Activity Report To The Congress

Describes reports required of executive branch agencies by the Congress on a recurring basis.

Describes reports required of executive branch agencies by the Congress on a recurring basis.

The 9/11 Commission cited breakdowns in info. sharing and the failure to fuse pertinent intelligence as key factors in the failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) contain info. about criminal activity that may also reveal terrorist pre-operational planning. The Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) is an effort to have most law enforcement org. participate in a standardized, integrated approach to gathering, documenting, processing, and analyzing terrorism-related SARs. This report describes the NSI, the rationale for the sharing of terrorism-related SARs, and how the NSI seeks to achieve this objective. It also examines the privacy and civil liberties concerns raised by the initiative.

The implementation of the recommendations of the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Warsaw, May 2005) resulted in the launch in 2006 of a number of European campaigns, in particular "Building a Europe for and with children"; the "Campaign to combat trafficking in human beings"; "All different, All equal"; "Stop domestic violence against women"; and the 'Dosta!" awareness-raising campaign to end prejudice against the Roma. Kosovo was a major political concern for the Council of Europe. Through its Venice Commission, it provided expert input for the preparation of the future status of the region and continued to provide expert advice on the implementation of European standards in such fields as the protection of human rights, minority rights, decentralisation, cultural heritage protection and constitutional law. The Republic of Montenegro applied for membership of the Council of Europe following the 21 May referendum, which paved the way for its independence. Serbia, on the other hand, succeeded the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro as a member state of the Organisation. The Council of Europe was the first organisation to look into the allegations of secret detentions and unlawful transfers of suspected terrorists in the member states. The Parliamentary Assembly and the Secretary General each carried out investigations which revealed that Council of Europe member states have not set up effective legal safeguards against such practices, which violate the European Convention on Human Rights.