Re:Interview with Laura Poitras
by trhway on Friday December 05, 2014 @02:49PM
(#8706471)
>Can you expand on how you believe the US violated the Helsinki Accords?
1. a cornerstone of Helsinki is "fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief"
2. it is well established legal principle, incl. in US legal system, that mass surveillance violates such fundamental freedoms (by means of chilling effect in particular)
>>The Helsinki Accords, however, were not binding as they did not have treaty status.
1. a cornerstone of Helsinki is "fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief"
2. it is well established legal principle, incl. in US legal system, that mass surveillance violates such fundamental freedoms (by means of chilling effect in particular)
>>The Helsinki Accords, however, were not binding as they did not have treaty status.
There is also a binding treaty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bill_of_Human_Rig...
and "U.S. Finally Ratifies Human Rights Covenant" http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1369.html