tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/un-special-rapporteur-29212/articlesUN Special Rapporteur – The Conversation2020-04-22T15:36:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1361782020-04-22T15:36:45Z2020-04-22T15:36:45ZChina must not shape the future of human rights at the UN<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327916/original/file-20200415-153347-1hmo5j7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4705%2C2887&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this December 2019 photo, people wearing masks in Hong Kong are seen during a rally to show support for Uighurs and their fight for human rights in China. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While most of the world is occupied trying to manage the spread of the coronavirus, another frightening development is taking place at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. </p>
<p>China, a known <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/china-global-threat-to-human-rights">human rights abuser</a>, is being given the power to influence the investigation of human rights issues around the world.</p>
<p>The non-governmental organization UN Watch recently revealed that <a href="https://unwatch.org/chinaunhrc/">the People’s Republic of China had been selected to join a special panel tasked with selecting the next group of special rapporteurs</a>. This panel is responsible for assigning at least 17 positions over the next year that will oversee a whole slew of important human rights issues.</p>
<p>If China joins the panel, it will immediately have the power to appoint or nix global investigators on freedom of speech, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and health.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327912/original/file-20200415-153298-cnxrzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Xi Jinping is seen in a protective mask at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province in March 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)</span></span>
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<p>In 2014, President Xi Jinping began encouraging Chinese officials to move into leadership positions in <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/xi-said-yes-how-china-got-engaged-un">international organizations</a> and standards bodies to ensure that China’s objectives and policies were given full influence. </p>
<p>We can see now this policy is having an impact as China exhorts these multilateral institutions <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/how-china-is-remaking-the-un-in-its-own-image/">to expel Taiwan</a> from membership and adopt Chinese priorities. Now human rights have been added to China’s sphere of influence.</p>
<h2>‘Personal capacity’</h2>
<p>The practice of the UN’s five-member <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/SP/Pages/BasicInformationSelectionIndependentExperts.aspx">consultative group</a> is that members serve in a personal capacity. However, <a href="https://www.phayul.com/2020/04/08/43068/">the appointment of Jiang Duan, a senior Chinese mission official in Geneva</a>, was presented to the Asian Group of countries at the UNHRC as a nomination <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/china-appointed-to-influential-un-human-rights-council-panel/">of the People’s Republic of China</a>. This leaves no doubt that Jiang will promote Chinese policies. </p>
<p>Other <a href="https://unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/CompositionCGNew2020_2021.pdf">panel members</a> are from Chad, Slovenia and Spain, with a member yet to be appointed from Latin American and Caribbean states.</p>
<p>Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said of the appointment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Allowing China’s oppressive and inhumane regime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac the town fire chief.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We could not agree more. </p>
<p>The right to health is one of the issues the investigators can look into. But would members face pressure from China to either refrain from investigating the outbreak of the coronavirus or to appoint a Chinese investigator to look into it? </p>
<p>How would an investigation be handled into the <a href="https://www.axios.com/timeline-the-early-days-of-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak-and-cover-up-ee65211a-afb6-4641-97b8-353718a5faab.html">original cover-up</a>, the falsification of the number of cases, the alleged <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/chinese-tycoon-missing-after-criticizing-coronavirus-response/a-52780850">enforced disappearances</a> of critics of the central government’s handling of the crisis and China’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/china-trolling-world-and-avoiding-blame/608332/">disinformation campaign</a> to allege that other countries are instead responsible for the virus outbreak? </p>
<h2>Canadians still detained</h2>
<p>Similarly, it’s conceivable that Jiang may try to head off any efforts of the UNHRC to look into China’s Ministry of State Security’s arbitrary detention and interrogation of the innocent citizens of other countries, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/12/the-cruel-fate-of-michael-kovrig-and-michael-spavor-in-china/">including Canadians</a> Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a diplomat kidnapped in abrogation of the Vienna Convention.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328451/original/file-20200416-192731-1q5d1tr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, is seen in this March 2017 photo in Yanji, China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Photo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s questionable whether the panel would appoint an investigator to review the arbitrary <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-spreadsheet-of-those-in-hell-how-china-corralled-uighurs-into-concentration-camps/2020/02/28/4daeca4a-58c8-11ea-ab68-101ecfec2532_story.html">detention of Uighur</a> and Hui Muslims, or China’s mass detention of human rights defenders and lawyers across China beginning in 2015.</p>
