Part 2 of the article

Rufus Rhastus J · 12-06-2005, 07:48 AM

Internet and telephone providers are obliged to give to “specially empowered officers from the national police and gendarmery, information kept and treated” by them. The providers will be required to conserve technical data such as phone numbers contacted by the user, localisation of “terminal equipment.” The state information gatherers can largely avoid judicial control: “The present obligation to act in accordance within a determined judicial procedure is too restrictive.” Officials designated by the Coordination Unit of the Anti-Terrorist Fight under the flimsiest of judicial control will guarantee the purpose to which this surveillance is put. The document assures the public that the content of messages will not be monitored.
* Cars and their passengers can be electronically monitored and filmed, and restrictions on identity checking on transnational trains are to be reduced. Air and transportation companies and travel agents will be required to give the details of travellers.
* The crime of “association with miscreants,” or conspiracy, whose terms are so vague as to criminalise people who have used the same cafés, will incur greatly increased penalties: someone found guilty of being an associate will have his or her prison sentence doubled to 20 years in jail, while “leaders and organisers of the association” will have their sentences extended to 30 years from 20 years.
* The time that prisoners can be held without trial is lengthened from four to six days, a provision that is largely ignored by the anti-terrorist judges. Indeed, the bill provides that all cases be assigned to “specialised judges with national powers,” meaning Bruguière’s team in Section Fourteen in Paris who can in fact keep people in prison indefinitely if they state an intent to prosecute.
Another significant measure of the bill is the lengthening from 10 to 15 years of the period by which a naturalised French person can be stripped of his or her nationality. The vague, catch-all nature of the offences that may lead to this sanction is evident: “an act clearly prejudicial to the interests of the Nation; an act of terrorism; acts incompatible with the quality of being a French person (actes incompatibles avec la qualité de Français) and prejudicial to the interests of France.”
Citing a mystical and indefinable French essence gives unlimited opportunities for the state to repress long-established French nationals; it establishes a crime of being “un-French.” Could it be for refusing to acknowledge the French flag, for carrying the flag or emblem of another country, disregard for the national anthem, the singing of a patriotic song of another nation? Disagreement with government policy? The list is inexhaustible. None of the commentaries and summaries of the bill in the press have picked up on this point.
The introduction justifies this provision: “[O]nce French nationality has been acquired, the militant can no longer be legally expelled, and, moreover, is no longer obliged to obtain a visa to travel to many countries. We must put a stop to these strategies.”
Along with greatly increased immigration control and added police responsibilities given to France’s 36,000 mayors of communes, the basic administrative unit and arm of the French state, the ruling élites are preparing to counter the immense anger and resistance developing among the youth and the working class. They are tantamount to setting up a permanent state of emergency, which is a good working definition of a police state. The introduction to the law is clear: “France must face a high level of terrorist threat necessitating new legal instruments, which are the object of this law. Some are intended to be long term, others can be discussed in parliament in three years.”
In the space of three weeks, special powers have been expanded from 12 days to three months and then to three years or an indefinite period. At every juncture, a political mobilisation of the working class against this assault on democratic rights could have stopped these developments. The absence of any attempt to mobilise the working class by the left, including the Communist Party—whose votes against the state of emergency, and now the anti-terror bill have been purely platonic—has been crucial in allowing France’s ruling elite to impose its anti-democratic agenda.
:insane: Now that's just like the french! They hate America but love America's leaning towards the police state.:nod:

troy2000 · 12-06-2005, 08:47 AM

What else would you have expected from a country which won't issue a birth certificate if a child is given a name not on the "approved" list?

Rufus Rhastus J · 12-06-2005, 10:19 AM

now i've learned something

12-06-2005, 07:48 AM	#1
Rufus Rhastus J Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: West, Central Florida, Third World America Posts: 6,339 Images: 1	Part 2 of the article Internet and telephone providers are obliged to give to “specially empowered officers from the national police and gendarmery, information kept and treated” by them. The providers will be required to conserve technical data such as phone numbers contacted by the user, localisation of “terminal equipment.” The state information gatherers can largely avoid judicial control: “The present obligation to act in accordance within a determined judicial procedure is too restrictive.” Officials designated by the Coordination Unit of the Anti-Terrorist Fight under the flimsiest of judicial control will guarantee the purpose to which this surveillance is put. The document assures the public that the content of messages will not be monitored. * Cars and their passengers can be electronically monitored and filmed, and restrictions on identity checking on transnational trains are to be reduced. Air and transportation companies and travel agents will be required to give the details of travellers. * The crime of “association with miscreants,” or conspiracy, whose terms are so vague as to criminalise people who have used the same cafés, will incur greatly increased penalties: someone found guilty of being an associate will have his or her prison sentence doubled to 20 years in jail, while “leaders and organisers of the association” will have their sentences extended to 30 years from 20 years. * The time that prisoners can be held without trial is lengthened from four to six days, a provision that is largely ignored by the anti-terrorist judges. Indeed, the bill provides that all cases be assigned to “specialised judges with national powers,” meaning Bruguière’s team in Section Fourteen in Paris who can in fact keep people in prison indefinitely if they state an intent to prosecute. Another significant measure of the bill is the lengthening from 10 to 15 years of the period by which a naturalised French person can be stripped of his or her nationality. The vague, catch-all nature of the offences that may lead to this sanction is evident: “an act clearly prejudicial to the interests of the Nation; an act of terrorism; acts incompatible with the quality of being a French person (actes incompatibles avec la qualité de Français) and prejudicial to the interests of France.” Citing a mystical and indefinable French essence gives unlimited opportunities for the state to repress long-established French nationals; it establishes a crime of being “un-French.” Could it be for refusing to acknowledge the French flag, for carrying the flag or emblem of another country, disregard for the national anthem, the singing of a patriotic song of another nation? Disagreement with government policy? The list is inexhaustible. None of the commentaries and summaries of the bill in the press have picked up on this point. The introduction justifies this provision: “[O]nce French nationality has been acquired, the militant can no longer be legally expelled, and, moreover, is no longer obliged to obtain a visa to travel to many countries. We must put a stop to these strategies.” Along with greatly increased immigration control and added police responsibilities given to France’s 36,000 mayors of communes, the basic administrative unit and arm of the French state, the ruling élites are preparing to counter the immense anger and resistance developing among the youth and the working class. They are tantamount to setting up a permanent state of emergency, which is a good working definition of a police state. The introduction to the law is clear: “France must face a high level of terrorist threat necessitating new legal instruments, which are the object of this law. Some are intended to be long term, others can be discussed in parliament in three years.” In the space of three weeks, special powers have been expanded from 12 days to three months and then to three years or an indefinite period. At every juncture, a political mobilisation of the working class against this assault on democratic rights could have stopped these developments. The absence of any attempt to mobilise the working class by the left, including the Communist Party—whose votes against the state of emergency, and now the anti-terror bill have been purely platonic—has been crucial in allowing France’s ruling elite to impose its anti-democratic agenda. :insane: Now that's just like the french! They hate America but love America's leaning towards the police state.:nod: __________________ "They cannot be trusted.....The Romulans (our politicos) are without honor." Worf

12-06-2005, 10:19 AM	#3
Rufus Rhastus J Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: West, Central Florida, Third World America Posts: 6,339 Images: 1	now i've learned something __________________ "They cannot be trusted.....The Romulans (our politicos) are without honor." Worf

12-06-2005, 08:47 AM	#2
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,929 Images: 9	What else would you have expected from a country which won't issue a birth certificate if a child is given a name not on the "approved" list?