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| NSN again faces charges its technology is being misused |
Bahraini
security officials used systems from Nokia Siemens Networks to track
dissidents, who were later tortured, a new report says. Human rights activists
don't want repressive regimes to get surveillance technology.
Nokia
Siemens Networks (NSN) faces new allegations that technology it exported is
being used by repressive governments to track human rights activists. Bloomberg
reports that Bahraini officials used NSN monitoring systems to intercept text
messages and gather information about mobile phone conversations.
Bahraini
activist Abdul Ghani Al Khanjar told Bloomberg that security officials tortured
him numerous times while he was in detention for some seven months. When
questioning him, his captors were able to quote from his private conversations
with alarming detail.
In a statement
to Deutsche Welle, NSN said that it divested the monitoring center business in
March 2009 and no longer provides the technology to any country.
The
statement goes on to say that "such abuse, if it has occurred, is wrong
and is contrary to [NSN's] Code of Conduct and accepted international norms.
The company condemns such misuse. ... While Nokia Siemens Networks recognizes
the risks of abuse and its responsibility to take steps to reduce the potential
for abuse, it strongly believes that, on balance, individuals - including those
who live under repressive regimes - are better off for having access to
telecommunications."
Calls for
government to step in
Companies
often point out that they're not responsible for what people do with their
products. But human rights activists don't accept this answer, and want
regulators to step in to make sure corporations don't let technology get into
the wrong hands.
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| Activists say Iranian officials used NSN systems to monitor dissidents |
"If
the US or the EU are proudly focusing on internet freedom while security and
other ICT products made in the West are used to repress the same citizens we
are trying to protect, this is clearly neither credible nor effective,"
said Marietje Schaake, a European Member of Parliament from the Netherlands who
closely follows human rights issues, via e-mail.
Schaake
said that she wants to see more transparency from companies. She also sees a
role for the European Union.
"The
EU should take the lead in raising awareness of the double-edged sword
technologies," Schaake said. "The EU could also implement an early
warning mechanism in order to prevent the export of technologies to regimes
that systematically abuse human rights."
A troubled
history
The
revelation about Bahrain is the latest in a series of human rights
controversies to strike NSN. Last year, two Iranians, Isa Saharkhiz and Mehdi
Saharkhiz, sued NSN in an American federal court. They alleged that the sale of
surveillance technology enabled Iranian security forces to arrest and torture
Isa Saharkhiz.
The case
was subsequently dropped, but the Iranians' attorney Ali Herischi said at the
time that he planned to revisit the suit later.
Nokia
Siemens Networks is a joint venture founded in 2006 between the Finnish telecom
giant Nokia and the German corporation Siemens.
Author: Mark Garrison
Editor: Stuart Tiffen
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