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

[William Drake]

I support the statement, nicely done.

Bill

On Sep 11, 2009, at 9:43 AM, Meryem Marzouki wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I support the statement. Thanks all for your patience!
> Best,
> Meryem
>
> Le 10/9/2009, "Lisa Horner" <lisa at global-partners.co.uk> a écrit:
>
>> 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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***********************************************************
William J. Drake
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
  Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
***********************************************************


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