BEWARE THE GIFT OF POISON FRUIT agency is compiled into an intelligence report, and shared with a number of domestic agencies. It is not uncommon for a domestic law enforcement agency to not know the source of the information, nor be given any assessment of its reliability. In such cases we must also ask who has any duty to caveat the information or remove the information from use. Intelligence sharing networks Intelligence sharing networks have been widely used between coalitions of States both before and since 2001. These networks are necessarily better addressed by international, rather than national laws, but at least one commentator has asserted that such networks have never been so constrained in practice: “Intelligence sharing networks are constrained almost exclusively by a shared professional ethos, rather than the law. Such an ethos can exert some degree of accountability to professional norms, but has been strained by the inclusion of less professional and often ruthless intelligence services in the network.” 17 Such networks reveal that information sharing is not just a ‘one to one’ exchange, but form part of a complex web of information which is made available, shared and used by multiple actors in network countries simultaneously. Even in well-established networks, there are no requirements that information obtained in violation of a person’s human rights be withheld, nor that only States that comply with human rights obligations be part of the intelligence-sharing agreement. Currently, intelligence sharing networks seem to have little appetite for cooperation requirements, revealing a tendency of intelligence agencies to prioritise the perceived value of shared information over human rights concerns. This current practice demonstrates a lack of human rights compliant principles for the sharing of information, but also an oversight gap which has yet to be addressed. 17 16 E. Sepper, ‘Democracy, Human Rights and Intelligence Sharing’, Texas International Law Journal, Vol. 46:151, 2010, 151–207, at 153.

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