Global Voices Advocacy » Advocacy

14-year-old Citizen Journalist Killed Covering Clashes in Syria

Global Voices — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:52:09 +0000

Omar Qatifaan, a 14-year-old media activist, was killed 21 May, 2013 while covering clashes between the Syrian Army and the rebel Free Army in the southern Daraa al-Ballad area of Syria near the border with Jordan.

Youth media project Syrian Documents reported on his death, and Syrian news blog YALLA SOURIYA called him the “Spirit of Syria”.

The conflict in Syria, as well as other Arab Spring uprisings, has seen a rise in citizen journalists reporting from the ground on the ongoing war between the country's pro- and anti-government forces. Many have been detained, tortured, and even killed while trying to bring the story of the revolution to the world.

Children have also paid a terrible price during the conflict, with thousands killed during the violence so far.

Media activist Omar Qatifaan was 14-years-old when he was killed while covering a battle in Daraa, Syria. Photo from the Twitter account of ‏@RevolutionSyria

Another media activist recorded video of Qatifaan after he was killed. The footage was posted on YouTube by SyrianDaysOfRage [GRAPHIC VIDEO]:

Advocates Challenge Use of FinFisher Surveillance Software in Pakistan

Nani Jansen — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:36:49 +0000

The Pakistani human rights organisation Bytes for All is challenging the use of invasive surveillance software by the government of Pakistan. FinFisher, produced by Gamma International, a UK-based company named by Reporters Without Borders as one of five “corporate enemies of the internet” and “digital era mercenaries,” is notorious for its advanced spying and surveillance capabilities which are used to target human rights movements all over the world. For example, Egyptian protesters in March 2011 found documents pointing to the use of FinFisher by the Egyptian security services under Hosni Mubarak and in July 2012 Bloomberg reported on the targeting of Bahraini activists with the software.

Campaign poster from Bytes for All, Pakistan

FinFisher software is installed remotely through seemingly innocent software updates of regular programs such as iTunes or Firefox, or code embedded in an e-mail. The software cannot be detected by virus-scanners and works on all common mobile devices. Once installed, it allows the user to access all stored information and monitor even encrypted communication. Keystrokes can be logged, Skype conversations recorded and cameras and microphones can be activated remotely.

The problem with software like FinFisher is that it is “dual-use”: it can be used for legitimate purposes by government agencies to monitor criminals, but as researchers at Citizen Lab found, it is often sold to countries where the exercise of legitimate rights such as the right to free expression is considered criminal activity. Among the 36 countries listed by Citizen Lab that use or have used FinFisher many have a well-documented record of human rights violations, such as Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Ethiopia, Qatar, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

That list also includes Pakistan. Concerned with this violation of Pakistani citizens’ right to privacy , Bytes for All has filed a petition in the High Court of Lahore, seeking a response from the government of Pakistan to the following questions: (1) Why was FinFisher deployed in Pakistan and (2) Who authorised its deployment? Moreover, Bytes for All requested the Court to order the government to immediately halt all FinFisher activities, based on the grounds that its use clearly violates the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan.

This is a pioneering legal bid. Previous action has been taken against FinFisher: the UK-based NGO Privacy International recently filed a request for judicial review of UK customs agency’s refusal to release information about the potential illegal export of FinFisher to countries with a record of human rights abuses. A complaint against Gamma International was also filed with the OECD for the use of FinFisher software in Bahrain, and Mozilla has taken steps to stop it from infringing upon its brand by letting the software pose as legitimate Firefox products. Challenging a government’s use of spying software, however, is relatively uncharted territory and could set an important precedent. On May 8, 2013, the High Court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to carry out a full investigation into the FinFisher allegations and present its findings before the Court on June 24, 2013. This will be a case to watch.

Nani Jansen is Senior Legal Counsel with the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI). MLDI is working with its partners around the world to challenge internet censorship and surveillance. Bytes for All and MLDI are currently challenging the blocking of YouTube and other websites in Pakistan.

Bahrain Jails Six Twitter Users for Insulting King

Global Voices — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:28:25 +0000

Six Twitter users were sentenced to a year in prison each by a Bahrain court on May 15 for allegedly insulting King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the micro-blogging site.

According to the government-run Bahrain News Agency, the “six suspects” where charged in five different cases “related to the misuse of freedom of expression and defaming His Majesty the King on Twitter.” It added that the six were “charged [with] misusing freedoms of expression and opinion publicly and remanded…in custody ahead of their trial.”

King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain with US Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England. Released to the public domain.

According to the London-based Bahrain Press Association those sentenced are [ar]:

المحكمون بالسجن في #البحرين بتهمة إهانة الملك في #تويتر هم: المحامي مهدي البصري، محمود طارش، محسن عبدعلي، حسن عبدعلي، حسن عبدعلي، عمار مكي.

@BahrainPA: Those sentenced to prison with the charges of insulting the king on Twitter are: lawyer Mahdi Al Basri, Mahmood Taresh, Mohsin Abdali, Hassan Abdali, Hassan Abdali and Ammar Makki.

