_d%C3%A9put%C3%A9s#Commission_des_Lois
[fr]

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_%28France%29

4. http://www.syndicat-magistrature.org/IMG/pdf/-29.pdf [fr]

5.
http://fr.rsf.org/france-la-liberte-d-information-menacee-18-07-2014,46659.html
[fr]

6.
http://www.cnnumerique.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014-07-15_CNNum_Avis3-2014-TerroNum.pdf
[fr]

7.
http://blogs.mediapart.fr/edition/libres-enfants-du-numerique/article/200714/defendre-les-libertes-c-est-combattre-le-terrorisme
[fr]

8.
http://blogs.mediapart.fr/edition/libres-enfants-du-numerique/article/220714/blocage-de-sites-internet-cest-la-justice-de-trancher
[fr]

** About La Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that defends the rights and
freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for
the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding
principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better
understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and
pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage
citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the
digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international
NGOs including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society
Institute and Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations:
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-la-quadrature-du-net

** Press contact and press room **

contact at laquadrature.net, +33 (0) 972 294 426

https://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

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-- 
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