Re: [hr-wsis] Caucus document to be sent to ITU

[Bill McIver <mciver@albany.edu>]

Meryem,

Thanks for leading this.


WJM

Meryem Marzouki wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Here is the document to be sent to ITU today as the Hr caucus 
> contribution. Please make PRECISE corrections
> BEFORE TODAY, 23:00 European time (i.e. within the 3 next hours).
> NB. I haven't written anything regarding the right to minors to be 
> protected. What do you think ? Should this be added?
> Meryem
>
> ===========
> TOWARDS AN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SOCIETY
> RESPECTFUL OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS,
> AS WELL AS  ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS OF CITIZENS
>
>  Human Rights in the Information Society (HRIS) Caucus
> May 31, 2003
>
> Input Document to the intersessional meeting of July 15-18, 2003, 
> Paris, France
>
>
> Introduction
> This document contains the comments and contributions of the members 
> of the Human Rights in the Information Society (HRIS) Caucus, formed 
> by the end of WSIS PrepCom1 by civil society organizations. It is 
> intended as providing first recommendations as inputs to the 
> intersessional meeting of July 15-18 in Paris, France.
> The HRIS caucus pursues its work towards a consistent interpretation 
> and translation of relevant rights guaranteed by both the 
> International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 
> International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as 
> outlined in this document.
>
> Guidelines for a Human Rights Approach
> The development of an information and communication society has to 
> build on a core set of principles that are fundamental for democratic 
> societies. International human rights (HR) standards represent such 
> principles and should serve as the international framework guiding 
> regional and national policies and actions. A human rights approach 
> would imply:
>
> - Reference to the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
> Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 
> Cultural Rights, in the WSIS Declaration.
> - Underlining the importance of HR standards as the core set of 
> principles guiding the development of the information society.
> - Taking human dignity and human needs as the starting point of 
> reference rather than technological considerations.
> - Using the improvement of HR standards such as human and social 
> development, democracy and participation as focus points for setting 
> goals and measures for progress.
> - Ensuring basic human rights principles such as equality and 
> anti-discrimination on all levels of policy and action plans. This 
> implies stressing access, empowerment and integrity not least for 
> vulnerable and marginalized groups.
> - Recognizing that respect for, and strengthening of, the right to 
> freedom of expression and access to information is crucial for 
> creating a democratic information society.
> - Stressing the right to education as essential for the eradication of 
> poverty and for strengthening local capacity.
> - Recognizing that security measures should always be consistent with 
> the right to privacy.
> - Stressing commitment to build better democracy based on a higher 
> degree of transparency, enhanced participation and good governance at 
> national, regional and global levels.
> - Promoting the development of an enabling environment where national 
> ICT policy and legislation are implemented with due respect for human 
> rights principles.
>
> Need for a consistent articulation of rights
> The HRIS caucus believes that 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 United 
> Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Instead, the document should 
> declare once and for all that Article 19 must be enforced. In 
> addition, the principles of a better balanced flow of information, 
> free circulation of ideas, press freedom, participation in the 
> communication process, and knowledge sharing will become truly 
> meaningful only when they are viewed as being supported by a 
> consistent articulation of rights, not just Article 19.
>
> Recognition of information and communications as public common goods
> Moreover, the HRIS caucus considers that an information and 
> communication society should be developed in order to guarantee 
> democratic and equitable access and participation. This implies to 
> acknowledge and declare information and its means of production, 
> management and circulation as common goods towards which each social 
> actor have rights and responsibilities, in order to ensure the minimal 
> equitable conditions for the overall development of intellectual 
> creativity, technological innovation, effective technology use and 
> successful participation in the information and communication society.
>
> Democratic governance and human rights enforcement
> Finally, the HRIS caucus reaffirms that an information and 
> communication society good governance must be based on the values of 
> participation, transparency, accountability and the rule of law. This 
> implies in particular the democratic management of international 
> bodies dealing with ICTs. Given the borderless characteristics of 
> ICTs, an appropriate framework for establishing the competence of 
> jurisdictions should also be elaborated, so as to ensure the respect 
> of principles of democracy, legality and sovereignty.
>
> Relevant rights from the UN International CCPR and CESCR
> To these ends, the HRIS caucus recommends that the international human 
> rights, adopted in both the International Covenant on Civil and 
> Political Rights (CCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, 
> Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) should be precisely translated 
> within the specific framework of information and communication, into 
> precise guarantees defined in the WSIS Declaration of principles and 
> Action plan, following three main axes: the need for a consistent 
> articulation of rights, the recognition of information and 
> communication as public common goods, and the development of 
> mechanisms ensuring democratic governance human rights enforcement in 
> concert.
>