The name Hassan Abdali appears twice and Global Voices Online cannot verify whether it is two separate people or a mistake. A query by Global Voices remained unanswered at the time of writing this post.

The association added:

@BahrainPA: BPA: [we] consider these sentenc[es] unfair provisions that violate the freedom of Expression

Meanwhile, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said that five Twitter users have been sentenced to a year in prison – and called for their immediate release:

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) demands:

the immediate release of those who were arrested due to freedom of opinion and expression and to drop all charges against them;

put an end to the restrictions against social media in Bahrain;

protect the free exchange of information on the Internet and not restrict it.

The sentencing sparked criticism online.

Bahraini Freedom Prayers sees the sentences as a threat to silence other dissidents:

@FreedomPrayers: Last year twitter users sentenced to 6months. This year the offering reached 1yr. If the rest didn't shut up, next it will be 5yrs. #Bahrain

From Cambridge, UK, author Toby Matthiesen tweets:

@TobyMatthiesen: Bahrain court jails 6 tweeters for a year for “insulting” the King. Another sign of GCC trying to limit Twitter impact

And researcher Marc Owen Jones challenges:

@marcowenjones: They couldn't arrest everyone if they all insulted the King on Twitter. Or could they…? #Bahrain

Chad-Senegal: A New Axis of Blogger Persecution?

Julie Owono — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:55:19 +0000

Makaila Nguebla. Screenshot from video taken by Institut Panos Afrique de l'Ouest IPAO.

Francophone African online communities were astonished to learn on May 7 that Chadian blogger Makaila Nguébla had been arrested by Senegalese intelligence services and the deported [fr] to Conakry (Republic of Guinea) from Dakar. Nguébla, who had lived in exile in Senegal for eight years, is the editor of the collective blog Makaila Info [fr], an information and opinion site that is highly popular among Chadians inside the country and abroad.

Deportation contrary to Senegalese law, international commitments

In the phone interview with Global Voices Advocacy, Nguébla's lawyer explained that deportation to a country where a journalist would receive less protection than in his or her home country runs contrary to Senegalese law. He stated that the case was not approved by a judge, and that the move undermines the international commitments of Senegal, which ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and Protocols. Nguébla is undoubtedly a political refugee, considering this Convention and the personal situation of the blogger, who had lived in Senegal for more than eight years. Article 32 of the Convention provides that:

Article 32: Expulsion

1. The Contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public order.

2. The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the competent authority.

3. The Contracting States shall allow such a refugee a reasonable period within which to seek legal admission into another country. The Contracting States reserve the right to apply during that period such internal measures as they may deem necessary.

Makaila Nguébla has become a stateless person, as authorities in his home country of Chad have refused to issue him a new passport for more than eight years. On May 12, speaking to Radio France Internacionale [fr], Senegalese Minister of Governance and Spokesperson of the Government expressed the official position of Senegal on the issue.

His presence was merely tolerated. But under this was under the condition that he refrain from doing a number of things and making statements that the Senegalese government considers contrary to his will to live among us.

Although officials haven't explicitly stated the reason for his expulsion, it can be inferred that, had he chosen to remain silent, he would still be Senegal today. In other words, Nguébla's choice to continue writing and expressing his political ideas online qualified as a “threat to national security” or “public order,” as stated in the Convention above.

Chadian government stifling online dissent

The expulsion of Nguébla followed the visit to Dakar on May 3 and 4 of Chadian Minister of Justice Jean-Bernard Padaré, for the signing of an agreement on judicial cooperation between Senegal and Chad. According to sources [fr] Minister Padaré met with the democratically elected President of Senegal, Macky Sall. A few days later, Nguébla was deported to Conakry, in neigboring Guinea. This expulsion is yet another repressive action brought by Chad against bloggers and online dissent. In addition to Nguébla, two bloggers who wrote for Makaila Info, Jean Laokolé and Eric Topona, have since faced persecution. On Makaila Info, the three bloggers often wrote about political affairs and had made allegations of corruption within the Chadian government [fr]. On May 8, Topona was arrested and detained, likely in connection with his work. Last month, Jean Laokolé (who wrote using the pseudonym Vourboubé Pierre) was imprisoned and held incommunicado in a secret military prison. He has since been indicted for his work. Some Laokolé’s posts on Makaila Info [fr] dealt with an ongoing inquiry into a network of public funds embezzlement operated by agents of the Ministry of Land Affairs, the former ministerial position of Mr. Padaré.

According to Makaila Nguébla, the network of informants and sources associated with this story in Chad were placed under telephone surveillance after these allegations surfaced. Vision du Tchad surmises that government eavesdropping on the bloggers’ communications and governments searches of their personal communication devices helped unveil Jean Laokolé’s identity, and may have led to Eric Topona’s arrest and Makaila Nguébla’s expulsion from Senegal to Guinea.

These arrests also coincided with an alleged attempt to oust Chadian President Idriss Déby that took place earlier this week in Chad’s capital city of N’Djamena.

