Spy chief: We risk a police state

[Eugen Leitl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4643415/Spy-chief-We-risk-a-police-state.html

Spy chief: We risk a police state

Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of
terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and
risks creating a police state.

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor

Last Updated: 6:08AM GMT 17 Feb 2009

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 Photo:
MARTIN POPE

Dame Stella accused ministers of interfering with peoplebs privacy and
playing straight into the hands of terrorists.

bSince I have retired I feel more at liberty to be against certain decisions
of the Government, especially the attempt to pass laws which interfere with
peoplebs privacy,b Dame Stella said in an interview with a Spanish newspaper.

bIt would be better that the Government recognised that there are risks,
rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which
restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we
live in fear and under a police state,b she said.

Dame Stella, 73, added: bThe US has gone too far with GuantC!namo and the
tortures. MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite
effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater
justification.b She said the British secret services were bno angelsb but
insisted they did not kill people.

Dame Stella became the first woman director general of MI5 in 1992 and was
head of the security agency until 1996. Since stepping down she has been a
fierce critic of some of the Governmentbs counter-terrorism and security
measures, especially those affecting civil liberties.

In 2005, she said the Governmentbs plans for ID cards were babsolutely
uselessb and would not make the public any safer. Last year she criticised
attempts to extend the period of detention without charge for terrorism
suspects to 42 days as excessive, shortly before the plan was rejected by
Parliament.

Her latest remarks were made as the Home Office prepares to publish plans for
a significant expansion of state surveillance, with powers for the police and
security services to monitor every email, as well as telephone and internet
activity.

Despite considerable opposition to the plan, the document will say that the
fast changing pace of communication technology means the security services
will not be able to properly protect the public without the new powers.

Local councils have been criticised for using anti-terrorism laws to snoop on
residents suspected of littering and dog fouling offences.

David Davis, the Tory MP and former shadow home secretary, said: bLike so
many of those who have had involvement in the battle against terrorism,
Stella Rimington cares deeply about our historic rights and rightly raises
the alarm about a Government whose first interest appears to be to use the
threat of terrorism to frighten people and undermine those rights rather than
defend them.b

In a further blow to ministers, an international study by lawyers and judges
accused countries such as Britain and America of bactively underminingb the
law through the measures they have introduced to counter terrorism.

The report, by the International Commission of Jurists, said: bThe failure of
states to comply with their legal duties is creating a dangerous situation
wherein terrorism, and the fear of terrorism, are undermining basic
principles of international human rights law.b

The report claimed many measures introduced were illegal and
counter-productive and that legal systems put in place after the Second World
War were well equipped to handle current threats. Arthur Chaskelson, the
chairman of the report panel, said: bIn the course of this inquiry, we have
been shocked by the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or
abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the
world.

bMany governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves
to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished
values and violated human rights.bb

A Home Office spokesman said: bThe Government has been clear that where
surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy they should only be
used where it is necessary and proportionate. The key is to strike the right
balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data.

bThis provides law enforcement agencies with the tools to protect the public
as well as ensuring government has the ability to provide effective public
services while ensuring there are effective safeguards and a solid legal
framework that protects civil liberties.b

In her interview, in La Vanguardia newspaper, Dame Stella also described the
shock of her two daughters when they discovered she was a spy and told how
she used most bgadgetsb when she was in office except for ba gunbb.