US rights group sues Homeland Security for violation of constitutional rights

 

The ACLU sues the US Department of Homeland Security, whose agents are seen in this file photo, saying the agency’s banning of photography at America’s international border crossings violates constitutional rights

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/27/268989/us-rights-group-sues-homeland-security/

A prominent US rights group has taken legal action against the US Department of Homeland Security, saying the agency’s banning of photography at the nation’s international border crossings violates constitutional rights.

The lawsuit against the US government was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two activists that were attempting to document potential human rights abuses at the US-Mexico border crossings at the southwestern state of California, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

According to the legal papers filed in the suit, US authorities detained the activists and deleted their photos, the report added.

The suit further contends that the US Customs and Border Protection agency prohibits the public from photographing or videotaping at or near American ports of entry without permission.

The rights group has described the US government’s policy as a violation of free speech rights and protections against illegal search and seizure.

"The border is not a Constitution-free zone,” said David Loy, legal director of the ACLU in San Deigo, as quoted in the report. “Border agents are not above the law, and the law guarantees our right to hold them accountable by documenting their conduct.”

ACLU’s lawsuit, says the report, points to a number of incidents, including that of activist Ray Askins, who took pictures last April “from a city street of an inspection area at a Calexico border crossing.” The legal suit alleges that Askins was then “handcuffed and searched” by authorities, who later returned his digital camera with photos erased.

The director of Calexico port wrote to Askins in an email a day after his arrest that “permission is needed to take photos and video at Customs and Border Protection facilities.” The email, however, does not mention any restrictions on taking photographs from a nearby street, said the ACLU.

The lawsuit further refers to another case involving Christian Ramirez, a human rights director at Equality Alliance San Diego, who reported that US customs authorities deleted about 10 cellphone photographs in June 2010 at San Diego's San Ysidro port of entry.

Ramirez added that at the time he was on a pedestrian bridge, capturing images of male officers conducting a pat-down search on female travelers.

US Customs and Border Protection officials have not issued any statement in reaction to the lawsuit.

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Police protection or citizen censorship? Spain to ban photos and videos of cops

 

Protesters clash with riot policemen during a demonstration in Madrid. (AFP Photo / AFP Photo / Pierre-Philippe Marcou)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/spain-ban-photos-police-794/

Spain’s government is drafting a law that bans the photographing and filming of members of the police. The Interior Ministry assures they are not cracking down on freedom of expression, but protecting the lives of law enforcement officers.

­The draft legislation follows waves of protests throughout the country against uncompromising austerity cuts to public healthcare and education.

The new Citizen Safety Law will prohibit “the capture, reproduction and editing of images, sounds or information of members of the security or armed forces in the line of duty,” said the director general of the police, Ignacio Cosido. He added that this new bill seeks to “find a balance between the protection of citizens’ rights and those of security forces.”

The dissemination of images and videos over social networks like Facebook will also be punishable under the legislation.

Despite the fact that the new law will cover all images that could pose a risk to the physical safety officers or impede them from executing their duty, the Interior Ministry maintains it will not encroach on freedom of expression.

“We are trying to avoid images of police being uploaded onto social networks with threats to them and their families,” underlined Cosido.

Violation of freedom of expression?

Spain’s United Police Syndicate said it considers the implementation of the new legislation “very complicated” because it does not establish any guidelines over what kinds of images violate the rights of a police officer. The syndicate warned that the ministry will run into “legal problems” if it does not specify the ins and outs of the law.

However, the director of the police argued that the measures were necessary given the “elevated levels of violence against officers” in the economic downturn that is “undermining the basis of a democratic society.”

The anti-austerity protests that have swept Spain over the past year have been punctuated by reports and footage of police brutality. The footage showed that large numbers of Spanish officers did not wear their identification badges during the protests, although the law requires it.

Spain’s beleaguered economy is in danger of following in the footsteps of Greece.

The government has made sweeping cuts to the public sector, provoking the ire of a Spanish public already disillusioned at rising unemployment that tops 50 per cent among adolescents.

The Spanish government has not yet called on the European Central bank for a bailout, but rising economic woes and an unchecked public deficit may force it to do so in the near future.

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