[governance] Internet Shutdown in Cameroun - Lessons learned

valentina hvale pellizzer valentina at oneworldplatform.net
Fri Feb 3 03:00:19 EST 2017


Good morning (from my part of the world)

I fully support the need of capacity building around principles and
issues which should help a community to take decision and positions in
difficult times.

I would add that Internet governance need to embed human rights
frameworks as one of its unavoidable element too

best, hvale


On 02/03/2017 08:03 AM, Norbert Komlan GLAKPE wrote:
> Fellow listers,
> I would suggest we begin to put together the lessons learned and think
> at a mittigation plan.
>  
> The partial breakdown of the Internet has actually revealed a great
> lack of knowledge and understanding of the fundamental values of
> internet governance.
> As you would all have noticed, there were many people who raised their
> voices from Cameroon, to oppose the messages that denounced the cut of
> the Internet. I would like to rate here two tweets for example:
> Https://twitter.com/hassan21job21/status/824658627948609536
> <Https://twitter.com/hassan21job21/status/824658627948609536> and https://twitter.com/hassan21job21/status/824658902163877888
> <https://twitter.com/hassan21job21/status/824658902163877888>
>  The mail of Janvier has been the confirmation of the previous, as we
> can notice it from the various interventions.
> For these reasons, I would suggest that the Isoc chapter delegates (at
> least) be trained on the cardinal principles of the Internet. Further
> more I would like to argue for the capacity building of a wider range
> of users in terms of internet governance.
> Additionally, I thinks that our message can be better understood if
> the oficials, the parliament members, the political deciders of our
> countries are trained on the basics of the internet governance.
> To simmarize the suggestions:
> 1. Specific Trainings to all ISoc Chapter Deledates (and all the
> potential civil society leaders who may not necessarily be a chapter
> delegate),
> 2. Internet Governance capacity building to a the users
> 3. Capacity building to the oficials, the parliament members, the
> political deciders of our countries 
>
> Thanks
>
> Norbert Komlan GLAKPE
>
>
> 2017-02-01 9:18 GMT+00:00 Mawaki Chango <kichango at gmail.com
> <mailto:kichango at gmail.com>>:
>
>     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/1pQjEQ5UtR4D7f0HYeJsK0upPKnJTEyWULk-fUSajTd8/edit
>         <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQjEQ5UtR4D7f0HYeJsK0upPKnJTEyWULk-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-mandela-washington.html
>         <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
>         <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
>         <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/
>         <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-attendees-2016-03-14-en
>         <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
>         <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
>         <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-nicolas-seidler
>         <https://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/people/mr-nicolas-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
>         >
>         > ____________________________________________________________
>         > You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>         >     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
>         <mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
>         > To be removed from the list, visit:
>         >     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>         <http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing>
>         >
>         > For all other list information and functions, see:
>         >     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
>         <http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance>
>         > To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>         >     http://www.igcaucus.org/
>         >
>         > Translate this email:
>         http://translate.google.com/translate_t
>         <http://translate.google.com/translate_t>
>
>
>         ____________________________________________________________
>         You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>              governance at lists.igcaucus.org
>         <mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
>         To be removed from the list, visit:
>              http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>         <http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing>
>
>         For all other list information and functions, see:
>              http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
>         <http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance>
>         To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>              http://www.igcaucus.org/
>
>         Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
>         <http://translate.google.com/translate_t>
>
>
>
>     ____________________________________________________________
>     You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>          governance at lists.igcaucus.org
>     <mailto:governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
>     To be removed from the list, visit:
>          http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>     <http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing>
>
>     For all other list information and functions, see:
>          http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
>     <http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance>
>     To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>          http://www.igcaucus.org/
>
>     Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t
>     <http://translate.google.com/translate_t>
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>      governance at lists.igcaucus.org
> To be removed from the list, visit:
>      http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing
>
> For all other list information and functions, see:
>      http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
> To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
>      http://www.igcaucus.org/
>
> Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t

-- 
valentina pellizzer
President
One World Platform 

https://oneworldplatform.net/

mobile: +387 (0)61 484 038
phone/fax: +387 (0)33 834 899
twitter: @froatosebe

Fingerprint 30AA 9445 D878 A6C9 FE41 E90D 52A5 36A6 B249 EDA9


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20170203/ecf9efe1/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t


More information about the Governance mailing list