The fight against terrorism remained the priority of the French intelligence services which devoted almost 40% of their surveillance activities to it in 2019, far ahead of organized crime, according to an official report.
"The prevention of terrorism has continued, since 2015, to form the bulk of requests for intelligence techniques," noted the Commission for Control of Intelligence Techniques (CNCTR), which has just released its annual report. The subject in fact represents 38% of the requests sent last year by the major intelligence services in France to the commission, an independent administrative authority responsible since 2015 for monitoring the legality of their activities.
Vigilance over group supervision
Crime and organized crime account for 19%, before France's “geostrategic interests” (18%), a title which covers in particular national defense, counter-espionage and the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Then come the actions of dissolved groups and other collective violence (14%), to be linked in particular to the overflows of certain demonstrations of yellow vests.
The committee also recalls its vigilance on this issue, "considering that the prevention of collective violence cannot be interpreted as permitting penetration of a trade union or political milieu or the limitation of the constitutional right to express its opinions, even extreme, both that the risk of a serious breach of public peace has not been proven ”. Next come the country's economic interests (11%).
460 unfavorable reviews
Overall, 22,210 people were monitored in France last year, a stable figure compared to 2018 (+ 0.8%). The CNCTR is supposed to ensure that the intelligence techniques used comply with the law. In other words: no slippage, political drift, undue surveillance of an individual for reasons that have nothing to do with national security.
Its report points out that it issued 460 unfavorable opinions, or 1.4% of the number of opinions delivered. Rather low rate, which has been decreasing every year since 2015, and which the committee welcomes without reserve as the sign of a framework which is bearing fruit.
This rate "is consistent with the efforts made by the intelligence services to comply with all the requirements imposed by the legal framework in force", indicates the report which welcomes the "quality and usefulness of the dialogue regular she maintains "with the services. The commission specifies in particular having, on 1732 times, asked for details from the services before giving an opinion.
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