• Accordo Italia-Slovenia sui controlli al confine : “guai” a essere trasparenti

    Il ministero dell’Interno si rifiuta di fornire i dettagli della cooperazione tra le forze di polizia di Roma e Lubiana sui pattugliamenti lungo il confine ripresi a fine luglio. Il vero scopo dell’attività resta così poco chiaro. Intanto il governo sloveno acquista 55 droni per sorvegliare le frontiere

    Il “delicato momento nella gestione delle frontiere interne all’Unione europea” giustifica la mancanza di trasparenza. Resta così opaco il mandato dei pattugliamenti misti lungo il confine italo-sloveni, ripresi il 30 luglio 2021, rispetto a cui non è possibile conoscere né il #protocollo_di_intesa su cui si basano né le indicazioni operative date alle forze di polizia italiana. La Direzione centrale dell’immigrazione e della polizia delle frontiere, braccio operativo del ministero dell’Interno, non ha infatti dato seguito alla richiesta, avanzata tramite accesso civico, con cui Altreconomia aveva chiesto conto dello stato dell’arte della cooperazione tra le autorità di Roma e Lubjana. Un buio preoccupante soprattutto in vista delle ripercussioni sui diritti delle persone in transito sulla rotta balcanica che presumibilmente aumenteranno in relazione alla drammatica situazione afghana.

    La risposta della Direzione non aggiunge molto a quanto già annunciato. “Dopo un lungo periodo di sospensione dovuto alla pandemia da Covid-19 per la ripresa dei servizi misti è stato stipulato un apposito protocollo d’intesa che è stato sottoscritto dai direttori dei Servizi di Polizia di frontiera italiano e Sloveno” si legge. L’accordo, sottoscritto il 15 luglio a Roma e il 21 luglio a Lubjana, prevede pattuglie miste composte da “personale del Paese ospitante e personale della forza di Polizia dell’altro Paese” che coprono il territorio “lungo la comune fascia confinaria tra i due Paesi” con lo scopo di potenziare l’attività di vigilanza al fine “di contrastare in maniera più efficace la criminalità transfrontaliera, con particolare riferimento all’attività di favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione irregolare”. Come detto, la Direzione non ha fornito copia del protocollo di intesa sottolineando che non è possibile renderlo noto in quanto minerebbe la tutela della sicurezza, dell’ordine pubblico e alle relazioni internazionali che l’Italia intrattiene con i Paesi terzi. Aggiungendo poi che “l’attuale delicato momento nella gestione delle frontiere interne all’Unione europea non consente la divulgazione di accordi di cooperazione che disciplinano i controlli che vengono effettuati alle frontiere terrestri e i controlli di ‘#retrovalico’ concordati con i Paesi confinanti senza ledere la riservatezza che deve caratterizzare tutte le attività bilaterali internazionali dello Stato italiano nei settori amministrativi interessanti e soprattutto nel settore involgente attività di ‘ordine e sicurezza pubblica”.

    Viene sottolineato come il “contenuto dei documenti richiesti contiene informazioni che attengono ad interlocuzioni intercorsi tra l’autorità politica nazionale e l’omologo sloveno dettagliando informazioni concernenti l’organizzazione e il funzionamento dei servizi di polizia finalizzati al contrasto dell’immigrazione illegale nonché relative ai contingenti delle forze armate a disposizione delle autorità provinciali di pubblica sicurezza per i controlli nelle zone confinarie”. Merita attenzione la definizione di “contrasto dell’immigrazione illegale”. “Il pattugliamento congiunto ha una efficacia non solo minima ma persino risibile rispetto all’obiettivo annunciato di contrasto alle organizzazioni criminali –ha scritto a inizio agosto Gianfranco Schiavone, membro dell’Associazione per gli studi giuridici sull’immigrazione (asgi.it)-. Sui sassosi sentieri del Carso non si incontrano i vertici ma neppure i quadri intermedi e neppure quelli bassi e persino bassissimi di tali organizzazioni ma solo persone disperate con i piedi piagati in cammino da settimane nei boschi di Croazia e Slovenia, tuttalpiù accompagnate da alcuni passeur la cui posizione nelle rispettive organizzazioni criminali è così infima da essere assimilabile a carne da macello”.

    In altri termini, il vero mandato delle operazioni di polizia “rischia” di diventare il controllo capillare del territorio per impedire alle persone in transito, migranti e richiedenti asilo, di raggiungere il territorio.

    La Direzione centrale è stata di poche parole anche rispetto alla nostra richiesta relativa al numero di persone identificate e, tra queste, del numero di coloro che hanno manifestato volontà di richiedere asilo. Viene fornito invece un numero sui risultati di polizia dei pattugliamenti: “nel corso del 2021 sono state arrestate 58 persone di cui 31 per favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione irregolare.

    Il muro di silenzio si alza anche con riferimento ai mezzi utilizzati sul confine e al numero di forze di polizia utilizzati. Le poche informazioni che si conoscono provengono dalla nota stampa del ministero dell’Interno che annunciava con enfasi l’utilizzo di droni e visori notturni, ben visibili, con tanto di foto, anche nella nota stampa slovena. Il 15 luglio 2021 -giorno della firma a Roma dell’accordo (l’incontro preliminare tra i rispetti ministri e capi di polizia è datato 4 giugno)- sul sito del ministero dell’Interno sloveno veniva però aperta una gara pubblica “per l’acquisto di veicoli aerei senza pilota e accessori” per un valore totale che si aggira intorno ai 400mila euro. Il bando (https://www.enarocanje.si/Obrazci/?id_obrazec=407420), chiuso il 5 agosto, richiedeva ai partecipanti di garantire la fornitura di un totale di 55 droni. La maggior parte, 29, sono veicoli di piccole dimensioni con un’autonomia di volo minima di 25 minuti e una distanza di gestione di quattro chilometri. L’amministrazione slovena richiede, inoltre, una formazione specifica per il “volo di notte e in condizioni di volo fuori dalla visibilità”. Non viene indicato il luogo di utilizzo specifico dei droni, si sa però che il 75% del bando è finanziato attraverso i fondi europei di sicurezza dell’Unione europea, ovvero lo strumento di sostegno finanziario a beneficio degli Stati Ue proprio per la gestione delle frontiere.

    L’accordo tra Roma e Lubjana incide potenzialmente anche sul tema delle riammissioni di persone in transito e richiedenti asilo della polizia italiana verso la Slovenia. La trasparenza è così necessaria per poter monitorare ciò che avviene in questa tappa della rotta balcanica anche in vista di un possibile aumento dei flussi legati alla situazione afghana. Le premesse non sono positive. Il governo di Lubjana, di turno alla presidenza del Consiglio dell’Unione europea dal luglio al dicembre 2021, ha chiaro il modello da perseguire nella gestione del fenomeno migratorio.

    Durante la presentazione dell’agenda politica della presidenza slovena alla Commissione per le libertà civili, la giustizia e gli affari interni (Libe) del Parlamento europeo, il ministro dell’Interno Aleš Hojs ha sottolineato come da una riunione informale di fine luglio tra ministri degli interni dei Paesi membri sia emersa la volontà politica di compiere progressi graduali nella “definizione della politica migratoria comune dell’Unione europea”. “Stiamo seguendo la situazione in Afghanistan -ha aggiunto- come emerso dal comunicato congiunto dei ministri della sessione straordinaria di due giorni fa, risponderemo anche ai possibili effetti della situazione sull’Ue”. La politica migratoria da “sposare” per Hojs è quella contenuta in un documento, dai toni e contenuti molto duri in cui si legge che gli Stati membri, con il supporto di Frontex, restano determinati “nel proteggere efficacemente i confini esterni dell’Unione europea e prevenire gli ingressi illegali”.

    https://altreconomia.it/accordo-italia-slovenia-sui-controlli-al-confine-guai-a-essere-traspare

    #frontières #frontière_sud-alpine #Italie #Slovénie #asile #migrations #réfugiés #coopération_bilatérale #gardes-frontière #militarisation_des_frontières #patrouilles_mixtes #drones #business #complexe_militaro-industriel #réadmssions

    –-

    ajouté à le fil de discussion autour des patrouilles mixtes à la frontière italo-slovène :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/791706
    Et plus précisément ici :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/791706#message928650

    • Rotta balcanica: riprendono i pattugliamenti tra Italia e Slovenia. Un mandato “opaco”

      Il 30 luglio sono ripartiti i controlli congiunti italo-sloveni lungo il confine per contrastare i “flussi migratori irregolari”. L’Italia nuovamente alla prova del rispetto della legalità alla frontiera orientale dopo la sospensione delle riammissioni illegali. L’analisi di Gianfranco Schiavone

      Il 30 luglio 2021 sono ripartiti “nelle province di Trieste/Koper e Gorizia/Nova Gorica i pattugliamenti congiunti italo sloveni lungo la comune fascia confinaria al fine di rafforzare i rispettivi dispositivi di contrasto ai flussi migratori irregolari provenienti dalla rotta balcanica”. Così recita il comunicato stampa della questura di Trieste pubblicato il giorno stesso. I pattugliamenti, vi si legge, sono frutto di un accordo “sottoscritto nei giorni scorsi dalle competenti autorità di polizia di Roma e di Lubiana” (appare curioso che si ometta la data dell’accordo).