<p>And would an investigator assess the suppression of freedom of speech in China through its new <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/system/files/publications/twt/China%E2%80%99s%20bigger%20brother%20Charles%20Parton.pdf">Social Credit System</a> that punishes those in China who speak out about human rights and the Tiananmen massacre? Would the widespread practice in China of expropriating people’s homes without compensation be investigated?</p>
<p>China is well-known for exporting its <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/chinese-tycoon-missing-after-criticizing-coronavirus-response/a-52780850">autocratic surveillance state</a> by selling technologies <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/09/ecuadors-all-seeing-eye-is-made-in-china/">to countries like Ecuador</a> that wish to keep <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/29/18522248/china-surveillance-state-exporting-ecuador-senain-ecu-911-privacy-facial-recognition-tracking">tighter control</a> over their citizens, and to squelch any democratic and human rights organizations. </p>
<p>It’s in China’s economic and strategic interests for such states to prosper, and for their suppression of human rights to be seen as a matter of domestic policy, just as they’re viewed by the Chinese regime. The appointment of human rights investigators who are like-minded is expected to be one of the objectives of Jiang’s participation on the panel.</p>
<h2>Expressed outrage</h2>
<p>Other nations have, in the past, worked together to call out China’s human rights record. For example, in October 2019, 23 countries issued a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/asia/china-xinjiang-united-nations-intl-hnk/index.html">joint statement</a> that voiced outrage at China’s persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang and demanded that Beijing comply with its international obligations for freedom of religion.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ominous-metaphors-of-chinas-uighur-concentration-camps-129665">The ominous metaphors of China's Uighur concentration camps</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>With Jiang’s appointment, democratic countries with diplomatic missions to the UN in Geneva should join forces to ensure that investigators should not be appointed from countries being investigated.</p>
<p>Furthermore, these countries should work together to support the other four members of the consultative group, with the goal of ensuring that China does not negatively shape the future of human rights at the UN. </p>
<p>As we approach the 75th anniversary of the UN this October, it’s imperative that UNHRC investigators operate freely around the world, including in China.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Matthews is affiliated with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret McCuaig-Johnston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the coming months, China will have the power to appoint or nix global UN investigators on freedom of speech, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and health.Kyle Matthews, Executive Director, The Montréal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Concordia UniversityMargaret McCuaig-Johnston, Senior Fellow, Institute for Science, Society and Policy, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/723422017-02-14T02:15:26Z2017-02-14T02:15:26ZShould cybersecurity be a human right?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156427/original/image-20170210-23321-bmhce2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digital information should be private and secure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/hands-people-hold-phone-laptop-tablet-106421822">Digital communications via shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Having access to the internet is increasingly <a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/sites/default/files/GIUS2012-GlobalData-Table-20121120_0.pdf">considered</a> to be an emerging human right. International organizations and national governments have begun to formally recognize its importance to freedom of speech, expression and information exchange. The next step to help ensure some measure of <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/publications/law-cyber-peace">cyber peace</a> online may be for cybersecurity to be recognized as a human right, too.</p>
<p>The United Nations has taken note of the crucial role of internet connectivity in “<a href="https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/opb/gen/S-GEN-WFS.01-1-2011-PDF-E.pdf">the struggle for human rights</a>.” United Nations officials have decried the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21165&LangID=E">actions of governments cutting off internet access</a> as denying their citizens’ rights to free expression. </p>
<p>But access is not enough. Those of us who have regular internet access often suffer from <a href="https://theconversation.com/overcoming-cyber-fatigue-requires-users-to-step-up-for-security-70621">cyber-fatigue</a>: We’re all simultaneously expecting our data to be hacked at any moment and feeling powerless to prevent it. Late last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online rights advocacy group, called for technology companies to “<a href="https://supporters.eff.org/donate/eff-wired">unite in defense of users</a>,” securing their systems against intrusion by hackers as well as government surveillance.</p>
<p>It’s time to rethink how we understand the cybersecurity of digital communications. One of the U.N.’s leading champions of free expression, <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/DavidKaye.aspx">international law expert David Kaye</a>, in 2015 called for “<a href="https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2016RP07_bdk.pdf">the encryption of private communications to be made a standard</a>.” These and other developments in the international and business communities are signaling what could be early phases of declaring cybersecurity to be a human right that governments, companies and individuals should work to protect.</p>
