State Surveillance, Counter-Terror Powers and Global Securitisation Strategies - Meeting 10th December

Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), Statewatch, National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom (CPBF), Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers invite you to a
 
PANEL DISCUSSION ON

 
State Surveillance, Counter-Terror Powers
and Global Securitisation Strategies

 

Tuesday 10 December 2013, 6.30-8.30pm
Venue: National Union of Journalists, 308-312 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP

 

Speakers:
Michelle Stanistreet, General Secretary, National Union of Journalists (NUJ)
Tony Bunyan, Director, Statewatch, journalist and author the The Shape of things to ComeRob Evans, Guardian journalist and co-author with Paul Lewis of Undercover: the True Story of Britain’s Secret PoliceMatthew Ryder QC, Matrix Chambers, representing David Miranda Dr Nafeez Ahmed author, international security scholar, environment writer for The Guardian; latest book, A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilization And How to Save It.Les Levidow, CAMPACC

Chair:
Kat Craig, Reprieve, Legal Director of the Abuses in Counter-Terrorism (ACT) and Vice-Chair of Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers

 

‘National security’ has been the common rationale for special counter-terror measures and mass state surveillance.  State methods include: undercover agents, interrogation under Schedule 7, informers and electronic surveillance by the NSA and GCHQ.  These practices systematically breach the right to privacy of one's correspondence.   Recent revelations about pervasive, mass electronic surveillance have provoked public debate on such practices and their political rationale.

These measures have especially targeted migrant communities, Muslims and political activists.  Counter-terror powers also impose various punishments without trial, e.g. 28-day pre-charge detention, freeze on bank accounts, travel restrictions, even revocation of citizenship.

Such extreme powers are not needed to protect the public. Rather, they are used to intimidate, disorganise and stigmatise opposition to state agendas for global domination and permanent war. 

Through a securitisation process, potentially all societal conflicts are portrayed as threats of disorder or of enemies.  Threats – terrorism, extremism and suspicious behaviour – are defined so broadly as to target potentially anyone.  Supposedly to protect us from such threats, ‘security measures’ are becoming all-pervasive, turning us all into suspects.

This public meeting will analyse state strategies and will discuss how various resistances can converge more effectively. 

For background on some issues, see
Statewatch magazine No.10, September, 2013, http://www.statewatch.org/contents/swjournal23n2.html <http://www.statewatch.org/contents/swjournal23n2.html> 
Dr Nafeez Ahmed: http://www.nafeezahmed.com <http://www.nafeezahmed.com> ; http://crisisofcivilization.com/about/ <http://crisisofcivilization.com/about/> ,  www.iprd.org.uk<http://www.iprd.org.uk> 
The event is free and open to all!

For information contact: Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)Estella Schmid e-mail: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk>    Tel 020 7586 5892  www.campacc.org.uk <http://www.campacc.org.uk> To reserve a seat for the event please contact: Sarah Kavanagh, NUJ senior campaign and communications officer: sarahk@nuj.org.uk <sarahk@nuj.org.uk> T: 020 7843 6381

 

Democracy and Class Struggle welcomes this meeting in London to expose the Global and local Strategies of Tension with Global and local strategy of exposure.