      La decisione politica di attivare i pattugliamenti congiunti con forze di polizia italiane e slovene era stato resa pubblica dal ministero dell’Interno con nota stampa del 14 giugno 2021 a seguito dell’incontro tra la ministra Luciana Lamorgese e il suo omologo sloveno Hojs avvenuto a Lubiana. Nella nota ministeriale si poteva leggere come fosse “previsto un piano comune di vigilanza per i valichi di frontiera anche con l’impiego di droni e visori notturni per contrastare efficacemente le organizzazioni criminali che sfruttano il traffico dei migranti”. Le finalità del pattugliamento vengono dunque descritte in modo alquanto ambiguo: nella nota della questura triestina si fa riferimento in maniera più esplicita al contrasto dei flussi migratori irregolari, ovvero l’obiettivo dichiarato appare quello di bloccare i migranti; nella nota stampa del ministero, che usa un linguaggio più ovattato, si dichiara che l’obiettivo che si intende perseguire è invece il contrasto alle organizzazioni criminali che organizzano il traffico. Si potrebbe ritenere in modo superficiale che in fondo si tratta di accenti diversi della medesima finalità, ma non è così.

      Se assumiamo infatti la lettura in base alla quale l’attività delle cosiddette pattuglie miste italo-slovene è finalizzata al contrasto delle organizzazioni criminali che organizzano il traffico degli esseri umani, è ben difficile non vedere come tale motivazione appare alquanto poco credibile in quanto il contrasto al traffico internazionale di esseri umani per essere efficace richiede un’attività di intelligence e semmai inchieste coordinate tra le diverse autorità giudiziarie, cioè un complesso di attività che veramente assai poco ha a che fare con un pattugliamento fisico dell’area di frontiera vicino al confine.

      Il pattugliamento congiunto della fascia di confine tra Italia e Slovenia attuato con uso di uomini, droni (e cani, come non annunciato nei comunicati per non ferire la sensibilità di chi legge ma ampiamente riferito dalle testimonianze raccolte su quanto accade in Slovenia) ha una efficacia non solo minima ma persino risibile rispetto all’obiettivo annunciato di contrasto alle organizzazioni criminali giacché sui sassosi sentieri del Carso non si incontrano i vertici ma neppure i quadri intermedi e neppure quelli bassi e persino bassissimi di tali organizzazioni ma solo persone disperate con i piedi piagati in cammino da settimane nei boschi di Croazia e Slovenia, tuttalpiù accompagnate da alcuni passeur la cui posizione nelle rispettive organizzazioni criminali è così infima da essere assimilabile a carne da macello.

      Non deve stupire che le stesse inchieste giudiziarie che si sono basate finora su questo tipo di attività di polizia non abbiano mai portato a pressoché nulla di rilevante. Le organizzazioni di trafficanti non modificheranno la loro strategia sul confine italo-sloveno a seguito dei pattugliamento bensì alzeranno il prezzo dei loro servigi in ragione del più difficoltoso tratto da percorrere aumentando così i loro guadagni e lasciando indietro solo coloro che non possono pagare. Ancora una volta, come già avviene in altri contesti, operazioni di polizia presentate come finalizzate a contrastare il traffico internazionale di esseri umani, non solo sono irrilevanti in relazione a tale obiettivo bensì divengono di fatto fattori che vanno a potenziare l’operato e il giro d’affari delle organizzazioni che si afferma di volere combattere.

      Appare dunque evidente come i pattugliamenti sembrano rispondere all’altra, malcelata finalità, ovvero quella di intercettare nelle immediate vicinanze della frontiera interna italo-slovena da parte slovena, un certo numero di rifugiati, probabilmente i più disgraziati tra loro, al fine di impedirne a forza l’ingresso in Italia. I pattugliamenti congiunti, da quanto è dato sapere si svolgeranno infatti in assoluta prevalenza nell’area a ridosso del confine dal lato della Slovenia. Quando invece le operazioni verranno attuate sul lato italiano esse potrebbero prestarsi a far riprendere in forme ancor più nascoste quelle riammissioni informali attuate nel corso del 2020 e la cui radicale illegittimità è stata più volte messa in luce fin dall’inizio (Altreconomia ne ha scritto a più riprese, ad esempio qui e qui).

      Se fosse, come appare, quella di ostacolare/respingere i migranti che cercano asilo la effettiva finalità dei pattugliamenti, ciò, oltre a sollevare non pochi interrogativi etici (è questa l’attività alla quale si deve dedicare la polizia in una società democratica?) fa comunque emergere in capo alle autorità italiane precise responsabilità giuridiche. È noto infatti che la situazione dell’effettivo rispetto del diritto di asilo in Slovenia è quanto mai critica e che le disfunzioni sulla procedura di asilo in quel Paese sono profonde come emerge in modo in equivoco in tutti i rapporti internazionali: tra tutti si veda l’autorevole rapporto AIDA 2020 Update: Slovenia, a cura dell’Ecre (European council on refugees and exiles). Soprattutto è ampiamente noto che la Slovenia attua da tempo riammissioni sistematiche verso la Croazia impedendo ai migranti, compresi quelli “riammessi” dall’Italia, di presentare la domanda di asilo e rinviandoli in Croazia, Paese che a sua volta, con un meccanismo a catena e con l’uso di inaudite violenze, li deporta in Bosnia ed Erzegovina dove vengono sottoposti a trattamenti inumani e degradanti. Si tratta di riammissioni, o più propriamente si dovrebbero chiamare respingimenti a catena, documentati da un enorme numero di autorevoli rapporti internazionali e la cui illegalità è stata già dichiarata anche dalla stessa giurisprudenza slovena (vedasi sentenza I U 1490/2019-92 del 16 luglio 2020 del Tribunale amministrativo della Slovenia) e recentemente anche dai tribunali austriaci.

      Le autorità italiane non possono fingere di ignorare il quadro fattuale sopra descritto pena il loro coinvolgimento in fatti che configurano gravi violazioni delle norme interne ed internazionali. Richiamo in particolare l’attenzione su quanto disposto dal Testo unico sull’immigrazione (art. 19 comma 1, novellato dalla legge 173/2020) che dispone che “Non sono ammessi il respingimento o l’espulsione o l’estradizione di una persona verso uno Stato qualora esistano fondati motivi di ritenere che essa rischi di essere sottoposta a tortura o a trattamenti inumani o degradanti. Nella valutazione di tali motivi si tiene conto anche dell’esistenza, in tale Stato, di violazioni sistematiche e gravi di diritti umani”. Il citato articolo, insieme ad altre disposizioni, attua nel nostro ordinamento, dandone un’applicazione estensiva, il fondamentale divieto di non refoulement tutelato in via indiretta dalla Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo (Cedu), la quale prevede, all’art. 2 e art. 3, rispettivamente, il diritto alla vita ed il divieto di tortura e di trattamenti inumani o degradanti.

      Secondo la costante interpretazione della Corte europea dei diritti dell’uomo, il rispetto di tali obblighi comporta il tassativo divieto di respingere o estradare una persona verso luoghi ove i citati diritti correrebbero il rischio di essere violati. Appare persino superfluo approfondire in questa sede il complesso tema della applicabilità della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo ad atti riconducibili agli Stati firmatari che siano posti in essere o abbiano effetto nel territorio di uno Stato che non è parte del Consiglio d’Europa (sul tema evidenzio solo che la giurisprudenza della Corte EDU ha progressivamente ampliato le ipotesi di applicazione extraterritoriale della Cedu) dal momento che è pacifico che l’Italia è responsabile della violazione del divieto di non refoulement nel caso in cui sia pienamente a conoscenza di fatti e prassi illegittime e non provveda, per ciò che di sua competenza, ad impedirne la violazione da parte di un altro Stato dell’Unione europea, soggetto, come l’Italia, ai medesimi obblighi; una co-responsabilità nella violazione dell’art. 3 della Cedu che diventa addirittura eclatante nel caso di collaborazioni delle nostre forze di polizia nello Stato in cui le citate violazioni sono commesse. Questo è dunque il gravissimo scenario che sembra profilarsi nel mandato “opaco” che allo stato attuale delle conoscenze sembra assegnato alle pattuglie miste italo-slovene.

