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Estimad@s amig@s,<br><br>
la campaña CRIS esta necesitando una traduccion, del material que a
continuacion pego, para la semana que viene. <br>
Algun@ de ustedes podria apoyar con esta tarea???<br><br>
Abrazos<br>
Olinca<br><br>
<div align="center"><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><b><i>Statement
on Communication Rights<br><br>
</i></font></div>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Vision and Context<br>
</b></font>Communication plays a central role in politics, economics, and
culture in societies across the globe. Information and
communication technologies, together with the political will to implement
communication rights, can provide vital new opportunities for political
interaction, social and economic development, and cultural
sustainability. The means to achieve these ends include universal access
of all to the means of communication and information and to a diversity
of media throughout the world.<br><br>
Communication is a fundamental social process and the foundation of all
social organization. It is more than the mere transmission of messages.
Communication is human interaction among individuals and groups through
which identities and meanings are shaped. Communication rights are based
on a vision of the free flow of information and ideas which is
interactive, egalitarian and non-discriminatory and driven by human
needs, rather than commercial or political interests. These rights
represent people’s claim to freedom, inclusiveness, diversity and
participation in the communication process. <br>
Our vision of a communication society is based upon the recognition of
the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all
people.<br><br>
While recognizing the great potential of communication in contemporary
societies, we also draw attention to some of the problems facing full
recognition of communication rights. The problem of political control and
interference with freedom of expression remains a central concern. Along
with media saturation comes a dependency upon the media for knowledge
about the world, a dependency that is greater in times of armed conflict.
At the same time, the influence of propaganda and censorship has never
been so widespread.<br><br>
Communication has become big global business. Many of its products and
services are shaped by commercial goals instead of considerations based
on the common good. The global media market is largely controlled by a
small number of giant conglomerates, endangering the diversity and
independence of information flows. This threat to diversity is heightened
by current trends in international trade negotiations, which risk
subjecting ‘culture’ to the same rules as commodities and undermining
indigenous culture, knowledge and heritage. On the other hand, strict
intellectual property regimes create information enclosures and pose
critical obstacles to emerging ‘knowledge’ societies.<br><br>
The exclusion of large numbers of people from the democratic political
process due to the lack of effective means of participation is another
challenge for communication rights. This problem is exacerbated by the
expansion of ‘around the clock’ powers to monitor and intercept
communications, justified in the name of security but almost universally
abused.<br>
New technologies and a more profound understanding of communication
rights have the power to make information and knowledge more readily
available to people everywhere and to transform social and political
processes. However, much remains to be done for this to become a reality.
Global communication remains far from universal, with most of the world’s
people still excluded from meaningful access to communication,
information and the media.<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"><b>Communication Rights<br>
</b></font>With the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the international community recognised the inherent dignity of
all members of the human family by providing everyone with equal and
inalienable rights. Communication rights are intrinsically bound up with
the human condition and are based on a new, more powerful understanding
of the implications of human rights and the role of communications.
Without communication rights, human beings cannot live in freedom,
justice, peace and dignity. The recognition of this universal human need
has inspired us to set out a statement on communication rights based upon
the key principles of <b>Freedom, Inclusiveness</b>, <b>Diversity</b> and
<b>Participation</b>. *<br><br>
<b>Freedom<br>
</b>The core of communication rights is Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims: “Everyone has the right to
freedom of expression and opinion; this right includes the freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
This basic freedom is also recognized in the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (Article 19), in other UN treaties, such as
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 13), and in all three
main regional human rights instruments (Africa, the Americas and Europe).
