In his testimony, Snowden said the NSA has “specifically targeted the
communications of either leaders or staff members in a number of purely
civil or purely human rights organizations…including domestically,
within the borders of the US.” Snowden said that the NSA has been
targeting “peaceful groups, unrelated to any terrorist threat,” citing
surveillance operations against the United Nations Children’s Fund. The
NSA engages in indiscriminate spying based on a “de facto policy of
guilt by association,” Snowden said.
Snowden’s remarks come as yet
another refutation of the US government’s claims that the surveillance
operations are directed exclusively against terrorist plotters. Instead,
the spying apparatus targets billions of telephone and Internet users
worldwide, with special attention going to critics of, and rivals to, US
imperialism.
-- Thomas Gaist, "Snowden says NSA spying on civil rights organizations" (WSWS).