SPAIN: DHS SEC. NAPOLITANO'S MEETING WITH INTERIOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 001127 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE STATE ALSO FOR EUR/NB, EUR/ERA, INR, INL, G/TIP PASS TO DHS/OIA DAS MARK KOUMANS PASS TO DOJ E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2029 TAGS: PREL PINS PTER PINR KHLS KCIP KCRM SP PGOV KTIP, INL SUBJECT: SPAIN: DHS SEC. NAPOLITANO'S MEETING WITH INTERIOR MINISTER REF: A. MADRID 673 ¶B. MADRID 671 ¶C. MADRID 614 ¶D. MADRID 551 ¶E. OSC EUP20091105178002 MADRID 00001127 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Arnold A. Chacon for reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on November 4 met Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba to continue conversations (Refs A-D) on enhanced bilateral data-sharing among law enforcement authorities as well as increased US-EU cooperation on justice and home affairs issues during Spain's January-June 2010 EU Presidency. Both officials reaffirmed their respective countries' commitment to increased data-sharing and they conducted a brainstorm session on how best to build support for these efforts. They also agreed to develop a plan on the seizure of human trafficker's assets. The meeting occurred before the Secre tary and Rubalcaba delivered speeches at the 31st annual International Conference on Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (IDPC) in Madrid. Embassy Madrid's Charge d'Affaires Chacon and DHS/ICE Attache Alvarez accompanied the Secre tary and her delegation, which included Chief of Staff Noah Kroloff, U/S Rand Beers, A/S for Public Affairs Sean Smith, and DAS for International Affairs Mark Koumans. END SUMMARY. //IDEAS ON HOW TO BUILD SUPPORT FOR ENHANCED DATA-SHARING// ¶2. (C) Secretary Napolitano proposed that the USG and the GOS should work on a bilateral data-sharing agreement which could then be crafted in a broader context for a US-EU agreement. Rubalcaba stated that the GOS shared this view. The Secre tary proposed that after establishing a bilateral agreement, the agreement should then be raised with the EU's G-6 members. The Secretary and Rubalcaba acknowledged that increased data-sharing between the U.S. and EU will be a hard sell, but the two agreed that public security and personal privacy are not mutually exclusive concepts and confirmed their commitment to make this work. Noting how difficult it was to achieve consensus among the EU-27, Rubalcaba argued that the U.S. and EU should have modest objectives that build support for something broadly acceptable so as not to frighten the public. He suggested it would preferable to proceed with something rather than nothing, advocating that the USG and GOS should not await the formulation of a perfect solution. Rubalcaba opined that the initiative is likely to face problems from the Czech Republic and other East Europeans, Sweden, and even within the European Parliament itself. ¶3. (C) The Secretary responded that, based on their individual histories, some countries have well-grounded privacy concerns, but the way to advance this issue would be to demonstrate that this initiative promotes public safety. The Secretary, who in her speech to the IDPC later cited the example of how the USG recently had provided data to the United Kingdom to prevent the travel of an Australian rapist trying to enter the UK on a false Somali passport, suggested that the key to building support for enhanced cooperation is to explain the initiative well and to provide the right examples as success stories. She noted this initiative will not just protect the public from terrorism, but also prevent crimes such as trafficking in persons and cybercrime. Arguing that the challenge is to convince EU-27 members that this is an agreement worth fighting for, the Secretary stated that she would defer to Rubalcaba's wisdom on how best to work this issue among EU members. Rubalcaba agreed and emphasized the need to be realistic in what could be agreed MADRID 00001127 002.2 OF 003 to among the EU-27. He said the GOS will need to sell the idea and noted that DHS's new Liaison Officer posted to the Ministry of Interior (MOI) will be working on precisely this. ¶4. (C) The Secretary emphasized that she and the DHS are aware of the key role that Spain's Ministry of Justice (MOJ) will play in building political support for enhanced cooperation on data-sharing. (COMMENT: Justice Minister Francisco Caamano canceled his scheduled meeting with the Secre tary due to the imminent death of his father. END COMMENT.) //SENSITIVE POLITICAL CLIMATE IN SPAIN ON DATA PRIVACY ISSUES// ¶5. (C) Rubalcaba noted that there are a lot of domestic sensitivities regarding data privacy in Spain, where the public sees proposals for increased governmental oversight as just an excuse for "Big Brother" to "spy on other political parties." There is growing public concern regarding a increasingly-publicized government program to intercept phone calls by the general public (Ref E). (COMMENT: Although he had agreed to speak at the event, Rubalcaba was at pains to explain to the Secretary why he wanted to publicly distance himself from the IDPC as much as possible in light of these domestic sensitivities. He did not want his presence to undercut the larger objective of enhanced bilateral cooperation on law enforcement issues. However, Post notes that, following the Secretary's visit, Rubalcaba has become more directly involved in criticism of the GOS's phone monitoring system. El Pais, Spain's flagship daily which traditionally is sympathetic to the incumbent Socialist Party, reported that following a heated debate in Parliament on November 18 the Minister reportedly had a verbal altercation in Congress with an opposition parliamentarian, whom Rubalcaba allegedly told, "I see and hear everything you do." While Rubalcaba later publicly explained that he meant he was aware of his critic's public statements to the media outlets, the main opposition party subsequently has portrayed these comments as a threat. The increasingly partisan tones of this debate are likely to complicate bilateral progress on this issue. END COMMENT.) //SUPPORT FOR SEIZING HUMAN TRAFFICKERS' ASSETS// ¶6. (C) Rubalcaba welcomed the Secretary's proposal to strengthen bilateral and U.S.-EU cooperation by establishing joint investigations on trafficking in persons. The Secre tary suggested that since the key is to follow the money involved in illicit activity, human traffickers - like drug traffickers - should have their assets seized. The Secretary suggested that the Embassy's DHS/ICE Section should work with the MOI and MOJ to identify a key human traffickers organization for a pilot investigation on how it moves money. Rubalcaba suggested that DHS's Liaison Officer should also work with MOI and the MOJ to create a specific plan on cooperation in this area by the end of the year. //ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES IN MADRID// ¶7. (C) The Secretary had an informal conversation at the IDPC with Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, Spain's former Justice Minister (2004-07) who this year became Chairman of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee. She disagreed with his assertion that the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 does not allow non-U.S. citizens to bring their concerns to U.S. courts and cited this example as a misconception regarding U.S. privacy standards that the USG will have to dispel. The Secretary also spoke with the Prince and Princess of Asturias, who presided over the MADRID 00001127 003.2 OF 003 inauguration of the IDPC. The Secretary concluded her visit to Madrid by hosting a recognition ceremony for U.S. and Spanish customs officials for their work in successful joint operations against transnational arms and bulk cash smuggling. ¶8. (SBU) The DHS delegation has cleared this cable. CHACON