[governance] Internet Shutdown: An IGC Statement to the ISOC Cameroon Chapter?

Akinremi Peter Taiwo compsoftnet at gmail.com
Thu Feb 2 02:40:39 EST 2017


Hope it's not too late. I also support and therefore endorsed the letter.

Thanks
Peter.
On Feb 1, 2017 4:31 PM, "Nyangkwe Agien Aaron" <nyangkweagien at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I endorse it totally
>
> Agien Nyangkwe
>
> On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 4:26 PM, Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Thanks Mawaki for your comments and explanation about the spirit behind
>> the letter.
>>
>> Thanks Anriette and everyone who made a comment or approved it already.
>>
>> As promised, we have few hours for us to close it and send it.
>> So, if you have an addition or a comment, please feel free to write to
>> the list.
>>
>> Regards,
>> A
>>
>> ------------------------
>> **Arsène Tungali**
>> Co-Founder & Executive Director, *Rudi international
>> <http://www.rudiinternational.org>*,
>> CEO,* Smart Services Sarl <http://www.smart-serv.info>*, *Mabingwa Forum
>> <http://www.mabingwa-forum.com>*
>> Tel: +243 993810967 <+243%20993%20810%20967>
>> GPG: 523644A0
>> *Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo*
>>
>> 2015 Mandela Washington Felllow
>> <http://tungali.blogspot.com/2015/06/selected-for-2015-mandela-washington.html>
>> (YALI) - ISOC Ambassador (IGF Brazil
>> <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-leadership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/igf-ambassadors-programme/Past-Ambassadors>
>> & Mexico
>> <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-leadership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/Current-Ambassadors>)
>> - AFRISIG 2016 <http://afrisig.org/afrisig-2016/class-of-2016/> - Blogger
>> <http://tungali.blogspot.com> - ICANN Fellow (Los Angeles
>> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-18-en> & Marrakech
>> <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/marrakech55-attendees-2016-03-14-en>
>> ). AFRINIC Fellow (Mauritius
>> <http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/1907-afrinic-25-fellowship-winners>
>> )* - *IGFSA Member <http://www.igfsa.org/> - The HuffingtonPost UK
>> <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/liza-bel/drc_b_8958150.html>
>>
>> 2017-02-01 17:15 GMT+02:00 Anriette Esterhuysen <anriette at apc.org>:
>>
>>> The letter looks very good to me. Apologies for missing the deadline.
>>>
>>> Anriette
>>>
>>>
>>> On 01/02/2017 11:18, Mawaki Chango wrote:
>>> > Dear Arsène et al.
>>> >
>>> > We deliberately decided to keep it short, on purpose. This should not
>>> be
>>> > approached as an input from IGC to a complex global policy issue, on
>>> the
>>> > world stage. (Not to mention that we did not want this to get into
>>> > endless debates as IGC is accustomed to.) Neither did we want it to
>>> take
>>> > a turn to, or us to be suspected of, lecturing. That's why we further
>>> > motivated the exercise, with a narrow focus, by recalling the specific
>>> > communication that prompted it.
>>> >
>>> > You can see from Javier's first response that even those precautions
>>> > prove not to be enough to warrant our declaration, in his view.
>>> > Apparently he would want us to withdraw altogether from, and keep
>>> quiet,
>>> > on the issue (if I'm being mistaken here on the implications of your
>>> > response, I stand to be corrected.)
>>> >
>>> > In the meantime, I personally think our above described precautions
>>> > should suffice. The statement doesn't get into the presumably complex
>>> > political and security issues that the government might be dealing with
>>> > on the ground. In the communication that prompted our statement, maybe
>>> > Janvier just got carried away in an attempt to avoid a wholesale
>>> > condemnation of his country in the global community of civil society.
>>> > But the email posted is there including terms and a rationale which are
>>> > unacceptable to us, and we needed to express our concern and register
>>> > our disapproval of such. We are not making claims as to how hard
>>> working
>>> > and committed ISOC Cameroon may or may not be toward facilitating
>>> > Internet access to all in Cameroon, in ordinary times.
>>> >
>>> > Mawaki
>>> >
>>> > On Feb 1, 2017 6:13 AM, "Arsène Tungali" <arsenebaguma at gmail.com
>>> > <mailto:arsenebaguma at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >     Dear Norbert, Mawaki,
>>> >
>>> >     Thank you for the draft as suggested. It is very short, i wonder if
>>> >     anyone who was not part of these discussions or who will see it for
>>> >     the first time on our website will be able to understand the
>>> >     background. Just thinking outloud :)
>>> >
>>> >     I leave it open to the community for comments, etc if applicable. I
>>> >     suggest we close it by 11:pm UTC this Feb 1st.
