[bestbits] [IP] DNI releases Fact Sheet on PRISM, but the damage is already done

parminder parminder at itforchange.net
Mon Jun 10 05:37:17 EDT 2013


I support this text by Joy...

On Monday 10 June 2013 02:56 PM, joy wrote:
>
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> Hi - sharing some ideas that came also from discussion with Frank La 
> Rue's office and my suggested edits relate to the last para, the 
> recommended action to the Council: - I think we have a 3 pronged 
> approach to the call to action which is looking really good:
>
> "We call on the Human Rights Council to act swiftly to prevent 
> creation of a global Internet based surveillance system by:
> 1) convening a special session to examine this case 2) supporting the 
> recommendation of Mr La Rue that the Human Rights Committee develop of 
> a new General Comment 16 on the right to privacy in light of 
> technological advancements and 3) requesting the High Commissioner to 
> prepare a report a) formally asking states to report on practices and 
> laws in place on survellilance and what corrective steps will they 
> willl take to meet human rights standards and b) examing the 
> implications of this case in in the light of the Human Rights Council 
> endorsed United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human 
> Rights, the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework of A/HRC/RES/17/4.
>
> Joy
>
>
>
> On 10/06/2013 8:47 p.m.,
> Joana Varon wrote:
> > Sure, Parminder. Lets remove company names.
> > And thanks for the comprehension.
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 9:38 AM, parminder 
> <parminder at itforchange.net <mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>> wrote:
> >
> >     Hi All
> >
> >     IT for Change will endorse this .... (There are some changes I 
> would have liked to propose but due to the urgency of the issue i 
> would not do it now. Certainly the names of the companies involved 
> should have not been mentioned in the statement. Can we still do it?.)
> >
> >     I am sure some of you may already be in contact with him but if 
> not Philippe Dam with Human Rights Watch may be a useful person to 
> talk to on this. i am cc-ing the email to him. He is attending the HR 
> Council meeting. Wonder if Joy is still there?
> >
> >     Best, parminder
> >
> >
> >     On Monday 10 June 2013 10:07 AM, Deborah Brown wrote:
> >>     Dear all,
> >>
> >>     Here's a quick update on the draft statement to the Human 
> Rights Council regarding the impact of state surveillance on human 
> rights. The draft statement is below. We are currently reaching out to 
> Geneva based orgs who might be able to assist with delivery (thanks 
> Joy) and if not we can still publish it and do outreach.
> >>
> >>     Given the short timeframe, can any further edits be sent on 
> this thread in the next 3.5 hours? Then I will post it to the Best 
> Bits site to facilitate endorsement. In the meantime, if organizations 
> or individuals feel comfortable endorsing this draft, please reply on 
> this thread and we can add your name through the Best Bits system 
> later. As a reminder, this statement would be part of a debate at the 
> HRC that will take place at 15:00 Geneva time on Monday. Though not 
> ideal, this was the best time frame we could come up with for 
> facilitating input and sign on.
> >>
> >>     Thanks to everyone who worked on this over the last 12 hours 
> and apologies for any shortcoming in the process because of time 
> constraints. Looking forward to more input and to working together to 
> get this finalized.
> >>
> >>     Best,
> >>     Deborah
> >>
> >>     Agenda item 8:/General Debate/
> >>
> >>      Civil Society Statement to the Human Rights Council on the 
> impact of State Surveillance on Human Rights addressing the PRISM/NSA case
> >>
> >>     Thank you Mr. President. I speak on behalf of ______ 
> organizations from ___ countries, across ___ regions. This is a truly 
> global issue. We express strong concern over recent revelations of 
> surveillance of internet and telephone communications of US and non-US 
> nationals by the government of the United States of America. Equally 
> concerning is the provision of access to the results of that 
> surveillance to other governments such as the United Kingdom, and the 
> indication of the possible complicity of some of the globally dominant 
> US-based Internet companies whose services and reach are universally 
> distributed. These revelations raise the appearance of, and may even 
> suggest a blatant and systematic disregard for human rights as 
> articulated in Articles 17 and 19 of the International Covenant on 
> Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as Articles 12 and 19 of 
> the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
> >>
> >>     Just last year the Council unanimously adopted Resolution 20/8, 
> which "Affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also 
> be protected online, in particular freedom of expression ..."[1] But 
> during this session the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression 
> reported (A/HRC/23/40) worrying new trends in state surveillance of 
> communications with serious implications for the exercise of the human 
> rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression. The 
> Special Rapporteur notes that inadequate and non-existent legal 
> frameworks "create a fertile ground for arbitrary and unlawful 
> infringements of the right to privacy in communications and, 
> consequently, also threaten the protection of the right to freedom of 
> opinion and expression". [2]
> >>
> >>     Affirmation of internet rights and freedoms by governments in 
> the cross regional statement on freedom of expression and the Internet 
> is important. But civil society is extremely concerned that 
> governments supporting this statement are not addressing, and in fact 
> are ignoring, the recent serious revelations about mass surveillance 
> in the PRISM/NSA case. Although the personal information disclosed 
> under this programme is subject to the oversight of the US Foreign 
> Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), that court sits in secret and 
> has no responsiblity for ensuring the human rights of those not 
> subject to US jurisdiction.
> >>
> >>     The introduction of surveillance mechanisms into the very heart 
> of the data streams of the globally central service providers storing 
> and communicating the majority of the world's digital communications 
> is a backward step for human rights in the digital age. As La Rue 
> notes:  "This raises serious concern with regard to the 
> extra-territorial commission of human rights violations and the 
> inability of individuals to know that they might be subject to foreign 
> surveillance, challenge decisions with respect to foreign 
> surveillance, or seek remedies." An immediate response is needed.
> >>
> >>     We call on companies that are voluntary and involuntary parties 
> to the violation of the fundamental rights of their users globally to 
> immediately suspend this practice. Such action would uphold the Human 
> Rights Council endorsed United Nations Guiding Principles on Business 
> and Human Rights, the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework of 
> A/HRC/RES/17/4.
> >>
> >>     We call for protection of those who have made these violations 
> public. As Mr La Rue notes, laws "must not be used to target 
> whistleblowers ... nor should they hamper the legitimate oversight of 
> government action by citizens." We urge States protect those 
> whistleblowers involved in this case and to support their efforts to 
> combat violations of the fundamental human rights of all global 
> citizens. Whistleblowers play a critical role in promoting 
> transparency and upholding the human rights of all.
> >>
> >>     This recent case is a new kind of human rights violation 
> specifically relevant to the Internet and one foreshadowed in the 
> Council's 2012 Expert Panel on Freedom of Expression and the Internet. 
> We therefore call on the Human Rights Council to act swiftly to 
> prevent creation of a global Internet based surveillance system. One 
> action the Council could take would be to follow up the Expert Panel 
> by convening a multistakeholder process to support the recommendation 
> of Mr. La Rue that the Human Rights Committee develop a new General 
> Comment on  the right to privacy in light of technological advancements
> >>
> >>     [1] 
> http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/G12/153/25/PDF/G1215325.pdf?OpenElement
> >>
> >>     [2] 
> http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session23/A.HRC.23.40_EN.pdf
> >>
> >>     ENDS
> >>
> >>
> >>     On Sun, Jun 9, 2013 at 9:16 PM, Gene Kimmelman 
> <genekimmelman at gmail.com <mailto:genekimmelman at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >>
> >>         I'm glad to see everyone diving in on this.  I have only 
> one overarching issue to raise concerning the framing of whatever 
> groups decide to put out:  I believe it would be most powerful to 
> challenge both the US Gvt. and companies to explain how what they have 
> done does  NOT constitute  human rights violations, with specific 
> details to explain their stance.  I believe all the language people 
> are suggesting can fit within this framing, and put the burden on 
> others to show how our concerns are not justified.  This has more to 
> do with long-term diplomatic impact that anything else; the debate 
> will continue and many of the facts will probably never be made public 
> -- but I think it is a strategic advantage for civil society to always 
> be calling for transparency and basing its conclusions on both what 
> facts are presented, and what concerns are not addressed by the 
> presentation of convincing arguments/facts.
> >>         On Jun 9, 2013, at 8:50 PM, Jeremy Malcolm wrote:
> >>
> >>>         On 10/06/2013, at 12:47 AM, Deborah Brown 
> <deborah at accessnow.org <mailto:deborah at accessnow.org>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>         In any case, we could still work on a statement to be 
> released around this discussion, or later in the HRC session, which 
> ends this week. Jeremy, have you had the chance to work on an outline? 
> If not, I'm happy to help start the drafting process. My main concern 
> is whether we have enough time for significant participation from a 
> diversity of groups so that this is coming from a global coalition.
> >>>
> >>>         Would it be OK if we copy it from the pad to a sign-on 
> statement on bestbits.net <http://bestbits.net/> 5 hours before the 
> hearing?  Those who are working on the pad can pre-endorse it there.  
> If 5 hours ahead is not enough, then I'll need to instruct someone 
> else on how to do it earlier, because I'll be in the air until then.
> >>>
> >>>         --
> >>>
> >>>         *Dr Jeremy Malcolm
> >>>         Senior Policy Officer
> >>>         Consumers International | the global campaigning voice for 
> consumers*
> >>>         Office for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East
> >>>         Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM, 7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg, TTDI, 60000 
> Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
> >>>         Tel: +60 3 7726 1599 <tel:%2B60%203%207726%201599>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>         WCRD 2013 – Consumer Justice Now! | Consumer Protection 
> Map: https://wcrd2013.crowdmap.com/main | #wcrd2013
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>         @Consumers_Int | www.consumersinternational.org 
> <http://www.consumersinternational.org/> | 
> www.facebook.com/consumersinternational 
> <http://www.facebook.com/consumersinternational>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>     --
> >>     Deborah Brown
> >>     Policy Analyst
> >>     Access | AccessNow.org
> >>     E. deborah at accessnow.org <mailto:deborah at accessnow.org>
> >>     @deblebrown
> >>     PGP 0x5EB4727D
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > --
> >
> > Joana Varon Ferraz
> > Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS-FGV)
> > @joana_varon
>
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