Nobel Peace Chief: We Need Spy Laws to Protect People

Thorbjorn Jagland says Snowden leaks make this clear
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 20, 2013 1:31 PM CST
Nobel Peace Chief: We Need Spy Laws to Protect People
President Obama speaks with Nobel Peace Prize chairman Thorbjorn Jagland in 2009, the year Obama won the prize.   (AP Photo/Odd Andersen)

The man who handed President Obama his Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 thinks the world needs protection from Obama's spies. Thorbjorn Jagland, head of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, says the Edward Snowden leaks make clear the need for international spy laws to protect people's privacy, reports the Local. "Most countries have national laws that protect their own citizens, but are nevertheless permitted to freely spy or eavesdrop on citizens of other countries," says Jagland.

He didn't lay the blame entirely on the US, complaining of "international lawlessness" by spy agencies the world over. "Several countries now want two-way agreements with the US to protect their own citizens against surveillance from the other counties, but this does not protect citizens against espionage from countries they do not have a deal with." (More Thorbjorn Jagland stories.)

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