Posts
White
House was given 'heads-up' over David Miranda detention in UK
US
says it did not sanction holding Glenn Greenwald's partner at
Heathrow, but was told his name was on passenger list
18
August, 2013
Britain
was facing intense pressure on Monday to give a
detailed explanation of the decision to detain the partner of the
Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald after
the White House confirmed that it was given a "heads-up"
before David
Miranda was
taken into custody for nine hours at Heathrow.
As
the UK's anti-terror legislation watchdog called for a radical
overhaul of the laws that allowed police to confiscate Miranda's
electronic equipment, the US distanced itself from the action by
saying that British authorities took the decision to detain him.
The
detailed intervention by the White House will put pressure on
Downing Street which declined to comment on the detention of Miranda
on the grounds that it was an operational matter, adding that the
Metropolitan police would decide whether its officers had acted in a
proportionate manner.
The
No 10 position was immediately challenged by David Anderson QC, the
independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, who described the
detention as unusual, and said that decisions about the
proportionality were not ultimately for the police.
He
told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "The police, I'm sure, do
their best. But at the end of the day there is the Independent
Police Complaints Commission, which can look into the exercise of
this power, there are the courts and there is my function."
The
prospect of an investigation by the IPCC is likely to have been
enhanced by the disclosure that the US authorities were given
advanced notice of Miranda's detention after his name appeared on a
passenger manifest. Miranda was detained at Heathrow airport on
Sunday morning as he flew home from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro where
he lives with his partner Greenwald.
During
his trip to Berlin, Miranda visited Laura Poitras, the US film-maker
who has been working with Greenwald and the Guardian. The Guardian
paid for Miranda's flights. Miranda is not a Guardian employee but
often assists Greenwald in his work.
Josh
Earnest, the principal deputy White House press secretary, said at
the daily briefing: "There was a heads-up that was provided by
the British government. This is something that we had an indication
that was likely to occur but it is not something that we requested.
It was something that was done specifically by the British law
enforcement officials. This is an independent British law
enforcement decision that was made."
Earnest
had earlier said: "This is a decision that was made by the
British government without the involvement – and not at the
request – of theUnited
States government.
It is as simple as that."
The
White House spokesman confirmed that Britain alerted the US
authorities after Miranda's name appeared on a passenger manifest of
a flight from Berlin to Heathrow on Sunday morning. "I think
that is an accurate interpretation of what a heads-up is,"
Earnest said when asked if the tip was provided when Miranda's name
appeared on the manifest.
Earnest
declined to rule out whether the US authorities had been passed
information from Miranda's electronic equipment seized at Heathrow.
Officials confiscated electronics equipment, including his mobile
phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles.
Asked
to rule out whether the US had been passed such material, the
spokesman said: "I'm not in a position to do that right now."
The
move by the White House came as David Anderson called for a review
of schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which was used to detain
Miranda.
He
said he hoped MPs would look carefully at the measure. The
government is proposing, on the basis of a recommendation from
Anderson, to reduce the maximum detention period from nine to six
hours. The change is to be made through the antisocial behaviour
crime and policing bill.
Anderson
said: "At the moment anybody can be stopped under this power.
There is no need for the police to believe they are a terrorist or
to suspect they are a terrorist. The only reason they can talk to
them is in order to determine whether they are a terrorist.
"It
seems to me there is a question to be answered about whether it
should be possible to detain somebody – to keep them for six
hours, to download their mobile phone – without the need for any
suspicion at all. I hope at least it is something parliament will
look at."
Scotland
Yard has refused to be drawn on why Miranda was stopped, using
powers that enable police officers to stop and question travellers
at UK ports and airports.
‘More
aggressive’: Greenwald
vows to publish more secrets
after UK
detains partner
Glenn
Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who first published secrets leaked
by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, promised Monday to release
more documents, saying the UK would be “sorry” for detaining his
partner for nine hours.
RT,
19
August, 2013
The
journalist’s partner, David Miranda, was held by British
authorities under anti-terrorism laws while transiting through
London’s Heathrow Airport on his way to Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
The
US government has released a statement saying that British officials
told them about their decision to detain Miranda, although Washington
denied its own involvement.
"This
is a decision they made on their own," White House
spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a briefing.
The
move by UK authorities sparked a furious response from Greenwald.
