[bestbits] Joint Statement by NGOs in the Republic of Korea on Intelligence Agencies’ Internet Surveillance

[Byoung-il Oh]

Hello,

Korean human rights organizations including Jinbonet published joint
statement on Internet Surveillance of US NSA, and submitted it to UN Human
Rights Council with its 24th regular session  ahead, on August 22th, 2013.

http://act.jinbo.net/drupal/node/7636

Best,
Oh Byoungil

-------

*Joint Statement by NGOs in the Republic of Korea on Intelligence Agencies’
Internet Surveillance: Electronic Surveillance of Internet Users Worldwide
Should Be Stopped*


There was a shocking revelation that the United States(US) National
Security Agency(NSA) has conducted surveillance of global Internet users by
using PRISM, a clandestine mass electronic surveillance data mining
program, and large online service providers have complied with the Agency’s
request. It has been reported that intelligence agencies in a number of
countries have not only collected data from online providers, including
e-mail, Internet phone, chat and social networking services, but have also
exchanged those data each other1.
In order to improve society toward democracy and human rights, NGOs in the
Republic of Korea have fought against national surveillance systems such as
“criminalization of false communications” or “the Internet real-name
registration system,” and to secure the freedom of anonymous speech and the
right to privacy over the Internet2. We are deeply concerned by the fact
that the US government has ignored the human rights of internet users
because they are non-US citizens, and the surveillance of overseas users
has been conducted in the name of national security, as we can see from the
US government’s explanations3 on this issue. We also suggest the citizens
of the global community to act in solidarity on this issue taking into
account of following reasons.

National security agencies in many countries have been broadly authorized
to watch foreign people as well as domestic people in the name of the
national security and the prevention of terrorism. Additionally, the
development of information and communication technologies, such as the
Internet has enabled those agencies to carry out global surveillance in
real time much easier than ever before. It is also truly astonishing, in
particular, that the US global online provider like Microsoft, Google,
Yahoo!, Facebook, Paltalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL and Apple have handed over
massive amount of information about foreign users in responding to the
request of NSA without any prior consent or post-notification on the
provision of personal information and communications, or without any
appropriate legal procedures for protecting users’ privacy or freedom of
speech. Non-US citizens’ privacy has been infringed simply because they
have used the services which are provided by the US based global
enterprises in the Internet and in mobile communications area. It means
that those internet users worldwide are forced to be out of the due
process, which has been secured by the modern constitutional principle that
a warrant is required to perform a lawful search and seizure. Obviously,
the global surveillance violates the freedom of speech and the right to
privacy as enschrined in Article 12 and Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and also in Article 17 and Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of which the
US is one of signatories. It should not be ignored that global Internet
users, even when they use those services provided by the US-based or the US
enterprises, should be legitimately ensured that the communications
secrets, the freedom of speech and the right to privacy are to be protected.

Even when some online service providers happen to access to users’ data in
the process of providing services, it is very obvious that the data belongs
exclusively to such users; neither to the country where the service
provider is located or nor to those providers themselves. To provide
personal information, or communications to the third party without any
prior consent or any prior notification to users and the fact that such a
behavior has long maintained, shows that those enterprises have infringed
the user’s rights. Nevertheless, it is hard for users to know whether and
how their personal information would have been handed over and their
communications would have been eavesdropped and how it would be even in
future. Furthermore, even if they could know, it is also much more
difficult for them to redress the infringement. If these conditions are to
be maintained, the civic liberty of people who necessarily need to use the
Internet in their daily lives regardless of whether they are US citizens or
not would be severely threatened. If this issue would be left alone, and
any further framework for the improvement of the Internet users’ human
rights is not to be set, intelligence agencies in many countries may
introduce another electronic surveillance data mining program such as PRISM
more competitively and then it would exacerbate the reality of human rights
over the Internet.

Disappointingly, however, these countries including the US directly or
indirectly involved with PRISM do not show any serious attempt to sort out
these problems. They have only asserted that such an monitoring behavior
could be legitimized and used to be authorized under laws concerned since
its surveillance target is not their own national people. Moreover, the
fact that Snowden, the whistleblower who has exposed the surveillance
reality are wandering without any appropriate protection is itself making
serious chilling effect on those global citizens who have a solid
confidence on the value of human rights and have pursued justice by
accusing the truth of human rights infringement over the world.

Therefore, We also request the UN Human Rights Council to take following
actions together with other global civil society’s demands for this issue,
which we support and are in solidarity with4.
1. Hold a special session to investigate illegal surveillance on the
Internet users.
2. Develop recommendations on how effectively restrict or prevent today’s
intelligence agency’s or global online service providers surveillance
behavior in a way to further promote and protect human rights of internet
users.

Furthermore, we request the US government to carry out following actions.
1. Decide to immediately suspend the electronic surveillance data mining
program which was recently revealed to comprehensively monitor global
internet users
2. Establish a legal basis to inform those users who have been the targets
of surveillance and what communication has been monitored under the FISA
framework, and transparently disclose the full statistics concerned.
3. Stop suppressing the whistleblowers and giving international pressure on
other countries not to help them. Protect Snowden as a whistlebrower.

We also request global online service providers which have been known to
cooperate with the NSA for this surveillance to take following actions.
1. Inform those users who have been the targets of surveillance under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA ), and transparently disclose
the full statistics concerned.
2. Add appropriate users’ protection provisions to terms and conditions

Lastly, we urge the government and the National Assembly of the Republic of
Korea to take relevant measures as follows.
1. Identify whether or not and how South Korean have become victims of the
recent controversial electronical communication surveillance by other
states’ intelligence agencies.
2. Examine the domestic laws concerned with Internet surveillance including
the Protection of Communications Secrets Act. In particular, disclose the
reality of how and when foreign Internet users are monitored without
court’s warrant, and improve the human right protectionregarding
surveillance process.
3. Make global efforts to introduce appropriate policy measures to restrict
or prevent global Internet surveillance behavior in accordance with the
international human rights standards.
4. Cooperate with international humanitarian actions for protecting Snowden
as a whislebrower.

August 21th, 2013

Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice
Dasan Human Rights Center
Consumers Korea
Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea
Korean House for International Solidarity
Human Rights Education 'Deul'
Korean Progressive Network ‘jinbonet’
Buddhist Solidarity for Reform
People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
Catholic human rights committee
Women Making Peace
National Council of YMCAs of KOREA
Korea Alliance For Progressive Movement
Citizen’s Action Network


1 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0873f38-d1c5-11e2-9336-00144feab7de.html,
https://www.bof.nl/2013/06/11/bits-of-freedom-dutch-spooks-must-stop-use-of-prism/and
http://www.standaard.be/cnt/DMF20130610_063.



2 "Mission to the Republic of Korea : Addendum of the Report of the Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of
opinion and expression". A/HRC/17/27/Add.2. Frank La Rue. 21 March 2011.

3 Ovide, Shira (June 8, 2013). "U.S.
OfficialReleasesDetailsofPrismProgram". TheWallStreetJournal. Retrieved
June 15, 2013.



4 "Civil Society Statement to the Human Rights Council on the impact of
State Surveillance on Human Rights addressing the PRISM/NSA case".
http://bestbits.net/prism-nsa/


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