[IRP] Notes from call on preamble.

[parminder]

Lisa Horner wrote:
> For me it's the large international advocacy organizations like Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, with whom I've had several informal conversations over the past few years.  It's also some of the human rights donor organizations, like the OSI (see critique they've already sent us).  Plus the UN special rapporteur for FoE (La Rue), and a number of human rights lawyers (I've spoken to some in North America and in Latin America, including the former OAS rapporteur for freedom of expression). I think these are groups that we really do want on our side.
>   
Lisa

Without trying to sound sharp, but to make my point strongly, I must say 
that the above constellation would make it look that anything other than 
civil and political rights was either non existent in the human rights 
world or a poor poor cousin, whose name, if indeed, must be mentioned 
apologeticaly.

The job of a group claiming to work in human rights areas is not merely 
to map itself over the existing dominances, even within the human rights 
space, but work to give ever greater priority (positive discrimination) 
to discourses that are sidelined which we believe are as important. How 
come there is not a single entity here that works on social and economic 
and cultural rights, and in the area of right to development which 
becomes so important with the Internet redefining geo-politics in such 
fundamental ways.

The groups and people you mention here are those with a strong default 
negative rights mentality, that that is why they cringe from such a 
formulation as 'right to the internet'. But the world has moved on, 
especially in and for developing countries. For us, every rights based 
work should expressly exhibit that the initial and the primary (and not 
secondary add-ons) framing includes positive rights based thinking.

parminder

> But obviously we want the "Internet community" too. But I don't think it'll be a case of not being able to mobilize them without specifying a right to the Internet...
>
> I'm looking forward to getting more feedback on this from beyond our group.
>
> All the best,
> Lisa
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: M I Franklin [mailto:cos02mf at gold.ac.uk] 
> Sent: 20 December 2010 10:08
> To: Michael Gurstein; Lisa Horner; 'IRP'
> Subject: RE: [IRP] Notes from call on preamble.
>
> Hi Mike
>
> You have a point in terms of how the whole context into which the Charter 
> 1.1 will be finding its way to various 'communities' may well strengthen 
> its claims.
>
> As for which communities; I was reiterating a general feeling over the past 
> year about which I am less concerned. That said, as this is a tactical 
> point towards said 'HR Community' whether it is the best tactic remains to 
> be seen. Perhaps others who feel strongly about this could elucidate which 
> community/ies they are thinking of? I too would like some more specifics!
>
> best
> MF
>
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>   
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