An earlier version of this post appeared on the Internet Sans Frontières [fr] website.

Interview: Chadian Blogger and Journalist Expelled from Senegal to Guinea

Global Voices — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:49:21 +0000

[All links forward to French-language pages unless otherwise noted.]

Senegalese authorities have expelled Chadian journalist and blogger Makaila Nguebla, an opponent of his country's President Idriss Déby [en] who has ruled Chad for more than two decades, to neighboring Guinea after refusing to grant him political refugee status.

Nguebla, who had lived in exile in Senegal's capital city of Dakar since 2005, was deported on May 8, 2013. He settled in Senegal after being arrested in Tunisia in 2005; thanks to international pressure, Tunisian authorities did not deport him back to Chad, as he explains in this YouTube video:

Global Voices had the opportunity to interview Nguebla by phone after he was expelled. He began by telling the story of his transfer to Conakry, the capital city of Guinea:

Mes ennuis ont commencé le lendemain du départ du ministre de la Justice tchadien Jean-Bernard Padaré au Sénégal où il était venu rencontrer les autorités en vue du procès de l’ancien président tchadien Hissène Habré. Jean-Bernard Padaré a rencontré le ministre de la justice et chef de l’état sénégalais seul sans la présence d’aucun autre officiel tchadien. Il a quitté Dakar le dimanche 5 mai. Le lundi 6 mai, la Division de la surveillance du territoire sénégalaise (DST) me convoque pour le mardi 7 mai à 15H. Je me rends à la convocation en présence d’Amnesty International Sénégal à qui il est demandé de quitter les lieux. Je reste donc seul avec eux.
Ils me mettent dans un avion pour Conakry dans la nuit du mardi au mercredi. Une « maman » me voyant pleurer durant le vol me prend sous son aile : elle m’aide à passer les formalités de police une fois à Conakry – les autorités sénégalaises n’avaient pas informé leurs homologues guinéens. Je suis actuellement logé chez cette dame dans les mêmes conditions que les Guinéens : coupures d’électricité le soir et connexion internet avec une clé qui marche à peine.

Makaila Nguebla (MNG): My troubles began the day after Chadian Minister of Justice Jean-Bernard Padaré left Senegal where he had come to meet the authorities in connection with the trial of former Chadian President Hissène Habré. Jean-Bernard Padaré had a private talk with the minister of justice and the Senegalese head of state without the presence of any other Chadian official. He left Dakar on Sunday, May 5. Monday, May 6, the Surveillance Division of Senegal summoned me to their offices for Tuesday, May 7 at 3 p.m. I went to the appointment accompanied by members of Amnesty International Sénégal who were asked to leave. Therefore, I remained alone with them.

They put me on a plane to Conakry on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. A “Mama” who saw me crying during the flight took me under her wing. She helped me through the police formalities once we arrived in Conakry–the Senegalese authorities had not informed their Guinean counterparts of my arrival. I am currently staying with this lady and I live in the same conditions as the Guinean people: power cuts in the evening and Internet connection with a key that barely works.

Senegal is known for having a stronger human rights record than much of West Africa, and has strong laws governing protections for asylum-seekers. Makaila explained to Global Voices that, like many other political refugees, this is what made him seek asylum in Senegal.

Global Voices (GV): How would you explain that Senegal, given its strong human rights record, gave in so easily on something that looks like pressure from the Chadian authorities?

Makaila Nguebla : Le conflit au Mali a donné une nouvelle autorité à Idriss Deby, notamment parce que l’armée tchadienne est la seule à connaître parfaitement le terrain et la seule des armées africaines à être en mesure de soutenir effectivement l’armée française. De plus, grâce à l’argent du pétrole tchadien, Idriss Deby a pu contribuer au financement de la campagne de Macky Sall au Sénégal. Dans les négociations sur le dossier Hissène Habré, il est demandé que l’on me livre aux autorités tchadiennes. J’ai été arrêté en Tunisie en 2005 je ne dois qu’à la pression internationale de ne pas avoir été expulsé vers le Tchad.

MNG: The conflict in Mali [en] has given Idriss Deby a new weight, especially due to the fact that the Chadian army is the only one to perfectly know the ground and the only African army able to effectively support the French army. In addition, due to the money earned with the Chadian oil, Idriss Deby was able to support financially [Senegal President] Macky Sall‘s [en] campaign when he was running for president. During the negotiations on the Hissène Habré case, it was requested that I should be handed to the Chadian authorities. I was arrested in Tunisia in 2005. I owe it to international pressures that I wasn't deported back to Chad.

GV: Do you feel safe in Guinea?

Makaila Nguebla : Non. J’ai rencontré le Ministre des droits de l’homme de la Guinée qui m’a dit qu’il ne peut pas garantir ma sécurité dans le contexte actuel de son pays. Depuis plusieurs années, la Guinée traverse une période difficile. Les élections législatives n’ont pu se tenir après les dernières élections présidentielles. Et il y a depuis plusieurs semaines des manifestations de l’opposition.

