No Snowden, No NSA Files: German Enquiry Into Five Eyes Spying ‘Simply Blocked’ – Sputnik International

AFP 2017/ Frederick Florin

It emerged that the intelligence services had collected and shared information onmillions ofordinary people, aswell asintercepted the communications ofEuropean politicians including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In light ofthe revelations, the German parliament launched an investigative committee inMarch 2014. Hans-Christian Stroebele, former chairman ofthe Alliance 90/Greens party inthe Bundestag, told Sputnik Deutschland that there were many obstructions tothe enquiry, which nevertheless managed toconstitute some important facts.

Stroebele, the deputy ofGreens representative Konstantin von Notz onthe committee, said that "Edward Snowden was right, it is true that massive amounts, millions, oftelecommunications inGermany and fromGermany were intercepted and recorded," Stroebele said.

"A large part was available tothe NSA; 40,000 NSA selectors [search terms] were used. These search terms should not have been used, because the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was also ofthe opinion that they are not permitted."

Despite that, the BND helped the NSA togather data onGerman citizens inreturn forUS monitoring technology. The BND itself used 3,000 selectors tospy onGerman telecommunications, Stroebele said.

The enquiry also brought tolight some new information aboutthe US military's controversial use ofthe Ramstein military base inGermany fordrone operations inother countries, and the extent ofthe German government's knowledge ofRamstein's operations.

"We also learnt other things, forexample that Ramstein was used toconduct killer drone operations inAfrica," Stroebele said.

Last December, Berlin finally admitted afterparliamentary questioning fromDie Linke that the US Air Force uses the base tocarry outdrone strikes and extra-legal killings. The US had confirmed Ramstein's major role inits drone operations tothe German government inAugust 2016. As US drone operations violate German and international law, the revelation has led forcalls toclose the base.

"The White House itself has once again emphasized: 'We never talked abouta no-spy agreement,' and Pofalla announced that five weeks beforethe Bundestag elections. That took the wind outof the sails and the whole NSA affair was no longer important inthe Bundestag elections," Stroebele said.

The Green politician echoed complaints bytwo ofthe committee members, Christian Fliesek (SPD) and Martina Renner (Die Linke), who complained that the committee's work was obstructed bythe government.

Berlin "constantly intervened tostop uphaving access tofiles fora long time, which we had tothen laboriously and repeatedly request again," Stroebele said.

AFP 2017/ Julian Stratenschulte

The spying affair dates back to 2013, when it was alleged that the NSA had bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

"The government did a lot tomake the work ofthe committee ineffective."

For political reasons, the committee didn't hear evidence fromthe most important witness tothe spying, Edward Snowden. In addition, German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused tohand overher mobile phone forexamination, making it impossible toinvestigate how the handset was tapped.

AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster

Committee chairman Patrick Sensburg (CDU) complained that the committee had concerned itself too much withthe activities ofthe German BND. Stroebele said the work had toconcentrate onBND documents "because we didn't receive any files fromthe NSA and also not a single witness. They simply blocked it."

The US secret service refused toanswer questions fromthe German deputies.

"That is why there is still a lot toclear up, butwe can only do that withthe help ofthe Americans," Stroebele complained. He urged the German government totake a strong stand toprotect German citizens and stop the US frombreaking German laws, such ascarrying outdrone killings fromRamstein or wiretapping the German Chancellor.

"You have totell them straight, and say tothe US, 'you can't do this, it's a violation ofour laws.'"

Read this article:
No Snowden, No NSA Files: German Enquiry Into Five Eyes Spying 'Simply Blocked' - Sputnik International