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

Wed May 2 11:15:31 EDT 2012

On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 11:09 AM, Katy P <katycarvt at gmail.com> wrote:

> While the jailing of bloggers is a concern, the overall atmosphere of
> demonizing the Internet in Azerbaijan should be a concern as well.
>
> Azerbaijan (wisely?) maintains an outward face of promoting technology,
> but it does a thorough job of discouraging it. This is much harder to
> combat both internally and externally.
>
>  This is why we should have discussions on things like:-

Why should the Internet remain open and free?

[The way in which the workshops are organized should not be just
information dissemination because anyone can do that. It should be done
with a desire to provoke discussions around the heart of the matter. ]

>
> On Wed, May 2, 2012 at 11:07 AM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>  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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>>>> For all other list information and functions, see:
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>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
>>
>> Tweeter: @SalanietaT
>> Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
>> Cell: +679 998 2851
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

-- 
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala

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