Nov

5

Security at What Cost?: New law allows widespread freedoms on personal surveillance

Filed Under ArmeniaNow Weekly 

The new law puts Armenians under close supervision of the state…Last week the National Assembly passed a law on civilian surveillance that, in general terms, aims to guard against terrorism and the security of the state. Meanwhile right activists say the law is liable to abuse that violates human rights, and that it legalizes the Soviet espionage system of supervising private thoughts and opinions.

The law ascribes the right of surveillance to the police, national security, tax and customs services, as well as to institutions of justice. The right for phone tapping and extracting information from the technical routes of communication is ascribed only to the service acting within the system of the national security based on mediation from other bodies.

One controversial element of the law is that it allows informers to operate without contract and without taxing of salaries, presumably to protect their identity. In other words, the bodies implementing the law enjoy a level of privacy citizens may be losing.

Armenia’s first Ombudsman and Heritage party MP Larisa Alaverdyan said the law revives Stalinist means of public control.

By Vahan Ishkhanyan
Source: http://www.armenianow.com

Permanent link:  http://www.armpress.com/armenianow/2007/11/05/376/

Comments

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Friday, 10 February 2012

  • Admin

  • Calendar

  • Archives

  • Links

  • International newspers: