[governance] Statement by IGC supporting rights and principles

Tue Sep 8 22:48:20 EDT 2009

Hi all,

I prefer Parminder's formulation as reworked by Matthias minus the word
"divergent", so that it reads: 

"Fundamental human rights such as the rights to freedom of expression,
privacy, civic participation and education are strongly threatened by
actions and policies of a growing number of actors, including state and
private actors at both national as well as global levels."

Cheers,
Anja

On Tue, 2009-09-08 at 11:06 -0200, McTim wrote:
> This is a red letter day, not only does Carlos agree with me, but I
> find that PJS formulation is ok!! Having said that, I prefer the CA
> version.
> 
> rgds,
> McTim
> 
> On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Carlos A. Afonso<ca at cafonso.ca> wrote:
> > I agree with McTim's concern, and would suggest that "Of particular
> > concern are the policies that many governments are pursuing at the
> > national level" be replaced by "Of particular concern are the
> > restrictive policies that several governments are pursuing at the
> > national level."
> >
> > --c.a.
> >
> > Meryem Marzouki wrote:
> >> This v.3 is fine with me. Thanks Lisa.
> >> Best,
> >> Meryem
> >>
> >> Le 8 sept. 09 à 13:03, Lisa Horner a écrit :
> >>
> >>> Hi all
> >>>
> >>> I agree that the original wording was too sweeping, but also think
> >>> that Meryem's point that it's not just governments who are the
> >>> culprits is an important one.  Companies are obviously involved in
> >>> online censorship and privacy violations, whether wittingly or
> >>> unwittingly, and many are pushing for overly restrictive copyright
> >>> which can limit access to information and expression.  Organisations
> >>> and individuals who are involved in technological design and standard
> >>> setting also need to be aware of their impact on the nature of
> >>> communications technologies and whether they support or undermine
> >>> human rights.
> >>>
> >>> However, as has already been discussed, we need to strike a balance
> >>> between a general, awareness-raising statement and being explicit
> >>> enough so as not to confuse/mislead.  How about:
> >>>
> >>> "Fundamental human rights such as the rights to freedom of
> >>> expression, privacy and education are threatened by some internet
> >>> governance processes and practices.  Of particular concern are the
> >>> policies that many governments are pursuing at the national level."
> >>>
> >>> New draft statement 3 pasted below, incorporating Meryem's
> >>> suggestions about rights instruments.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>> Lisa
> >>>
> >>> ---------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> DRAFT STATEMENT (v.3)
> >>>
> >>> The Caucus [and undersigned DCs] repeat their request that the
> >>> programme for IGF-4 in Egypt gives the required attention to human
> >>> rights.  The WSIS Declaration and Tunis Agenda reaffirmed the
> >>> centrality of human rights in the information society, but human
> >>> rights and associated principles have received very little attention
> >>> at the IGF so far.  This is problematic as:
> >>>
> >>> *    Fundamental human rights such as the rights to freedom of
> >>> expression, privacy and education are threatened by some internet
> >>> governance processes and practices.  Of particular concern are the
> >>> policies that many governments are pursuing at the national level.
> >>> *    The internet presents new opportunities for upholding and
> >>> advancing human rights, for example through enhancing access to
> >>> knowledge and resources. It is vital that we build on and enhance
> >>> these opportunities.
> >>> *    International human rights instruments are legally binding.
> >>> Governments who have signed these covenants have a legal obligation
> >>> and responsibility to uphold their citizens' human rights actively,
> >>> in the Internet era as before.
> >>> *    The human rights framework is an internationally agreed set of
> >>> standards that has also has practical as well as ethical value.  It
> >>> balances different rights against each other to preserve individual
> >>> and public interest.  In addition to its legally binding
> >>> implications, the framework is therefore a useful tool for addressing
> >>> internet governance issues, such as how to deal with security
> >>> concerns on the internet in compliance with the rights to freedom of
> >>> expression and privacy.  Besides stating the obligations of states
> >>> and governments, the framework also allows us to derive the rights
> >>> and responsibilities of other stakeholders.
> >>>
> >>> The Internet Governance Caucus [and undersigned DCs] call for human
> >>> rights standards to be included in the planning and implementation of
> >>> all IGF sessions, so that they are given the attention they deserve
> >>> as cross-cutting issues.  This should include explicit consideration
> >>> of how global, regional and national policies affect fundamental
> >>> rights, and the development of positive policy principles to build an
> >>> open and accessible internet for all.  The Caucus [and undersigned
> >>> DCs] would like to offer assistance to the organisers of the main
> >>> plenary sessions to do this, and would like to support all
> >>> stakeholders through providing access to relevant guidelines and
> >>> experts.
> >>>
> >>> -----Original Message-----
> >>> From: William Drake [mailto:william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch]
> >>> Sent: 08 September 2009 11:07
> >>> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Meryem Marzouki
> >>> Subject: Re: [governance] Statement by IGC supporting rights and
> >>> principles
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Sep 8, 2009, at 11:49 AM, Meryem Marzouki wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Le 8 sept. 09 à 11:38, William Drake a écrit :
> >>>>
> >>>>> Hi Meryem,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Sep 8, 2009, at 11:15 AM, Meryem Marzouki wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> Such a short statement, which purpose is to put the HR issue on
> >>>>>> the table at IGF -- and nothing more -- should remain general
> >>>>>> enough.
> >>>>>> If there is real and shared insistance that the sentence be
> >>>>>> watered down, then we could says "... threatened by SOME current
> >>>>>> IG processes and practice". Although this seems obvious..
> >>>>>> Finally, a statement should be read in its globality. The final
> >>>>>> paragraph mentions "global, regional and national policiies",
> >>>>>> showing that the statement makes a difference between these
> >>>>>> policies at different levels.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> My suggestion pertained to the examples Ginger gave, which were of
> >>>>> national level government censorship.  If you'd like to suggest
> >>>>> more encompassing yet differentiated language and try to get
> >>>>> consensus on it feel free, but as McTim notes, "are threatened by
> >>>>> current internet governance processes and practice" seems too
> >>>>> sweepingly totalizing.
> >>>>
> >>>> If it seems totalizing, then let's make sure there is no
> >>>> misunderstanding, and have the statement simply says "... threatened
> >>>> by SOME OF THE current IG processes and practice". Is that agreeable
> >>>> to you and Mc Tim?
> >>>
> >>> Sure it's agreeable, but I doubt it ensures there'll be no
> >>> misunderstanding.
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>>
> >>> Bill____________________________________________________________
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> >
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Dr. Anja Kovacs
Fellow
Centre for Internet and Society
T: +91 80 4092 6283
www.cis-india.org 

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