[governance] Call for consensus - Statement by IGC supporting

[Willie Currie]

I support the statement. Many thanks to the drafters.

Willie

Lisa Horner wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
>  
>
> We're now past the deadline for comments, so I've pasted a final 
> version below for the consensus call.  Please could you send a message 
> to the list to say if you support the statement or not.  I'll now hand 
> over to Ginger and Ian to finalise and coordinate it getting read out 
> at the IGF planning meeting.  I'll also get in touch with the DCs.
>
>  
>
> Shaila -- this version includes your edits, apart from in the final 
> para as I think Parminder's comments made sense.  Hope that's 
> acceptable to you.
>
>  
>
> Thanks everyone for your inputs.  I think it's a strong statement now.
>
>  
>
> All the best,
>
> Lisa
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>  
>
> FINAL STATEMENT (V6) -- for consensus call
>
>  
> The Caucus [and undersigned DCs] repeat their request that the 
> programme for IGF-4 in Egypt gives greater priority to human rights.  
> The WSIS Declaration and Tunis Agenda strongly reaffirmed the 
> centrality of human rights in the information society. Despite this, 
> human rights and associated principles have received too little 
> attention at the IGF so
> far. This is problematic because :
>
> *    Fundamental human rights such as the rights to freedom of 
> expression, privacy, civic participation, education and development 
> are strongly threatened by the actions and restrictive policies of a 
> growing number of actors vis a vis the internet, including state and 
> private actors at both national as well as global levels.
>
>
> *    The internet presents new opportunities for upholding and 
> advancing human rights, for example through enhancing access to 
> knowledge and common resources. It is vital that we build on and 
> enhance these opportunities. Ignoring these avenues to uphold human 
> rights implies a serious opportunity cost for the well being of 
> peoples, globally.
>
>
> *    International human rights, as contained in the Universal 
> Declaration of Human Rights and confirmed by the core human rights 
> treaties and other universal human rights instruments, are legally 
> binding.  The growing role of information and communication 
> technologies has not changed the legal obligation of states that have 
> ratified these instruments to respect, protect and implement the human 
> rights of their citizens.
>
>
> *    The human rights framework is an internationally agreed set of 
> standards that 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, human 
> rights are 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 human 
> rights framework also allows us to derive the rights and 
> responsibilities of other stakeholders. 
>
> The Internet Governance Caucus [and undersigned DCs] call for the 
> human rights dimension of all internet governance issues to be 
> included in the planning and implementation of all future IGF 
> sessions, so that human rights are given the attention they deserve as 
> cross-cutting issues.  This should include explicit consideration of 
> how global, regional and national policies affect human 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. We see 
> this upcoming IGF in Egypt and future IGFs as renewed opportunity 
> to make Rights and Principles a core theme.
>
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>

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