On April 8, 2014 NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said the National Security Agency (NSA) and a UK government agency have “without question” targeted human right organizations for surveillance, including “leaders or staff members in a number of purely civil of human right organizations…including domestically, within the borders of the United States.” In response, on April 18 a group of 51 civil society organizations, including the Charity & Security Network, send a letter to member countries of the Freedom Online Coalition calling on them to help determine the factual basis of the allegations and ensure a halt to violations of privacy, freedom of expression and other human rights.
Both the U.S. and the UK are leadres in the Freedom Online Coalition, which was established in 2011 to advance Internet freedom, free expression and freedom of assembly worldwide. Member countries have made commitments to adopt policies that ensure protection of these rights. If the Snowden allegations are proven to be true, both the U.S. and the UK will have been caught engaging in exactly the kind of behavior they criticize in other governments.
Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International said “These allegations, if substantiated, would confirm our long-held fears that state intelligence agencies have been subjecting human rights organizations to mass surveillance all along.” The statement noted that if confidential communications are shared with other governments could put human rights defenders in imminent danger.