Twelve African and European civil society organisations say European Union (EU) aid has been used to pay for surveillance equipment and training in countries with inadequate safeguards against excessive state snooping.

The civil society groups, in a letter to the European Commission, said the EU had no effective controls to ensure its aid is not being used to infringe privacy and other rights in recipient countries.

The NGOs were reacting to a report by Privacy International (PI) that the EU had helped numerous nations, including Algeria and Niger Republic, boost their surveillance capacity in recent years.

Niger was allocated 11.5 million euros ($13 million) in EU funds two years ago to buy surveillance drones, cameras and software to bolster migration controls, according to the report.

‘(Niger) has no laws that regulate the use of this kind of intrusive equipment’, the letter signed, among others, by the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEE) and Athens-based Human Rights 360, read.

The 12 NGOs called on the EU to carry out adequate risk assessment and due diligence processes before providing surveillance support.

They also called on the bloc to set up a fund to promote privacy and data protection rights aboard.

‘The EU should be a promoter of rights, not an enabler of governments to undermine them’, they wrote.

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Photo source: Thijs ter Haar