      È inderogabile ed urgente che siano subito resi noti i contenuti dell’accordo di polizia sottoscritto tra Roma e Lubiana (nonché le concrete indicazioni operative date alle forze di polizia italiane) senza che vengano posti artificiosi ostacoli alla sua piena conoscenza. Parimenti è necessario che senza indugio il Parlamento si avvalga dei poteri che l’ordinamento giuridico gli conferisce per monitorare una situazione che può configurarsi di eccezionale gravità per il possibile coinvolgimento di istituzioni della Repubblica in azioni contrarie a norme e a principi fondanti l’ordinamento costituzionale.

      https://altreconomia.it/rotta-balcanica-riprendono-i-pattugliamenti-tra-italia-e-slovenia-un-ma

    • The flow of arrivals from the Balkan Route into North East Italy has significantly increased during the month of August. Associations and groups of volunteers supporting people in Trieste said that they have provided direct help to 659 people during this month, including 103 minors. It is thought very likely that the actual number of arrivals and transits is much higher, with many people not stopping long in the immediate border area. During the last weeks, there have been several reports of smugglers being arrested while transporting people-on-the-move into Italian territory. At the same time, the intensity of control practices along the borders has also increased: in just one day 150 people were found and transferred to quarantine facilities in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) region.

      This has once again pushed public and official discourse towards the need to reintroduce informal readmissions to Slovenia, touted to recommence in July of this year. Yet there remains no official confirmation about reintroduction of “informal readmissions” (pushbacks) by witnesses on the ground, though rumors have begun to circulate about groups rejected from the Italian territory. The Ministry of the Interior refused to provide details of the cooperation between the police forces of Rome and Ljubljana on border patrols. But in the absence of official statements, the installation of 55 #drones by Slovenian authorities sits in line with the growing surveillance of transit across this border.

      Volunteers in Piazza della Libertà in Trieste also witnessed a serious episode of institutional racism in August. An ambulance was called in order to provide medical assistance to an underage boy newly arrived via Slovenia. The health operators initially refused to assist the person, treating him aggressively and disrespectfully. The boy was only given medical assistance after several attempts to seek help and a strong insistence on the part of the volunteers present. Further barriers to health care are also having wider impacts for peoples mobility beyond Trieste, seen most overtly in the lack of access to vaccinations. Without the “green pass”, which marks proof of vaccination, people-on-themove in FVG are unable to access longdistance travel in order to continue their journey.

      Source : Border Violence Monitoring Network, August 2021, pp. 16-17
      https://www.borderviolence.eu/balkan-region-report-august-2021

    • Ripartono oggi le pattuglie miste al confine italo-sloveno nelle province di Trieste/#Koper e Gorizia/Nova Gorica

      Da oggi, 30 luglio, ripartono, nelle provincie di Trieste/Koper e Gorizia/Nova-Gorica, i pattugliamenti congiunti italo sloveni lungo la comune fascia confinaria, al fine di rafforzare i rispettivi dispositivi di contrasto ai flussi migratori irregolari provenienti dalla rotta balcanica.

      L’accordo per la ripresa delle pattuglie miste italo-slovene, intervenuto a più di un anno dalla sospensione dei servizi congiunti interrotti a causa della pandemia in corso, è stato sottoscritto nei giorni scorsi dalle competenti autorità di Polizia di Roma e di Lubiana.

      Le pattuglie miste, che opereranno lungo gli itinerari congiuntamente individuati attraverso una sinergica analisi del rischio dai competenti Uffici territoriali, potranno utilizzare anche strumenti tecnologici, quali i droni.

      Scopo principale dei servizi sarà il contrasto al favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione irregolare, ma da questi deriverà, più in generale, anche il potenziamento dell’attività di vigilanza lungo la comune fascia confinaria, in funzione di contrasto alla criminalità transfrontaliera.

      Detta iniziativa, che rafforza la collaborazione già esistente tra i due Paesi, segna la ripresa delle attività congiunte nell’ambito della cooperazione di Polizia, momentaneamente interrotte dalla pandemia.

      https://questure.poliziadistato.it/it/Trieste/articolo/131861024ad65e1a0407758053

  • Per sorvegliare i migranti l’Ue fa affari con i #contractor

    - È un’area grigia nel cuore del Mediterraneo, una zona d’ombra dove la parola “sovranità” è soprattutto #business. Produttori di armi e munizioni, mediatori specializzati in sicurezza e fornitura di #contractors, navi cariche di fucili automatici che funzionano come vere e proprie Santa barbara fluttuanti.
    – In questa terra di mezzo dove si incontrano trafficanti e governi, i migranti sono prima di tutto un lucroso affare.
    - Nel progetto #Rapsody di #Esa, che dovrebbe controllare il Mediterraneo con droni, compare #Sovereign_Global_Uk azienda riconducibile all’imprenditore #Fenech, arrestato per aver violato l’embargo sulla vendita di armi ai libici.

    (#paywall)

    https://www.editorialedomani.it/politica/mondo/per-sorvegliare-i-migranti-lue-fa-affari-con-i-contractor-pe98utxb

    #frontières #UE #migrations #réfugiés #armes #armement #commerce_d'armes #complexe_militaro-industriel #Libye #Méditerranée #drones

  • Pour la première fois, des drones auraient attaqué des humains de leur propre initiative
    https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/guerre-pour-la-premiere-fois-des-drones-auraient-attaque-des-

    D’après un rapport des Nations unies publié en mars dernier, des #attaques de #drones sans aucune intervention humaine ont été recensées en #Libye. On ne sait pas s’il y a eu des victimes, mais cet événement prouverait que les tentatives de réguler les #robots_tueurs ont déjà un train de retard.

    #défaillance_technique

  • After Slamming Trump, Lawmakers Silent on Biden Drone Export Policy
    https://theintercept.com/2021/05/13/drone-export-sales-mtcr

    The door is open for drone sales to authoritarian countries like the United Arab Emirates. When the Trump administration announced last July it was loosening decades-old restrictions on military drone exports, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came out swinging. Progressive Democrats pounced and introduced legislation to reverse the decision. The new policy, they correctly warned, opened the door for sales to authoritarian countries like the United Arab Emirates (...)

    #drone #arme #lobbying

  • Border Police Wants Bite of Burgeoning Anti-Drone Industry
    https://theintercept.com/2021/05/03/cbp-border-drones-military

    Citing threats from drug cartels to migrants, CBP’s interest dovetails with a $487 million effort by the U.S. government to counter small drones. In April, U.S. Army officers met with representatives from Aurora Flight Sciences, a Virginia-based subsidiary of Boeing, to test whether the company’s technology could intercept and bring down an enemy drone. Aurora was one of three companies that took part in the test at the army’s Yuma Proving Ground, just 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in (...)

    #DHS #drone #migration #arme #frontières #surveillance #ACLU #USArmy #criminalité

    ##criminalité

  • Tunisian police are using drones and Facebook to doxx LGBTQ protesters
    https://www.codastory.com/authoritarian-tech/anti-lgbt-crackdown-in-tunisia

    Law enforcement unions have leveraged technology to harass minorities and discredit demonstrations demanding economic and social reform The worst attacks against Rania Amdouni began in February. The 26-year-old human rights activist and artist had been on the front lines of a new wave of protests in Tunisia for months — fist raised, often wearing the Gay Pride flag or a brightly-colored wig, shouting until her voice went hoarse. Sparked by unemployment rates that had worsened during the (...)

    #Facebook #drone #manipulation #police #violence #harcèlement #LGBT #HumanRightsWatch

  • Intelligence artificielle : l’Europe face aux apprentis sorciers
    https://www.telerama.fr/debats-reportages/intelligence-artificielle-leurope-face-aux-apprentis-sorciers-6865602.php

    Alors que l’intelligence artificielle ne cesse de se développer, la Commission européenne vient de présenter son projet pour réguler les technologies numériques dans “le respect de l’humain”. Mais cette volonté d’encadrement est-elle tenable face aux appétits des géants chinois et américains ?

    Évoquant l’équilibre, Julien Gracq disait qu’« il suffit d’un souffle pour tout faire bouger ». Dans le rôle du funambule, la Commission européenne vient de publier son projet de règlement sur l’intelligence artificielle (IA). Alors que celle-ci s’insinue partout, charriant son lot de promesses – parfois intenables – et de prophéties autoréalisatrices, l’Europe prend l’initiative, selon la commissaire Margrethe Vestager, d’« élaborer de nouvelles normes qui garantiront une IA sûre, tournée vers le progrès et centrée sur l’humain ». Privilégiant une approche fondée sur le risque, Bruxelles cherche une ligne de crête qui permettrait d’encadrer ce nouvel eldorado sans l’interdire, de respecter les libertés sans hypothéquer l’innovation. Mission impossible ?

