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TERRORISM

French anti-terror steps curb key freedoms: UN

France's state of emergency and new electronic surveillance laws imposed following the November attacks in Paris impose "excessive and disproportionate" restrictions on key rights, UN experts said in Geneva on Tuesday.

The group of four United Nations rights specialists also called on France “not to extend the state of emergency beyond February 26th 2016”, when the measure is provisionally due to expire.
   
In communication with Paris, the UN experts have “stressed the lack of clarity and precision of several provisions of the state of emergency and surveillance laws,” a statement said.
   
The main concerns centre on the restrictions to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to privacy, it added.
   
In December, the French cabinet backed reform proposals that could see the state of emergency enshrined in the constitution, including special policing powers, like house arrests and the right to raid houses without clearance by a judge.
   
The electronic surveillance law, adopted in November, widens the executive's power to collect and store data without judicial authorization.
   
“Ensuring adequate protection against abuse in the use of exceptional measures and surveillance measures in the context of the fight against terrorism is an international obligation of the French State,” the UN experts said.
   
The UN group comprises David Kaye, specialist on freedom of opinion, Maina Kiai who works on peaceful assembly, Michel Forst, expert on human rights workers, Ben Emmerson, an expert on human rights and counter-terrorism and Joseph Cannataci, a specialist on the right to privacy.  

Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked Parisian nightspots, killing 130 people on November 13th.

CRIME

Hoax bomb threats against French airports ‘traced to Swiss email’

Repeated bomb threats against dozens of French airports which led to evacuations and flight cancellations have been 'traced to an email address in Switzerland', according to French authorities.

Hoax bomb threats against French airports 'traced to Swiss email'

More than 70 bomb threats have been made against French airports in the past week, leading to evacuations at dozens of airports and at least 130 flights cancelled.

Most of the alerts were triggered by emails warning of a bomb in the airport – more than 70 such emails have been received by airports around the country such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Paris Beauvais, Marseille and dozens of smaller airports – including Basel-Mulhouse on the Franco-Swiss border. 

On Sunday French Transport Minister Clément Beaune said that “almost all of the threats have been traced to the same email address, situated in Switzerland”.

He added: “Since Wednesday, it is almost always the same email address that is used, located outside the European Union, in Switzerland”.

He called on hosting sites to help the French authorities, saying: “Everyone has a responsibility, including the platforms and social networks, not to support this kind of attack and to cooperate as quickly as possible with the French civil aviation authorities and our justice system.”

In France, the maximum penalty for making a hoax bomb threat is two years in jail and a €30,000 fine.

As well as airport evacuations and flight disruption, French tourist sites have also been hit with bomb hoaxes – the Palace of Versailles has been evacuated seven times in the past week.

It comes in the context of a tense situation in France as the country raised its terror alert to maximum after an apparent Islamist attack on Friday, October 13th in which a teacher was killed and two others wounded.

Security at large events such as the Rugby World Cup matches has been stepped up. 

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