Friday, September 2, 2011

UN: OHCHR: Internet As Mainstream Media: Freedom of Expression

September 2011




More than two decades on, the Committee seeks to give practical application to freedom of opinion and expression in the radically altered media landscape which has the internet and mobile communications centre-stage.

Today’s hand-held communication technologies have revolutionized  the media © EPA/Everett Kennedy Brown













Describing “a global network to exchange ideas and opinions that does not necessarily rely on the traditional mass media”, the Committee says “States parties should take all necessary steps to foster the independence of these new media and to ensure access.”


Any restrictions that might be applied to websites, blogs or any other internet-based networks or support systems should be limited, the Committee says, to content only and should not be applied to entire sites and systems.


In the context of permissible restrictions generally, the Committee recommends extreme caution and provides many examples of situations where the urge to restrict freedom of expression should be resisted.  There are no circumstances which justify limiting freedom of opinion, the Committee notes in its revised General Comment.


Lawmakers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists and others will turn to the General Comment for guidance on the scope and practical applications of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.    


In the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which sets out the right to freedom of expression, only two situations are described which justify its limitation: respect of the rights or reputations of others and protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals. The Covenant also prohibits advocacy of religious hatred.

The Committee notes that the Convention places a particularly high value on uninhibited debate concerning political figures and public institutions.  Laws which prohibit or restrict criticism of important people and institutions are cause for concern the Committee says.  

“The mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties… all public figures, including those exercising the highest political authority such as heads of state and government, are legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition.”  The same should apply to institutions such as the army.


Committee member, Michael O’Flaherty says, “The main point of the general comment and of the Committee adopting it is that freedom of expression is at the heart of the entire human rights system.”


“That means,” he says, “we have to put up with a lot of speech that we don’t like."


Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.


Thursday, September 1, 2011

Obstructing Business: South Koreans on the March




I was in Seoul, South Korea this month at the invitation of the wonderful EBS TV Documentary Festival, and was truly, happily surprised to see a resurgence of activism among ordinary Koreans. 

Don't get me wrong. Since its founding, Korea has had a tradition of fierce, die-hard activism (which Koreans themselves may attribute to a diet high in garlic and red pepper, as well as their commitment to social justice), but this ferocity seemed to have gone dormant in the mid-nineties. I was overjoyed to find that this was no longer the case.
 

While in Korea, I had the opportunity to slip away to Jeju-do for a few days. It had been 20 years since the last time I had visited the island, when I had gone for vacation like most visitors to Jeju-do. An idyllic, sub-tropical climate and a UNESCO heritage site status have made Jeju-do an extremely popular tourist and honeymoon destination, while the remoteness of the island from mainland Korea has bred a unique and independent culture.


In 2005, Jeju-do was dubbed "Island of World Peace" by then Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. This was perhaps in an effort to scrub itself clean of a bloody past, as Jeju-do is the site of one of the most disturbing and grisly episodes leading up to the Korean War

Under the leadership of American puppet Syngman Rhee, right-wing paramilitary forces from the mainland waged a brutal campaign against a "communist" uprising which, at the most conservative estimates, killed 30,000 people (one-tenth of the population of the island) and displaced countless others. This memory of the April 3, 1948 massacre is still vivid in the minds of Jeju-do villagers, who are once again mobilizing against repression.


One might also see this designation of "peace island" as a hopeful talisman against further abuse, but for several years the South Korean government, at American urging, has been relentless in its attempts to build a naval base on Jeju-do, and now have their sights set on the tranquil coastal village of Gangjeong.






2011-08-30-okinawaandothersprotestinjeju.jpg
 
Members from the international community, including Japanese people from Okinawa Island (where the U.S. has military bases) join locals in Jeju Island to protest against the construction of a U.S. naval base.


