[governance] [Call for Consensus] Draft Statement by IGC on Huan Qi's sentencing 11th August 2019 draft]

Sat Aug 10 23:22:59 EDT 2019

Dear Colleagues,

   1. The following draft text which is also on the etherpad for over 72
   hours for calls for changes in the text. This draft text is the result of
   diverse input rendered through the mailing list.
   2. I can confirm that there was no activity on the etherpad and all
   suggestions and revisions occurred on the mailing list.
   3. 10 hours before the conclusion of the 72 hours lapsed, I had written
   to Bruna to issue a call for consensus on the statement off list.
   4. As a matter of background the first draft text was published on the
   mailing list on 1st August, 2019 and since there has been various input.
   5. Whilst in setting the context, the statement is wide to highlight
   that many governments in the world are consciously persecuting freedom of
   expression and digital activists, the primary focus was Mr Huang Qi's
   position and to attempt to draw attention to his need to access legal
   counsel, medical services as was highlighted by the Committee to Protect
   Journalists, see here
   <https://cpj.org/2019/07/chinese-court-sentences-journalist-huang-qi-to-12-.php>
   .
   6. The US State Department had issued a Press Release on the 1st August,
   2019, see here <https://www.state.gov/sentencing-of-huang-qi/>.
   7. Our draft text is copied below, should you wish to compare the same.
   8. Thank you to all those who contributed to the drafting and who
   suggested alternate text.
   9. This is now publicly submitted to Bruna as outgoing co-coordinator to
   call for consensus.
   10. The following Draft Text was placed on the list on the 5th August,
   2019.
   11. As I write this it is now 11th August, 2019 4:11am UK time and is
   now officially submitted for the Call for Consensus as per the Charter.

