Germany Urges More Countries To Back UN Anti-spying Resolution

Berlin, Nov 5, IRNA -- The German government called on other countries to join forces with Germany and Brazil to press ahead with a UN resolution against international surveillance operations carried out by the United States. Addressing a regular weekly press briefing in Berlin, foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said he was ˈcertain that a large number of states would join the German-Brazilian initiative,ˈ IRNA reported here Monday. He also expected many countries to cosponsor the anti-spying resolution in the UN General Assembly. Germany and Brazil have asked the UN General Assembly to adopt a draft resolution calling for the right to privacy in the digital age. The draft calls for an end to excessive electronic surveillance, noting that the illegal collection of personal data ˈconstitutes a highly intrusive actˈ. Brazil and Germany have both been furious by allegations of large-scale US digital spying following revelations by American whistle-blower Edward Snowden. The draft resolution, which does not name individual countries, will be debated by a General Assembly committee focusing on human rights over the next three weeks. The draft calls on the 193-member assembly to declare that it is ˈdeeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that may result from the conduct of any surveillance of communicationsˈ. This includes ˈextraterritorial surveillance of communications, their interception, as well as the collection of personal data, in particular massive surveillance, interception and data collection.ˈ The non-binding resolution urges all countries to protect the right to privacy guaranteed under international law. The draft follows allegations that the US has been eavesdropping on foreign leaders, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, angering US allies in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Disclosures about the extent of US spying activity came from documents leaked to media organizations by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.