Address by Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of AKEL, to the meeting organized by the AKEL Delegation in GUE/NGL on the issue: “Profiling policies in the EU and Cyprus –Freedoms and Rights under attack”
AKEL C.C. Press Office, Friday 31st March 2017, Nicosia
It is a great pleasure to be here today for the opening of the conference organized by the AKEL Delegation to the Confederal Group of the European United Left- Nordic Green Left in the European Parliament. The theme of today’s conference is unfortunately not one of the key issues that is discussed widely in public debate in Cyprus. Nonetheless, it is a major issue of modern times; an issue which we encounter more and more frequently, both as a state and society in general.
When a few years ago Edward Snowden’s revelations about the mass interception of communications by the US services came to light, many felt that this simply confirmed what the whole world knew all along. Indeed, the relevant European Parliament Report of March 2014 documented the unprecedented depth, inconceivable extent and systematic mass profiling on the part of US authorities.
However, if we want to be fair, we should stress that it isn’t just the US that engages in these practices. It should also be noted that in addition to illegal profiling practices there are also legal practices – or rather, legitimate. The state apparatus and security authorities of all countries – including supranational organizations such as the European Union – by their nature tend to demand more and more powers over citizens, civil liberties and personal data. Similar trends also exist among big business groups, for whom citizen’s personal data constitute a valuable source of profit. Various pretexts are used to justify or legitimize profiling: counter-terrorism, combating financial crime, prevention of so-called “radicalization of young people”, migration control, combating violence in stadiums and other pretexts.
Even if we consider these kind of declarations of intent as sincere, something that is not always true for everybody, these practices cannot withstand the test of this logic.
What results have these measures yielded in combating terrorism?
Have societies which have implemented draconian repression and profiling proved to be safer?
Where does one draw the line between public safety and the fundamental right to privacy and protection of personal data?
What safeguards are put in place to prevent arbitrariness?
How for example does the recording of data such as the type of food that you consume as a passenger on a plane ensure safety such as the PNR Directive (Passenger Name Record) demanded for all flights to and from the EU?
In Cyprus with the well-known history of Cypriot football, won’t there also be a political profiling through the “fan card” in the way that the Anastasiadis government wants to promote it?
As AKEL, we have opposed measures such as the lifting of the confidentiality of communications, the taking of saliva in alcoholic tests on roads (genetic material), the establishment of a “fan card” as proposed, and most recently the US-Cyprus agreement on “cooperation in combating serious crime.” AKEL, both in Cyprus and in international fora, such as the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, defends civil liberties and fundamental rights, the right to privacy and protection of personal data. We think it is a false dilemma to be called upon to choose between security and freedom.
For AKEL, a secure society is a free society; a society in which citizens can use the Internet and social media, discuss on the phone, use their credit card and move and travel without worrying about what information they will gather or what assumptions the security services of local and foreign states will form about them.
It is well-known that AKEL and the Left Group in the European Parliament have a fiercely critical position on the current orientation and policies of the EU, not only with regards Civil Liberties of course. This demands that we continuously monitor developments, engage in a dialogue and continuously update our analyses on European issues. The Conferences and Hearings we are organizing, like today, are not held to repeat our positions and to state what we already know. On the contrary. We want to listen to different, even opposing, views. We constantly add and incorporate the specialized experience and academic knowledge of people who are not necessarily on the left spectrum, but who have a critical and progressive approach to what is being prepared in European societies. To draw from the experiences of the Left forces in other European countries, which have their own policies and national traditions. This is the aim of today’s Meeting.
With these thoughts in mind, permit me to welcome to Cyprus our two speakers from abroad. The Director of Statewatch Tony Bunyan and the lawyer Ivo Flachet from the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA/PTB). We also express our gratitude for the presence here today of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection Irini Loizidou Nicolaidou and the President of the Cyprus Bar Association Mr. Ioannides. We greatly appreciate their presence here because we believe that the nature of the issue to be discussed today doesn’t only have political, but also legal and institutional aspects.
In closing, I express our thanks to the Left Group on the opportunities it provides us with. I would also like to congratulate the European Affairs Bureau and the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Central Committee of AKEL for their current initiative.