MNG: No. I met with the Guinean Minister of Human Rights and he told me that he could not guarantee my safety in the current context of his country. For several years now, Guinea has been in a dire situation. The general elections could not be held following the last presidential election. And there have been opposition protests [en] for several weeks now.

GV: You told me earlier that you are staying with the lady that you met on the plane. But where do you stand when it comes to your administrative status with the Guinean authorities?

Makaila Nguebla : Ce matin [samedi 11 mai], accompagné de membres du Conseil National des Organisations de la Société Civile Guinéenne et du HCR, j’ai pu introduire une première demande de statut de réfugié.

MNG: On Saturday, May 11, escorted by some members of the National Council of Organizations of the Guinean Civil Society and of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I was able to proceed with an initial application for political refugee status.

Meanwhile, the Senegalese blogosphere called for Nguebla's return to Senegal, especially on Twitter under the hashtag #FreeMakaila. Cheikh Fall, the blogger behind citizen media monitor Sunu2012, rallied behind Nguebla:

Non seulement ceci constitue une atteinte aux droits de Makaila Nguebla qui n’a aucune attache en Guinée et s’est construit sa vie au Sénégal depuis 8 ans, mais ceci est une atteinte à la liberté d’expression de tous les Sénégalais : si les autorités commencent à livrer des opposants aux régimes dictatoriaux, elles n’hésiteront pas à s’en prendre à leurs propres opposants sur n’importe quel prétexte.

Not only is this a violation of Makaila Nguebla’s rights who has no tie to Guinea and has built his life in Senegal for the past eight years, but this is an attack on freedom of speech for all Senegalese: if the Senegalese authorities are starting to deliver opponents to their dictatorial regimes, they will not hesitate to go after their own opponents under any pretext.

The Senegalese government issued a statement three days after Nguebla was expelled through its spokesman, saying:

Sa présence était simplement tolérée. Mais sous certaines conditions : qu'il s'abstienne de faire un certain nombre de choses et de déclarations que le gouvernement sénégalais estime contraires à sa volonté de vivre chez nous.

His presence was merely tolerated. But under certain conditions, to refrain from doing a number of things and statements that the Senegalese government considers contrary to his desire to live among us.

African Twitter users quickly responded. Fall (@cypher007) noted:

@cypher007: « Situation irrégulière, Présence tolérée sous conditions … » Depuis quand un statut pareil existe au #Sénégal?

@cypher007: “irregular situation, presence tolerated under certain conditions …” Since when does such a statute exist in #Senegal?

User “wirriyamu2011″ (@wirr2011) theorized in a series of nine tweets that the Senegalese government has deliberately unsettled Nguebla for eight years in order to be able to pressure him if necessary.

BBC journalist Yacouba Ouédraogo (@Bambyam) replied to one of those tweets, referencing former leader of Chad Hissène Habré, whose rule was characterized by widespread atrocities but was allowed to live in Senegal for years after he was deposed:

@Bambyan: Quand on a offert le gîte à Habré et à mains ensanglantées, on peut continuer à “tolérer” un parleur.

@Bambyan: If you offered Habré a shelter despite the blood on his hands, you can go on “tolerating” a talker.

Several Twitter users found it ironic that the government spokesman [en], Abdoul Latif Coulibaly, holds the position of Minister of Good Governance. Previously a journalist, Coulibaly was persecuted under former President Wade, a leader who faced numerous allegations of corruption and civil liberties violations from critics and journalists including Coulibaly. Twitter users lamented the fact that this former leader in exposing government wrongdoing has been reduced to such shameful practices.

Internet Governance and ICANN: Reflections from Beijing

Joy Liddicoat — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:28:13 +0000

The original version of this post appeared on the Association for Progressive Communications’ website.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) self-described role is:

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer — a name or a number. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination, we wouldn't have one global Internet. In more technical terms, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions.

ICANN holds regular meetings where community participants discuss current issues, develop policy proposals and make decisions. Last month’s meeting in Beijing was the largest in ICANN’s history with 2600 people registered as participants including 700 from China.

The timing for the Beijing meeting was good: many human rights advocates are focused on the rapid rise in internet users in China (now more than 540 million) and their access to and ability to participate in global Internet-related policy spaces such as ICANN.

For example, a significant issue that ICANN is confronting, and one that has human rights implications, is its consideration of more than 1500 applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .gay, .patagonia and .islam. ICANN determines what gTLDs are available globally and has been implementing a process for the creation of new gTLDs for several years. The first new gTLDs are likely to become available before the end of this year.

Fadi Chehade, CEO of ICANN. Image by ICANN. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The road to the new gTLDs has not been a smooth one. ICANN’s lack of international presence and US-centric operational focus has been a persistent criticism given the global nature of its functions. But ICANN does appear to be trying harder and doing more to be seen as an international organization. A major announcement at this meeting was the opening of a new ICANN regional office in Beijing. While these new developments are welcome, human rights advocates remain concerned at the impact of ICANN presence in countries where human rights records are poor and access to the internet is curtailed.