    Le sandwich sino-américain

    Trois ans après l’entrée en vigueur du Règlement général sur la protection des données (RGPD), régulièrement salué comme une avancée dans le champ du respect de la vie privée, l’Europe veut remettre le couvert et se positionner comme le champion de la régulation technologique. Le couloir de nage est néanmoins étroit : coincée entre un modèle américain prédateur des données personnelles et un paradigme chinois fondé sur le contrôle social dopé aux algorithmes, l’Union européenne connaît une impuissance relative. Pas facile d’être un gendarme en 2 CV quand les go fast roulent en Maserati.

    Thierry Breton, le commissaire au marché intérieur, a beau répéter que « l’UE doit organiser l’univers numérique pour les vingt prochaines années », en matière d’intelligence artificielle, le futur s’écrit pour l’heure à Shenzhen ou en Californie plutôt qu’à Bruxelles. Il suffit par exemple de jeter un œil curieux sur une présentation déclassifiée de la Commission de sécurité nationale sur l’intelligence artificielle (NSCAI), qui conseille le Congrès et oriente la politique technologique des États-Unis. L’organe, présidé par Eric Schmidt, ancien patron de Google, y déplore l’avance du rival chinois dans des domaines aussi variés que « les véhicules autonomes, les villes intelligentes, les services de transport ou les échanges dématérialisés ». Et affirme sans détours dans une diapositive : « La surveillance est le meilleur client pour l’intelligence artificielle. »

    De quoi mettre à mal les bonnes volontés européennes, pourtant bien réelles. Si la Chine – qui vise une économie de l’IA valorisée à 150 milliards de dollars d’ici à 2030 – n’est pas nommée dans le document de la Commission, son fameux « crédit social », au nom duquel chaque individu se voit attribuer une note modulée en fonction de ses actions quotidiennes, est agité comme un repoussoir absolu : l’Europe suggère ainsi d’interdire ces outils, qui portent « un préjudice systémique à certains individus ou groupes de personnes ».

    Exceptions sécuritaires…

    Autre point saillant : l’identification en temps réel dans l’espace public, qui serait également proscrite. La recommandation a de quoi surprendre quand on sait qu’en janvier 2020 l’Union européenne a renoncé à un moratoire de cinq ans sur la reconnaissance faciale. Mais le diable se niche dans les détails : primo, la biométrie intrusive resterait possible a posteriori ; deuxio, le texte prévoit plusieurs exceptions qui permettraient aux autorités de recourir à ces technologies. Si une première version du texte (ayant fuité la semaine dernière) se contentait d’une grossière dérogation sécuritaire, le projet final réduit les cas d’usage à trois situations : la recherche de victimes et d’enfants disparus, la prévention d’actes terroristes imminents et la localisation de personnes recherchées par la police pour des crimes punis d’au moins trois ans de prison.

    Le projet de règlement mentionne également les intelligences artificielles utilisées aux limites de l’espace communautaire, susceptibles d’« affecter des personnes en situation vulnérable ». Ces outils seraient considérés comme « à risque » et donc assujettis à des contrôles particuliers, sans pour autant être bannis. Ce n’est pas neutre : sous l’égide de Frontex, l’agence européenne de gardes-frontières, l’Europe mobilise drones, caméras thermiques et autres détecteurs de fréquence cardiaque pour refouler – illégalement – les migrants. Or, comme le rappelait le collectif Border Violence Monitoring Network dans un rapport récent, ces technologies répressives contribuent à les déshumaniser, légitimant les violences commises à leur encontre par la police.

    … et péril pseudoscientifique

    Plus surprenant, le projet de règlement reste particulièrement flou au sujet des « systèmes de catégorisation biométriques », autorisant et mettant sur le même plan des IA capables de classer les individus en fonction de leur couleur de cheveux et d’autres qui prétendent les ordonner suivant leur origine ethnique ou leur orientation sexuelle. Inacceptable pour une quarantaine d’eurodéputés. Dans un courrier adressé à la présidente de la Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, ils réclament l’interdiction pure et simple de telles pratiques, « qui réduisent la complexité de l’existence humaine à une série de cases binaires, risquant de perpétuer de nombreuses formes de discrimination ». Le péril n’est pas seulement théorique : il y a quelques mois, un chercheur américain, déjà à l’origine d’un « gaydar » dopé à l’intelligence artificielle, publiait un article scientifique dans la revue Nature, affirmant qu’on peut inférer les opinions politiques d’un individu grâce à la reconnaissance faciale.

    En l’état, cet angle mort du texte européen pourrait contribuer à ressusciter les pseudosciences racistes du XIXe siècle, au premier rang desquelles la physiognomonie, qui prétend examiner le langage animal du corps et déduire la personnalité d’un individu sur la foi des traits de son visage. Largement utilisée par les eugénistes pour soutenir leurs thèses, cette discipline dangereuse revit aujourd’hui sur un marché émergent de la détection des émotions, boosté par la pandémie. La physiognomonie est par exemple à l’origine de la start-up Clearview AI, l’épouvantail de la reconnaissance faciale, aujourd’hui poursuivie aux États-Unis pour avoir illégalement bâti une base de données de 3 milliards de visages. Appelant récemment à une régulation drastique de l’identification des affects, la chercheuse australienne Kate Crawford évoquait la nécessité de résister à « la pulsion phrénologique », un autre charlatanisme selon lequel nos caractères dépendent de la forme de notre crâne : « Nous devons rejeter la mythologie selon laquelle nos états d’âme sont un jeu de données qu’on pourrait extraire de nos visages. » Le pays moteur dans ce secteur infréquentable ? La Chine.

    #Frontex #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #migration #température #données #facial #législation #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #BigData #surveillance (...)

    ##[fr]Règlement_Général_sur_la_Protection_des_Données__RGPD_[en]General_Data_Protection_Regulation__GDPR_[nl]General_Data_Protection_Regulation__GDPR_

  • Loi sécurité globale adoptée : résumons
    https://www.laquadrature.net/2021/04/16/loi-securite-globale-adoptee-resumons

    La loi sécurité globale a été définitivement adoptée hier par l’Assemblée nationale, à 75 voix contre 33, au terme d’un débat soumis aux exigences de la police et dont nous n’attendions plus grand chose (lire notamment notre analyse de l’examen en commission à l’Assemblée ou au Sénat). La prochaine étape sera l’examen de la loi par le Conseil constitutionnel. Nous lui enverrons bientôt nos observations. Avant cela, prenons un instant pour résumer les changements juridiques qui, sauf censure de la part du (...)

    #algorithme #drone #anti-terrorisme #biométrie #géolocalisation #aérien #facial #législation #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #immatriculation #LoiSécuritéGlobale #surveillance (...)

    ##LaQuadratureduNet

  • Très controversée, la loi « sécurité globale » définitivement adoptée
    https://www.letelegramme.fr/ille-et-vilaine/rennes/tres-controversee-la-loi-securite-globale-definitivement-adoptee-15-04-

    L’Assemblée nationale a définitivement adopté, ce jeudi, la proposition de loi dite « sécurité globale ». Ce texte, critiqué pour son caractère potentiellement liberticide, continue de diviser les parlementaires bretons de la majorité. L’Assemblée nationale a définitivement adopté, ce jeudi midi, la proposition de loi dite de « sécurité globale ». 75 députés ont voté pour, 33 ont voté contre sur 108 suffrages exprimés. Un vote ultime pour un texte ultra-polémique, rebaptisé « loi sécurité globale préservant (...)

    #CCTV #drone #vidéo-surveillance #surveillance

  • Les principaux articles de la loi « sécurité globale », définitivement adoptée par l’Assemblée nationale
    https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2021/04/15/les-principaux-articles-de-la-loi-securite-globale-definitivement-adoptee-pa

    Les députés ont validé, jeudi, une version du texte en partie remaniée par le Sénat. L’opposition de gauche a annoncé saisir le Conseil constitutionnel. Sécurité privée, police municipale, port d’arme en dehors du service, déploiement de drones, accès élargi aux images de vidéosurveillance et des caméras piétons : la loi pour « une sécurité globale préservant les libertés » a été adoptée, jeudi 15 avril, par un ultime vote à l’Assemblée nationale. Le groupe parlementaire du Parti socialiste (PS) a d’ores et (...)

    #CCTV #drone #législation #vidéo-surveillance #surveillance #CNIL

  • Au Poste #15 avec Olivier Tesquet, auteur d’« État d’urgence technologique (...) - davduf.net
    http://www.davduf.net/au-poste-15-avec-olivier-tesquet-auteur-d-etat-d

    Depuis plus de 10 ans, l’homme-machine Olivier Tesquet traque nos traces, et le joyeux capitalisme de surveillance. On l’a convoqué #AuPoste. Il est resté près de deux heures et demi, passionnantes, et glaçantes. Tesquet parle comme son livre « État d’urgence technologique » (Premier Parallèle) se déguste : avec précision et concision. Tesquet nous raconte par le menu comment, désormais, sanitaire, sécuritaire et militaire se conjuguent au présent et à l’omniprésent. « On me demande souvent s’il faut (...)