<h2>Is internet access a right?</h2>
<p>The idea of internet access as a human right is not without controversy. No less an authority than Vinton Cerf, a “<a href="http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/vint-cerf">father of the internet</a>,” has argued that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/opinion/internet-access-is-not-a-human-right.html">technology itself is not a right</a>, but a means through which rights can be exercised. </p>
<p>All the same, <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/02/unrestricted-internet-access-human-rights-technology-constitution/">more and more nations</a> have declared their citizens’ right to internet access. Spain, France, Finland, Costa Rica, Estonia and Greece have codified this right in a variety of ways, including in their constitutions, laws and judicial rulings.</p>
<p>A former head of the U.N.’s global telecommunications governing body <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8548190.stm">has argued</a> that governments must “regard the internet as basic infrastructure – just like roads, waste and water.” <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8548190.stm">Global public opinion</a> seems to overwhelmingly agree.</p>
<p>Cerf’s argument may, in fact, strengthen the case for cybersecurity as a human right – ensuring that technology enables people to exercise their rights to privacy and free communication.</p>
<h2>Existing human rights law</h2>
<p>Current international human rights law includes many principles that apply to cybersecurity. For example, Article 19 of the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> includes protections of freedom of speech, communication and access to information. Similarly, Article 3 states “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” But <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1852&context=fss_papers">enforcing these rights is difficult</a> under international law. As a result, many countries <a href="http://map.opennet.net/">ignore the rules</a>.</p>
<p>There is cause for hope, though. As far back as 2011, the U.N.’s High Commission for Human Rights said that human rights are <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf">equally valid online as offline</a>. Protecting people’s privacy is no less important when handling paper documents, for instance, than when dealing with digital correspondence. The U.N.’s Human Rights Council <a href="http://www.osce.org/fom/250656">reinforced that stance</a> in 2012, 2014 and 2016. </p>
<p>In 2013, the U.N. General Assembly itself – the organization’s overall governing body, comprising representatives from all member nations – voted to confirm people’s “<a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/167">right to privacy in the digital age</a>.” Passed in the wake of revelations about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/the-nsa-files">U.S. electronic spying around the globe</a>, the document further endorsed the importance of protecting privacy and freedom of expression online. And in November 2015, the G-20, a group of nations with some of the world’s largest economies, similarly endorsed privacy, “<a href="https://www.g20.org/Content/DE/_Anlagen/G7_G20/2015-g20-abschlusserklaerung-eng.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3">including in the context of digital communications</a>.”</p>
<h2>Putting protections in place</h2>
<p>Simply put, the obligation to protect these rights involves developing new cybersecurity policies, such as encrypting all communications and discarding old and unneeded data, rather than keeping it around indefinitely. More <a href="https://business-humanrights.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/applications-of-framework-jun-2011.pdf">firms are using</a> the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf">U.N.’s Guiding Principles</a> to help inform their business decision-making to promote human rights due diligence. They are also using U.S. government recommendations, in the form of the <a href="https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework">National Institute for Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework</a>, to help determine how best to protect their data and that of their customers.</p>
<p>In time, the tide will likely strengthen. Internet access will become more widely recognized as a human right – and following in its wake may well be cybersecurity. As people use online services more in their daily lives, their expectations of digital privacy and freedom of expression will lead them to demand better protections. </p>
<p>Governments will respond by building on the foundations of existing international law, formally extending into cyberspace the human rights to privacy, freedom of expression and improved economic well-being. Now is the time for businesses, governments and individuals to prepare for this development by incorporating cybersecurity as a fundamental ethical consideration in telecommunications, data storage, corporate social responsibility and enterprise risk management.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Shackelford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent developments at the United Nations and the G-20 suggest that the well-known human rights to privacy and freedom of expression may soon be formally extended to online communications.Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/680212016-11-24T21:32:52Z2016-11-24T21:32:52ZHow the UN’s special rapporteur can make the right to development a reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147174/original/image-20161123-19682-lxmnlz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">N'da Yao Messou is president of a cocoa farmers' association in Niable, eastern Ivory Coast. Women's right to development has a long way to go.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UN Human Rights Council recently adopted a <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/33/L.29">resolution</a> creating the position of a Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development. The decision was in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r128.htm">Declaration on the Right to Development</a> which, over the past three decades, has played a significant part in the advancement of a rights-based approach to development across the world.</p>