The openness of the Beijing meeting and uncensored access to the Internet were raised as concerns by participants in the lead up to the meeting. Many people took additional security protections by using Tor, VPNs, and alternative devices. During the meeting participants reported a considerable amount of surveillance – rumour had it seven people were arrested for attempting to use the ICANN VPN, but we did not get good information about who these people were.

Progress but not at the expense of the multi-stakeholder process.

The ICANN community has long had a testy relationship with its CEO. The current CEO, Fadi Chehade, has been in the role for just over seven months and has made a good start, demonstrating a laudable desire to broker better community engagement. In early 2013 his efforts focused on proposals for implementation of the trademark clearinghouse aspects of the current gTLD process. Unfortunately, significant policy matters were included in the details of the proposals resulting in protests from non-commercial constituencies (which include NGO members), registrars and registries. However, the proposal was pushed through to the Board for approval at the Beijing meeting.

Attempts to push along implementation of new gTLDs have also ruffled feathers and raised human rights concerns. Attempts to finalise the new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (needed by Registrars who will operate the new gTLDs, also known as RAA) foundered with the proposed introduction of a power for the ICANN Board to unilaterally change the contract. This met with near universal condemnation, as it would drastically change the relationship between the governance of the organisation and hands-on operational matters related to technical coordination functions.

Concerns were also raised about a newly introduced list of registrant “rights and responsibilities” that did not reference human rights. A rights-affirming RAA can have a critical impact on users’ abilities to register and use domain names – for netizens in countries with pervasive online censorship practices or real name registration policies, this is no small matter.

Last minute negotiations in Beijing resulted in a new proposal which is now out for public comment.

These developments are evidence that tensions continue to surface about the democratic nature of this “multi-stakeholder, bottom-up” policy development and technical coordination body. ICANN’s mandate is to be multi-stakeholder, meaning that representatives from governments, registrars, registries, civil society, the technical community and private sector alike can actively participate in the organisations’ processes. But the community messages in Beijing were clear: circumvention of the multi-stakeholder model is not acceptable, will not be tolerated and should not be sacrificed in order to push ahead with new gTLDs.

One positive outcome from these tensions is a renewed focus on ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO); it is clear that the GNSO must remain the pre-eminent policy making body in ICANN. In order for this to happen, GNSO Council members will need to work together despite their strong philosophical differences.

Increased civil society diversity

Another positive development, especially for those in developing countries, is that the number of ICANN civil society community members is growing. The Non-Commercial Users Constituency, is now the most diverse ICANN constituency group, with nearly 300 members from more than 70 countries. While in Beijing, NCUC hosted a policy event “One World One Internet: new gTLDS in a global changing internet” and launched a new video explaining its role in the ICANN policymaking landscape.

The ICANN fellows, a group of up to 30 participants who received funding to attend the meeting, included Internet rights advocates from countries such as Chile, Thailand and Egypt. A number of these participants raised human rights issues related to ICANN policy, for example, concerns about the impact of filtering and human rights and ccTLD policy-making. They emphasized the fact that one of the biggest threats to security and stability of the DNS in some regions is government action and that ICANN must strive to be sensitive to civil society concerns about its international outreach strategies.

Internet governance workshop

A session on Global Internet Governance was facilitated by Peter Major, the Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation. The absence of any women on this panel was very disappointing (it really is time for a gender audit of ICANN's meetings). However, this session was timely, well-attended, and perhaps striking for the lessening of overt tension in discussions of global internet governance in an ICANN context. There is a growing maturity in the conversation about policy-shaping forums (such as the Internet Governance Forum, or IGF) and policy-making forums (such as ICANN) and how they connect to and influence each other. Participants emphasized that the IGF remains a unique and important space for multi-stakeholder dialogue.

Government participation

More than 80 government representatives attended the meeting including some new members, such as Lesotho. In a surprise move, almost all Government Advisory Committee meetings were held in closed sessions, many until late at night. However, the traditional GAC communique (through which it provides advice to the ICANN Board) was finally prepared and released during the last public forum.

The communique has some excellent aspects (including the very small number of formal objections to new gTLD applications.) However, it has also raised serious concerns as it appears to anticipate registrars and registries having more active roles in monitoring online content. The communique is open for public comment and a number of civil society groups are looking closely at its human rights implications.

All of these issues continue to be discussed and will be followed up at the next ICANN meeting, which will be in Durban.

Hungary: Government Limits FOIA Transparency Law

Marietta Le — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:51:59 +0000

In an unexpected move last week, Parliamentarians in Hungary took action to change the country's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in an effort to limit the scope of data accessible to the public under the law. The Freedom of Information Act, known as Act CXII of 2011 in Hungary, is vital to the work of Hungarian journalists who cover government activity and corruption, as it obliges government agencies to make certain information about their activities available to the public either proactively or by disclosing information by responding to FOIA requests. Members of Parliament drafted and approved the amendment in record time. But it must be signed by President János Áder before it can become law.

Image by atlaszo.hu.