While offering several reasons for building the base -- to protect commercial interests, to serve as yet another defense against a belligerent North Korea -- most of the islanders understand that the base at Gangjeong will offer little protection against a possible attack by North Korea, functioning mostly as a proxy for American missile defense against an ascendant China. 

In other words, American militaristic posturing at a grievous cost to the local ecology -- an unwelcome combination to the island, and to a region that has suffered enough war in the 20th century.


The Jeju-do I visited this time around was radically different from my previous experience. In addition to water sports and walks along the shoreline, the people there were engaged in some less likely activities for a paradise island, like chaining themselves to construction equipment, tethering their bodies to each other and to the site of the proposed naval base. 

I also attended the celebratory release of Sung Hee Choi, an artist who was being released from jail after three months and remains on probation. Her crime, like so many others protesting the base, was "obstructing business" -- in Choi's case, standing in front of oncoming cement trucks. 

Choi was in good company, as people from all sectors of the community, including the mayor of Gangjeong, have also been brutalized and imprisoned by police forces. Upon my arrival, I have learned that an additional 600 riot police, including water cannons and riot buses had been imported from the mainland in anticipation of larger protests, leaving the community on edge.






2011-08-30-joneschainedjeju.jpg
 
Korean activists prepare to chain themselves to construction equipment, tethering their bodies to each other and to the site of the proposed U.S. naval base.


Back on the mainland, things are equally restless. As the economy lags, and the government of South Korea moves increasingly to the right, labor has suffered greatly. Enter Jin-suk Kim and her "aerial protest."


In the southern coastal city of Pusan, a woman named Jin-suk Kim has been confining herself in a high-rise crane for nearly eight months. Kim is a member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and has been up in crane no. 85 in the Yeongdo shipyard since January 6, in protest of severe layoffs by the Hanjin corporation (HHIC).


Incidentally, crane no. 85 was the site of another protest eight years ago -- but rather than a prolonged sit-in inside the crane, the protestor in question preferred to string a noose and hang himself from it.


Although initially flying solo in her aerial protest, Kim is not alone. Caravans of "Hope Buses" carrying thousands of supporters have been visiting the crane area to offer their support. Like the protests on Jeju-do, this has not been without obstacles -- one caravan was met with batons, tear gas, and water cannons as they tried to push the police line. 

The founder of the Hope Bus campaign, a poet named Kyung-dong Song, himself stands a vigil of sorts in the KCTU trade union offices in Seoul. If he leaves KCTU safe haven, he will be immediately arrested by the police hovering around the building day and night, waiting for that opportunity. 

This is the price Mr. Song will pay for successfully "obstructing business" and organizing large demonstrations without a government permit. Again, just this past weekend in Seoul, hundreds of miles from the no. 85 crane in Pusan, 9,000 police have been deployed to disrupt around 2,500 "Hope Bus" protestors demonstrating against the Hanjin layoffs with water cannons and other means of force.


Hanjin is hardly the only corporation being targeted by this resurgent labor movement. The ordinary citizens who protest the naval base on Jeju are also protesting Samsung, a chaebol (family-run mega-corporation), which has offered obscene bonuses to upper management while laying off thousands of workers, and which stands to profit from the construction of the base in Gangjeong.


And here we find a lovely coalescence, as these protestors are not "labor," strictly speaking. Many of the activists I met in Korea told me how inspired they have been by the Arab Spring protests, and of their hope for a similar "Asian Spring" in South Korea and elsewhere to fight against corporate greed and militarism. 

Accordingly, the Hope Bus campaign found support not only from labor, but from the disabled, sexual minorities, religious figures, and other groups, all of whom stand unequivocally opposed to the immoral practices of the chaebol culture. 

And it is not only Koreans getting involved. Renowned American feminist Gloria Steinem has offered her voice in support of the protestors on Jeju-do, and prominent anti-war activists from the west have arrived on the island to join in the opposition. Figures like Noam Chomsky are coming out in support of Jin-suk Kim and the Hope Buses.


