hi all
I have drafted the below position on HR and IG, which i plan to submit asap. pls give me any comments you may have.
Rikke
Position on Human Rights and Internet Governance
Human Rights Caucus â 27 September 2005
Since the WSIS process time and again has reaffirmed that human rights protection is a premise for the global information society, effective human rights protection must be implemented as part of future mechanisms for internet governance.
As recognized by the WGIG report, there is technical management as well as public policy issues involved in the current management of internets core resources (ICANN). These public policy issues include a.o. protection of freedom of expression and privacy, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The system of human rights protection is built on citizens being able to claim protection and enforcement of human rights by their governments, and if this fails through the international human rights system, i.e. through the treaty bodies connected to the six major UN human rights conventions. Increasingly, citizens also have international legal means of redress. The fact that the international human rights system can hold states accountable for national human rights protection is key to the whole system of protection.
It is crucial that future frameworks for internet governance include specific means to ensure that human rights are applied and protection enforced. This applies both to intergovernmental, private sector, and multistakeholder Internet governance mechanisms. Currently this is not so, since ICANN has no legal foundation obliging it to comply with international human rights standards.
Global public policy issues involving core human rights cannot be entangled in a structure purely based on trust towards a private party and one government. If accountability, transparency, and human rights protection is to have effect, there is a need for a legal foundation based on compliance with human rights standards, and with means for citizen redress and for holding governments accountable, if these standards are not met.
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