On the day that it became illegal to take pictures of the police an interesting report was released:
Anti-terror measures worldwide have seriously undermined international human rights law, a report by legal experts says.
After a three-year global study, the International Commission of Jurists said many states used the public's fear of terrorism to introduce measures.
These included detention without trial, illegal disappearance and torture.
It also said that the UK and the US have “actively undermined” international law by their actions.
via BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Anti-terror tactics ‘weaken law’.
I am beginning to wonder what is going on in this country. Why should it be a problem to take a picture of a police officer just going about his business? The actual law is against taking pictures of police officers engaged in counter terrorism operations, but you can easily see how that will stretch on the ground, given that there are already anecdotes of police intimidating ppl with cameras.
Actually, I’m not beginning to wonder. I’ve been wondering for a while. I’m wondering why there is nothing on the BBC News about the facebook event “I’m a photographer, not a terrorist” – didn’t it happen? Is there anything resembling news actually seeping out through these outlets? Is there any way to protest and get your opinions heard? We’ve written to our MPs and it’s got us precisely nowhere so far, I don’t even have a proper response from mine. I’m going to write again, I think I might start writing on a weekly basis actually. I’m sure that there are plenty of things I can quite legitimately query. But this isn’t even close to a democracy – did you vote your MP in? I’ve never yet managed to. And now that legislation can be passed without parliamentary scrutiny, who really knows what is going on anyway?
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