Printed in Ekstra Bladet 29. march 2000
EU DEMANDS ECHELON INVESTIGATION
Echelon shall now be thoroughly investigated. The European Parliament is
demanding a commission of investigation following Ekstra Bladet's
disclosures.
At last, official pressure is being brought to bear. Thursday the European
Parliament will demand the appointment of a commission of inquiry into
Echelon and thereby provide an official account of the extensive espionage
activities. This demand was raised after Ekstra Bladet's long series of
disclosures on the illegal international spy ring. Ekstra Bladet has
documented how the global espionage network, Echelon, has continuously
spied on Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Red Cross, European
companies, politicians and heads of state.
Tuesday, at least 171 members of the Parliament signed a demand
requiring the appointment of a commission of investigation. To demand an
investigation requires the signatures of at least one-fourth of all
members of the European Parliament, i.e. 157. So this minimum requirement
has been met by a wide margin.
Patricia McKenna, Ireland, together with Jens Peter Bonde, Denmark's June
Movement, and Pernille Frahm, Denmark's Socialist People's Party, have led
the campaign for an investigation of Echelon, which was referred to as
'rumors' by the European Commission only last month. And the same system
that the Danish government has refused to investigate up to now.
Are you surprised, Jens Peter Bonde?
"No, not really. Because after your most recent exposures in which
former agents came forward with names and pictures and after the CIA's
former director admitted that espionage had actually occurred, it was
impossible to sustain an illusion that Echelon doesn't exist."
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
"Now we have to start clearing up this whole matter and see if we can find
all Ekstra Bladet's sources. They need to be called in and interrogated as
witnesses. In my opinion, we're talking about criminal activities that
need to be thoroughly investigated," says Jens Peter Bonde from the June
Movement.
This will light a fire under the otherwise congenial cooperation
between the fifteen member states of the EU. Because the UK plays an
important role as the USA's most important partner in the Echelon system,
along with Canada and Australia.
The largest station in the international surveillance ring is
named Menwith Hill and is located in northern England. The other EU
participants in Echelon are Germany, which has a large base in Bad
Aibling, together with Denmark which is coupled up as a third-party
partner with its Sandagerg�rd Station located at Aflandshage on the island
of Amager. France, on the other hand, does not participate in the Echelon
cooperation, but is believed to have its very own surveillance system.
Back home in Denmark, the Confederation of Danish Industries is
now demanding that the government provide an account of the situation.
"With all the pieces of evidence and the publicized documentation,
they cannot ignore this any longer," says Marianne Castenskiold from the
Confederation of Danish Industries.
"The uncertainty is intolerable, so we demand that the government
account for the situation, and we have already initiated a dialogue with
them on this issue. I am very pleased that the European Parliament is
taking this step," says Marianne Castenskiold to Ekstra Bladet.
COMMOTION IN THE HENHOUSE
On the political front, too, there is a commotion in the Danish henhouse.
Monday and Tuesday, the Danish government was hit by a new barrage of
questions on the Echelon cooperation. This time it was Minister of Foreign
Affairs Niels Helveg Petersen and Minister of Justice Frank Jensen who
were under fire.
After Ekstra Bladet's most recent disclosures of espionage against
large companies in the EU, like the Airbus aerospace company, and of
spying on the Red Cross, Amnesty International and Greenpeace, Knud Erik
Hansen of the Socialist People's Party wants to know what steps the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to take as a result of these
revelations.
"What is the Minister's position on the fact that the USA's
intelligence agency, the NSA, is listening in on electronic communication
from NGO's (i.e. Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the Red Cross) and
companies, and does the Minister of Foreign Affairs intend to discuss the
matter with the US government?" asks Hansen, who is the party's IT
spokesman.
The Danish parliament's tireless Duracell bunny, Keld Albrechtsen
of the Unity Party, would like Frank Jensen to contact the US government
to clear up the issue of "How and when has US surveillance and espionage
been directed against Danish citizens and interests?"
He will ask this question in the Danish parliament on April 5.
[caption]
EU demands an investigation of Echelon. Jens Peter Bonde: "Now we must
demand that Ekstra Bladet's sources be called in. They must be
interrogated as witnesses."
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
>>Bevar naturen: Sylt et egern.<<
>>URL: http://www.datashopper.dk/~boo/index.html<<
>>ECHELON URL:<<
>>http://www1.ekstrabladet.dk/netdetect/echelon.iasp<<
