The Never Ending Drone Wars and NZ

The fatal spying warrant

On May 19, 2014, prime minister John Key formally acknowledged that the GCSB has been, and presumably still is, providing information to the US which is used in the so-called drone wars. He said “it is almost certain” that the GSCB’s information was used “in identifying targets” for drone attacks in Afghanistan and possibly in other countries.

However, he was “quite comfortable” with it and said that everything the GCSB did was within the law.

What sounds like another one of Key’s blanket assurances about the lawfulness of a government agency without knowing anything about it, is in fact a serious admission of involvement by the NZ government in a US government assassination programme.

The issue came to the fore because of revelations that a NZ citizen, Abu Suhaib al-Australi, was killed in Yemen in a drone strike in November 2013, and that Key had issued a warrant to the GCSB to spy on him. Although US officials say that al-Australi wasn’t the main target but rather “collateral damage” (along with 4 other people), it’s likely that the GCSB’s information was used in this killing.

All that was needed to convince the prime minister to issue the fatal warrant to the GCSB to spy on al-Australi was that “he had gone [to Yemen] and gone to a terrorist training camp” and was “reported to be an al-Qaida foot soldier” (TV3, 16 April 2014). Other people say, he was teaching English in Yemen.

Normally, the killing of a NZ citizen by another government without any form of trial would be the cause of moderate to serious diplomatic rows, but in this case it is simply accepted. NZ is so far involved in the “Five Eyes” (the spying agreement between the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and NZ) that the government blindly accepts the US’s jurisdiction over NZ citizens in a foreign country.

Key admits role in illegal drone wars

Media Release: Key admits role in illegal drone wars

From: OASIS - Organising Against State Intelligence & Surveillance

Date: 20 May 2014

"John Key must be held responsible for New Zealand´s involvement in the US´s illegal secret drone war that is murdering thousands of people," says OASIS member Valerie Morse. "His proud admission that the GCSB has been providing information used by the US in drone wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere shows what a sycophant he is."

John Key today admitted that the GCSB is supporting the US state sanctioned assassination programme. He said that the GCSB provided information to the United States that was used to conduct drone strikes in Afghanistan and possibly elsewhere. 

"Under the continued guise of `fighting terrorism´ or `bringing stability´, the US has simply replaced the heavy tanks with which it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan with drones that strike in any country where it suspects `enemies´," said Ms Morse. "New Zealand and the Five Eyes signals intelligence partners are complicit in this assassination programme."

"The US drone war has no legal basis under international law. The UN´s Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, has said that the use of drones is not combat as much as `targeted killing´. He has repeatedly tried to get the US to explain how it justifies the use of drones to target and kill individuals under international law.  The 2011 murder of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki and his son in Yemen caused serious debate in the US, and the murder of Daryl Jones should do the very same here."

"John Key obviously thinks the US government has the right to decide who - including NZ citizens - is allowed to live and who has to die."

"On June 14, we are calling for NZ actions as part of the international day against the drone wars and against the surveillance state. If the National or Labour parties imagine that being part of the US´s `Dirty Wars´ is perfectly OK, they clearly need a little education. Thousands of New Zealanders took the streets last year to protest the extension of GCSB powers of surveillance. People are totally opposed to the involvement of the GCSB with the NSA and their mass surveillance programmes."

ENDS

Drone Die-In at NZ National Party Conference

Demanding the dismantling of the GCSB and the exiting of NZ from the 'Five Eyes Club', people opposing New Zealand´s involvement in the so-called "drone wars" staged a die-in outside the annual National Party Conference in Wellington during John Key´s closing speech Sunday, 29 June.

Motivated by the Prime Minister´s recent comments that he is "quite comfortable" to provide GCSB assistance to the US to murder "bad people" and his absurd comment that he thought it was legitimate to "prosecute" New Zealand citizens and others with Hellfire missiles, the "dirty wars" was taken to the doors of the National Party.
 
At the conference, a symbolic drone struck down those who were "targeted" as well as bystanders. 

"Just like real drones, this one produces plenty of collateral damage," said Valerie Morse, member of OASIS. "When John Key says he is comfortable with drone strikes, he is really saying he is comfortable with extra-judicial assassinations, because that is what they are."

"New Zealand is complicit in the US´s dirty wars around the globe. Through our involvement in the Five Eyes, information gathered by the GCSB is shared with the NSA."

"The US is waging an undeclared war in countries like Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and probably soon Iraq."

"The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has been given a free reign to kill any target that it believes to be a possible threat to US security, without any accountability or control."

