Re: [hr-wsis] Re: Draft HR caucus document

[Bill McIver <mciver@albany.edu>]

Meryem,

Thank you.


Please ignore my comment II. (2) in the context of this caucus.
I mistakenly left it in this document.


WJM

Meryem Marzouki wrote:

>
> Le vendredi, 30 mai 2003, à 08:42 Europe/Paris, Bill McIver, 
> University  at Albany a écrit :
>
>>
>> Meryem / All,
>>
>> My input is here:
>> http://mboom.draper.albany.edu/~mciver/WSIS/WJM-WSIS-IS2-Input- 
>> 053003.doc
>>
>> I tried to post the document directly to the list, but it
>> was blocked.
>
>
> Here is Bill's document in text format. As for now, attached files 
> are  blocked when in some formats (HTML format should be OK).
>
> Meryem
> =======
>     Comments on the 21 March 2003 Draft Declaration of Principles and  
> Draft Plan of Action to the World Summit on the Information Society  
> (WSIS)  (DRAFT)
>
> 29 May 2003
>
> William J. McIver, Jr.
>
>
>
> This document contains the comments in the context of human rights 
> and  communication rights in reference to:
>
> • Document WSIS/PCIP/DT/1-E (21 March 2003) Draft declaration of  
> Principles Based on discussions in the Working Group of Sub-Committee 
> 2  (DT-2 revised)
>
> • Document WSIS/PCIP/DT/1-E (21 March 2003) Draft action plan Based 
> on  discussions in the Working Group of Sub-Committee 2 
> (WSIS/PC-2/DT-3  revised)
>
> I. Comments on the Draft Declaration of Principles
>
>
> 1. In reference to Paragraph 10 of the Draft Declaration of 
> Principles:  It is not sufficient to assert that "the essential 
> requirements for the  development of an equitable Information Society" 
> should be "in  accordance" with Article 19 of the UN Universal 
> Declaration of Human  Rights. Instead, the document should declare 
> once and for all that  Article 19 must be enforced. In addition, as 
> many have pointed out, the  principles of free flow of information, 
> communication, press freedoms,  and knowledge sharing will become 
> truly meaningful only when they are  viewed as being supported by a 
> complex of rights, not just Article 19.  To this end, the document 
> should declare that the following rights be  enforced in concert in 
> order that Paragraph 10 be made more meaningful:
>
> Article 12 -- Privacy;
> Article 18 -- Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion;
> Article 19 -- Freedom of expression and the right to seek, receive, 
> and  impart
>                      information through any media;
> Article 20 -- Freedom of peaceful assembly;
> Article 26 -- The right to education; and,
> Article 27 -- The right to participate in the cultural life of the  
> community as well as
>                      intellectual property rights.
>
>
>
> II. Comments on the Draft Action Plan
>
> 2. In reference to paragraph 45 of the Draft Action Plan -- (Examples  
> of possible concrete and comprehensive actions could include): The  
> Action Plan should call for a special rapporteur who would be tasked  
> with ensuring that the public has access to the latest scientific  
> information and expert judgment on ethical, social, and political 
> that  arise in the use of ICTs. They would also work to ensure that 
> the  computer and information science professions take pro-active 
> public  roles in both promoting the socially beneficial uses of ICTs 
> and  discouraging harmful ones.
>
> 3. In reference to paragraph 45 of the Draft Action Plan -- (Examples  
> of possible concrete and comprehensive actions could include): 
> Concrete  actions that support the calls in the Declaration of 
> Principles for  human rights must include the creation of  enforcement 
> mechanisms that  provide: means of ensuring accountability, effective 
> remedy should  violations occur, and effective redress against both 
> governmental and  non-governmental organizations who commit 
> violations. It must also  provide for procedural enforcement, 
> including: the right of individuals  and groups to file formal 
> complaints of violations, recognition of an  independent tribunal to 
> adjudicate such complaints, and the recognition  as binding the 
> opinions of the independent tribunal on the states who  are party to 
> the WSIS declaration, as well as individuals and groups  within them. 
> Implementation mechanisms must include a review and  monitoring body, 
> a special rapporteur, and an independent tribunal. The  special 
> rapporteur, as in other human rights frameworks, would be  responsible 
> for conducting independent research and evaluation of the  
> implementation processes.
>
>
> William J. McIver, Jr.
> Communication Rights Caucus & Human Rights Caucus
>
>
> -- 
> Putting the "Human Rights in the Information Society" issue on the 
> WSIS Agenda
> Working list of NGOs
> To post a message to the list, send an email to: hr-wsis@iris.sgdg.org
> To subscribe/unsubscribe, send an email to: Meryem.Marzouki@iris.sgdg.org
>

-- 

Bill McIver
Assistant Professor
School of Information Science and Policy
University at Albany, State University of New York
Albany, New York 12222
USA

e-mail: mciver@albany.edu
URL: http://www.albany.edu/~mciver