SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
April 26, 2001

**      FREEDOM OF INFORMATION GAINS IN EUROPEAN UNION
**      SENATE HEARING ON POLYGRAPH
**      DOES THE U.S. SPY TOO MUCH?


FREEDOM OF INFORMATION GAINS IN EUROPEAN UNION

The European Parliament reached agreement yesterday on a new Regulation
governing public access to European Union (EU) documents that is said to
offer an unprecedented degree of transparency.  It provides EU citizens for
the first time with a formal right of access to official documents.

The move is "a roaring rip in the veil of secrecy," said Graham Watson, the
chairman of the Parliament's citizens' rights committee.  See "EU Strikes
New Deal on Freedom of Information" by Ian Black in the London Guardian:

        http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4176014,00.html

Some advocates were disappointed by the move.  Statewatch, a London-based
civil liberties organization, criticized several provisions of the new
Regulation as ambiguous and termed others "unacceptable."  Members of the
Green Party voted against the measure as inadequate.

Other freedom of information proponents welcomed the agreement as a marked
improvement over previous proposals and a promising foundation for further
development.

The text of the new code of access, which is expected to be ratified by the
full Parliament next week, can be found on Statewatch's web site, along
with critical commentary, here:

        http://www.statewatch.org/news/2001/apr/08brussels.htm


SENATE HEARING ON POLYGRAPH

The continuing controversy over use of the polygraph as a security measure
was ventilated at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 25.

The prepared statements of supporters and critics are posted here:

        http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2001/index.html#poly

Meanwhile, the Department of Energy is "sharpening up our policies" on
polygraph testing, said Gen. John A. Gordon of the National Nuclear
Security Administration at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services
Committee yesterday.  "I expect to come back to the Congress and ask for
some perfections in the [polygraph] legislation that exists out there."


DOES THE U.S. SPY TOO MUCH?

The question of whether espionage could or should be constrained by
international agreement, discussed in Secrecy News on April 17, is explored
further by Fiona Morgan in Salon Magazine today.  See "Does the U.S. Spy
Too Much?":

        http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/04/26/espionage/


CORRECTION

The National Intelligence Daily, mentioned in Secrecy News of April 23, was
not known by that name until 1973.  The precursor publication, some issues
of which are now subject to a request for declassification, was called the
Central Intelligence Bulletin. (Thanks to W. Burr.)

******************************
To subscribe to Secrecy News, send email to <[log in to unmask]> with this
command in the body of the message:
        subscribe secrecy_news [your email address]
To unsubscribe, send email to <[log in to unmask]> with this command in the
body of the message:
        unsubscribe secrecy_news [your email address]
Secrecy News is archived at:
        http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html

___________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
Email:  [log in to unmask]