Recently, the number of FOIA requests filed through the public freedom of information request service KiMitTud [Who Knows What] [hu] surpassed one thousand. The website, run by anti-corruption NGO atlatszo.hu, is a useful tool for journalists, and has inspired a group of Hungarian students as well, to start their own blog covering student government spendings using the information obtained through FOIA requests.

Advocates suspect that the amendments were made in response to a FOIA request [hu] request filed by a group of NGOs and media organizations to the Ministry for National Development and the National Tobacco Trade Non-profit Ltd on tobacco license tenders. After the April 27 announcement that the retail sale of tobacco would soon become a state monopoly, tobacco sales licenses distributed last week immediately became the subject of public discourse. The NGOs and news sites called for transparency about the tenders, arguing that the list of licensees proved that applicants with ties to Fidesz, the governing party, had better prospects of winning a license.

Index.hu [hu] reported that MP András Cser-Palkovics, a member of the governing Fidesz party and co-author of the amendment, said that the change was provoked by one particular news site, atlatszo.hu.

Index.hu suggested that news site 444.hu also may have sparked government desire to change the law. 444.hu recently filed a FOIA request for documentation of expenditures by certain factions of Parliament. 444.hu reporter Péter Erdélyi wrote [hu] that he consulted with the Assembly's staff in order to make his request reasonable, yet still, two days later, the MPs submitted the draft amendment.

On April 28, two Fidesz MPs submitted an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act aiming to restrict data accessible to public to the data monitored by two government bodies, the State Audit Office (ÁSZ) and the Government Control Office (KEHI). The amendment, among other things, allows public institutions to refuse FOIA requests if they are “excessive,” but it fails to define what would be considered an excessive freedom of information request. The amendment was passed in less than two days, through a “special urgency procedure” which takes advantage of the governing party's supermajority in Parliament that makes lawmaking “on the fly” possible.

Atlatszo.hu has posted a petition on Change.org [hu] calling on Hungarian president János Áder to withhold his signature from the amendment – according to Hungarian legislation the President's signature would make the regulation approved. In addition to the petition which has amassed over 2,000 signatures so far, examples of individual citizen initiatives also showed up. 444.hu reported [hu] that a 24-hour shop in Budapest also started a petition against the questionable procedures applied in the distribution of the licenses.

In an op-ed published on atlatszo.hu [hu] András Jóri, former Commissioner for Data Protection, wrote that the idea of this “sunshine” law was introduced by a group of constitutional lawyers in Hungary after the country's transition to democracy. Citizen movements and journalists have only been making use of these legal mechanisms since 2000. Mr. Jóri concluded that rule of law has been upheld in Hungary until now — but at this critical point, it is up to Hungarians to keep it that way.

Peru: How Will the TPP Affect Users?

Marianna Breytman — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:24:15 +0000

For a primer on the TPP agreement, see this recent post by our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a free trade treaty that looks to integrate the economies and markets of the Asia-Pacific region, goes beyond commercial matters to include aspects such as protection of investments and intellectual property.

This agreement, better known as the TPP, will have its seventeenth round of negotiations from May 15-24 in Lima, Peru.

The first wave of signatories included Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore, who signed the treaty on June 5, 2005. Australia, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam, Canada and Mexico are amidst negotiations to enter into the group.

This is not the first time that a meeting of this sort is taking place in Lima; in fact, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum Leaders Summit in November 2008 — carried out in Lima — Peru formalized its intention of signing the agreement. Later, a mini-round of negotiations (between the third and fourth rounds) took place on August 20-21, 2010. The ninth round of negotiations was took place from October 19-28 in 2011. Here [es] we can view a complete chronology of the negotiation rounds.

The website for the Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism (Mincetur) highlights [es] as one of the benefits the greater volume of the member countries’ economies and the wide market they represent:

The TPP is an opportunity to consolidate Peru's presence in the Asia-Pacific, a zone of great importance for the country, which also gives a diversified market for the development of new exportation products for Peru, services trading, attraction of investments, and mobility for businesspeople, among others.

In another article the Ministry details [es] the rubrics to include itself in the agreement, including: Access to Markets, Customs Procedures, and Intellectual Property, among others.

Although the attitude [es] of the current government, much like those that came before, is in favor of signing the agreement, there have still been certain discrepancies. In October of last year, the Minister of Foreign Commerce and Tourism, José Luis Silva, declared [es] that the government's decision to not accept the United States’ desire to issue drug patents in the TPP negotiations. Nonetheless, negotiations continue and neither the topic of drugs nor any entrapment with respect to it has been addressed.

It is worth adding that negotiations take place in the utmost confidentiality and if progress on the agreement in terms of the acceptance (or not) of members or other general things emerges, the details of the negotiations are left unknown, strictly speaking. Nevertheless the little information that has leaked has given rise to an anti-TPP movement in various countries, above all because of what it would mean for the marginalization of intellectual property and its consequences for freedom of expression and information on the Internet.

