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

michael gurstein gurstein at gmail.com
Mon Jun 10 06:21:54 EDT 2013


+1 excellent.

 

M

 

From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net
[mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of joy
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 5:26 AM
To: Joana Varon
Cc: parminder; &lt,bestbits at lists.bestbits.net&gt,; Philippe Dam
Subject: Re: [bestbits] [IP] DNI releases Fact Sheet on PRISM, but the
damage is already done

 


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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>
<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> <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>
<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/>
<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

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<http://www.consumersinternational.org/> |

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      >>>



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      >>>          



      >>



      >>



      >>



      >>



      >>     -- 



      >>     Deborah Brown



      >>     Policy Analyst



      >>     Access | AccessNow.org



      >>     E. deborah at accessnow.org

       <mailto: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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