[governance] Call for consensus - Statement by IGC supporting rights and principles

[Danny Butt]

I support the statement also - very pleased to see the caucus taking  
up this platform.

Cheers,

Danny


On 10/09/2009, at 11:18 PM, 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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Danny Butt
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