[governance] Rights issues in Azerbaijan / What will CS @ Baku do?

Wed May 2 11:07:23 EDT 2012

On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 10:56 AM, Katy P <katycarvt at gmail.com> wrote:

> While a panel can be a safe place, what happens when we all leave and the
> government knows they a particular individual attended such a panel?
>
> There are no easy answers but whilst we are there we could use the
opportunity to meet with local civil society organizations etc and maybe
assist them with general strategies. In fact, activism can be strategic -
for instance, we can get governments with good records to help communicate
to governments who struggle with issues such as "Freedom of Expression" -
like a sort of peer thing. Simultaneously, civil society can organize
multistakeholder workshops to address this but at the same time regional
organizations and local organizations have to figure out and develop a
strategy for advocacy, one which is long term, medium and short term.

In Fiji, we are under military rule since our Coup D' Etat in 2006 and we
have anti sedition laws that make it illegal to criticize the state or any
of its agencies. Sedition in Fiji is any criticism of government or its
functions/practices/policies.

So my reflections are based on what I see on the ground. I find that these
laws are crafted out of "fear". The key thing would be addressing the fear.
There are no easy answers but as the IGC we should really talk about the
Human Rights Issues concerning jailing of bloggers in Azerbaijan.

Kind Regards,
Sala

>
> On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 10:50 AM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>  On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>wrote:
>>
>>>  Given past experiences, my recommendation would be that -  as a
>>> minimum workshop proposals that touch on Free expression and/or rights
>>> issues need to not only be supported - but also carefully monitored to make
>>> sure there isn't undue interference from the Azeri hosts and/or UN
>>>
>>
>> Another way to do it is to get them involved in a Panel and create a
>> "safe place" for dialogue on "abuse of the exceptions" in Article 19 of the
>> ICCPR. If we through advocacy not by alienating them engage them in
>> dialogue on what the mature response is, we could win both sides. The key
>> is outreach and strategic advocacy. We must lead and guide them to
>> understand why it is important.
>>
>> At the same time, we need to be very clear and express our position on
>> the matter in some form. If even after this level of engagement, we are
>> still ignored then we can recoup and strategize on how we wish to address
>> it. Any approach should have a long term strategy because other countries
>> can also learn.
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> regards
>>>
>>>  Robert
>>>   --
>>> R. Guerra
>>> Phone/Cell: +1 202-905-2081
>>> Twitter: twitter.com/netfreedom
>>> Email: rguerra at privaterra.org
>>>
>>>   On 2012-05-02, at 10:24 AM, Katitza Rodriguez wrote:
>>>
>>>  Hola Robert,
>>>
>>> comments below:
>>>
>>> On 5/2/12 9:15 AM, Robert Guerra wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2012-05-02, at 3:13 AM, Roland Perry wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>  In message<
>>> 855077AC3D7A7147A7570370CA01ECD214F43D at SUEX10-mbx-10.ad.syr.edu>, at
>>> 22:03:02 on Tue, 1 May 2012, Milton L Mueller<mueller at syr.edu>  writes
>>>
>>>   Do you at least agree it wasn't a "workshop"? I know it sounds
>>> pedantic,
>>>
>>>  [Milton L Mueller] It was a reception with food. And your point is...?
>>>
>>> A workshop is part of the official programme, and both interruptions and
>>> poorly briefed organisers would be more serious.
>>>
>>> The incident in Sharm was not the only one where the IGF secretariat has
>>> stepped in and stopped a critical conversation related to rights.
>>>
>>>
>>> Last year's workshop session in Nairobi on - The Internet in the
>>> Post-Revolution Phase — Challenges of Political Engagement and the Safety
>>> of Citizens" was cancelled for reasons unknown at the very last minute.
>>> However, the people stayed in the room and a very lively and engaging
>>> conversation took place. In fact, the session - according to Keith Drazek
>>> from Verisign proved to be one of the successes of the whole event.
>>>
>>>
>>> IGF Nairobi - Success of the Multi-stakeholder Model
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.circleid.com/posts/igf_nairobi_success_of_the_multi_stakeholder_model/
>>>
>>>
>>> The Secretariat tried to remove the video archive of the session from
>>> the official record. But luckily, it was saved - let's see for how long.
>>>
>>>
>>> I did not hear about this. I'm astonished. Do you know if they are
>>> editing the reports to at their own whim? Is there more cases like this
>>> documented?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
>>
>> Tweeter: @SalanietaT
>> Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
>> Cell: +679 998 2851
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________
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>>
>

-- 
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala

Tweeter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Cell: +679 998 2851
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