In Peru not everyone is in favor of the agreement and some civil society sectors oppose its signing. In 2011, with the ninth round of negotiations in Lima, a sit-in protest took place [es] in front of the hotel where negotiations were underway. The protest was coordinated by Peruvian and foreign organizations who argue that the “free commerce” agreement would even further protect pharmaceutical corporations and harm public health:

Textos filtrados sobre el capítulo de Propiedad Intelectual, discutidos en la IX Ronda de negociaciones del (TPP) [...] revelan que de adoptarse el texto que propone Estados Unidos se restringiría la competencia en genéricos e incrementaría los costos de los medicamentos, comprometiendo el acceso a medicinas necesarias para las poblaciones en toda la región Asia-Pacífico. La propuesta estadounidense extenderá y creará nuevos monopolios farmacéuticos, otorgará controles exclusivos adicionales sobre datos de pruebas clínicas y eliminará salvaguardas contra el abuso de patentes.

Texts leaked on the subject of Intellectual Property, discussed in Round IX of the (TPP) negotiations [...] reveal that adopting the text that the United States is proposing will restrict competition in generic drugs and will increase drug costs, jeopardizing access to necessary medicines for populations in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. proposal will extend and create new pharmaceutical monopolies, will grant additional exclusive control over clinical trial data, and will eliminate safeguards against patent abuse.

Blogger Chillinfart, on V de Verguenza, has written a number of posts with respect to the issue where he shares his opinion, which is very much opposed to the TPP. In one of them he explains [es]:

El acuerdo Transpacífico (TPP o TPPA) [...] es un acuerdo comercial que se negocia a espaldas de la gente, prácticamente en secreto. [...] nadie rinde cuentas de forma oficial, todo lo sabemos por filtraciones [...] Lo peor de todo es que se tocan temas sensibles como libertad de expresión, manejos de contenidos con derechos de autor y sobre todo, las patentes de fármacos.

The Transpacific agreement (TPP or TPPA) [...] is a commercial agreement that is negotiated behind peoples’ backs, practically in secret. [...] no one gives up official stories, all we know is through leaks [...] Worst of all is that they touch on sensitive topics like freedom of expression, content management with copyrights [es] and, above all, drug patents [es].

He later provides his opinion on the Peruvian position regarding the negotiations:

En el Perú, a lo mucho se dio una declaración oficial a regañadientes (luego de la Operación AndesLibre de Anonymous). Si bien el MINCETUR declaró algo en contra tiempo atrás, en la práctica no ayuda a respaldar sus propias declaraciones, mucho menos en las negociaciones donde simplemente agacha la cabeza.

In Peru, at most an official declaration was made reluctantly (following Anonymous's AndesLibre Operation [es]). If MINCETUR really declared something against it some time ago, in practice it does not help support [es] its own declarations, much less in negotiations where it simply bows its head [es].

He concludes by drawing a link to recent bills [es] in Peru that restrict certain liberties and the little debate in traditional media:

[No] está demás recordar que las medidas draconianas controla[n] el manejo de contenidos con derechos de autor….ese tratado son una buena excusa para que los abusos de las operadoras que ocurren actualmente no puedan ni ser cuestionados (aun si el actual marco legal lo prohíbe). Impunidad en pocas palabras. Con el rollo de la ley Beingolea…llama la atención que siendo el TPP/TPPA algo como eso no digan nada.

[It] is worth remembering that draconian media [entities] control content management with copyright [policy] in….this agreement is a good excuse for the ongoing abuses of the operators that are currently not even being questioned (even if the current legal framework prohibits it). Impunity in a nutshell. With the whole Beingolea bill…it is striking that with something like the TPP/TPPA they say nothing.

Even in social media, the local discussion of the topic is still quite insignificant. In upcoming posts, we will aim to present how the topic has been touched upon in other countries, such as Chile.

Post originally published on blog Globalizado [es].

Image from an Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) infographic.

Malaysia: News Sites Face Attacks on Eve of Elections

Global Voices Advocacy — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:53:37 +0000

The post was co-authored by Oiwan Lam and Leila Nachawati.

The general election campaign period in Malaysia has triggered what independent news site MalaysiaKini is calling “China-style censorship.” Over the last two weeks, at least two news sites, Harakah Daily and MalaysiaKini, have suffered from DDoS attacks and connection disruption at the ISP level. MalaysiaKini reports that its Twitter accounts have been hacked and pages on its video site, KiniTV, are being blocked by certain ISPs.

On May 5, Malaysians will vote in a highly contested general election that many say could be the closest in the country’s history. Should opposition candidate Anwar Ibrahim succeed in contesting incumbent Najib Tun Razak, it would bring an end to over fifty years of single-party rule that has been in effect since the country won independence from the England in 1957.

Photo by Two Hundred Percent. Released to the public domain.

Launched in 1999, MalaysiaKini is among the most read news sites in the country and has received awards for its coverage from the International Press Institute, Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists. With tension increasing on the ground over a tight political race and alleged manipulation of electoral results, their work has been key in election monitoring and coverage. This is not MalaysiaKini’s first experience with such problems; the organization also suffered attacks that left the site offline during general elections in 2008.

