Two dozen human rights, political, and social organizations have called on Congress to repeal the decree reforming the intelligence law, warning that it "weakens democratic controls".
In a joint document signed by Amnesty International Argentina, the SES Foundation, and others, the organizations state that the decree is "manifestly unconstitutional" as it expands state discretion and enables the "apprehension" of individuals without clear criteria or guarantees, and without judicial authorization.
"For the first time in democracy, the SIDE can proceed to apprehend people without it being clear under what criteria or with what guarantees, and without judicial authorization," they point out. This paves the way for arbitrary detentions, persecution, and intimidation, effectively turning intelligence services into a kind of secret police without oversight.
Furthermore, the organizations note that the decree forces more than 15 public bodies to share personal data of the population with the SIDE, without establishing concrete procedures or control mechanisms. This turns the decree into a tool for mass surveillance. It can also request information from provinces and municipalities, approve secret budgets, and share your data with foreign agencies without judicial authorization. "No one will know what they do with your information or to whom they give it," they emphasize.
"We warn that this is a manifestly unconstitutional decree that expands state discretion and enables practices that we thought were overcome," the document states. They also expressed concern that the decree allows the Armed Forces to carry out intelligence tasks on "non-state organizations"—without clarifying which ones or the criteria for inclusion—and removes civilian control. "It is a dangerous historical step backwards," they concluded.