"Since Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama has taken office, more than 2600 people have been killed in more than 400 drone strikes. Is that really something anyone can be comfortable with?"

"New Zealand must leave the Five Eyes club and the GCSB must be dismantled." 

A Security Services & government Timeline

"Where were our intelligence agents when Ernie Abbott was murdered and the Rainbow Warrior blown up?" a speaker asked during the 2015 Security Intel Review by Michael Cullen and Patsy Reddy

A common concern also voiced at the time was that 'the GCSB was an outpost of the NSA and that its activities were linking us to America's wars'. The timeline below shows the validity of the concern. From RadioNZ 'Timeline: Security services, government and Muslim community before the Christchurch mosque attacks', the timeline highlights the anti-Arabic anti-Muslim focus of the security intelligence in this country.

Hand in hand with the timeline though, should be a timeline of the constant fear mongering anti-Muslim rhetoric that the government and its agencies led and participated in. Remember Rebecca Kiterridge and the government on the 'Jihadi Brides' and the November 2013 killing of a NZer in Yemen as a result of a US drone strike? Remember that we supply data used in drone strikes?

NZ is so intertwined with the Five Eyes that we blindly accept the US’s lead in who should be the 'enemy'. We need to be fearful of the Five-Eyes.

From RadioNZ: Before the Christchurch mosque attacks

• 2002 - New Zealand enacts Terrorism Suppression Act. As of 2019, no one has ever been charged under Act
• 2009-2019 - Not one specific mention in this period of the threat from white supremacists or right-wing nationalism in SIS or GCSB public documents
• 2010-2017 - Figures from this period show 92 far-right attacks compared with 38 by jihadists* in US
• July 2011 - 77 people killed in Norway by white supremacist shooter
• 2012 on - Series of reviews of NZ security agencies after scandals including the Kim Dotcom spying
• 2013 - National-led government abandons intrusive internet surveillance
• 2013 on - Flood of refugees into Europe begins
• 2014 - Suite of changes to national security set up including three new entities - a Strategic Risk and Resilience Panel, Security and Intelligence Board and Hazard Risk Board
• 2015-2018 - Series of budget boosts for SIS and GCSB, including (in 2016) of $178m over 4 years
• 2015 - Corrections Department sets up Countering Violent Extremism working group as part of government's counter-terrorism strategy
• June 2015 - Nine killed by white supremacist at African-American church in South Carolina, United States **
• December 2015 - New Zealand Muslims hold first community meetings to discuss counter-terrorism
• June 2016 - Two men sentenced in Auckland over Islamic State material
• October 2016 - Islamic Women's Council raises fears of far-right with SIS
• 2017-18 - Security agencies set up new National Risk Unit and new National Security Workforce team, plus get a new specialist coordinator for counter-terrorism
• 2017 - Research finds NZ Muslims believe government surveillance is excessive
• 2017 to early 2018 - Muslim community in numerous meetings with government seeking but failing to get national wellbeing strategy
• January 2017 - Six killed at mosque in Quebec, Canada
• September 2017 - New Zealand's new Intelligence and Security Act 2017 comes into force
• June 2018 - SIS begins to increase its efforts to assess far-right threat
• November 2018 - Eleven killed by far right shooter in Pittsburgh, US
• March 2019 - SIS and GCSB confirm they had no intelligence about the Christchurch terror accused

* Global Terrorism Database by the Washington Post
** This list of far-right attacks is far from exhaustive

Intelligence review - a rubberstamp

Headed by Michael Cullen and Patsy Reddy the mandatory review of all security agencies and security legislation was finally announced on Wednesday 13 May.

The review will be a rubberstamp for the government's mass surveillance, the Five-Eyes and the US's endless 'war on terrorism.'

Through recent revelations by Edward Snowden and Nicky Hager it has now been proven that the GCSB is without doubt part of the US's National Security Agency apparatus and New Zealand is an active member of the Five-Eyes. The first few months of 2015 have seen more information coming to light about this country and its role in the Five-Eyes (also known as UKUSA) and the use of the GCSB by the government to ensure political power and control is maintained by them.
Snowden has released documents showing that:

• the GCSB spies on Pacific countries and everyone residing, passing through or holidaying in that area (leaked 8 March), 
• the GCSB spies on Vietnam, China, India, Pakistan, South American nations and a range of other countries (leaked 11 March),
• the GCSB spied on Tim Groser's rivals for the position of director-general of the WTO. The GCSB operation involved covert surveillance of candidates from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and South Korea.
• the GCSB spies on Bangladesh and shares that data with the Bangladeshi government (leaked 16 April), 
• the GCSB had plans to hack a data link between the Auckland Chinese consulate and the Chinese Visa Office, five minutes down the street (leaked 17 April), and there will be more to come.