Harakah Daily has experienced similar problems. In addition DDoS attacks, the news organization’s IT team has discovered that customers from a majority of local ISPs have encountered disruption in connecting to the site. Oiwan Lam, a co-author of this post, is currently in Kuala Lumpur as an election observer and was unable to access Harakah Daily on Saturday, though was able to connect later in the day.

Interference by some (but not all) ISPs

Users of ISPs including TM Broadband, Unifi, Streamyx, Maxis, Celcom and Digi have complained of unusually slow speed when accessing the Harakah Daily portal. But both sites have reported that their pages are readily accessible on YES4G and Time Internet ISPs. A pageview chart created by Malaysiakini also revealed that connections were being ‘dropped’ every now and then when using these ISPs.

Chart created by Malaysiakini.

Executives at both news sites have spoken strongly against the actions of these ISPs. Zulkifli Sulong, Harakah Daily's Editor-in-Chief, said:

If the matter is true, such dirty tactics must be stopped. ISPs should focus on their job to deliver the best service to its customers any desired websites without restriction.

Premesh Chandran, CEO of MalaysiaKini, noted that national law obligates ISPs to keep their networks open.

In line with official government policy and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, telecommunications providers such as TM have a duty and obligation to ensure that their systems are not used to censor the Internet.

Various advocacy groups have pointed out that Malaysian law explicitly protects the open Internet.

Both organizations are working to ensure that even if their sites are blocked, users will still be able to access their content via alternative means. Currently, Harakah Daily has posted all current news items on its Facebook Fan page. Malaysiakini has set up several mirror sites to prevent the complete blocking of their site during the Malaysia general election on May 5.

General increase in online controls

As the government faces a possible loss of power, online censorship and surveillance seem to be an increasing trend in the country. In a report on the commercialization of digital spyware issued by Citizen Lab, Malaysia appears among 36 countries where the remote monitoring and surveillance solutions software known as FinFisher has been used. The report includes a sample of FinFisher surveillance malware that appears to have been specifically crafted for use during the election period. Reaching users in the form of an email attachment, and written in Malay, the malicious program is disguised as election-related information.

Citizen Lab writes:

While we cannot make definitive statements about the actors behind the booby-trapped candidate list, the contents of the document suggest that the campaign targets Malay speakers who are interested in Malaysia´s hotly contested 5 May 2013 General Elections. We trust that both domestic and international elections monitoring officials and watchdog groups will investigate to determine whether the integrity of the campaign and electoral process may have been compromised.

US-based campaign organization Access is seeking to put pressure on the government to stop the political interference with the Internet. The group has organized a petition directed at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) demanding that the government agency restore access to all websites during and following the upcoming elections.

Global Voices Advocacy urges concerned users to share this story widely and to sign the petition to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

In Violation of Constitution, Ethiopian Blogger Will Face 18 Years in Prison

Rainey Reitman — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:14:10 +0000

This post originally appeared on the website of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It has been modified for the Global Voices Advocacy audience.

On May 1, the Ethiopian Supreme Court upheld the conviction and extreme sentence of award-winning online journalist Eskinder Nega, who now faces 18 years in prison. Nega was arrested in September 2011 and charged with “terrorism” under a vague law in Ethiopia that has been used to target online journalists and political dissenters. His trial and appeal faced repeated delays, while international human rights and free expression groups continued to criticize his imprisonment and punishment. EFF, PEN America, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and others campaigned for his release, and a United Nations panel found his conviction to be in violation of international law.

Mohamed Keita of the Committee to Protect Journalists said in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, “The persecution of Eskinder and other journalists is the hallmark of a regime fearful of the opinions of its citizens.”

Free Eskinder campaign image.

Eskinder Nega went to the United States for college, studying at American University before returning to Ethiopia to become a journalist. He founded four newspapers—all of which were shut down by the Ethiopian government—and has been jailed repeatedly for his outspoken articles. His journalism license revoked, Nega moved to the digital world, becoming a blogger and using online platforms to discuss the political situation in Ethiopia. While many journalists in Ethiopia have been silenced or fled the country to protect their lives and the lives of their family members, Eskinder Nega refused to leave or stop writing. His courage and dedication as a journalist have made him an international symbol of press freedom and the power of the Internet to maintain free speech in repressive conditions.

Eskinder Nega wrote passionately about the opportunity for Ethiopia to embrace human rights and free expression. In one blog post, he wrote:

Tyranny is in retreat everywhere. It has lost one of its two last great bastions, the Arab world. The momentum is now on the side freedom. Freedom is partial to no race. Freedom has no religion. Freedom favors no ethnicity. Freedom discriminates not between rich and poor countries. Inevitably, freedom will overwhelm Ethiopia.

Eskinder Nega’s writings have provided a window into the realities of life on the ground in Ethiopia and served as inspiration for people in Ethiopia and around the world. His continued imprisonment denies the world of a unique and powerful journalistic voice from an area of the world that is hungry for accurate, fair, and multifaceted reporting.