Fwd: [CRIS Info] ARTICLE 19 Critiques Right to Communicate Draft

[Meryem Marzouki <marzouki@ras.eu.org>]

Jeff is not on hr-wsis list. Meryem

Début du message réexpédié :

> De : Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>
> Date : Mer 05 fév 2003  07:53:05 PM Europe/Paris
> À : John Barker <johnb@article19.org.za>
> Cc : hr-wsis@iris.sgdg.org, Crisinfo@comunica.org, peter@article19.org
> Objet : Rép : [CRIS Info] ARTICLE 19 Critiques Right to Communicate 
> Draft
>
> John, Peter and all,
>
>   We [INEGroup] are in agreement that the Hamelink Declaration is a very
>
> flawed and disruptive approach and document.  It should be shunned.  It
> is
> in itself discrediting to basic human rights of all individuals.  It
> seeks to
> impose a type of class warfare that is divisive at best...
>
> John Barker wrote:
>
>>    PRESS RELEASE
>>
>>
>>
>> 4 February 2003 - for immediate release
>>
>>
>>
>> ARTICLE 19 CRITIQUES RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE DRAFT
>>
>>
>> Serious flaws in a draft Declaration on the Right to Communicate,
>> circulated by C. Hamelink in December 2002, are outlined in an ARTICLE
>> 19 analysis published today.1 The draft Declaration seeks to impose a
>> number of vague, broad restrictions on the right to freedom of
>> expression, contrary to international law. Equally seriously, it fails
>> to elaborate clearly the implications of the right to communicate and
>> what States need to do to respect this right.
>>
>>
>>
>> The draft Declaration circulated by Hamelink seeks to impose a number
>> of wide-ranging and in some cases thoroughly discredited restrictions
>> on freedom of expression. One example of many is its requirement of
>> protection against misleading information. False news provisions have
>> been widely abused around the world and have been condemned by both
>> international and national courts. The right to communicate must, at a
>> minimum, respect established rights, including the right to freedom of
>> expression.
>>
>>
>>
>> It also fails to set out in any useful detail the positive content of
>> the right to communicate. Several of its provisions reiterate,
>> word-for-word, rights already recognised in the Universal Declaration
>> of Human Rights, sometimes with minor, usually unhelpful, additions.
>> And it contains only one brief clause on the issue of equitable access
>> to the media and the means of communication, central to any legitimate
>> conception of the right to communicate.
>>
>>
>>
>> Toby Mendel, ARTICLE 19's Law Programme Director, said:
>>
>>
>>
>> "ARTICLE 19 endorses, in principle, the idea of an authoritative
>> statement on the right to communicate. However, we are of the view
>> that there is the potential within the framework of existing rights to
>> accommodate the legitimate claims made in the name of the right to
>> communicate. Any elaboration of it must not trench on recognised
>> rights but rather offer an interpretation that expands and strengthens
>> them."
>>
>>
>>
>> ARTICLE 19 urges other NGOs not to endorse the Hamelink Declaration,
>> which undermines rather than promotes the further realisation of human
>> rights. ARTICLE 19 will be releasing a comment on the right to
>> communicate soon, analysing various proposals from a freedom of
>> expression perspective and setting out our views on what it could
>> usefully include.
>>
>>
>>
>> ENDS
>>
>>
>>
>> 1.         Copies of the analysis can be found on the ARTICLE 19
>> website, at http://www.article19.org/docimages/1502.doc.
>>
>>
>>
>> 2.         For further information contact Toby Mendel, Law Programme
>> Director, in Canada, on +1 902 431-3688, email: toby@article19.org or
>> Peter Noorlander, Legal Officer, in London, on +44 20 7239-1191,
>> email: peter@article19.org.
>>
>>
>
> Regards,
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 129k members/stakeholders strong!)
> ================================================================
> CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security
> Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
> E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
> Contact Number: 214-244-4827 or 214-244-3801
>
>