>>> >
>>> >     We will then post it on our website and send it to the appropriate
>>> >     persons, to follow the process as agreed here.
>>> >
>>> >     Meanwhile, i see Mr Janvier already responded (which is a good sign
>>> >     imo) and i suggest we discuss his response once we have formally
>>> >     sent this letter.
>>> >
>>> >     Hope this is fine with you'all.
>>> >
>>> >     Thanks,
>>> >     A
>>> >     -----------------
>>> >     Arsène Tungali,
>>> >     @arsenebaguma
>>> >     +243 993810967 <tel:%2B243%20993810967>
>>> >     GPG: 523644A0
>>> >     Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
>>> >
>>> >     Sent from my iPhone (excuse typos)
>>> >
>>> >     > On Jan 31, 2017, at 9:32 PM, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch
>>> >     <mailto:nb at bollow.ch>> wrote:
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Dear Arsène and all
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Please find our proposal at
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQjEQ5UtR4D7f0HYeJsK0up
>>> PKnJTEyWULk-fUSajTd8/edit
>>> >     <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQjEQ5UtR4D7f0HYeJsK0u
>>> pPKnJTEyWULk-fUSajTd8/edit>
>>> >     >
>>> >     > I'm also including the text below.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Greetings,
>>> >     > Norbert
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     > -- draft starts --
>>> >     > To the ISOC Cameroon Chapter
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Dear Colleagues
>>> >     >
>>> >     > The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC,
>>> >     http://igcaucus.org)
>>> >     > is a global network of civil society actors who originally came
>>> >     > together in the context of the World Summit on the Information
>>> Society
>>> >     > (WSIS) to promote global public interest objectives in Internet
>>> >     > governance policy making.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > We are firmly convinced that Internet shutdowns are not
>>> acceptable in
>>> >     > regard to any region and not justifiable in any way, and that
>>> such
>>> >     > shutdowns must be opposed vigorously.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > We would have expected everyone who associates themselves with
>>> ISOC to
>>> >     > be committed to ISOC's principle stating that “The Internet is
>>> for
>>> >     > Everyone”.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > For further elaboration of the important principle of /Internet
>>> access
>>> >     > and affordability/ along with related rights and freedoms, we
>>> refer to
>>> >     > the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms,
>>> >     > http://africaninternetrights.org/articles/
>>> >     <http://africaninternetrights.org/articles/> .
>>> >     >
>>> >     > In light of these principles and rights, we would like to
>>> respectfully
>>> >     > urge the ISOC Cameroon Chapter to adopt a corresponding strong
>>> stance
>>> >     > in regard to Internet shutdowns in some regions of the country,
>>> and to
>>> >     > denounce and oppose such dreadful measures with all earnestness.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > The reason why we write to you in this matter is a posting to our
>>> >     > mailing list on January 26, 2017, which was signed “ISOC
>>> Cameroon,
>>> >     > President” and which expressed views that were not at all
>>> consistent
>>> >     > with the above.
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Best regards
>>> >     > Internet Governance Caucus (IGC)
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     > Cc: ISOC’s regional contact for Africa, bekele at isoc.org
>>> >     <mailto:bekele at isoc.org>
>>> >     >
>>> >     > -- draft ends --
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     >
>>> >     > On Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:54:30 +0200
>>> >     > Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com
>>> >     <mailto:arsenebaguma at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> >     >
>>> >     >> Dear Norbert,
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> Thanks for Mawaki and yourself for willing to take on this
>>> task. I am
>>> >     >> happy with the process as you suggest it (with the hope that
>>> everyone
>>> >     >> is happy as well): writing to ISOC Cameroon with cc to ISOC
>>> Global.
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> Please do send us the draft once finalized and we will allow at
>>> least
>>> >     >> 24 hours for the IGC to comment before this can be sent. Please
>>> do
>>> >     >> share it in a Google Drive (do not allow edit by anyone but just
>>> >     >> allow people to make contributions in form of comments in the
>>> margins
>>> >     >> of the doc).