What I saw in Korea was a beautiful thing, true solidarity among people of different interests and nationalities, thousands of people, ordinary people, who have found that when they speak as one, it is impossible not to hear them.





2011-08-30-latuffcartoonjejuvillagersprotestagainstUSbaseinJejuIsland.png
 
Exclusive cartoon by Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff, hero cartoonist of FREE PALESTINE cause. Here he extends support to Jeju Island villagers who protest against the construction of the U.S. naval base. cartoon translation: shark's teeth IMPERIALISM bites green Unesco site JEJU ISLAND ... but locals resist!!!
 
 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

International Day of Missing Persons: Amina Masood: The UN




The United Nations marked today [Eid] as the International Day of the victims of enforced disappearance. 2011 is sorrowful for Families of Missing Persons of Pakistan as International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance and Eid fall on consecutive days.

For some, it's the 1st without a family member, for others, the 5th and some, the 10th.

"Enforced Disappearance” is a legal term of international law. It denotes a disappeared or missing person who has been kidnapped and detained illegally by state run institutions, placing them outside the protection of law; the very institutions which are created and constituted to prevent citizens from all atrocities including kidnapping.

It is akin to being robbed by your own watchman.

The perpetrators of this crime not only kidnap people, but harass their families to the point that most of them don’t dare launch a complaint.

More than 1200 families have contacted and registered their cases with Defence of Human Rights. Due to hurdles and lack of enough funds, Defence of Human Rights is representing only 322 cases in Supreme Court. 

Punjab has 174 cases, KPK 96, Balochistan 19, Sindh 25, Azad Jammu Kashmir 7, and Islamabad Capital Territory with 11 cases.

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances asserts:

“Unfortunately, enforced disappearances continue to be used by some States as a tool to deal with situations of conflict or internal unrest. We have also witnessed the use of the so-called ‘short term disappearances,’ where victims are placed in secret detention or unknown locations, outside the protection of the law, before being released weeks or months later, sometimes after having been tortured and without having been brought in front of a judge or other civil authority.


This very worrisome practice, whether it is used to counter terrorism, to fight organized crime or suppress legitimate civil strife demanding democracy, freedom of expression or religion, should be considered as an enforced disappearance and as such adequately investigated, prosecuted and punished.”

On this day, Defence of Human Rights Pakistan needs to draw your attention to thousands of Pakistani families aggrieved for years whose loved ones [brothers, sisters, Fathers, Mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters and small children] have been abducted by local and foreign agencies.

Our intention as voice of Missing Persons and their familes are acording to international law, keeping anyone "missing" is illegal.

United Nations convention decalred this as a "crime against humanity."


When a loved one is kept in secret confinement without any contact with or for their family, often for years, it is the worst torture on Earth.





Defence of Human Rights enjoys a unique status in the fight against Enforced Disappearance as an organization created and run by the victim's families. We have been making efforts, and struggling day and night for years to trace our loved ones.

The sufferings and agonies involved in illegal abductions are enormous and must be dealt as priority.

Defence of Human Rights is supported by all factions of the society. The only faction unmoved is the Government of Pakistan.

The need to intensify pressure on the Government of Pakistan demands: 


88 countries have already signed it. We also demand to stop all brutal, inhumane treatments and tortures in jails and secret detentions.

We please to raise this issue in parliament and take measure to ratify the UN's : International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance"  and to legislate proper laws to end this shameful practice.  

We demand that Enforced Disappeared and their families be given rehabilitation, compensation and all the medical and psychological treatment required, provided by the government.

On this occasion, we thank civil society, the lawyer’s community, political parties, groups of civil society, and students for sharing our grief and taking part in our struggle.

We also thank international human right’s associations
for their extraordinary support: 



Regards, 
Amina Masood Janjua, Chairperson, DHRPK
(Campaign for the Release of Missing Persons in Pakistan)
3rd floor Majeed Plaza, Bank Road Rawalpindi Cantt