Printed in Ekstra Bladet 23. march 2000
GREENPEACE SINGLED OUT AS SURVEILLANCE TARGET
We knew what Greenpeace intended to do before they even realized it
themselves, reveals former Echelon agent.
The legal, political-environmental organization Greenpeace is under
constant surveillance by US and Canadian agents through the NSA's Echelon
system. So says former Canadian spy Fred Stock to Ekstra Bladet today.
"Based on the messages I saw, it was very clear that we could
follow Greenpeace's vessels everywhere they went. And we were totally
aware of their precise positions at all times."
Fred Stock was communications operator in Canada's espionage
service which to this very day is directly linked to the NSA's global
surveillance system. Fred Stock received the monitored messages at the
espionage headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, sorted them and saw to it that
they were distributed to analysts in the espionage service.
"There were always messages about Greenpeace. The messages dealt
with their ships, where they were docked, their presumed destinations and
planned activities.
"What about the local groups on land?
We were highly and specifically informed on their intended plans -
in advance. Before they even did anything. Greenpeace was a very important
target. Simply speaking, we knew what they were going to do before they
even knew it themselves."
FREEDOM AT STAKE
At the environmental organization's Scandinavian headquarters, the
information is somewhat of a shock to campaign manager Jan S�nderg�rd.
"It is really very frightening, very disturbing. I am also very
distressed on behalf of other NGO's, to put it mildly."
It's right to say that your organization is involved in 'direct
actions' though, isn't it?
"Yes, but we don't try to hide it either. It is also known as
normal civil disobedience, but without any form of violence and vandalism,
and we are very open about what we do."
"I feel very uneasy about what you just told me�"
How so?
"Well, we're talking about basic constitutional rights and the
right to privacy. I want to be able to talk to my friends, colleagues and
family without anyone else listening in. We are a fully legal political
enterprise. And the people who participate in our actions are willing to
take their punishment if it turns out they have violated the limits of the
law. This is a very unpleasant situation."
ARRESTED BEFORE THE ACTION
Mads Christensen is an action supervisor at Greenpeace. He is not nearly
as surprised when Ekstra Bladet tells him that Greenpeace is on Echelon's
blacklist. Mads Christensen tells how Greenpeace has recently experienced
events that clearly indicate they are being spied on. One incident
involved the arrest of a Greenpeace activist 'before' they even went into
action.
"We organized four actions all of which were targeted against
genetically modified products, and three of them failed. As a matter of
fact, our actions normally succeed."
"The interesting feature is that the three failed actions were all
directed at US ships containing genetically modified products from the
Monsanto company. At one of the actions, our activists were arrested in
England before they even had a chance to take action, and in the two other
cases, the targeted ships were diverted.
What was the successful action's target?
"An Argentine ship, and it was odd that the only action not
directed at a US company was the one that succeeded.
[captions]
Out of four actions against genetically modified products, three failed
and all three were directed against US ships. Only the action here in
Denmark's �rhus Harbor was a success. It was against an Argentine ship,
the Legionario.
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<<
