Following revelations that UK intelligence agency GCHQ had spied on Egyptian NGO Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), a judgement by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal has ruled that parts of the covert surveillance were illegal. The ruling is the first time a court has revealed that British intelligence agencies have been spying on foreign NGOs and human rights groups. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal is a UK court which investigates and determines complaints of unlawful use of surveillance by public authorities. According to the ruling, whilst the initial interception of EIPR correspondence was lawful, the extended retaining and examination of email communications was a violation of the agency’s internal procedures. It remains unclear why communications were intercepted. “Email communications….were lawfully and proportionally intercepted and accessed” stated the report in reference to EIPR, “however the time limit for retention permitted under the internal policies of GCHQ….was overlooked in regard to the product of that interception.” The tribunal made the same conclusion with regards to the agency’s surveillance of the South African Legal Resources Centre – South Africa’s largest public interest and human rights law clinic. “We are concerned that steps should be…
