[governance] African CS dialogue on IG: Invitation

Sat Sep 15 02:35:41 EDT 2012

The HRC, and in general there "General Commentaries" clarifying, 
elucidating and expanding, are typically late to arrive. This is because 
of the "natural" tendency for issues to evolve slowly until they are 
capable of crisply rendered in rather minimalist laws (minimalist in the 
sense of capable of definition and delineation)...

For an interesting historical take on social change see perhaps 
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/schmoller/justice

Riaz

On 2012/09/14 10:52 PM, Anriette Esterhuysen wrote:
> Dear Rony
>
> The potential of the HRC resolution is that it pressurises existing
> human rights mechanisms at national, regional and global levels to
> enforce these rights.
>
> It is not just a principle. It empowers/compels mechanisms. It also
> means that mandate holders of the HRC can be requested to visit and
> investigate conditions in particular countries.
>
> And, it means that these rights can be monitored in the Universal
> Periodic Review process where governments have to make commitments to
> implemented changes and they have 4 years to do so. For civil society
> watch dogs and rights defenders this is all incredibly useful.
>
> Read about the 'real name' policy case in South Korea - Jinbonet started
> its struggle against this policy (intended to prevent people from
> communicating under aliases online) at the Human Rights Council. They
> have just won a huge victory with this policy being declared
> unconstitutional. It is not the end of the struggle, and it has taken
> many years, but it demonstrates that human rights mechanisms and
> standards can work.
>
> http://www.apc.org/en/news/victory-freedom-expression-south-korea
>
> Anriette
>
>
>
>
> On 14/09/2012 19:40, Koven Ronald wrote:
>> Dear Anriette --
>>
>>
>> I'm afraid the Human Rights Council's "landmark" resolution is
>> something of a Johnny-come-lately.
>>
>>
>> Back in 1997, the General Conference of the UNESCO member states
>> formally endorsed the Declaration of Sofia of the UN/UNESCO European
>> Seminar on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media, saying:in its
>> Point 10:
>>
>>
>> "The advent of new information and communication technologies
>> representing new channels for the free flow of information could and
>> should contribute to pluralism, economic and social development,
>> democracy and peace. The access to and the use of these new media
>> should be afforded the same freedom of expression protections as
>> traditional media."
>>
>>
>> (Immodestly, that was an amendment I introduced.)
>>
>>
>> Cheers, Rony Koven
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Anriette Esterhuysen
>> <anriette at apc.org> To: governance <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
>> Sent: Fri, Sep 14, 2012 7:04 pm Subject: [governance] African CS
>> dialogue on IG: Invitation
>>
>>
>> Dear friends and colleagues
>>
>> [French below]
>>
>> INVITATION TO JOIN ONLINE DIALOGUE!
>>
>> We invite you to join an online dialogue among African civil society,
>> media and other people who care about a free, open and accessible
>> internet to share their  views and increase their understanding of
>> current trends in internet  regulation and governance.
>>
>> The UN's Human Rights Council adopted a landmark resolution in 2012
>> that 'human rights apply online as well as offline'. We need to be
>> aware of this and help promote the application of this decision at
>> all levels of internet policy and regulation.
>>
>> The dialogue should help us consider questions such as:
>>
>> 1. What are the implications of the HRC resolution for our work?
>>
>> 2. How does it relate to broader debates on human rights, governance
>> and development?
>>
>> 3. What do you think are the fundamental principles that should
>> frame and guide the decision-making processes that shape the
>> evolution of the internet - at infrastructure level as well as at
>> access and usage level?
>>
>> 4. What are your suggestions to improve the participation of African
>> constituencies in the coordination of the internet global resources
>> as well as in related policy-making processes?
>>
>> 5. What are the specific changes you would like to see, if any,
>> across the range of entities and processes that carry out the
>> governance of the internet?
>>
>> Aside from these broader questions it is also crucial that we
>> consider upcoming processes such as  the African Internet Governance
>> Forum (Oct), the global Internet Governance Forum (Nov) and the
>> review of the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) at
>> the ITU's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT)
>> (Dec).
>>
>> It is hoped that this platform will strengthen African civil
>> society's engagement with internet governance processes at national,
>> regional and global levels and enable us to contribute to shaping the
>> future development of the internet and the telecommunications
>> networks most of us depend on for access.
>>
>> To join this discussion do one of the following:
>>
