Re: [hr-wsis] Please sign-on - Letter to OHCHR

["Andreas Krisch" <andreas.krisch@vibe.at>]

Hi Meryem and all,

VIBE!AT <http://www.vibe.at/> signs on.

Andreas


On 3 Jun 2003 at 17:49, Meryem Marzouki wrote:

> Please sign-on the letter to the OHCHR, now that we all agreed that:
> 1/ The letter would be sent to Deputy High Commission
> 2/ The sentence "Like all scientific innovations, information 
> communications technologies in themselves are value-neutral" would be 
> removed
> 3/ The reference to repression would be added, following the remark by 
> Christine (OMCT) which nobody seemed to disagree with
> 
> In case we gathered enough signatures from the Hr caucus members, I 
> propose that this letter be presented as a common initiative from the 
> WFM and the HR caucus.
> 
> Members of the HR caucus who already signed:
> - CMIC
> - Danish Institute for Human Rights
> - Digital Rights Denmark
> - IRIS
> - OMCT
> 
> Please other members tell us if your organization would sign, and 
> please gather other organizations signatures by, let's say, June 12.
> I'll circulate the text of this letter to the WSIS plenary list, and to 
> other organizations. Please also try to get other signatures with name 
> of the org, web site if any, contact person name and email.
> 
> Final text of the letter:
> June 2003
> 
> Bertrand Ramcharan
> Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
> United Nations
> Geneva, Switzerland
> 
> RE: Human Rights and the World Summit on the Information Society
> 
> 
> Your Excellency Mr. Bertrand Ramchara:
> 
> The under-signed civil society organizations strongly encourage your 
> active participation in the preparatory committee and summit meeting of 
> the World Summit on the Information Society, taking place in September 
> and December 2003, respectively.  Human rights are an essential 
> requirement of the Information Society, as elaborated in the draft 
> declaration of the WSIS (WSIS/PCIP/DT/1-E):
> 
> 10. The essential requirements for the development of an equitable 
> Information Society include: The respect for all internationally 
> recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms. Notably the right to 
> freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions 
> without interference and seek to, receive and impart information and 
> ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers in accordance with 
> article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to 
> unhindered access by individuals to communication media and information 
> sources…
> 
> As the United Nations highest human rights official, your good offices 
> are needed to ensure that human rights language in the WSIS process is 
> comprehensive, strong and consistent with resolutions and decisions 
> adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and build upon human rights 
> language developed through the various UN world summits and conferences.
> 
> Civil society organizations view ICTs as having both tremendous 
> applications that enhance human rights, such as through the rapid 
> dissemination of action alerts and instant access to human rights 
> information, and disturbing capacities to greatly diminish human 
> rights, such as by providing governments with means enabling intrusive 
> surveillance and monitoring and therefore, repression.
> 
> Only through the active participation of governments, civil society, 
> and international human rights institutions such as your Office can 
> these ICTs be best harnessed to maximize the protection of human rights 
> worldwide.
> 
> We thank you for your consideration of this request and look forward to 
> seeing you in September.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> [under-signed NGOs]
> 
> 
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VIBE!AT - Verein für Internet-Benutzer Österreichs
VIBE!AT - Austrian Association for Internet Users
http://www.vibe.at/