> Of particular relevance to the development of an information and 
> communication society are the consistent translation of the following 
> rights:
>
> - Right to a fair trial, to the presumption of innocence and to be 
> equal before the law (CCPR Articles 14 and 26)
> - Rights to privacy, specially against interference with private 
> correspondence (CCPR Article 17)
> - Right to freedom of expression, to hold opinions without 
> interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas 
> of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, through any media (CCPR Article 
> 19)
> - Right to be protected against any form of discrimination or hate 
> incitement (CCPR Article 20)
> - Right of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with 
> others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the 
> protection of his interests (CCPR Articles 21 and 22)
> - Right to take part in the conduct of public affairs (CCPR Article 25)
> - Right for minorities to enjoy their own culture and to use their own 
> language (CCPR Article 27)
> - Right for peoples to self-determination, in particular to freely 
> determine and pursue their economic, social and cultural development 
> (CESCR Article 1)
> - Right for men and women to equally enjoy all economic, social and 
> cultural rights (CESCR Article 3)
> - Right to form and join trade unions, right of trade union to 
> function freely, and right to strike (CESCR Article 8)
> - Right to education and knowledge (CESCR Article 13)
> - Right to participate in the cultural life, to enjoy the benefits of 
> scientific progress and its applications, to benefit from the 
> protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any 
> scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author, 
> to benefit from the development and the diffusion of science and 
> culture, to benefit from the respect of the freedom and international 
> cooperation indispensable for scientific research and creative 
> activity (CESCR Article 15)
>
> Example of consistent translation of rights in the WSIS context
> Right to education and knowledge implies:
> - Everyone must be able to acquire basic information and electronic 
> education, in order to be able to master social transformations in all 
> their practical and civic aspects;
> - The respect of intellectual property should not prevail on the right 
> to education and knowledge. This right must indeed be exercised 
> through the concept of fair use, i.e. use for non-commercial purposes, 
> education, and research;
> - Intellectual work and ideas, including programming methods and 
> algorithms, should not be patentable. The production and use of free 
> and open software and content must thus be encouraged and covered by 
> public policy;
> - Access to public data without charge is a necessary condition so 
> that everyone has the means to exercise his citizenship;
> - Access to infrastructure under acceptable economic conditions must 
> be guaranteed, by supporting the possibility of being a provider as 
> well as a consumer of information. This guarantee implies the 
> negotiation of agreements for the contractual connections between the 
> areas of the world and the States of these areas, whose cost must 
> equitably be shared. This also implies the existence and the 
> sustainability of local telecommunication operators.
>
>
>
>  About the Human Rights in the Information Society Caucus
>
> The Human Rights in the Information Society (HRIS) Caucus has been 
> formed by the end of PrepCom1 by civil society organizations in order 
> to ensure that human rights are duly taken into account in the WSIS 
> process by governments as well as by NGOs.
>
> Its objectives are:
> 1. Putting human rights on the agenda of the WSIS. Human rights are 
> intended, as defined in the UNDH, the International Covenant on Civil 
> and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, 
> Social and Cultural Rights, as civil and political rights of citizens, 
> as well as their economic, cultural and social rights.
> 2. Developing detailed inputs and contributions on how Human rights, 
> as broadly defined, can be precisely translated within the specific 
> framework of information and communication, in order to build a common 
> vision of this society.
> 3. Raising awareness of NGOs and the public on the importance of 
> addressing human rights in the information society, having noted that 
> major organization dedicated to promoting Human Rights in the 
> Information Society are not yet part of the WSIS process. This is also 
> the case of general-purpose human rights organization, as well as 
> trade unions.
>
> Current members of the HRIS caucus are:
> - American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU). www.aclu.org
> - Article19. www.article19.org
> - Association for Progressive Communications (APC). www.apc.org
> - Carrefour Mondial de l'Internet Citoyen (CMIC). www.globalcn.org
> - Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). www.cpsr.org
> - Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech). www.cptech.org
> - Cyber-Rights and Cyber-Liberties (CR&CL UK). www.cyber-rights.org
> - Danish Institute for Human Rights. www.humanrights.dk
> - Danish United Nations Association (UNA-DK). www.una.dk
> - Digital Rights Denmark. www.digitalrights.dk
> - Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). www.epic.org
> - Int. Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (ICHRDD). 
> www.ichrdd.ca
> - Imaginons un Réseau Internet Solidaire (IRIS). www.iris.sgdg.org
> - Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT). www.omct.org
> - Panos London. www.panos.org.uk
> - PromoCulture/Centre Africain d'Echange Culturel
> - U.S. National Comm. on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). 
> www.nclis.gov
> - Vancouver Community Net (VCN). www.vcn.bc.ca
> - VIBE!AT. www.vibe.at
>
> Coordinators of the HRIS caucus are:
> - Meryem Marzouki, IRIS, France (Meryem.Marzouki@iris.sgdg.org)
> - Rikke Frank Jorgensen, Danish Institute for Human Rights, Denmark 
> (rfj@humanrights.dk)
>
> Web site and mailing list of the HRIS caucus: 
> www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/smsi/hr-wsis/
>
>
> -- 
> 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