>
> *Proposed Revised  Draft 5th August, 2019. [DRAFT TEXT ONLY]*
>
> (1) The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) is deeply concerned
> by global trends of governments to abuse the "national security" exception
> to trample on basic freedoms of expression particularly when these freedoms
> are fundamentally linked to good governance and keeping governments
> accountable.
>
> (2) From Venezuela's treatment of Luis Carlos Diaz and numerous other
> journalists, United States of America's treatment of Edward Snowden and
> Julian Assange, France's mistreatment of Taha Bouhafs, a reporter at French
> news website *Là-bas Si J'y Suis, *allegedly assaulted whilst filming a
> protest of undocumented workers and now the recent sentencing of Chinese
> webmaster and human rights activist Huang Qi to 12 years in prison for
> allegedly leaking state secrets when he was promoting accountability and
> transparency and good governance.
>
> (3) The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus calls on governments to
> aspire to subscribe to the Charter of the Internet Rights and Principles
> which was developed by the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and
> Principles within the Internet Governance Forum which is available on the
> OHCHR website.
>
> (4) We note that China is a member of the United Nations Human Rights
> Council this year.
>
> (5)The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus would like to call on
> China to recognise  Mr Huang Qi's motivations to encourage good governance
> where government officials do not abuse their roles. MrHuang Qi has been
> recognised for his stellar journalism by Reporters Without Borders in 2004
> with the Cyber Freedom Prize.
>
> (6) Since setting up website, 64 Tianwang in 1998 to track human
> trafficking cases, over the years, the websitet has extended to reporting
> on persons exploited by government officials and promoting good governance.
>
> (7) Mr Huang Qi has greatly strengthened China as a country by bringing to
> the foreground these good governance issues including but not limited to
> corruption & human rights.
>
> (8) Mr Huang Qi should be honoured as a strong contributor society.
>
> (9)We urge the Chinese government to uphold its international commitments.
>
> (10)We call on China to recognize that Mr Huang’s actions are part of
> keeping government accountable to the people.
>
> (11)We note that the Committee to protect Journalists had reported that at
> Mr Huang Qi's last imprisonment, he was denied medical treatment and has
> serious health issues, such as kidney problems and tumours and denied legal
> access.
>
> (12) It was also reported that he is being denied access to medical care
> and legal counsel.
>
> (13)We call for the immediate release of Mr. Huang, and to allow him
> access to his family, medical care, and legal counsel as soon as possible.
>
> (14)We also call on China to end undue restrictions on the freedom of
> movement of his family and those who assisted him.
>
> (15)Furthermore, we call on governments to recognise that their
> administration is for the people and not meant to be self serving at the
> expense of innocent lives.
>
> (16)The freedom of journalists, media freedoms, freedom of expression are
> necessary for a balanced society and to promote the rule of law.
>
> ENDS
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 4 Aug 2019, 1:34 pm Imran Ahmed Shah, <ias_pk at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Dear All (IGC Members),
>
> With reference to the following proposal on the subject, an EhterPad link
> is created for the joint collaboration and contribution efforts. Following
> draft has also been copied there for your. The IGC CS Statement is
> accessible through following URL Link:
>
> https://bit.ly/2Yr9o71
>
> This Etherpad is established on request form Sala, temporarily created on
> RiseUp.net
>
> Thanking you and Best Regards
>
> Imran Ahmed Shah
>
> [for IGC WG for Website]
>
> P.S:
> If you do not wish to mention your name, basic information or contribution
> to be published, please use some abbreviation or alternate to your name,
> and declare on the mailing list explicitly, that you do not want to mention
> your basic information (Affiliation/ Organization, Email) anywhere. Please
> also note that this workspace (Etherpad) and Mailing List both are publicly
> accessible workspaces somehow. (Ref. IGC GDPR Compliance Policy Statement).
>
> WARNING: This "pad" is a collaborative document that can be edited by
> anyone who has the URL. If you use an obvious name for the pad, it could be
> guessed.
> WARNING: This pad will be DELETED if 60 days go by with no edits. There is
> NO WAY to recover the pad after this happens, so be careful!
>
>
> On Sunday, 4 August 2019, 12:40:41 GMT+5, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
> governance at lists.riseup.net> wrote:
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> Further to the revised draft, I should add that he has advanced medical
> conditions that require treatment, see:
>
>
> https://cpj.org/2019/07/chinese-court-sentences-journalist-huang-qi-to-12-.php
>
> Sala
>
> On Sun, 4 Aug 2019, 8:18 am Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro, <
> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> Kindly find a revised draft, please feel free to suggest any changes as
> this is still early drafting stages. I have numbered the sentences for ease
> of reference and when commenting on replacements, refer to sentence number
> and suggest edits and revisions.
>
> *Revised Draft 4th August, 2019 12:13am [Californian Time]*
>
>
> Proposed Revised  Draft
>
> (1)The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus is deeply concerned by the
> sentencing of Chinese webmaster and human rights activist Huang Qi to 12
> years in prison for allegedly leaking state secrets when he was promoting
> accountability and transparency and good governance.
>
>
> (2) We note that China is a member of the United Nations Human Rights
> Council this year.
>
>
> (3) The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus calls on China to aspire
> to subscribe to the Charter of the Internet Rights and Principles which was
> developed by the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles within
> the Internet Governance Forum and is available on the OHCHR website.
>
>
