Surveillance Programs Hinder Journalists, Lawyers, Report Finds

By Felicia Schwartz 

WASHINGTON--Large-scale U.S. surveillance programs hinder the ability of journalists to communicate confidentially with sources and restrain lawyers from adequately representing clients, according to a report issued Monday by a human rights advocacy group and a civil liberties group.

As a result, journalists and lawyers both face challenges--both to their ability to disseminate information and to hold the U.S. government accountable--said the report by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union. The groups said the government's "massively powerful surveillance apparatus" limits and jeopardizes the privacy required by both groups.

"Journalists and their sources, as well as lawyers and their clients, are changing their behavior in ways that undermine basic rights and corrode democratic processes," it said.

The report is based on 92 interviews, including 46 with journalists, 42 with attorneys and five with current or former senior government officials.

The government officials interviewed provide a counterpoint to the conclusions of the report, consistent in their view that the surveillance programs are legal and vital to national security, said Alex Sinha, author of the report and a fellow at Human Rights Watch. The government officials didn't see the harm posed by large-scale surveillance programs.

(More to Come.)

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