    #Google #Hikvision #Palantir #Amazon #Facebook #algorithme #CCTV #biométrie #facial #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #GAFAM #surveillance #drone (...)

    ##LaQuadratureduNet

  • JO2024 : l’Agence nationale de la recherche planifie la technopolice
    https://technopolice.fr/blog/jo2024-lagence-nationale-de-la-recherche-planifie-la-technopolice

    Pour les JO de Paris 2024, l’État français et ses institutions, comme l’Agence nationale de la recherche, financent, encouragent et développent la Technopolice. Ils prévoient notamment l’utilisation de la reconnaissance faciale de masse, le déploiement de techniques d’analyse vidéo de « gestion de foule » ou encore l’analyse en continue des réseaux sociaux et des données téléphoniques. Et ce, alors même que la majorité de ces technologies sont aujourd’hui illégales. Comme dénoncé depuis un moment déjà, les (...)

    #Idemia #Orange #Twitter #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #température #aérien #facial #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #comportement #EASP #écoutes #Gipasp #Pasp #SocialNetwork #sport #surveillance #Technopolice (...)

    ##LaQuadratureduNet

  • ‘They can see us in the dark’: migrants grapple with hi-tech fortress EU

    A powerful battery of drones, thermal cameras and heartbeat detectors are being deployed to exclude asylum seekers

    Khaled has been playing “the game” for a year now. A former law student, he left Afghanistan in 2018, driven by precarious economic circumstances and fear for his security, as the Taliban were increasingly targeting Kabul.

    But when he reached Europe, he realised the chances at winning the game were stacked against him. Getting to Europe’s borders was easy compared with actually crossing into the EU, he says, and there were more than physical obstacles preventing him from getting to Germany, where his uncle and girlfriend live.

    On a cold December evening in the Serbian village of Horgoš, near the Hungarian border, where he had spent a month squatting in an abandoned farm building, he and six other Afghan asylum seekers were having dinner together – a raw onion and a loaf of bread they passed around – their faces lit up by the glow of a fire.

    The previous night, they had all had another go at “the game” – the name migrants give to crossing attempts. But almost immediately the Hungarian border police stopped them and pushed them back into Serbia. They believe the speed of the response can be explained by the use of thermal cameras and surveillance drones, which they had seen during previous attempts to cross.

    “They can see us in the dark – you just walk, and they find you,” said Khaled, adding that drones had been seen flying over their squat. “Sometimes they send them in this area to watch who is here.”

    Drones, thermal-vision cameras and devices that can detect a heartbeat are among the new technological tools being increasingly used by European police to stop migrants from crossing borders, or to push them back when they do.

    The often violent removal of migrants without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum is illegal under EU law, which obliges authorities to process asylum requests whether or not migrants possess identification documents or entered the country legally.

    “Routes are getting harder and harder to navigate. Corridors [in the Balkans are] really intensively surveyed by these technologies,” says Simon Campbell, field coordinator for the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), a migrant rights group in the region.

    The militarisation of Europe’s borders has been increasing steadily since 2015, when the influx of migrants reached its peak. A populist turn in politics and fear whipped up around the issue have fuelled the use of new technologies. The EU has invested in fortifying borders, earmarking €34.9bn (£30bn) in funding for border and migration management for the 2021-27 budget, while sidelining the creation of safe passages and fair asylum processes.

    Osman, a Syrian refugee now living in Serbia, crossed several borders in the southern Balkans in 2014. “At the time, I didn’t see any type of technology,” he says, “but now there’s drones, thermal cameras and all sorts of other stuff.”

    When the Hungarian police caught him trying to cross the Serbian border before the pandemic hit last year, they boasted about the equipment they used – including what Osman recalls as “a huge drone with a big camera”. He says they told him: “We are watching you everywhere.”

    Upgrading of surveillance technology, as witnessed by Khaled and Osman, has coincided with increased funding for Frontex – the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency. Between 2005 and 2016, Frontex’s budget grew from €6.3m to €238.7m, and it now stands at €420.6m. Technology at the EU’s Balkan borders have been largely funded with EU money, with Frontex providing operational support.

    Between 2014 and 2017, with EU funding, Croatia bought 13 thermal-imaging devices for €117,338 that can detect people more than a mile away and vehicles from two miles away.

    In 2019, the Croatian interior ministry acquired four eRIS-III long-range drones for €2.3m. They identify people up to six miles away in daylight and just under two miles in darkness, they fly at 80mph and climb to an altitude of 3,500 metres (11,400ft), while transmitting real-time data. Croatia has infrared cameras that can detect people at up to six miles away and equipment that picks upheartbeats.

    Romania now has heartbeat detection devices, alongside 117 thermo-vision cameras. Last spring, it added 24 vehicles with thermo-vision capabilities to its border security force at a cost of more than €13m.

    Hungary’s investment in migration-management technology is shielded from public scrutiny by a 2017 legal amendment but its lack of transparency and practice of pushing migrants back have been criticised by other EU nations and the European court of justice, leading to Frontex suspending operations in Hungary in January.

    It means migrants can no longer use the cover of darkness for their crossing attempts. Around the fire in Horgoš, Khaled and his fellow asylum-seekers decide to try crossing instead in the early morning, when they believe thermal cameras are less effective.

    A 2021 report by BVMN claims that enhanced border control technologies have led to increased violence as police in the Balkans weaponise new equipment against people on the move. Technology used in pushing back migrants has “contributed to the ease with which racist and repressive procedures are carried out”, the report says.

    BVMN highlighted the 2019 case of an 18-year-old Algerian who reported being beaten and strangled with his own shirt by police while attempting a night crossing from Bosnia to Croatia. “You cannot cross the border during the night because when the police catch you in the night, they beat you a lot. They break you,” says the teenager, who reported seeing surveillance drones.

    Ali, 19, an Iranian asylum-seeker who lives in a migrant camp in Belgrade, says that the Croatian and Romanian police have been violent and ignored his appeals for asylum during his crossing attempts. “When they catch us, they don’t respect us, they insult us, they beat us,” says Ali. “We said ‘we want asylum’, but they weren’t listening.”

    BVMN’s website archives hundreds of reports of violence. In February last year, eight Romanian border officers beat two Iraqi families with batons, administering electric shocks to two men, one of whom was holding his 11-month-old child. They stole their money and destroyed their phones, before taking them back to Serbia, blasting ice-cold air in the police van until they reached their destination.

    “There’s been some very, very severe beatings lately,” says Campbell. “Since the spring of 2018, there has been excessive use of firearms, beatings with batons, Tasers and knives.”

    Responding to questions via email, Frontex denies any link between its increased funding of new technologies and the violent pushbacks in the Balkans. It attributes the rise in reports to other factors, such as increased illegal migration and the proliferation of mobile phones making it easier to record incidents.

    Petra Molnar, associate director of Refugee Law Lab, believes the over-emphasis on technologies can alienate and dehumanise migrants.

    “There’s this alluring solution to really complex problems,” she says. “It’s a lot easier to sell a bunch of drones or a lot of automated technology, instead of dealing with the drivers that force people to migrate … or making the process more humane.”

    Despite the increasingly sophisticated technologies that have been preventing them from crossing Europe’s borders, Khaled and his friends from the squat managed to cross into Hungary in late December. He is living in a camp in Germany and has begun the process of applying for asylum.

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/eu-borders-migrants-hitech-surveillance-asylum-seekers

    #Balkans #complexe_militaro-industriel #route_des_Balkans #technologie #asile #migrations #frontières #contrôles_frontaliers #caméras_thermiques #militarisation_des_frontières #drones #détecteurs_de_battements_de_coeur #Horgos #Horgoš #Serbie #the_game #game #surveillance_frontalière #Hongrie #Frontex #Croatie #Roumanie #nuit #violence #refoulements #push-backs #déshumanisation

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • Outils de contrôle des populations, polices privées… les enjeux de la loi Sécurité globale
    https://reporterre.net/A-ECOUTER-Les-mauvaises-ondes-de-la-loi-Securite-globale

    Alors que le Sénat a commencé l’examen de la loi Sécurité globale, une émission de radio coanimée par Reporterre et Radio Parleur le 16 mars a mis en relief les enjeux de ce texte qui va multiplier les outils de contrôle des populations et ouvrir en grand la porte à la privatisation de la sécurité. Le 16 mars, rassemblés devant le Sénat, les manifestants brandissent drapeaux et pancartes. Ils chantent en chœur des slogans dénonciateurs face à plusieurs dizaines de policiers. À côté de cette foule se (...)

    #algorithme #CCTV #drone #législation #vidéo-surveillance #LoiSécuritéGlobale #surveillance (...)