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> Regards,
>>> >     >> A
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> ------------------------
>>> >     >> **Arsène Tungali**
>>> >     >> Co-Founder & Executive Director, *Rudi international
>>> >     >> <http://www.rudiinternational.org
>>> >     <http://www.rudiinternational.org>>*,
>>> >     >> CEO,* Smart Services Sarl <http://www.smart-serv.info>*,
>>> *Mabingwa
>>> >     >> Forum <http://www.mabingwa-forum.com>*
>>> >     >> Tel: +243 993810967 <tel:%2B243%20993810967>
>>> >     >> GPG: 523644A0
>>> >     >> *Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo*
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> 2015 Mandela Washington Felllow
>>> >     >>
>>> >     <http://tungali.blogspot.com/2015/06/selected-for-2015-mand
>>> ela-washington.html
>>> >     <http://tungali.blogspot.com/2015/06/selected-for-2015-mand
>>> ela-washington.html>>
>>> >     >> (YALI) - ISOC Ambassador (IGF Brazil
>>> >     >>
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-le
>>> adership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/igf-ambassadors-
>>> programme/Past-Ambassadors
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-le
>>> adership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/igf-ambassadors-
>>> programme/Past-Ambassadors>>
>>> >     >> & Mexico
>>> >     >>
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-le
>>> adership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/Current-Ambassadors
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/education-and-le
>>> adership-programmes/next-generation-leaders/Current-Ambassadors>>)
>>> >     >> - AFRISIG 2016 <http://afrisig.org/afrisig-2016/class-of-2016/
>>> >     <http://afrisig.org/afrisig-2016/class-of-2016/>> -
>>> >     >> Blogger <http://tungali.blogspot.com> - ICANN Fellow (Los
>>> Angeles
>>> >     >> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-18-en
>>> >     <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-18-en>> &
>>> Marrakech
>>> >     >>
>>> >     <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/marrakech55-attendee
>>> s-2016-03-14-en
>>> >     <https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/marrakech55-attendee
>>> s-2016-03-14-en>>
>>> >     >> ). AFRINIC Fellow (Mauritius
>>> >     >>
>>> >     <http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/1907-afrinic-25-fel
>>> lowship-winners
>>> >     <http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/news/1907-afrinic-25-fel
>>> lowship-winners>>)*
>>> >     >> - *IGFSA Member <http://www.igfsa.org/> - The HuffingtonPost UK
>>> >     >> <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/liza-bel/drc_b_8958150.html
>>> >     <http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/liza-bel/drc_b_8958150.html>>
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >> 2017-01-30 16:36 GMT+02:00 Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch
>>> >     <mailto:nb at bollow.ch>>:
>>> >     >>
>>> >     >>> Dear Arsène and all
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> After a quick exchange with Mawaki, I'm happy to report that
>>> Mawaki
>>> >     >>> and I are willing to work out a joint proposal.
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> In regard to who the letter should be addressed to, Mawaki and
>>> I
>>> >     >>> think that the statement should be addressed to ISOC Cameroon.
>>> At
>>> >     >>> the most, we can cc ISOC Global for the record. As made clear
>>> in
>>> >     >>> the communication excerpts forwarded by Arsène, ISOC Global is
>>> >     >>> already taking action and Chapter office holders are
>>> volunteers who
>>> >     >>> are not bound to the organization by a required line of
>>> conduct as
>>> >     >>> would be expected from staff of ISOC Global. Therefore we
>>> cannot
>>> >     >>> reasonably hold the global organization accountable for any
>>> Chapter
>>> >     >>> official's position and put them in the position to be
>>> answerable
>>> >     >>> about it -- which will appear as being the case if we address a
>>> >     >>> letter to ISOC Global, -- especially when their response is
>>> already
>>> >     >>> known.
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> We think that the statement should be short and narrowly
>>> focused,
>>> >     >>> and articulated on the basis of some basic principles which
>>> should
>>> >     >>> be sufficiently self-evident to not need any in-depth debate
>>> in IGC.
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> You may expect us to post proposed text shortly.
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> Greetings,
>>> >     >>> Norbert
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>> On Mon, 30 Jan 2017 11:02:56 +0200
>>> >     >>> Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com
>>> >     <mailto:arsenebaguma at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> >     >>>
>>> >     >>>> Dear colleagues,
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> Starting a new thread.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> I would like to thank everyone for raising your concern about
>>> >     >>>> what's going on in Cameroon which is just another country
>>> added
>>> >     >>>> to the list of African countries that have experienced
>>> Internet
>>> >     >>>> shutdown. I am from the DRC and we have experienced this more
>>> >     >>>> than 3 times and I am in the best position to highly condem
>>> this
>>> >     >>>> new form of oppression.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> I would also like to thank everyone who have expressed their
>>> >     >>>> concern over what Mr. Janvier had to say about the shutdown in
>>> >     >>>> his country, where he volunteerly serve as ISOC Cameroon
>>> >     >>>> President. I join you all and condemn his position on this,
>>> which
>>> >     >>>> I can assure you, is his own position, not shared by his other
>>> >     >>>> colleagues at theISOC Chapter. Proof is he reacted to his
>>> other
>>> >     >>>> colleague who had a different view and who was making an
>>> appeal,
>>> >     >>>> asking for more coverage and action regarding what's going on
>>> in
>>> >     >>>> his country.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> For your information, ISOC has issued a statement
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/lets-keep-internet-everyone
>>> ?utm_content=
>>> >     <http://www.internetsociety.org/lets-keep-internet-everyone
>>> ?utm_content=>
>>> >     >>> bufferc442c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com
>>> >     <http://twitter.com>&utm_campaign=buffer>
>>> >     >>>> condemning the shutdown in Cameroon as well as in other
>>> countries.
