Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      New MD for Dell South Africa

      18 June 2025

      How a dowdy database maker became an investor darling

      18 June 2025

      Who let the dogs order? Sixty60 now delivers for Fido

      18 June 2025

      Chief sub-editor wanted – help shape South African tech media

      18 June 2025

      Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

      17 June 2025
    • World

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » GCHQ spied on SA human rights lawyers

    GCHQ spied on SA human rights lawyers

    By Editor22 June 2015
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    gchq-640

    The UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal has found that South Africa’s Legal Resources Centre’s (LRC’s) communications were subjected to unlawful interference by the British government, the LRC said on Monday.

    “According to the ruling, communications from an e-mail address associated with the Legal Resources Centre were intercepted and selected for examination by [British Government Communications Headquarters] in breach of GCHQ’s internal policies for the selection of communications for examination,” the LRC said.

    “Consequently, the ruling holds that there has been a breach of the Legal Resources Centre’s rights in terms of article 8 of the European convention on human rights.”

    The Investigatory Powers Tribunal investigates and determines complaints of unlawful use of covert techniques by public authorities that infringe the right to privacy, or which breach a wider range of human rights.

    The ruling said no use was made of the intercepted material and that the LRC had not “suffered material detriment, damage or prejudice”.

    But the LRC felt that the “mere fact that communications were unlawfully intercepted — information that may never have come to our knowledge had this case not been instituted — is of serious concern”.

    The LRC does not know what was intercepted, the extent to which it occurred, on whose authority it happened or why it was done.

    “While there has been growing concern for some time that public interest organisations have been subjected to surveillance, the Legal Resources Centre is deeply alarmed by the import of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal’s ruling. This ruling reveals how invasive surveillance operations have become and confirms a serious breach of the rights both of the organisation and the individuals whose communications have been intercepted.”

    The LRC will try to get further information and asked the South African and British governments to co-operate.

    It thanked Liberty, the UK-based organisation that blew the whistle on the matter.

    Liberty said the IPT also intercepted private communications of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

    “The tribunal found that GCHQ breached its own internal — and secret — policies on the interception, examination and retention of e-mails from the two organisations, violating their rights under article 8 of the Human Rights Act,” said Liberty.

    It found that e-mail communications of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights were retained beyond the time limit allowed by GCHQ’s internal policies and the GCHQ’s policies for selection of communications for examination were not followed in the case of the LRC.

    In a statement issued by Liberty, Janet Love, national director of the LRC, said: “The Legal Resources Centre is deeply concerned to learn that communications of our organisation have been subject to unlawful interception by GCHQ.”

    The LRC considered this to be a serious breach of the rights of the organisation and the individuals concerned.

    “We can no longer accept the conduct of the intelligence services acting under such a pernicious veil of secrecy, and we will be taking immediate action to try to establish more information.”

    The LRC said cases it was handling included representing the families of the miners killed by police during a strike at Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana in 2012; and is currently taking the South African government to court for failing to assist the family of a South African man who is being detained in an Egyptian prison.  — News24



    GCHQ Legal Resources Centre
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleSA can’t afford Eskom hikes: Maimane
    Next Article How our phones are changing our reading habits

    Related Posts

    Warning that AI will lead to increase in cyberattacks

    24 January 2024

    UK spy chief warns China could win control of world’s ‘operating system’

    23 April 2021

    UK to phase out Huawei’s 5G role within months: report

    5 July 2020
    Company News

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025

    Sage brings together HR leaders to explore the future of payroll and people management

    18 June 2025

    Altron: a brand journey, a birthday celebration and a bet on Joburg’s future

    17 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.