John Key has admitted that it is likely that information gathered and supplied by the GCSB to the NSA has played a role in enabling the US military to carry out drone strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians, including children.

The SIS also has a disturbing history. Release of archives in the first decade of this century showed that the SIS spies on political dissidents, children and vulnerable refugee communities. Last year, the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security investigated and upheld allegations that Key's office had used information from the Security Intelligence Service spy agency to gain a political advantage in the 2011 general election.

Both the SIS and the GCSB are a dangerous threat to the security of ordinary people. We don't need a review to tell us what we already know. OASIS calls for the disestablishment of both.

Stop the Spies exposes GCSB

On Friday 11^th September members of the Stop the Spies coalition held a banner at a GCSB propaganda exercise. Una Jagose, the Acting-Director of the GCSB, was set to give a talk at a forum hosted by the Privacy Commissioner when two members of Stop the Spies stood with a banner before the stage. Una refused to speak with the banner present and as a result, the meeting was closed down.

The next step is to close the GCSB down.

Over the last few years we have learnt of a range of activities that the GCSB has been involved in, including:

• spying on Pacific countries and everyone residing, passing through or holidaying in that area
• spying on Vietnam, China, India, Pakistan, South American nations and a range of other countries
• spying on Bangladesh and sharing that data with the Bangladeshi government and secret security services
• spying on Tim Groser's rivals for the position of director-general of the WTO. The GCSB operation involved covert surveillance of candidates from Brazil, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jordan, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and South Korea.
• Supplying intelligence for drone strikes, and
• spying on 88 New Zealanders.
  

The GCSB is part of the Five-Eyes (also known as FVYS), an alliance established by the UKUSA Agreement at the end of WW2. The USA is the leader and the other core members are Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The five countries operate between them a global mass surveillance, data collection and social manipulation programme. They've got the whole world covered; the sun never sets on the Five-Eyes.

But since the raid on Dotcom's home and the release of information by Edward Snowden, more information has become public about the GCSB and the role of the Five-Eyes. There was so much uncovering of nefarious deeds that members of the NZ intelligence community here, including the GCSB, were instructed last year to work on their public image. The talk by Una would have been part of that exercise.

However, Una refused to talk with a simple banner stating the truth being held in the same room. A banner that labelled her talk as a Five-Eye propaganda exercise, a banner that stated the GCSB is the real security threat. Instead the meeting was closed down.

Now we must close down the GCSB.

Intelligence & security report a dream come true for the Five Eyes

The release of the Independent review of intelligence and security recommends a range of changes that are dangerous to ordinary people, both within NZ and elsewhere, and represents a massive concentration of state power.

The major recommendation is the consolidation of the two acts governing the GCSB and the SIS into a single law.  As Radio NZ reported, “A single piece of legislation would mean both agencies operated under the same objectives, functions and powers and warrant authorisation framework.” This is deeply problematic.

It must be understood at the outset that both GCSB and the SIS are essentially political police: they exist to identify threats to the New Zealand state, essentially “national security.” These agencies do not exist to root out criminal activity, that is the job of the Police. And, although in 2013, the GCSB was given the power to assist police with any matter, it is not an objective of that organisation (or the SIS) to prevent, detect or prosecute criminal offending.  While the definition of criminal offences are spelled out quite clearly in law with identifiable components and evidentiary thresholds, threats to “national security” are at best vague and difficult to define. Even the Law Commission, an eminent body of NZ legal practitioners, struggled to explain what the national security is, noting “While the New Zealand courts have not yet been called upon to define national security, we expect that they will also face difficulties in pinning down the concept although there are varying definitions in use.” (National Security Information in Proceedings,_ p.14).

Intelligence & Security Review Public Soon

The far from independent Intelligence Review was tabled before the government on Monday, 29th February. John Key has announced that he wants it made public before March 11th and it will not be redacted.

It will not be redacted as it will only be big picture stuff. There will probably be the usual calls that the GCSB and the SIS must follow the law, that they must be more transparent and should work more closely together.

There may be an increase in the role of the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre). In one of her last public talks as acting director of GCSB, Una Jagose spoke about the importance of that group and increasing links between the corporate and intelligence world.

The Review will also bring law changes. A recently released 2014 'top-secret' briefing said law changes were the aim.

And the Review is to make recommendations on the life-span of the Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill.