Surveillance

Under Surveillance?

If ActionAWE shows any signs of success, then it is likely that individuals involved, affinity groups taking action and regular supporters, will be put under some kind of police surveillance, with the aim of gathering intelligence on protesters.

In the past, other groups active at Aldermaston and Burghfield, including Block the Builders, Trident Ploughshares and Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp, have been under police surveillance, as have activists at Faslane and Devonport (see further information, below).

Forms of surveillance (intelligence gathering) at the AWEs have included (but are not limited to): photography and video of activists; police “liaison” or “health and safety” visits to camps; stop and search (see below); recording car numbers; following activist vehicles; waiting outside training or other meetings; “informal interviews” by the MoD CID; little chats in the police van; infiltration by a police spy.

But all our actions are explicitly non violent, why should we be under surveillance?

Non violence is not a criteria applied by the police in monitoring what they call “domestic extremists”.

According to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO, 2006) ,Domestic extremism and extremists are the terms used for activity, individuals or campaign groups that carry out criminal acts of direct action in furtherance of what is typically a single issue campaign. They usually seek to prevent something from happening or to change legislation or domestic policy, but attempt to do so outside of the normal democratic process.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, in January 2013, at the end of his visit to the UK stated:……”I must emphasize that my mandate covers only those assemblies that are non-violent. In this connection, I am deeply concerned with the use of embedded undercover police officers in groups that are non-violent and which exercise their democratic rights to protest and take peaceful direct action”.

“I am also troubled by the definition of “domestic extremism” as it is presently too broad, and heard real fears from peaceful protesters that they could easily be grouped in this category, along with real extremists. Indeed, some police officials, while ostensibly differentiating between extremist groups and others that use direct action, often conflate them, especially when the protest groups are horizontal”.

But I’ve never been arrested, why should I be under surveillance?

John Catt, is an 87 year old activist, who has been involved for many decades in peaceful protest, including at the EDO factory in Brighton, but had never been arrested. In 2012, he requested a judicial review of the police’s actions in holding information on him on the National Domestic Extremist Database, which he believed had violated his right to privacy. His presence at 55 demonstrations were recorded over a four year period, and included observations that “took out his sketchpad and made drawings of the demonstration”. The High Court found in favour of the police, but in January 2013 John appealed against the decision.

Update 14th March 2013,

John & Linda Catt Victory:

Protester wins surveillance database fight

John Catt, who has no criminal record, wins legal action to have records deleted from police database of suspected extremists. To read article and watch John & Linda tell their story on video, click here!

I don’t have anything to hide, why should it be a problem?

You may not mind the police having all your personal details on their databases, but what about your friends? your family? the people you work with? You may not care that the police know every detail of your protest activities, but do you want them to know about the rest of your life. The police are interested in your contacts and in networks that you are part of, including online social networks.

But what if the police stop me and ask for my details?

You never have to give personal details when being searched or held to account (unless you are driving). See: Stop and Search, http://actionawe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Action_AWE_Legal_Briefing.pdf

Who will be surveilling me?

Until recently most surveillance at demonstration was carried out by Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) – the ones with the cameras. But following recommendations in the wake of the policing of the G20 and the death of Ian Thomlison, according to NetPol’s reseach , “There now appear to be three distinct roles: Evidence Gathering Teams (EGTs) which are deployed with cameras; Forward Intelligence Teams, whose role it is to collect detailed ‘intelligence’ based on observation; and Protest Liaison Officers (PLOs), whose role it is to obtain information through dialogue”.

The UN Special Rapporteur (see above) welcomed the introduction of protest liaison officers, “in charge of negotiating with the organizers the smooth running of a peaceful demonstration”.But he expressed concerns about their dual role. “…..for this [liaison] to function effectively, it is necessary to separate the liaison function from intelligence gathering, which negates the goodwill and good relations that police liaison officers can foster by fuelling mistrust among protesters”.

For more information: see http://netpol.org/2012/09/07/the-intelligence-role-of-police-liaison-officers/, which includes a link to this Guardian video, http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2012/sep/04/police-liaison-officers-uk-uncut-video

Background

In November 2010 FITwatch reported that police officer Ian Caswell had been on surveillance duty at the Trident Ploughshares blockade at Devonport dockyard. Ian Caswell has also been present at demonstrations/blockades at Aldermaston and Burghfield (since at least 2004), and was at Faslane 365 in 2007. He worked for the National Public Order and Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), one of three ‘domestic extremism’ units making up the National Coordinator Domestic Extremism (NCDE). More recently, he has been seen anti-nuclear power actions at Hinkley Point.

Ian Caswell….

Following the outing of Mark Stone/Kennedy, in January 2011, the Guardian reported that police infiltrator Lynn Watson had visited Aldermaston Women’s Camp in 2004 and was involved in both Block the Builders and Trident Ploughshares. She also worked for the National Public Order and Intelligence Unit

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