France has flagged more than 78,000 people as security threats in a database intended to let European police share information on the continent's most dangerous residents — more than all other European countries put together — according to an analysis by The Associated Press.
FILE - In this file photo taken on Jan. 23 2018, a solider watches code lines on his computer screen at the French Defense ministry stand during the International Cybersecurity forum in Lille, northern France. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)
A German parliamentarian, Andrej Hunko, was the first to raise the alarm about potential misuse of the Schengen Information System database in a question to his country's Interior Ministry about "discreet checks" — secret international checks on people considered a threat to national security or public safety. He questioned whether and why different countries seemed to apply very different criteria.
"The increase in alerts cannot be explained by the threat of Islamist terrorism alone. Europol reports a four-digit number of confirmed foreign fighters, yet the increase of SIS alerts in 2017 is several times that," Hunko said in a statement late last month when he released the Interior Ministry response to his query.
That response included a spreadsheet detailing for the first time how many people were flagged for checks by each European country last year — more than 134,000 in all.
FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2018 file photo, cables are plugged into servers and computers during the International Cybersecurity forum in Lille, northern France. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File)
"This could mean that families and contacts of these individuals are also being secretly monitored. It is also possible that the measure is being used on a large scale for combatting other criminal activity," Hunko said.
The number of French entries by police and intelligence agencies "indicates a misuse" of the system intended to monitor dangerous criminals, he added.
The overall Schengen database — which is separate to the Europol database and far more widely used — forms the backbone of European security, allowing police, judicial authorities and other law enforcement to immediately check whether a person is wanted or missing, or a car is stolen, or a firearm is legal, for example. The database was checked 5 billion times in 2017 alone, according to the director of the EU-LISA agency, Krum Garkov.
But a relatively unknown provision in European law allows countries to flag people for the "discreet checks" — allowing law enforcement in one country to quietly notify counterparts elsewhere of a person's location and activities. Use of the system — intended for individuals who pose a threat to national security or public safety — has expanded enormously since Islamic State extremists attacked Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016, from 69,475 in 2015 to 134,662 last year, according to data from EU-LISA and Germany.
If someone is flagged for a check, their name will come up for any law enforcement official who has stopped them anywhere in Europe — whether trying to cross an external border or running a red light. In the entry, the requesting country can ask for a subsequent action, ranging from simply reporting back their location, vehicle, and traveling companions to detaining them immediately for arrest.
The checks, unlike arrest warrants, expire after a year, although Garkov said countries are notified of pending expirations and can renew them at will.
But vast disparities in its use by individual countries raise questions about both the effectiveness of the tools and the criteria countries are using to enter people into the system.
With 78,619 entries by 2017, France makes up 60 percent of the requests. Britain, with nearly the same population and 16,991 people flagged, comes in a distant second. Germany, Europe's most populous country, had 4,285 people flagged last year, according to the Interior Ministry data.
To put the French number in perspective, the country's intelligence chief, Laurent Nunez, said late last year that France had recorded 18,000 people as suspected extremists, and considered 4,000 of those to be highly dangerous. The Interior Ministry did not respond to requests to comment about the criteria for discreet checks. CNIL, the government data protection agency, said the 78,000 entries covered every person that France wanted flagged for any reason.
Like the U.S. "no fly list," people can only learn by inference whether they are flagged for a discreet check.
"People are not informed about the existence of this alert, which makes sense. But at the same there needs to be a proportionality assessment," said Niovi Vavoula, a legal scholar at Queen Mary University of London who studies the use of the database. "If certain member states are introducing alerts en masse to the system, this needs to be flagged as a problem."
PARIS (AP) — Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online.
The pro-Palestinian protest kicked off a day of drama at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, which counts President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal among its many famous alumni.
Protesters first occupied a central campus building and blocked its entrance with trash cans, wooden platforms and a bicycle. They also gathered at the building’s windows, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, and hung out Palestinian flags and placards.
Later Friday, pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced each other in a tense standoff in the street outside the school. Riot police stepped in to separate the opposing groups.
As night fell, a dwindling group of pro-Palestinian protesters refused to budge, ignoring police orders to evacuate the street and warnings of possible arrests. Eventually, demonstrators came out of the building, carrying a large Palestinian flag, to cheers from the protesters who had been supporting them outside. They then started to stream peacefully away from the area, watched by police.
Among protester demands was that Sciences Po sever ties with Israeli schools. In an email to students, Sciences Po administrator Jean Bassères pledged to hold a townhall meeting in the coming week and to suspend some disciplinary proceedings against students. In return, students “committed to no longer disrupting courses, examinations and all other activities of the institution,” the email said.
The Gaza war is sharply divisive in France, which has the largest populations of Muslims and Jews in western Europe. France initially sought to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations after Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. Antisemitism has surged.
On Wednesday evening, more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters had also occupied a Sciences Po amphitheater. Most agreed to leave after discussions with management but a small group of students remained. They were removed by police later that night, according to French media reports.
The university administration closed all university buildings and moved classes online Friday. It said in a statement it “strongly condemns these student actions which prevent the proper functioning of the institution and penalize Sciences Po students, teachers and employees.”
Louise, a protester, said the students' actions were inspired by similar demonstrations at New York's Columbia University and other U.S. campuses.
“But our solidarity remains first and foremost with the Palestinian people,” she said. She spoke on condition that only her first name be used over concerns of repercussions.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war have been digging in at Columbia University, one of a number of demonstrations roiling campuses from California to Connecticut.
Hundreds of students and even some professors have been arrested across the U.S., sometimes amid struggles with police.
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Barbara Surk contributed from Nice, France.
Students stage a sit in in front of Sciences-Po university in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A student wave a palestinian flag outside Sciences-Po university in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Members of the Jewish community in France demonstrate near the Sciences-Po university Friday, April 26, 2024 in Paris. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
A woman holds a Palestine flag near Sciences-Po university in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Students blocking Sciences-Po university display Palestinian flags, in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A student walks past th entrance of Sciences-Po university in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Riot police officers head to Sciences-Po university in Paris Friday, April 26, 2024. Students in Paris inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses in the United States blocked access to a campus building at a prestigious French university Friday, prompting administrators to move all classes online. The pro-Palestinian protest at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, came two days after police broke up a separate demonstration at one of the university's amphitheaters. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Students block the Sciences-Po university Friday, April 26, 2024 in Paris. Students at a prestigious university resumed pro-Palestinian protests on Friday, days after French police broke up a demonstration, inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses around the United States. Dozens of students the Sciences-Po university blocked an entrance to a campus building in central Paris with chairs and bikes. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
Students blocking the Sciences-Po university flash the V sign Friday, April 26, 2024 in Paris. Students at a prestigious university resumed pro-Palestinian protests on Friday, days after French police broke up a demonstration, inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses around the United States. Dozens of students the Sciences-Po university blocked an entrance to a campus building in central Paris with chairs and bikes. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
Students blocking the Sciences-Po university look out Friday, April 26, 2024 in Paris. Students at a prestigious university resumed pro-Palestinian protests on Friday, days after French police broke up a demonstration, inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses around the United States. Dozens of students the Sciences-Po university blocked an entrance to a campus building in central Paris with chairs and bikes. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
Students blocking the Sciences-Po university flash the V sign Friday, April 26, 2024 in Paris. Students at a prestigious university resumed pro-Palestinian protests on Friday, days after French police broke up a demonstration, inspired by Gaza solidarity encampments at campuses around the United States. Dozens of students the Sciences-Po university blocked an entrance to a campus building in central Paris with chairs and bikes. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Schaeffer)