<p>The creation of a UN special rapporteur is a significant move in developing the norm on the right to development and addressing controversies such as the practical aspects of implementation by states.</p>
<p>While the decision of the Human Rights Council is good news, there are key issues that must still be addressed. This includes how specific groups should be protected, how co-operation between various global and regional organisations will be managed and how best practice around the world can be identified.</p>
<h2>How the right to development came about</h2>
<p>Prior to the adoption of the UN Declaration in 1986, ideas around the human right to development emanated from prominent Senegalese jurist <a href="http://prabook.com/web/person-view.html?profileId=1308343">Justice Kéba M’Baye</a>. </p>
<p>In 1972, M’Baye argued for a <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=rYLV0pbTepcC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=Dieng+%E2%80%98Background+to+and+growth+of+the+right+to+development:+the+role+of+law+and+lawyers+in&source=bl&ots=EjEYSqKwsX&sig=QvvcMI3QvMJtyfId5BiVifjqzOk&hl=pcm&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFpam_9JXQAhVq0oMKHYn3DToQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=Dieng%20%E2%80%98Background%20to%20and%20growth%20of%20the%20right%20to%20development%3A%20the%20role%20of%20law%20and%20lawyers%20in&f=false">distinction</a> between development as a field of study and development as a human right. His argument was that the effective realisation of freedom for all people requires that development must be viewed as a right, and not solely through the lens of economics and politics. </p>
<p>Around this time, developing countries had called for the recognition of development as a right of states. Seeking to assert economic self-determination, these countries argued for a New International Economic <a href="http://www.un-documents.net/s6r3201.htm">Order</a>. The aim was to advance development equitably with the rest of the world. They were concerned that the prevailing international economic order did not adequately respond to the needs of newly independent colonies. </p>
<p>Viewing development as a right was an affirmation of the need for the newly independent colonies to determine their economic trajectories and for the developed states to foster this goal through <a href="http://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1143&context=twls">reforms</a> in the international economic order.</p>
<h2>An alternative view on development</h2>
<p>M'Baye’s proposition advanced a new angle for the conceptualisation of the subject of development. His thesis on development as a <a href="http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004293137_026">right of all men to live better</a> refocused the lens of development from state rights to human rights. </p>
<p>Over the next decade, discussions on development as a human right gained significant momentum. In 1977 the Commission on Human Rights (now the Human Rights Council) adopted a resolution calling for a <a href="http://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ha/drd/drd_ph_e.pdf">study</a> on development as a human right. </p>
<p>In 1979, when the Assembly of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) <a href="http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr/history/">decided</a> to create a regional human rights treaty, there was a strong emphasis on incorporating a right to development. At the UN, deliberations on the right eventually culminated in the adoption of the Declaration on the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/righttodevelopment/declaration.shtml">Right to Development</a>. </p>
<p>In 1998, the Commission <a href="http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/e/chr/resolutions/e-cn_4-res-1998-72.doc">created</a> an Intergovernmental Working Group to monitor and review the implementation of the declaration. But the effectiveness of this Working Group <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/HRC/33/L.29">has been fraught</a>. </p>
<p>This highlights the need for independent perspectives on the promotion of the right to development. </p>
<h2>Making the special rapporteur work</h2>
<p>I believe that the special rapporteur’s mandate should address three key outstanding issues. </p>
<p>First, the special rapporteur needs to expound on how development can be realised for specific groups – such as vulnerable ones – within societies. The declaration emphasises the need for all individuals to engage in economic, social and cultural development. </p>
<p>But it is not clear how specific groups should be protected. For instance, how should development for persons with disabilities, women and children be achieved? What will constitute development for these categories? Against what standards must development be measured, and how? </p>
<p>Second, the special rapporteur should develop a road map for cooperation between the UN and regional institutions, such as the African Union, the European Union and the Organisation of American States for the realisation of this right within the context of the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld">2030 sustainable development goals</a>.</p>
<p>A crucial benefit of engaging regional institutions in protecting human rights lies in their proximity to the people within their regions. Synergy is important to prevent unnecessary duplication. It is also important to ensure that there is a common understanding of how the development goals should be met and, at the same time, how a rights-based approach should be advanced.</p>
