09.09.2014
LALIT, CTSP, FTU, CITU, ACIM, Muvman Liberasyon Fam, Centre Idriss Goomany, , Playgroup, ABAIM express concern about the imposition of the compulsory, biometric ID cards. Although the DPP has said he is unlikely to prosecute until final judgement, the people of the country are being threatened with constant harassment by public and private sector bureaucracies, with deadlines being announced continually in the media.
We therefore by this public communique demand that:
The Case of Me. Neelkant Dulloo be immediately given a date for its hearing, and that all procrastination on the part of the State is halted;
The old ID card remain a recognized form of identification until the final hearing of all three cases in the Supreme Court, i.e. Dr. Madewoo, Me Pravind Jugnauth and Me. Neelkant Dulloo, or at least for the next calendar year.
We draw the public’s attention to the decision in the Indian Supreme Court writ making it illegal for officers to deny someone any service on the grounds of their not having the new Indian ID card.
We also draw the attention of the public to the Clavis Case in which it has been found that it is illegal to make finger-printing compulsory for attendance.
We draw attention to the withdrawal of “smart cards” by the British, the USA and the Australian Governments, after protests from their people.
We draw attention to the recent EU judgments making central storage of personal data illegal.
In any case, the security of the centralized data base, all e-government resources and the card itself, have now been thrown into such doubt that it is difficult to contemplate forcing people in Mauritius to give their fingerprints against their will.
It is not surprising that tens of thousands of Mauritians have bravely refused so far to be forced, like lambs to the slaughter, to give their fingerprints to the State.
Our call for an extension of the deadline to December 2015 follows both the logic of the two weeks postponement already granted and of the DPP, i.e until final judgement.
Collective Against Compulsory Biometric ID Cards
9 September 2014