Category Archives: Edward Snowden

For social good, for political interest: the case of …

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By M. Cherif Bassiouni

When Edward Snowden obtained documents as an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton and made them public, the information disclosed was covered by secrecy under US law. That obligation was part of his employment contract, and such disclosure constituted a crime.

He first disclosed this material to Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian in early June of 2013. On 14 June, the Department of Justice filed a complaint against Snowden, charging him with unauthorized disclosure of national defense information under the 1917 Espionage Act, unauthorized disclosure of classified communication intelligence, and theft of government property.

Snowden made these disclosures while in Hong Kong, and it is reported that the United States sought his extradition pursuant to the treaty it has with Hong Kong, which contains a provision for the exclusion of political offenses. This brings into question the nature of Snowdens offence.

The Snowden case is inherently simple, and comes down to whether Snowdens actions were politically motivated or based on social interest. There was no harm to human life, and there was no general social harm. On the contrary, it revealed abuses of secret practices that violate the constitutional right of privacy. Harm to the national security is not only subjective but it is also dependent upon who decides what is and what is not part of national security.

When it comes to extradition, both the nature of the crime and the motive of the requesting state are taken into account. If the crime for which the person is requested is of a political nature and there is no human or social harm, extradition may be denied on the grounds that it is a purely political offense. This theory is extended to what is called the relative political offense exception, when, as incidental to a purely political offense exception an unintended social harm results. For example, if someone exercises freedom of speech by speaking loudly in the middle of a square and is charged with disturbing the peace, flees the country, and is sought for extradition, that is a purely political offense exception. If, in the course of fleeing the park they accidentally knock over an aged person who is injured and the state charges him with assault and battery, which would be a relative political offense exception. But the fact that Snowden himself maintains that he did not make public any information that could put intelligence officers in harms way, or reveal sources to foreign rivals of the United States means that under extradition law, his case is purely political.

Almost all states allow for the purely political offense exception to apply. Those that do not, bypass the exception for political reasons. This explains why Snowden went to Russia, though the UK would have found it difficult to extradite him too. It helps to look back to the case of Julian Assange, who was sought by the United States when in the UK. When the UK could not extradite Assange because of the purely political offense exception doctrine, the United States had Sweden seek his extradition from the UK for what was a criminal investigation into a common crime (sexual assault). This is what led Assange to seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.

The fact that the purely political offence exception doctrine arose with respect to the Snowden case, assuming it would be the subject of extradition proceedings, is curious to say the least. Would a government official of, say, the Comoros Islands be the subject of similar international attention for the disclosure of some secret skullduggery that the government had classified as top secret? The answer is of course no. What makes this case a cause clbre is that it has to do with the United States, because it embarrasses the United States, and because it reveals that the government of the United States and at least one of its most important agencies (the NSA) has engaged in violations of the Constitution and laws on the protection of individual privacy. It has shown abuses of the powers by the executive branch to obtain information from private sector companies, which would not be otherwise obtainable without a proper court order. This of course is what makes the Snowden case so extraordinary since it is about a US citizen doing what he believed was right to better serve his country and whose very government was violating its constitution and laws.

M. Cherif Bassiouni is Emeritus Professor of Law at DePaul University where he taught from 1964-2012, where he was a founding member of the International Human Rights Law Institute (established in 1990), and served as President from 1990-2007, and then President Emeritus. He is also President, International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, Siracusa, Italy since 1989. He is the author of International Extradition: United States Law and Practice, Sixth Edition.

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For social good, for political interest: the case of ...

Edward Snowden ‘applies to extend asylum in Russia for another year’

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Application was made a month before his one-year asylum was due to expire Comes as mystery surrounds his one-month stay in Hong Kong Snowden earlier said he had applied for asylum in several other countries

By Steve Hopkins

Published: 05:35 EST, 1 July 2014 | Updated: 09:13 EST, 1 July 2014

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Whistleblower Edward Snowden has filed an official petition to extend his asylum in Russia for another year.

Snowden, who fled to Moscow on June 23, made the request to The Federal Migration Service a month before his current one-year asylum was due to expire.

If granted, Snowden, 31, will be able to remain in Russia for another year, according to The Moscow Times.

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Edward Snowden 'applies to extend asylum in Russia for another year'

US authorised NSA to spy on BJP in 2010: Edward Snowden

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WASHINGTON: America's top spy agency was authorised by a US court in 2010 to carry out surveillance on the BJP along with five other political organisations across the globe, including Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Pakistan Peoples Party, according to a classified document.

BJP figures in the list of foreign political parties along with Lebanon's Amal, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian National Salvation Front and the Pakistan Peoples Party for whom the National Security Agency (NSA) had sought permission to carry out surveillance, says the document made public by The Washington Post yesterday.

The document lists the 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions and other entities that were part of a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The list includes India.

"These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance, for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence," the paper said, citing documents provided to it by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

It said each year a new certification must be approved by the court to permit such surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

"Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information 'concerning' all but four countries, according to top-secret documents," The Post reported.

The four countries are Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The certification of surveillance also includes other international organisations like World Bank, IMF, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The NSA is not necessarily targeting all the countries or organizations identified in the certification, the affidavits and an accompanying exhibit; it has only been given authority to do so," The Post said.

Without specifically responding to questions related to surveillance on India and the BJP in particular, NSA spokesperson Vanee' Vines told PTI that the agency collects foreign intelligence based on specific intelligence requirements set by the President, the Director of National Intelligence, and departments and agencies through the National Intelligence Priorities Framework.

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US authorised NSA to spy on BJP in 2010: Edward Snowden

Blackphone preorders ship; new orders to open 7/14

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The privacy-focused device, created in response to leaker Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA, sells for $629.

Blackphone Sarah Tew/CNET

Blackphone, a privacy-obsessed smartphone developed in response to Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of Americans' phone records, started shipping Monday.

The $629 phone, created as a joint venture between Silent Circle and Geeksphone, was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in February. The device's sales pitch claims that security and privacy are put "ahead of everything else."

In order to achieve that goal, the Blackphone is based on a forked Android operating system, called PrivatOS. The operating system comes with built-in support for encryption of voice calls, video calls, and text messaging. It automatically prevents Wi-Fi hotspots from identifying personal information. A Security Center feature gives users control over a wide range of application permissions. And the device comes with both anonymizing Web browsing and VPN support.

On the hardware side, Blackphone features a 4.7-inch HD IPS screen, a 2GHz Nvidia Tegra 4i CPU, and 16GB of internal storage. It supports LTE and HSPA+ for wireless networking.

The phone's joint venture, dubbed SGP Technologies, plans to re-open orders on July 14.

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Humanist Community Forum (2014-06-15): Rawls, Civil Disobedience, and Edward Snowden – Video

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Humanist Community Forum (2014-06-15): Rawls, Civil Disobedience, and Edward Snowden
Under what conditions does violation of law have the moral legitimacy of civil disobedience? If Edward Snowden were prosecuted in an American court for leaki...

By: Brian Davis

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Humanist Community Forum (2014-06-15): Rawls, Civil Disobedience, and Edward Snowden - Video