Illegal government snooping condemned

TWO MAJOR organizations committed to freedom of expression have spoken out against illegal government surveillance and journalists being detained as happened in Panama recently.

 Frank La Rue, Special Rapporteur of the UN for the Protection and Promotion of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression and Catalina Botero Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have both spoken out against illegal government surveillance.

Guido Rodrí¬guez, president of the Forum of Journalists, said that both rapporteurs warned that there are monitoring programs which were set up to prevent and combat terrorist acts, but are being used for other purposes.
"It is important to ensure national security, but it also highlights that you must respect and follow standards and laws in the field of human rights," Rodríguez said.
He said that the statement also notes that journalists should be exempted from being punished or detained, as was the case with the case of the journalist Elizabeth González of TVN two weeks ago.
"The most important thing of this is that the issue (of telephone interventions) is not exclusive to Panama," he added.
The rapporteurs noted the recent stories about the US National Security Agency having monitored e-mails and phone conversations.
They warn that these communications could be used for political aims.