    ##LaQuadratureduNet

  • Sécurité Globale : le Sénat dit oui à la surveillance de masse
    https://www.laquadrature.net/2021/03/19/securite-globale-le-senat-dit-oui-a-la-surveillance-de-masse

    Hier, le Sénat a voté à son tour la proposition de loi sur la « Sécurité globale », cinq mois après le vote en première lecture à l’Assemblée nationale. S’agissant d’une procédure accélérée, la prochaine étape sera directement en commission mixte paritaire, peut-être dès le début du mois d’avril. Au vu de la version du texte votée par le Sénat, il n’y a malheureusement rien à attendre de cette commission. Nos espoirs reposent maintenant sur le Conseil constitutionnel, qui devra censurer largement les dispositions de (...)

    #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #aérien #législation #vidéo-surveillance #LoiSécuritéGlobale #surveillance #LaQuadratureduNet (...)

    ##Technopolice

  • Les Jeux olympiques ouvrent la voie aux technologies sécuritaires
    https://reporterre.net/Les-Jeux-olympiques-ouvrent-la-voie-aux-technologies-securitaires

    Les Jeux olympiques de Paris 2024 ont prévu l’usage d’une débauche de technologies sécuritaires. Mais qui ont besoin d’être légalisées. C’est ce que commence à faire la proposition de loi sécurité globale, examinée par les sénateurs à partir de ce mardi 16 mars. Autant de mesures susceptibles de porter atteinte aux libertés publiques et à la vie privée, dénoncent ses détracteurs. Accéder à un lieu sécurisé après un simple scan de votre visage. Filmer avec des drones le moindre recoin d’espace public. Anticiper (...)

    #RATP #SNCF #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #facial #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #mouvement #sport #surveillance #CNIL #LDH-France (...)

    ##Technopolice

  • Scholars Under Surveillance : How Campus Police Use High Tech to Spy on Students
    https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/scholars-under-surveillance-how-campus-police-use-high-tech-spy-students

    It may be many months before college campuses across the U.S. fully reopen, but when they do, many students will be returning to a learning environment that is under near constant scrutiny by law enforcement. A fear of school shootings, and other campus crimes, have led administrators and campus police to install sophisticated surveillance systems that go far beyond run-of-the-mill security camera networks to include drones, gunshot detection sensors, and much more. Campuses have also (...)

    #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #immatriculation #vidéo-surveillance #arme #enseignement #surveillance (...)

    ##EFF

  • #Evelop / #Barceló_Group : deportation planes from Spain

    The Barceló Group is a leading Spanish travel and hotel company whose airline Evelop is an eager deportation profiteer. Evelop is currently the Spanish government’s main charter deportation partner, running all the country’s mass expulsion flights through a two-year contract, while carrying out deportations from several other European countries as well.

    This profile has been written in response to requests from anti-deportation campaigners. We look at how:

    - The Barceló Group’s airline Evelop has a €9.9m, 18-month deportation contract with the Spanish government. The contract is up for renewal and Barceló is bidding again.
    - Primary beneficiaries of the contract alternate every few years between Evelop and Globalia’s Air Europa.
    – Evelop also carried out deportations from the UK last year to Jamaica, Ghana and Nigeria.
    – The Barceló Group is run and owned by the Barceló family. It is currently co-chaired by the Barceló cousins, Simón Barceló Tous and Simón Pedro Barceló Vadell. Former senator Simón Pedro Barceló Vadell, of the conservative Partido Popular (PP) party, takes the more public-facing role.
    – The company is Spain’s second biggest hotel company, although the coronavirus pandemic appears to have significantly impacted this aspect of its work.

    What’s the business?

    The Barceló Group (‘#Barceló_Corporación_Empresarial, S.A.’) is made up of the #Barceló_Hotel_Group, Spain’s second largest hotel company, and a travel agency and tour operator division known as #Ávoris. Ávoris runs two airlines: the Portuguese brand #Orbest, which anti-deportation campaigners report have also carried out charter deportations, and the Spanish company, #Evelop, founded in 2013.

    The Barceló Group is based in Palma, #Mallorca. It was founded by the Mallorca-based Barceló family in 1931 as #Autocares_Barceló, which specialised in the transportation of people and goods, and has been managed by the family for three generations. The Barceló Group has a stock of over 250 hotels in 22 countries and claims to employ over 33,000 people globally, though we don’t know if this figure has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused massive job losses in the tourism industry.

    The Hotel division has four brands: #Royal_Hideaway_Luxury_Hotels & Resorts; #Barceló_Hotels & Resorts; #Occidental_Hotels & Resorts; and #Allegro_Hotels. The company owns, manages and rents hotels worldwide, mostly in Spain, Mexico and the US. It works in the United States through its subsidiary, Crestline Hotels & Resorts, which manages third-party hotels, including for big brands like Marriott and Hilton.

    Ávoris, the travel division, runs twelve tour brands, all platforms promoting package holidays.

    Their airlines are small, primarily focused on taking people to sun and sand-filled holidays. In total the Barceló Group airlines have a fleet of just nine aircraft, with one on order, according to the Planespotters website. However, three of these have been acquired in the past two years and a fourth is due to be delivered. Half are leased from Irish airplane lessor Avolon. Evelop serves only a few routes, mainly between the Caribbean and the Iberian peninsula, as well as the UK.

    Major changes are afoot as Ávoris is due to merge with #Halcón_Viajes_and_Travelplan, both subsidiaries of fellow Mallorcan travel giant #Globalia. The combined entity will become the largest group of travel agencies in Spain, employing around 6,000 people. The Barceló Group is due to have the majority stake in the new business.

    Barceló has also recently announced the merger of Evelop with its other airline Orbest, leading to a new airline called Iberojet (the name of a travel agency already operated by Ávoris).

    The new airline is starting to sell scheduled flights in addition to charter operations. Evelop had already announced a reduction in its charter service, at a time when its scheduled airline competitors, such as #Air_Europa, have had to be bailed out to avoid pandemic-induced bankruptcy. Its first scheduled flights will be mainly to destinations in Central and South America, notably Cuba and the Domican Republic, though they are also offering flights to Tunisia, the Maldives and Mauritius.

    Deportation dealers

    Evelop currently holds the contract to carry out the Spanish government’s mass deportation flights, through an agreement made with the Spanish Interior Ministry in December 2019. Another company, Air Nostrum, which operates the Iberia Regional franchise, transports detainees within Spain, notably to Madrid, from where they are deported by Evelop. The total value of the contract for the two airlines is €9.9m, and lasts 18 months.

    This is the latest in a long series of such contracts. Over the years, the beneficiaries have alternated between the Evelop- #Air_Nostrum partnership, and another partnership comprising Globalia’s #Air_Europa, and #Swiftair (with the former taking the equivalent role to that of Evelop). So far, the Evelop partnership has been awarded the job twice, while its Air Europa rival has won the bidding three times.

    However, the current deal will end in spring 2021, and a new tender for a contract of the same value has been launched. The two bidders are: Evelop-Air Nostrum; and Air Europa in partnership with #Aeronova, another Globalia subsidiary. A third operator, #Canary_Fly, has been excluded from the bidding for failing to produce all the required documentation. So yet again, the contract will be awarded to companies either owned by the Barceló Group or Globalia.

    On 10 November 2020, Evelop carried out the first charter deportations from Spain since the restrictions on travel brought about by the cCOVID-19 pandemic. On board were 22 migrants, mostly Senegalese, who had travelled by boat to the Canary Islands. Evelop and the Spanish government dumped them in Mauritania, under an agreement with the country to accept any migrants arriving on the shores of the Islands. According to El País newspaper, the number of actual Mauritanians deported to that country is a significant minority of all deportees. Anti-deportation campaigners state that since the easing up of travel restrictions, Evelop has also deported people to Georgia, Albania, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

    Evelop is not only eager to cash in on deportations in Spain. Here in the UK, Evelop carried out at least two charter deportations last year: one to Ghana and Nigeria from Stansted on 30 January 2020; and one to Jamaica from Doncaster airport on 11 February in the same year. These deportations took place during a period of mobile network outages across Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres, which interfered with detainees’ ability to access legal advice to challenge their expulsion, or speak to loved ones.

    According to campaigners, the company reportedly operates most of Austria and Germany’s deportations to Nigeria and Ghana, including a recent joint flight on 19 January. It also has operated deportations from Germany to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    Evelop is not the only company profiting from Spain’s deportation machine. The Spanish government also regularly deports people on commercial flights operated by airlines such as Air Maroc, Air Senegal, and Iberia, as well as mass deportations by ferry to Morocco and Algeria through the companies #Transmediterránea, #Baleària and #Algérie_Ferries. #Ferry deportations are currently on hold due to the pandemic, but Air Maroc reportedly still carry out regular deportations on commercial flights to Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.

    Where’s the money?

    The financial outlook for the Barceló Group as a whole at the end of 2019 seemed strong, having made a net profit of €135 million.