<br><br>
Despite these guarantees, censorship remains a reality as humankind
embarks on the 21<font size=1><sup>st</sup></font> century. Political and
commercial pressures on independent news reporting are ever-present and
freedom of speech on the Internet is under serious threat in many parts
of the world. The right to freedom of expression is also increasingly
under threat from significantly enhanced State powers to monitor and
intercept communications around the world. It is crucial that the
international community adopts robust rules and mechanisms to secure
effectively the confidentiality of private communications. It is
therefore urgent that we renew global commitment to freedom of
information and expression as “the touchstone of all freedoms to
which the United Nations is consecrated”, as stated in The United Nations
General Assembly in Resolution 59(I), adopted at its very first session
in 1946.<br>
<br>
<b>Inclusiveness<br>
</b>International human rights treaties include many provisions designed
to guarantee inclusiveness, such as universal access to information and
knowledge, universal access to education, protection of the cultural life
of communities and equal sharing of advancements in science and
technology. In the current global reality, however, large numbers of
people are excluded from access to the basic means of communication, such
as telephony, broadcasting and the Internet. Access to information about
matters of public concern is also unduly limited, and is also very
unequal between and within societies. True commitment to inclusiveness
requires the allocation of considerable material and non-material
resources by the international community and national governments to
overcome these obstacles.<br><br>
<b>Diversity<br>
</b>Worldwide, existing forms of cultural, informational and linguistic
diversity are seriously threatened. Diversity in culture, language and
communication is as critical to the sustainability of the planet as the
world’s biological and natural diversity. Communication diversity is
crucial to democracy and political participation, to the right of all
people to promote, protect and preserve their cultural identity and the
free pursuit of their cultural development. <br>
Diversity is needed at a number of levels including the availability of a
wide range of different sources of information, diversity of ownership in
the media and forms of access to the media that ensure that the views of
all sectors and groups in society are heard. <br><br>
<b>Participation<br>
</b>International human rights stress the importance of people’s
participation in political processes which from the perspective of
communication rights implies the right to have one’s views taken into
account. In this context, the equal participation of women and the
participation of minorities and marginalized groups is particularly
important. Communication is essential to the processes of political
decision-making. As the role of media in modern politics expands, this
should not obstruct but rather support the participation of people in the
political process through the development of participatory governance at
all levels<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times"><b>Vision and Reality<br>
</b></font>Communication rights remain for most of the world’s people a
vision and an aspiration. They are not a reality on the ground. On
the contrary, they are frequently and systematically violated.
Governments must be constantly reminded that they are legally required
under the human rights treaties they have ratified to implement, promote
and protect communication rights. Communication rights are the expression
of fundamental needs. The satisfaction of these needs requires a strong
political will and the allocation of substantial resources. Lack of
commitment to such resources serves only to deepen the global distrust of
political institutions. <br>
At the same time, full implementation of communication rights cannot
depend only upon governments. Civil society has a key role to play in
terms of advocacy for rights, in terms of monitoring and exposing rights
abuse and in terms of educating and popularising rights.<br>
Encouraging and facilitating people to assert these rights through
different types of social action and to use them to realize the enormous
potential of both the old and new technologies of media and
communication, are vital tasks for all concerned people.<br><br>
We endorse this Statement as an expression of our commitment to
communication rights and we further undertake to develop an International
Charter on Communication Rights with the widest possible support as a
common standard to which every individual and every organ of society
should take action to achieve.<br><br>
Geneva, 11 December 2003<br>
<br>
* The most relevant references to communication rights in international
human rights instruments.<br><br>
<b>On the principle of freedom:<br>
</b>Freedom of Expression:<br>
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 19<br>
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article
19<br>
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Article 13<br><br>
Protection of privacy:<br>
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 12<br>
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article 17
<br>
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Article 16<br><br>
<b>On the principle of inclusiveness:<br>
</b>Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Articles 19, 21,
28.<br>
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966),
Articles 13, 15.<br>
Declaration of the Principles of International Cultural Co-operation
(1966), Article IV (4).<br>
<br>
<b>On the principle of diversity:<br>
</b>International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Articles
1 (1), 27 .<br>
Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (1995), Article 5.<br>
<br>
<b>On the principle of participation:<br>
</b>Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Articles 21, 27.<br>
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Article
25.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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<font size=2><b>LaNeta S.C.<br>
</b><a href="http://www.laneta.apc.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.laneta.apc.org</a><br>
Información desde las organizaciones civiles en México.<br><br>
LaNeta S.C. es miembro de la Asociación para el Progreso de las
Comunicaciones, APC<br>
<a href="http://www.apc.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.apc.org</a><br>
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