This report was published at Spiegel.de at August 12, 2011 and was written by Uwe Buse and Marcel Rosenbach, this is a summary and include also the second part with the title¨The fine line between opression and crime fighting¨.
Abdul Al Khanjar has had endure torture six times in the last 17 years. But for the last eight months he has been living in a room hiding, the only way he can be contacted is through human rights organizations by Skype. He is considered an enemy of the government and was arrested for planning to overthrow the regime. He was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison. He says that are other like him. They were confronted during interrogation with incriminating material: transcripts of their telephone conversations, copies of their emails, and comments made in chat rooms.
There are surveillance companies in Germany which promises total transparency to its customers in foreign governments and tries to keep its own activities as shielded from outside scrutiny as possible. In the Cyber Warfare Europe Conference in Berlin an alarming attempt to create total surveillance at the expense of freedom was on display, included the latest tools for hacking computers. Another product is designed to facilitate live surveillance through webcams and microphones and even monitor Skype conversations and chat rooms.
Abdul Al Khanjar knows well the possibilities that the international surveillance industry offers its customers. One day, when he was in prison in Bahrain, his torturers came with a few sheets of paper in his hands. They are transcripts of conversations Khanjar had had on his mobile phone before he was arrested. His torturers were able to obtain that because of the western surveillance tech in use.
People like Khanjar are not completely without allies. As Arabs governments agencies and intelligence service upgrade their tech, a growing munber of western activists are providing support and assistance to the opposition. One of them is Jacob Appelbaum.
Appelbaum, an American, has been involved in the fight against censorship on the internet for years. He is often helping activists worldwide remain anonymous on the web. He compares surveillance companies that sell their product to despots with companies in the Third Reich that supported the Nazi with modern technology.
¨Surveillance systems are weapons that are used to commit human rights violations. The example of Egypt, Syria and Tunisia clearly illustrate that the trade in spyware programs must be uncovered and stopped,¨ he says.
There are some industries who make a thoughtful impression. After the Syria dealings of his partner area were exposed, Ultimaco executive temporarly suspended relations with the company. He says ¨I have no interest in our tech being used in Syria, but suspending the sale to middle east is wrong, because this tech, as the movements there have shown, also contains elements that promote freedom¨.
It is a twisted situation, but at its core it revolves around the question of what is more important, security or freedom, and where exactly the line should be drawn. And it is not easy to answer, because both sides have valid arguments.
Total monitoring leads to a police state, but total freedom from surveillance makes it more difficult for the government to fight crime.
In Bahrain, Abdul Al Khanjar acknowledge all of these aspects, including the horrifying tech possibilities and the conflicting arguments. For a moment, he seems to be at a loss. But then he says that he is betting on politics and in the civilization of power. He has no other option.