    Before the pandemic, the company president said that he had planned to prioritise its hotels division over its tour operator segment, which includes its airlines. Fast forward a couple of years and its hotels are struggling to attract custom, while one of its airlines has secured a multimillion-euro deportation contract.

    Unsurprisingly, the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the Barceló Group’s operations. The company had to close nearly all of its hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the first wave of the pandemic, with revenue down 99%. In the Caribbean, the hotel group saw a 95% drop in revenue in May, April and June. They fared slightly better in the US, which saw far fewer COVID-19 restrictions, yet revenue there still declined 89%. By early October, between 20-60% of their hotels in Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean had reopened across the regions, but with occupancy at only 20-60%.

    The company has been negotiating payments with hotels and aircraft lessors in light of reduced demand. It claims that it has not however had to cut jobs, since the Spanish government’s COVID-19 temporary redundancy plans enable some workers to be furloughed and prevent employers from firing them in that time.

    Despite these difficulties, the company may be saved, like other tourism multinationals, by a big bailout from the state. Barceló’s Ávoris division is set to share a €320 million bailout from the Spanish government as part of the merger with Globalia’s subsidiaries. Is not known if the Barceló Group’s hotel lines will benefit from state funds.

    Key people

    The eight members of the executive board are unsurprisingly, male, pale and frail; as are all ten members of the Ávoris management team.

    The company is co-chaired by cousins with confusingly similar names: #Simón_Barceló_Tous and #Simón_Pedro_Barceló_Vadell. We’ll call them #Barceló_Tous and #Pedro_Barceló from here. The family are from Felanitx, Mallorca.

    Barceló Tous is the much more low-key of the two, and there is little public information about him. Largely based in the Dominican Republic, he takes care of the Central & Latin American segment of the business.

    His cousin, Pedro Barceló, runs the European and North American division. Son of Group co-founder #Gabriel_Barceló_Oliver, Pedro Barceló is a law graduate who has been described as ‘reserved’ and ‘elusive’. He is the company’s executive president. Yet despite his apparent shyness, he was once the youngest senator in Spanish history, entering the upper house at age 23 as a representative for the conservative party with links to the Francoist past, #Partido_Popular. For a period he was also a member of the board of directors of Globalia, Aena and #First_Choice_Holidays.

    The CEO of Evelop is #Antonio_Mota_Sandoval, formerly the company’s technical and maintenance director. He’s very found of #drones and is CEO and founder of a company called #Aerosolutions. The latter describes itself as ‘Engineering, Consulting and Training Services for conventional and unmanned aviation.’ Mota appears to live in Alcalá de Henares, a town just outside Madrid. He is on Twitter and Facebook.

    The Barceló Foundation

    As is so often the case with large businesses engaging in unethical practises, the family set up a charitable arm, the #Barceló_Foundation. It manages a pot of €32 million, of which it spent €2m in 2019 on a broad range of charitable activities in Africa, South America and Mallorca. Headed by Antonio Monjo Tomás, it’s run from a prestigious building in Palma known as #Casa_del_Marqués_de_Reguer-Rullán, owned by the Barceló family. The foundation also runs the #Felanitx_Art & Culture Center, reportedly based at the Barceló’s family home. The foundation partners with many Catholic missions and sponsors the #Capella_Mallorquina, a local choir. The foundation is on Twitter and Facebook.

    The Barceló Group’s vulnerabilities

    Like other tourism businesses, the group is struggling with the industry-wide downturn due to COVID-19 travel measures. In this context, government contracts provide a rare reliable source of steady income — and the Barcelós will be loathe to give up deportation work. In Spain, perhaps even more than elsewhere, the tourism industry and its leading dynasties has very close ties with government and politicians. Airlines are getting heavy bailouts from the Spanish state, and their bosses will want to keep up good relations.

    But the deportation business could become less attractive for the group if campaigners keep up the pressure — particularly outside Spain, where reputational damage may outweigh the profits from occasional flights. Having carried out a charter deportation to Jamaica from the UK earlier in the year, the company became a target of a social media campaign in December 2020 ahead of the Jamaica 50 flight, after which they reportedly said that they were not involved. A lesser-known Spanish airline, Privilege Style, did the job instead.

    https://corporatewatch.org/evelop-barcelo-group-deportation-planes-from-spain
    #Espagne #business #compagnies_aériennes #complexe_militaro-industriel #renvois #expulsions #migrations #réfugiés #asile #tourisme #charter #Maurtianie #îles_Canaries #Canaries #Géorgie #Albanie #Colombie #République_dominicaine #Ghana #Nigeria #Allemagne #Standsted #UK #Angleterre #Pakistan #Bangladesh #Air_Maroc #Air_Senegal #Iberia #Maroc #Algérie #ferrys #Sahara_occidental #covid-19 #pandémie #coronavirus #hôtels #fondation #philanthrocapitalisme

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • CADATHON
    https://technopolice.fr/blog/cadathon

    Les dispositifs de surveillance sont nombreux et déployés de manière très opaque. La demande CADA est un outil permettant – théoriquement – d’avoir accès à des informations les concernant. Sauf que régulièrement, les administrations ne répondent pas ou à moitié, sous prétexte de « secret commercial ». Afin de lutter contre la technopolice, on voudrait d’abord savoir contre quoi on lutte. On vous demande de l’aide pour faire : Des CADA en masse Des demandes cada aux villes de Toulouse, Dijon et Vannes : on (...)

    #Briefcam #algorithme #CCTV #drone #biométrie #aérien #facial #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #surveillance #LaQuadratureduNet (...)

    ##Technopolice

  • Un nouveau drone-kamikaze russe ’silencieux’ bientôt mis en service
    https://www.businessinsider.fr/un-nouveau-drone-kamikaze-russe-silencieux-bientot-mis-en-service-18


    Fabriqué par le groupe de défense russe Kalashnikov, le drone KYB peut transporter une charge explosive allant jusqu’à 3kg.

    Si des armées s’évertuent à trouver le meilleur moyen de se défendre face aux drones, d’autres travaillent à en développer de plus efficaces. Le 22 février, le groupe de défense Kalashnikov, sous contrôle gouvernemental russe, a ainsi annoncé que son nouveau #drone-kamikaze achèverait sa période de test dans le courant de l’année.

    De la guerre froide à la guerre chaude

    Le Longshot, nouveau drone chasseur d’avions de l’US Air Force
    https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/le-longshot-nouveau-drone-chasseur-davions-de-lus-air-force-1394345

    L’US Air Force développe des essaims de drones militaires
    https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/lus-air-force-developpe-des-essaims-de-drones-militaires-1362338

    Le X-61A Gremlin est un drone autonome qui sera lancé directement en vol depuis un avion. Déployé en essaim, cet appareil développé par l’armée américaine pourra mener des missions de reconnaissance ou des bombardements.

    Un #essaim_de_drones pourrait bientôt s’abattre sur les champs de bataille. La Darpa - une agence américaine spécialisée dans la #technologie_militaire - a annoncé la réussite des premiers essais en vol d’un appareil d’un genre nouveau : le X-61A Gremlin. Il s’agit d’un drone autonome lancé à partir d’un avion de transport militaire à plusieurs centaines de kilomètres du théâtre d’opération, limitant le danger pour les pilotes. Lors de son essai, l’engin a volé pendant plus d’une heure avant d’être récupéré au sol. D’ici quelques années, ces machines pourront revenir elles-mêmes à bord de l’aéronef qui les avait envoyé, ce qui évitera la construction de bases aériennes proches du front.

    Le Gremlin sera peu coûteux à produire, à réparer et à réutiliser. L’US Air Force compte bien en profiter pour le déployer en nuées sur les théâtres d’opérations afin de saturer l’espace aérien ennemi. Sur place, il devra accomplir de nombreuses missions : reconnaissance, brouillage des signaux des radars hostiles, ou encore ciblage d’appareils ennemis. Enfin, le Gremlin pourra emporter des #missiles et conduire des bombardements synchronisés avec d’autres appareils autonomes.

    Les militaires envisagent même de transformer la machine en kamikaze robotique en l’équipant d’une charge explosive. Si le Gremlin venait à être endommagé lors d’une bataille, il plongerait alors sur une cible ennemie pour faire le plus de dégâts possible. Déployés en nuées, ces drones serviront aussi de boucliers mobiles en “encaissant” les premières salves de missiles anti-aériens avant que les avions de chasse de l’US Air Force investissent le champ de bataille.Ultime avantage, l’US Air Force estime que le Gremlin pourra être produit en masse et que chaque unité n’aura besoin que d’une journée de maintenance avant de pouvoir redécoller.

    du côté militaire, des joujoux par milliers ! @etraces

  • La police en hélicoptère, ou la surveillance militaire des citoyens.
    https://technopolice.fr/blog/la-police-en-helicoptere-ou-la-surveillance-militaire-des-citoyens

    Depuis plusieurs années, les hélicoptères de la gendarmerie sont régulièrement déployés pour des missions de surveillance de l’espace public, et ce en toute illégalité. Dotés d’un matériel d’abord développé dans un contexte militaire, la police se vante de leur capacité d’espionnage bien supérieure à celles des drones : caméras thermiques avec zoom ultra-puissant, suivi automatisé des suspects, transmission en temps-réel des images à des postes de commandement… Leur usage n’a pourtant jamais été sanctionné – ni (...)