> (4) We further note that Mr Huang Qi, was honoured by Reporters Without
> Borders in 2004 with the Cyber Freedom Prize.
>
>
> (5) Since setting up website, 64 Tianwang in 1998 to track human
> trafficking cases, over the years, it has extended to reporting on persons
> exploited by government officials and promoting good governance.
>
>
>
> (6) Mr Huang Qi has greatly strengthened China as a country by bringing to
> the foreground these good governance issues including but not limited to
> corruption & human rights.
>
>
> (7) It is our view that Huang Qi should be honoured as a strong
> contributor to society.
>
>
>
> (8) We urge the Chinese government to uphold its international commitments
> related to fair trial guarantees and the rule of law.
>
>
> (9)We call on China to recognize that Mr Huang’s actions are part of
> keeping government accountable to the people.
>
>
> (10) We call for the immediate release of Mr. Huang, and to allow him
> access to his family, medical care, and legal counsel as soon as possible.
>
>
> (11) We also call on China to end undue restrictions on the freedom of
> movement of his family and those who assisted him.
>
>
>
> ENDS
>
>
> ---
> To unsubscribe: <mailto:igc-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net>
> List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>
>
>
> On Sun, 4 Aug 2019, 1:34 pm Imran Ahmed Shah, <ias_pk at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear All (IGC Members),
>>
>> With reference to the following proposal on the subject, an EhterPad link
>> is created for the joint collaboration and contribution efforts. Following
>> draft has also been copied there for your. The IGC CS Statement is
>> accessible through following URL Link:
>>
>> https://bit.ly/2Yr9o71
>>
>> This Etherpad is established on request form Sala, temporarily created on
>> RiseUp.net
>>
>> Thanking you and Best Regards
>>
>> Imran Ahmed Shah
>>
>> [for IGC WG for Website]
>>
>> P.S:
>> If you do not wish to mention your name, basic information or
>> contribution to be published, please use some abbreviation or alternate to
>> your name, and declare on the mailing list explicitly, that you do not want
>> to mention your basic information (Affiliation/ Organization, Email)
>> anywhere. Please also note that this workspace (Etherpad) and Mailing List
>> both are publicly accessible workspaces somehow. (Ref. IGC GDPR Compliance
>> Policy Statement).
>>
>> WARNING: This "pad" is a collaborative document that can be edited by
>> anyone who has the URL. If you use an obvious name for the pad, it could be
>> guessed.
>> WARNING: This pad will be DELETED if 60 days go by with no edits. There
>> is NO WAY to recover the pad after this happens, so be careful!
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, 4 August 2019, 12:40:41 GMT+5, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
>> governance at lists.riseup.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Further to the revised draft, I should add that he has advanced medical
>> conditions that require treatment, see:
>>
>>
>> https://cpj.org/2019/07/chinese-court-sentences-journalist-huang-qi-to-12-.php
>>
>> Sala
>>
>> On Sun, 4 Aug 2019, 8:18 am Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro, <
>> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Kindly find a revised draft, please feel free to suggest any changes as
>> this is still early drafting stages. I have numbered the sentences for ease
>> of reference and when commenting on replacements, refer to sentence number
>> and suggest edits and revisions.
>>
>> *Revised Draft 4th August, 2019 12:13am [Californian Time]*
>>
>>
>> Proposed Revised  Draft
>>
>> (1)The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus is deeply concerned by
>> the sentencing of Chinese webmaster and human rights activist Huang Qi to
>> 12 years in prison for allegedly leaking state secrets when he was
>> promoting accountability and transparency and good governance.
>>
>>
>> (2) We note that China is a member of the United Nations Human Rights
>> Council this year.
>>
>>
>> (3) The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus calls on China to aspire
>> to subscribe to the Charter of the Internet Rights and Principles which was
>> developed by the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles within
>> the Internet Governance Forum and is available on the OHCHR website.
>>
>>
>> (4) We further note that Mr Huang Qi, was honoured by Reporters Without
>> Borders in 2004 with the Cyber Freedom Prize.
>>
>>
>> (5) Since setting up website, 64 Tianwang in 1998 to track human
>> trafficking cases, over the years, it has extended to reporting on persons
>> exploited by government officials and promoting good governance.
>>
>>
>>
>> (6) Mr Huang Qi has greatly strengthened China as a country by bringing
>> to the foreground these good governance issues including but not limited to
>> corruption & human rights.
>>
>>
>> (7) It is our view that Huang Qi should be honoured as a strong
>> contributor to society.
>>
>>
>>
>> (8) We urge the Chinese government to uphold its international
>> commitments related to fair trial guarantees and the rule of law.
>>
>>
>> (9)We call on China to recognize that Mr Huang’s actions are part of
>> keeping government accountable to the people.
>>
>>
>> (10) We call for the immediate release of Mr. Huang, and to allow him
>> access to his family, medical care, and legal counsel as soon as possible.
>>
>>
>> (11) We also call on China to end undue restrictions on the freedom of
>> movement of his family and those who assisted him.
>>
>>
>>
>> ENDS
>>
>>
>> ---
>> To unsubscribe: <mailto:igc-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net>
>> List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>
>>
>

-- 

*Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala T*

*P. O. Box 17862*

*Suva*

*Republic of Fiji*

*Cell: +679 7656770; *

*Home: +679 3362003*
*Twitter: @SalanietaT*

*"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the
greatest quality of the mind next to honour." Aristotle*

-- 

*Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala T*

*P. O. Box 17862*

*Suva*

*Republic of Fiji*

*Cell: +679 7656770; *

*Home: +679 3362003*
*Twitter: @SalanietaT*

*"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the
greatest quality of the mind next to honour." Aristotle*
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