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

Tue Jan 31 20:29:02 EST 2017

Dear Arsène, Norbert, Mawaki
I appreciate your enthusiasm in your role. You are no more human rights
activist than we are, or even more open internet activist than we are  in
ISOC Cameroon Chapter.
We volunteer  each day to work to make the Internet as open and accessible
as possible to our local population. I do not need to show out here on this
platform  the actions and projects achieved so far. So you must understand
that, we can not endorse a privation of the Internet to our population for
whom we promote the open access of the Internet.
I regret that you have misunderstand some words of my first mail on the
matter.
I would like to thank you for your concern on the case of Cameroon and also
thank you for the declarative solution approach you are currently
proposing. However, note that:
1) Cameroon is in a situation of war against Boko Haram,
2) Cameroon is in a situation of war against the secessionists, who have at
one time erected their flag inside one part of the territory, no one knows
by who they are supported and financed.
3) the current socio-political context is complex, and adding to that,
there is still a lack of knowledge for using Internet tools by a big part
of the population.
4) facing all of that, the government has taken security measures in its
own way, some may be considered unfair, but it is wise for us to try to
seat with them, discuss and work for the better solution, because we think
that they need to be sensitized and educated about the better used of the
Internet technologies and policies.
5) In a situation of conflict and crisis in a given country, there will be
no an universal solution as you tend to suggest  from your respective
offices.
6) I chaired the ISOC Cameroon General Annual Assembly on Saturday 28
January 2017, this issue was addressed. Not need to expose its minutes to
you here.
So If you really want to help, please check back your proposal.

I wanted to appeal the Internet Community, those who made a phone call to
us to encourage us, and all the others of the community, to  keep trusting
ISOC Cameroon Chapter, who is working hard on the field to solve the issue.

Best regards.

Janvier Ngnoulaye, Ph.D
ICT Teacher at the University
President of the ISOC Cameroon Chapter.
Activist of "The Internet is for everyone"
http://www.internetsociety.cm/

2017-01-31 20:32 GMT+01:00 Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch>:

> Dear Arsène and all
>
> Please find our proposal at
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQjEQ5UtR4D7f0HYeJsK0upPKnJTE
> yWULk-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/ .
>
> 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
>
> -- draft ends --
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 30 Jan 2017 17:54:30 +0200
> Arsène Tungali <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>*,
> > CEO,* Smart Services Sarl <http://www.smart-serv.info>*, *Mabingwa
> > Forum <http://www.mabingwa-forum.com>*
> > Tel: +243 993810967
> > 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>
> >
> > 2017-01-30 16:36 GMT+02:00 Norbert Bollow <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> 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=
> > > bufferc442c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=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>,
> > > > 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
> 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
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20170201/a2bfdaa7/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