[governance] Substance for IGF CS Opening and Closing speakers

[Meryem Marzouki]

Hello all,

Not only this would complicate the matter and would indeed hurt, as  
Paul Lehto already said, but even most importantly, it would  
seriouslt hurt as a political position: the sole reference to the  
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights would de facto  
exclude the other International Covenant, as important as the CCPR,  
namely the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural  
Rights (CESCR). As a reminder, human rights are universal,  
indivisible, interdependent and interrelated (Vienna declaration,  
World Conference on Human Rights, 1993, see http://www2.ohchr.org/ 
english/law/vienna.htm for reference).

Therefore, let's stick to the UDHR: after all, the IGF is (hardly) a  
political arena, not an international court. However, if one really  
wants to mention the Covenants, then let's refer to the International  
Bill of Human Rights (UDHR + CCPR + CESCR + additional protocols),  
but it's less known to the general public.

Meryem Marzouki

--
Meryem Marzouki - Paris, France
Email: meryem at marzouki.info
Lab. LIP6/CNRS/UPMC - www-polytic.lip6.fr
IRIS (Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire) - www.iris.sgdg.org
EDRI (European Digital Rights) - www.edri.org




Le 26 août 10 à 00:45, Mawaki Chango a écrit :

> I'm sure our drafters will now pay careful attention to this matter.
>
> To my edification, I never knew the Covenents (especially in the post
> cold war era and understanding) may be seen as weakening, or creating
> a contradiction with, the UDHR. I've been part of policy development
> processes where all those legal instruments were referenced in the
> same resolution (with the push of other lawyers or law experts). But
> as you know, lawyers are great interpreters.
>
> If your peers agree and maybe more importantly if practice shows that
> UDHR is enough and the Covenents will only complicate the matter, then
> obviously...
> Thanks for the clarifications.
>
> Mawaki
>
> On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 5:27 PM, Paul Lehto <lehto.paul at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>> Referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the treaty
>> called the International Covenent on Civil and Political Rights, On
>> 8/25/10, Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm sure it doesn't hurt to reference both,  the treaty for backing.
>>
>> ANSWER:  It does hurt if it is worded in such a way as to leave open
>> the inference that the ratification or acceptance by treaty is what
>> makes human rights binding on all nations, because that gives each
>> nation both a power of unilateral veto as well as an implied power of
>> totalitarian authority over all people under its control.  But yes,
>> properly worded, the UDHR alone is enough and binding on all nations
>> under customary international law, and the Covenant as well as other
>> treaties are like adding suspenders on top of a strong belt.
>>>
>>> 2010/8/25 Paul Lehto <lehto.paul at gmail.com>:
>>>> Per the below, the UDHR is most certainly binding international  
>>>> law,
>>>> regardless of the existence of a signed treaty. I only point to
>>>> signatures on treaties for the purpose of establishing yet another
>>>> level:  binding agreement and consent in light of my statement  
>>>> at the
>>>> outset that no one wants to expressly and publicly distance  
>>>> themselves
>>>> from these rights.
>>>>
>> [snip]
>> --
>> Paul R Lehto, J.D.
>> P.O. Box 1
>> Ishpeming, MI  49849
>> lehto.paul at gmail.com
>> 906-204-2334
>>
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