>>> >     >>>> This show that ISOC, as an organization, does not support
>>> >     >>>> shutdowns but rather condem it firmly (as we all know).
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> And, on a different mailing list, Mr. Nicolas Seidler
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     <https://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/people/mr-nicol
>>> as-seidler <https://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/people/mr-nicola
>>> s-seidler>>,
>>> >     >>>> who is Senior Policy Advisor for ISOC said the following:
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> We felt it was time to formally express our long-standing
>>> >     >>>> concerns on such measures, in the context of the Cameroon
>>> >     >>>> situation and in view of others to come up in the future. We
>>> are
>>> >     >>>> also supporting and giving visibility to efforts from Access
>>> and
>>> >     >>>> members of the Keep it on campaign on our social media
>>> channels.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> And he reacted on Mr. Janvier's stance and ONLY had this to
>>> say:
>>> >     >>>> Finally, we have an ISOC Chapter in Cameroon, as in many other
>>> >     >>>> parts of the worlds. While not all members of Chapters share
>>> the
>>> >     >>>> same view (a Chapter is made of local volunteers, not staff),
>>> >     >>>> there are some who want to act and we’ll make sure to direct
>>> them
>>> >     >>>> to Deji, Julie and others involved in the advocacy effort.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>>> From the above, we understand that it was a personal point of
>>> >     >>>>> view from Mr.
>>> >     >>>> Janvier which, as most of our colleagues said here, is
>>> completely
>>> >     >>>> wrong. I do personally believe that when a single person is
>>> >     >>>> restricted access, this should be raised and condemned. In
>>> >     >>>> Cameroon, we have 2 regions affected and this is terrible.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> *Now, coming back to the discussion on this list regarding a
>>> >     >>>> statement, I would like to suggest the following:*
>>> >     >>>> 1. We can issue a statement adressed to ISOC Global (to ISOC
>>> >     >>>> Executive Director for example) condemning the public stance
>>> >     >>>> taken by ISOC Cameroon President. May I suggest *Norbert and
>>> >     >>>> Mawaki* to make an initial draft statement and share with us
>>> >     >>>> within the next 48 hours (if at all possible)?
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> 2. We then issue a more general statement condemning Internet
>>> >     >>>> shutdown across the world as a civil society coalition
>>> because I
>>> >     >>>> am sure this is the new form of opression that Gov are taking
>>> (as
>>> >     >>>> said by Snowden). It will be very useful we use the expertise
>>> we
>>> >     >>>> have here to draft this and circulate it widely in all
>>> networks
>>> >     >>>> as a way to condemn the act but also to raise awareness about
>>> the
>>> >     >>>> issue (which is still unfamiliar with those who are not
>>> actively
>>> >     >>>> involved in these discussions or who have never experienced
>>> any
>>> >     >>>> shutdown). *For this, I would like to ask request few
>>> volunteers
>>> >     >>>> to make an initial draft statement as well?*
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> Please do let me know what you think or if there is another
>>> >     >>>> approach that we can all agree on and take action without
>>> >     >>>> wassting more time. If you want to be part of the team of 3 to
>>> >     >>>> draft the second statement, please do let us know on this list
>>> >     >>>> within the next 48 hours.
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> Very best,
>>> >     >>>>
>>> >     >>>> Arsene, IGC Co-cooordinator
>>> >     >
>>> >     > ____________________________________________________________
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>>> >
>>> >     ____________________________________________________________
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>>> > ____________________________________________________________
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>>>
>>> --
>>> -----------------------------------------
>>> Anriette Esterhuysen
>>> Executive Director
>>> Association for Progressive Communications
>>> anriette at apc.org
>>> www.apc.org
>>> IM: ae_apc
>>>
>>
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Aaron Agien NYANGKWE
> P.O.Box 5213
> Douala-Cameroon
> Tel. 237 673 42 71 27
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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