    #CCTV #drone #température #aérien #vidéo-surveillance #surveillance #Technopolice #LaQuadratureduNet (...)

    ##militaire

  • Le ministère de l’intérieur a choisi ses drones
    https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/020321/le-ministere-de-l-interieur-choisi-ses-drones

    D’après nos informations, Beauvau a décidé de se fournir auprès de sociétés françaises. Mais les aéronefs pourraient être ceux de la marque chinoise DJI, interdits dans plusieurs pays après des soupçons d’espionnage. Mercredi, justement, les sénateurs examinent en commission la proposition de loi « Sécurité globale » qui généralise l’usage des drones par les forces de l’ordre.

    Beauvau a tranché. D’après nos informations, le ministère de l’intérieur, qui avait lancé en avril dernier un marché pour l’achat d’environ 600 drones, a prévu d’attribuer les deux lots principaux à un groupement constitué du vendeur d’armes de chasse Rivolier et de l’entreprise de sécurité-défense Milton-Innovation.

    Les deux sociétés françaises devraient se partager l’essentiel d’un contrat à 4 millions d’euros de fonds publics sur quatre ans. L’objet : la fourniture de 565 « micro-drones du quotidien » et 66 « drones de capacité nationale » à la police et à la gendarmerie nationales. Soit un doublement du nombre d’aéronefs détenus par les forces de l’ordre – 490 à ce jour, d’après le « Livre blanc de la sécurité intérieure ».

    Si les autres entreprises candidates ne déposent aucun recours devant la juridiction administrative, cet accord-cadre pourra être signé dès le 10 mars.

    L’attribution de ce marché intervient alors même que la proposition de loi « Sécurité globale », qui s’apprête à légaliser et généraliser la surveillance par drone, n’a pas été définitivement adoptée. Votée par l’Assemblée nationale à l’automne dernier, elle doit être examinée ce mercredi au Sénat en commission des lois, puis en séance le 16 mars.

    Décrié de toutes parts pour ses atteintes aux libertés individuelles, le texte permet aux forces de l’ordre, dans son article 22, de faire usage de ces aéronefs dans le cadre d’opérations de maintien de l’ordre comme de police judiciaire, alors que le cadre juridique restait très flou jusqu’ici, s’agissant de la collecte de données personnelles notamment.

    En mai 2020, puis en décembre, le Conseil d’État a en effet interdit à la préfecture de police de Paris l’utilisation de ses drones, qu’il s’agisse de faire respecter le confinement ou de surveiller les manifestations.

    Puis, dans la foulée, le 12 janvier, la Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (le gendarme français des données personnelles) a même sanctionné le ministère de l’intérieur, estimant que ce dernier avait « utilisé de manière illicite des drones équipés de caméras, notamment pour surveiller le respect des mesures de confinement ». La Cnil a enjoint, du même coup, à Beauvau de cesser tout vol jusqu’à ce qu’un cadre normatif l’autorise. Depuis, les aéronefs des forces de l’ordre françaises sont censés être rangés au placard.

    Le choix des fournisseurs retenus par le ministère de l’intérieur interroge par ailleurs la concurrence. Basée dans la Loire, à quelques dizaines de kilomètres au nord de Saint-Étienne, la société Rivolier commercialise principalement des armes et munitions à destination des chasseurs, ainsi que des tonfas, flash-balls et menottes pour les forces de sécurité. En 2003, elle s’est vu attribuer un contrat pour fournir 250 000 pistolets de marque allemande SIG Sauer à la police et à la gendarmerie. Fin 2019, l’entreprise française a remporté un autre contrat du ministère de l’intérieur pour la fourniture de 180 lanceurs de balles de défense.

    « Le grand scoop, c’est la rencontre du drone de surveillance avec un vendeur d’armes, s’insurge un spécialiste du secteur, sous couvert d’anonymat. À quand des drones équipés de grenades lacrymo ? Des drones armés de lanceurs de balles de défense ? Voire des drones armés à balles réelles ? Il n’y a plus qu’un pas à franchir. Et le choix du ministère de l’intérieur en dit long sur ses intentions. »

    L’autre société, Milton-Innovation, fondée en 2017 près de Bordeaux par d’anciens membres des forces spéciales de l’armée française, n’est pas un constructeur de drones mais un distributeur. Peu active sur Internet, l’entreprise a publié plusieurs vidéos sur sa page Facebook faisant la promotion de drones de la marque chinoise DJI (Da-Jiang Innovations). Or ce fabricant, leader mondial du marché, a été blacklisté par les États-Unis ou le Japon, par crainte d’espionnage.

    En juillet 2020, le New York Times indiquait que des chercheurs en cybersécurité avaient identifié une vulnérabilité dans l’application qui contrôle les drones civils DJI. Cette faille permettait de collecter de nombreuses données personnelles, qui pourraient être utilisées par Pékin. Dès janvier 2020, le Département de l’intérieur américain avait annoncé ne plus utiliser les 1 000 drones civils qu’il avait achetés à DJI, craignant que des données sensibles ne soient aspirées. Comme le révélait Mediapart il y a quelques mois, ces modèles équipent déjà la préfecture de police de Paris.

    La France s’apprêterait-elle à acquérir 630 drones chinois ? Questionné par Mediapart, le ministère de l’intérieur n’a pas répondu à cette question, pas plus qu’il n’a souhaité confirmer ou démentir nos informations sur les futurs gagnants du marché public. Également sollicités, ni Rivolier ni Milton-Innovation n’ont retourné nos demandes.

    Certains spécialistes du secteur sont en tout cas persuadés que DJI sera de la partie. C’est le cas de Safe Cluster, association sous tutelle de l’État et de la Région Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, dont la mission est le développement économique des acteurs français de la sécurité.

    Dans un courrier adressé au ministère de l’intérieur le 22 mai dernier, que Mediapart a pu consulter, le groupement d’entreprises pointait les critères du marché public, qui ne pouvaient conduire, selon lui, qu’à l’achat de drones chinois. « La majorité des remarques portent sur les lots 1 et 2, s’inquiétait l’association dans son analyse de l’appel d’offres, où il ressort que les seules solutions répondant à l’ensemble des spécifications seraient chinoises. »

    Poids inférieur à 1 kg avec batterie, présence de capteurs d’obstacles, installation d’une caméra technique… Pour les industriels signataires du document, dont les Français Parrot ou Delta Drone, les « exigences impératives » du lot 1 de l’appel d’offres auraient avantagé l’entreprise chinoise.

    « Sur le marché, il n’y a que le modèle DJI Mavic Enterprise qui réunit ces trois critères, pointe un salarié de l’une des entreprises signataires de la lettre, sous couvert d’anonymat. Malgré nos demandes, les questions de cybersécurité et de souveraineté nationale ou européenne n’ont pas été prises en compte. » De quoi alimenter encore les discussions parlementaires sur la loi « Sécurité globale ».

    #DJI #drone #militaire #aérien #vidéo-surveillance #surveillance

  • Sécurité Globale : la droite appelle à la reconnaissance faciale
    https://www.laquadrature.net/2021/03/02/securite-globale-la-droite-appelle-a-la-reconnaissance-faciale

    Demain 3 mars, la commission des lois du Sénat examinera la loi Sécurité Globale, déjà adoptée en novembre par l’Assemblée nationale (relire notre réaction). Alors que le texte était déjà largement contraire à la Constitution et au droit européen (relire notre analyse), les sénateurs et sénatrices de droite et du centre souhaitent s’enfoncer encore plus loin dans l’autoritarisme en officialisant un système jusqu’alors implicite dans la loi : instaurer un vaste régime de reconnaissance faciale. Dans le cadre (...)

    #drone #CCTV #anti-terrorisme #biométrie #facial #législation #reconnaissance #vidéo-surveillance #LoiSécuritéGlobale #surveillance (...)

    ##LaQuadratureduNet

  • Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/technology/police-drones.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

    In one Southern California city, flying drones with artificial intelligence are aiding investigations while presenting new civil rights questions. CHULA VISTA, Calif. — When the Chula Vista police receive a 911 call, they can dispatch a flying drone with the press of a button. On a recent afternoon, from a launchpad on the roof of the Chula Vista Police Department, they sent a drone across the city to a crowded parking lot where a young man was asleep in the front seat of a stolen car with (...)

    #algorithme #drone #criminalité #aérien #vidéo-surveillance #discrimination #surveillance (...)

    ##criminalité ##ACLU