Right to Communication

[VOICE Release, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, 16 November 2009]

 Civil society organizations, human rights activists, researchers, academicians gathered in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) taking place in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt strongly criticized UN for removal of a poster during the meeting of Open Net Initiative (ONI) held on the first day of the UN IGF on 15 December 2009. The poster mentioned internet censorship and China's Great Firewall.

Internet censorship and surveillance are increasing in democratic countries as well as authoritarian states. And ONI has been working on censorship and surveillance currently operating in countries in Asia.

The ONI meeting was to discuss about internet censorship and surveillance while it was launching a forthcoming book titled Access Controlled. The poster says, "The first generation of Internet controls consisted largely of building firewalls at key Internet gateways; China's famous "Great Firewall of China" is one of the first national Internet filtering systems." The UN official asked to removed poster, which was later taken away by the Security. Also the officials asked the organizers to stop circulating invitation of the event because it contained a mention of Tibet.
 

Global media activists criticized control over media and proposed alternatives

 A three day Medifes was held in Tokyo Women’s Plaza, Japan from 20-22 September 2009 organized by OurPlanet-TV, a network of media activists based in Tokyo. The conference was attended by a large number of stakeholders from Japan and international civil society organizations.

Tokyo Medifes 2009 is an annual event of alternative media, community media and citizen media held in Japan. Participants of the conference shared and discussed the experience on media and proposed alternatives while media in a global corporate control.

Hajime Shiraishi, the Representative of OurPlanet-TV told the conference to uphold the alternative media and citizen broadcasting realizing the diversity and publicity of wide range of stakeholders to really make media benefit for the people.
 

Civil society members at a roundtable on Thursday criticised the government for imposing surveillance and censorship on Internet access and for the move for re-registration of mobile SIMs by taking details of individual subscribers.

They also feared that details of individuals, which were stored for the preparing the national identity cards and which were given for re-registration of mobile SIMs, could be abused by the government or any other agencies to undermine democratic values.

‘For free flow of information and peoples right to know, no government should impose surveillance and censorship on Internet access and block any websites,’ said former chairman of Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Commission, Syed Margub Morshed, at the roundtable held at National Press Club.

VOICE, a right-based activist group, organised the roundtable on ‘Access to Information: Internet Surveillance and Censorship vs People’s Rights Protection’.

Margub said that it would be a futile exercise if anybody wants to block any website to censor or hide any information.

Speakers at a roundtable on Thursday said no government should impose surveillance and censorship on internet access and block any websites considering people's right to know and free flow ofinformation.

Criticising all forms of surveillance and censorship on internet access, they urged the government to protect right to privacy and freedom of expression with an end to all sorts of surveillance and censorship on internet.

With a call for a democratic access to information and data protection, VOICE, an NGO, organised the roundtable on `Access to information: Internet surveillance and censorship versus protection of people's rights' at the National Press Club in the
city.

Taking part in the roundtable, Syed Margub Morshed, former chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission,said it would be a futile exercise if anybody wants to block any website to censor or hide any information.

“Surveillance and censorship is fundamentally unethicaland national security cannot be protected through imposing surveillance and censorship,” he added.

Criticising the government move on mobile re-registration, Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive director of VOICE, in his keynote paper asked, “How can we be ensured that the information or data given to a prescribed form will not be leaked our or used for other purpose?”

VOICE is going to organize a roundtable on ‘ Access to Information : Internet surveillance and censorship vs People`s Rights Protection.

Date: 4 June 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Venue: VIP lounge, National Press Club, Dhaka

The objective is to discuss current issue- policies and implications of access to information focusing on internet surveillance and censorship in relation to human rights principles.

Experts, academicians, journalists, telecommunications specialists, engineers, economists, concerned professional bodies, civil society organizations, NGOs etc will attend the programme.

If you need any information please contact with Farjana Akter, Programme Coordinator, Cell: 01712990078

22 May 2009

A consortium of civil society representatives met to discuss access to information at the World Bank in Bangladesh on May 20th.
 
Article 19-Bangladesh, the Bank Information Center and VOICE, an IFI research and advocacy organization, convened a meeting of various civil society groups to solicit feedback on their collective experiences with the World Bank’s information disclosure practices in the context of World Bank country projects.  About 90 civil society representatives attended the May 20th meeting in Dhaka which included political activists, representatives from a variety of NGOs, trade unions, human rights and women groups as well as journalists and communications organizations.  Prominent academics and experts were in attendance, including Justice (retd) Mohammad Golam Rabbani who presided over the meeting.  Proposals and concerns with regard to the information disclosure policy as well as suggestions for an improved policy will be conveyed to the World Bank.

Civil society suggestions and observations

The World Bank does not provide any information on its projects in Bangladesh, obstructing stakeholders’ access to information in areas such as project agreement, implementation and monitoring, said participants in a consultation meeting.
They demanded public disclosure of all information related to WB projects as well as its funding procedures.

The meeting, held at the Dhaka Reporter’s Unity on Wednesday, was organised by research and advocacy organisation Voice and the Bank Information Centre. Former Appellate Division Judge Golam Rabbani presided over the meeting.
In his keynote speech, the Voice executive director, Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, said according to the WB’s Inspection Panel Annual Report, there were allegations of lack of transparency, even violations, of its disclosure policy, he added.
He cited violations of the disclosure policy in a significant number of cases.

BRAC University professor Dr Piash Karim said the World Bank was losing its legitimacy worldwide because of imposition of neo-liberal conditions on the states.
Accusing the World Bank of taking advantage of the global financial crisis, he said it was eager to expand its lending base. He demanded that the World Bank’s lending policy and the project agreements should be made public so that people could voice their opinions on the project documents.

VOICE is going to organize a Consultation meeting on ‘World Bank’s Information Disclosure Policy: People’s Voice and Propose Greater Transperency and Accountability’.

Date: 20 May 2009
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Venue: VIP lounge of Dhaka Reporters Unity, (8/4-A Topkhana Road, Segunbagicha)

The objectives of the consultation are to raise critical awareness among citizenry and also to prepare a set of recommendations for further improvement of the Disclosure policy to ensure greater transparency and accountability to its constituencies.
Noted that World Bank is going to revise its Disclosure policy and it has already posted an Approach Paper titled Toward Greater Transparency: Rethinking the World Bank’s Disclosure Policy in its external website.

Please contact us for more information! (email: ahmed.swapan@gmail.com, Mobile: 01711-881919)