>> 1) Go to https://lists.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/africs-ig and follow
>> the instructions to join the mailing list. 2) Write to Mawaki Chango
>> at mawaki at apc.org and he will add your email to the list. 3) Visit
>> our background page http://africa-ig.wiki.apc.org/index.php/Main_Page
>> to learn more about this process.
>>
>> Looking forward to hearing your views and questions. Remember there
>> is no such thing as a 'stupid question'! Don't feel intimidated by
>> jargon and concepts that you don't fully understand. As a community
>> of African internet users we will be able to learn from one another.
>>
>> Staff and members of the Association for Progressive Communications
>> will help facilitate this discusssion. Participants are free to post
>> in English and French. We will develop regular summaries and post
>> them in both languages.
>>
>> Warm regards from the APC Africa policy team
>>
>> Mawaki Chango Emilar Vushe Anriette Esterhuysen
>>
>> ============================================================== Chers
>> amis et collègues, here you go: Chers amis et collègues, Nous vous
>> invitons à vous joindre à un dialogue tenu par les groupes africains
>> de société civile, les médias et d'autres groupes qui tiennent à
>> coeur un internet libre, accessible et abordable afin de partager vos
>> opinions et ainsi accroître la compréhension de tous des tendances
>> actuelles par rapport à la régulation et la gouvernance de
>> l'internet.
>>
>> Le Conseil des droits de l'homme des Nations unies a adopté une
>> résolution historique en 2012 qui dicte que les « droits de l'homme
>> s'appliquent tant en ligne qu’hors ligne ». Nous devons être
>> vigilants et aider à promouvoir l'application de cette décision à
>> tous les niveaux de la régulation et la formulation de politiques
>> d'internet.
>>
>> Le dialogue nous aidera à considérer des questions comme :
>>
>> Quel est l'effet de la résolution du Conseil des droits de l'homme
>> sur notre travail? Comment celle-ci se place t-elle en relation avec
>> les plus grandes questions qui traitent des droits humains, la
>> gouvernance et le développement? Selon vous, quels sont les principes
>> fondamentaux qui devraient encadrer le guide et le processus de prise
>> de décision pour façonner l'évolution de l'internet – au niveau de
>> l'infrastructure ainsi qu'au niveau d'accès et d'usage? Selon vous,
>> comment pourrait-on améliorer la participation des circonscriptions
>> africaines dans la coordination des ressources globales de
>> l'internet, ainsi que dans le processus de formulation de
>> politiques? Quels changements spécifiques aimeriez-vous voir dans le
>> processus et les organisations impliquées dans la gouvernance de
>> l'internet?
>>
>> Au-delà de ces grandes questions, il est aussi important de
>> considérer les processus à venir, tels que le Forum sur la
>> gouvernance de l'internet africain (en octobre), le Forum sur la
>> gouvernance de l'internet mondial (novembre) et la revue des
>> Régulateurs internationaux des télécommunications (RIT) lors de la
>> conférence par mondiale Union internationale des télécommunications
>> (UIT) (décembre)
>>
>> Nous espérons que cette plateforme renforcera l'engagement de la
>> société civile africaine dans le processus de la gouvernance de
>> l'internet aux niveaux national, régional et global, et nous
>> permettra de contribuer au développement de l'internet et des réseaux
>> de télécommunications sur lesquels la plupart d'entre nous sommes
>> dépendants pour accéder à l'internet.
>>
>> Afin de vous joindre à la discussion, vous n'avez qu'à :
>>
>> 1) vous inscrire à la liste
>> https://lists.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/africs-ig 2) envoyer une
>> demande à Mawaki Chango mawaki at apc.org pour qu'il vous ajoute à la
>> liste 3) vous renseigner davantage sur le processus
>> http://africa-ig.wiki.apc.org/index.php/Main_Page
>>
>> Nous attendons avec impatience vos opinions et questions.
>> Rappelez-vous qu'il n'existe pas de « question stupide ». Ne vous
>> laissez pas intimider par les mots techniques ou concepts que vous
>> ne comprenez pas. En tant que communauté d'utilisateurs internet
>> africains, nous pouvons apprendre l'un de l'autre.
>>
>> Le personnel et les membres de l'Associaition pour le progrès des
>> communications aideront à faciliter la discussion. Les participants
>> sont libres à écrire en anglais ou français. Nous allons
>> régulièrement produire des sommaires et les afficher dans les deux
>> langues.
>>
>> Bien à vous,
>>
>>
>> Lisa Cyr Communications, Media and Promotions Associate Adjointe aux
>> communications Equipo de comunicación Skype: lisac_apc Association
>> for Progressive Communications | www.apc.org @APC_News |
>> @APCNouvelles |@APCNoticias
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------ anriette
>> esterhuysen anriette at apc.org executive director, association for
>> progressive communications www.apc.org po box 29755, melville 2109
>> south africa tel/fax +27 11 726 1692
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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