[governance] Fwd: Re: [igf_members] Proposal: Human Rights Roundtable

Thu Oct 18 03:45:49 EDT 2012

Dear Parminder,

while I agree that consumer rights are different from human rights, I want to emphasize that they can and should have an effect on consumer rights. State bodies bound by human rights should regulate private actors in a way that that they respect human rights, i.e. in the field of data protection, freedom of expression or quality of services, which might also relate to economic, social or cultural rights, like the right to education.

In this context, the Council of Europe has established a Committee of Experts on (Human) Rights of Internet Users, which recently has started it s work with the objective to elaborate what are (human) rights of internet users.  We are aware that this is a difficult area, precisely for the reasons You mentioned, but think that because of the practical effects which terms of service and other private agreements do have on the realization of human rights of users, there is a need to look at these private contracts from a human rights perspective.

Best regards

Wolfgang Benedek

Von: parminder <parminder at itforchange.net<mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>>
Antworten an: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>, parminder <parminder at itforchange.net<mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>>
Datum: Donnerstag, 18. Oktober 2012 09:18
An: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org<mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>>
Betreff: [governance] Fwd: Re: [igf_members] Proposal: Human Rights Roundtable

this is the comment I sent to the MAG (multistakeholder advisory group) of the IGF.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: [igf_members] Proposal: Human Rights Roundtable
Date:   Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:18:25 +0530
From:   parminder <parminder at itforchange.net><mailto:parminder at itforchange.net>
To:     igf_members at intgovforum.org<mailto:igf_members at intgovforum.org>

Dear Alice/ All,

Apologies for intrusion by someone who, I understand, has an observer status on this list.

This initiative of a round table on human rights is very important. Since it is not just an workshop, but a higher level activity with some kind of a larger IGF/ MAG ownership (do I understand it right!), we have to be especially careful about framing the background note and agenda. In this regard I have the following observations to make.

(1) Consumer rights are not considered as human rights. Consumer rights are based on private contracts, although the consumer as the structurally weaker party in such contracts is provided some special general protections which are embodied in consumer rights. Human rights are based on the social contract. (There are those who go even further and claim that they are kind of part of our 'natural condition' but I dont buy that.)  I do not think we should include consumer rights as part of human rights. It greatly dilutes the discourse of human rights, and their legitimacy.

(2) The background note focusses exclusively on civil and political rights, like privacy, FoE, and does not mention social, economic and cultural rights at all. It is useful to refer in this regard the opening paragraphs of the Geneva Declaration that speaks of indivisibility of human rights, and the need to take all kinds and categories of human rights together. In context of the Internet, one can immediately think of human rights issues like, universal access (especially with some countries already treating it as a right) and net neutrality. There are others as well, like cultural rights involved in multilingualism, domain name allocations etc. It will be good if we can expand the note to give representation and space to all kinds of human rights and not just civil and political rights. Alternatively, maybe we can call the event as a round table on civil and political rights.

This is for your consideration.

Also, can I share this note with civil society groups for their comments?

best regards, parminder

On Friday 12 October 2012 12:05 PM, alice at apc.org<mailto:alice at apc.org> wrote:

Dear Colleaques,

We wish to submit this proposal for a Human Rights round Table.

Apologies for submitting it a bit late, but hope you will consider it.

Best regards
Alice

------------------------------

HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDTABLE
IGF 2012

Background

During the IGF MAG meeting held in May 2012 in Geneva, several ways to
develop the cross-cutting issues (human rights and development) were
proposed. Particularly,  the group in charge of structuring the Taking
Stock and the Way Forward session suggested that the second part of the
session includes feedback from the cross-cutting

themes which could be developed through round tables. It was supported by
other MAG members (see transcripts MAG meeting 17 May)[1].

Additionally, it is important to mention as a background element, that
approximately 40 workshop proposals for the 2012 Internet Governance Forum
make specific reference to human rights related issues, including privacy,
freedom of expression, data rights, cyber security, and internet
intermediary liability.

Consumer rights are a growing area of interest, including the need for
transparency, regulatory oversight, and mechanisms for addressing consumer
complaints.  Data ownership and privacy are major issues in this area.

Human rights in relation to security is a major theme for the IGF,
including cybercrime, and the tension between privacy and security. There
are several proposed workshops on the protection of children and youth, as
well as practical workshops on surveillance and data protection.

Developing best practices and legal frameworks is discussed in many of the
workshop proposals, particularly in light of increasing restrictions on
freedom of expression, and new liabilities for internet intermediaries.

Multi-stakeholderism is a cross-cutting theme in the workshop proposals,
particularly with respect to determining best practices and frameworks.

Based on it, Kenya, in partnership with APC, Finland and Sweden, would
like to propose the organisation of a human rights round table which look
at how HR issues related to the internet were addressed in the various
main sessions and workshops.

Objective

The objective of the human rights round table is to gather comprehensive
feedback from the various main sessions and workshops in relation to which
human rights issues were addressed by the various stakeholders and to use
those inputs to feed the Taking Stock and the Way Forward session.  It
will help us to increase knowledge and understanding of the human rights
and the internet specific concerns and challenges the various stakeholders
have as well as their proposals to address them in the framework of the
internet governance debate.  It will also help to increase understanding
of the linkages between the HR issues addressed in the various main
sessions and the main IGF theme.

Themes in analysis will include privacy, censorship, intermediary
liability, cybercrime, among others.

Format

The round table will be held in a multi-stakeholder environment in which
speakers/participants who took part of the various main sessions and
workshops bring their perspectives in a concrete manner to feed the TSWF
session and propose ways to advance the HR discussion within the IGF.

_______________________________________________
igf_members mailing list
igf_members at intgovforum.org<mailto:igf_members at intgovforum.org>http://mail.intgovforum.org/mailman/listinfo/igf_members_intgovforum.org

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