"I
have many more documents to report on, including ones about the UK,
where I'll now focus more. I will be more aggressive, not less, in
reporting," said Greenwald, speaking in
Portuguese to reporters at Rio de Janeiro's international airport,
Reuters reported.
"When
they do things like this, they show the world their real character.
It'll backfire. I think they'll come to regret it," he
said.
A real mystery: suspenseful RT White House won't say whether US tried to discourage UK from detaining 's partner.
There
was also angry reaction from Brazilian authorities, as well as from
journalists and human rights activists in the UK.
The
Brazilian government said in statement that Miranda’s detention
was “without justification.”
The
Guardian said it was dismayed at the detention of Miranda and
was “urgently seeking clarification from the British
authorities” as to why it happened.
Keith
Vaz, a Labor lawmaker who chairs parliament's powerful interior
affairs committee, told the BBC that he had written to the head of
London's Metropolitan Police to ask for clarification of what he
labeled an "extraordinary" case.
“Now
you have a complaint from Mr. Greenwald and the Brazilian government.
They have said that they are concerned at the use of terrorism
legislation for something that does not appear to relate to
terrorism. So it needs to be clarified and clarified quickly,” said
Vaz.
U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald stands
with his partner David Miranda as they wait for the lift at Rio de
Janeiro's International Airport August 19, 2013. (Reuters/Ricardo
Moraes)
“Any
suggestion that terror powers are being misused must be investigated
and clarified urgently - the public support for these powers must not
be endangered by a perception of misuse,” she
said.
Labour
MP Tom Watson called for parliament to look into what he said could
be an attempt to “get the genie back into the bottle” when
it returns from summer recess in September.
He
also questioned whether government ministers had been briefed of the
move which he said was“clearly an embarrassment for the
government.”
Michael
Mansfield, one of Britain's leading human rights lawyers, told
Reuters that the action amounted to an act of oppression.
“The
detention of David Miranda is a disgrace and reinforces the undoubted
complicity of the UK in US indiscriminate surveillance of law-abiding
citizens. The fact that Snowden, and now anyone remotely associated
with him, are being harassed as potential spies and terrorists is
sheer unadulterated state oppression," he
said.
Widney
Brown, Amnesty International senior director of international law and
policy, questioned what danger Miranda could possibly be to the UK
government.
“He
was detained under a law that violates any principle of fairness and
his detention shows how the law can be used for petty vindictive
reasons. There is simple no basis for believing that David Miranda
presents any threat whatsoever to the UK government,” she
told the Daily Mail.
Journalists
groups have also accused the authorities of misusing their powers
against "terrorism."
“Journalism
may be embarrassing and annoying for governments but it is not
terrorism,” Bob
Stachwell from the Society of Editors told the BBC.
Is UK a police state? Do Met Police practice guilt by association? Intimidation of journalist's partner. SEE:
Is Glenn Greenwald's journalism now viewed as a 'terrorist' occupat...
Miranda,
28, who is a Brazilian citizen, said he was questioned for nine hours
by numerous agents before being released without charge. Authorities
seized his laptop, mobile phone, and flash drives.
He
said that six British agents questioned him on all aspects of his
life and only released him after he started shouting in the airport
lounge. He was traveling from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after
visiting US filmmaker Lauro Poitras, who has been working on the
Snowden files with Greenwald and the Guardian.
The
Daily Mail reported that Miranda was carrying USB drives of encrypted
documents from Edward Snowden.
Greenwald
didn’t confirm what Miranda was carrying but said that only he and
Poitras have “copies of the full archives of NSA documents
which Edward Snowden gave to journalists, so much of the speculation
about what [Miranda] was or wasn’t carrying is misinformed.”
The
Metropolitan Police confirmed that a 28-year-old man was held from
08:05 BST until 17:00 BST, under Schedule 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act
2000, which allows police to hold someone at an airport for nine
hours for questioning.
The
UK Home Office did not comment on Miranda’s detention, but has
defended Schedule 7 in the past.
David
Anderson, the official independent reviewer on the UK’s terrorism
legislation, said he asked authorities why Miranda was detained for
so long. Of the 69,000 people detained under Schedule 7 in 2011-2012,
only 40 were held for six hours or more. In most cases, people are
released after less than an hour.
Snowden,
who has been granted asylum by Russia, gave Greenwald up to 20,000
documents with details about the US National Security Agency and the
UK’s GCHQ surveillance operations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUgpJISmDoY
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.