<p>Third, the special rapporteur should compile a study on best practices. It should draw on legal, administrative, social and financial measures taken by states and institutions in realising the right to development. These best practices can guide other states wanting to initiate similar efforts. They can demonstrate what works and how to improve on existing efforts. Also, they can help in developing key indicators for evaluating effectiveness.</p>
<p>The establishment of a special rapporteur is a laudable initiative in the realisation of the right to development. But the buck stops with states. The Human Rights Council must therefore ensure that the recommendations of the special rapporteur are implemented by states. That way the right to development won’t remain an elusive aspiration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68021/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Romola Adeola does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The creation of a UN special rapporteurship on the right to development should help develop practical solutions on how the right could be realised.Romola Adeola, Steinberg Postdoctoral Fellow in International Migration Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, Faculty of Law, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/621122016-07-14T18:24:50Z2016-07-14T18:24:50ZSouth Africa’s vote against internet freedom tarnishes its global image<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130364/original/image-20160713-12372-vvwa7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tshwane Executive Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, surrounded by school pupils and officials, samples the metropole's free internet service.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Pretoria News/Masi Losi</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa has yet again sided with repressive regimes such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia against progressive efforts by the United Nations (UN). This is counter to the spirit of the country’s enlightened <a href="http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/Constitution-Republic-South-Africa-1996-1">constitution</a>.</p>
<p>This month the UN voted on a resolution for “the Promotion, Protection and Enjoyment of Human Rights on the <a href="http://sflc.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/A_HRC_32_L.20_English-OR-30-June.pdf">Internet</a>”. This was in response to a UN Special Rapporteur report on the promotion of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/report-un-special-rapporteur-frank-la-rue-right-freedom-opinion-and-expression">freedom of expression</a> on the internet.</p>
<p>The rapporteur examined various threats to free expression online, including the use of technological surveillance and the excessive use of defamation laws.</p>
<p>About 70 countries signed the resolution. They included Australia, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico, Nigeria, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and the US. South Africa was one of 15 states that voted against it. Others in this camp included Russia, China, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Venezuela, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>Since the <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-18">advent of democracy</a> in South Africa and the country’s adoption of a globally celebrated constitution, its votes on human rights have been of particular significance, especially in the developing world. That the government would vote against rights enshrined in its own constitution – rights that were strenuously fought for – reflects a troubling cynicism and indifference to its human rights commitments.</p>
<h2>What the resolution seeks to achieve</h2>
<p>The resolution is designed to safeguard access to the internet as an important human right. It exhorts countries to provide and expand access to the internet. It also urges them not to disable internet access, even for political and security reasons. </p>
<p>The report recognises the vital role the internet plays in supporting the right to education. As such, it stresses the “need to address digital literacy and the digital divide” between and within countries. Specifically, it notes that enhancing access to the internet for women and girls will help reduce gender disparities. </p>
<p>The resolution encompassed several goals. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>protecting the same rights online that people have offline, especially freedom of expression and privacy;</p></li>
<li><p>recognising the internet as “a driving force in accelerating progress”, including economic development;</p></li>
<li><p>preventing government harassment, including torture and imprisonment, for those who post controversial political opinions online;</p></li>
<li><p>requesting governments to investigate extrajudicial killings, attacks, intimidation, gender-based violence and other forms of abuse against those who post controversial material online;</p></li>
<li><p>condemning government measures that intentionally prevent or disrupt access to, or dissemination of, information online; and</p></li>
<li><p>requesting governments to address internet security concerns in line with their international human rights obligations.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>South Africa’s objections</h2>
<p>South Africa’s reluctance to support the resolution was based on a <a href="http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/why-sa-voted-against-internet-freedoms-at-the-un-20160705">few factors</a>, including that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>South Africans are already guaranteed the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the constitution; </p></li>
<li><p>the exercise of this right is not absolute, specifically in a context in which South Africa is trying to overcome a flood of racist hate speech on the internet; and </p></li>
<li><p>the resolution fails to adequately address acts of hatred on the internet, including cyber-bullying.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are, of course, legitimate reasons for limiting freedom of expression.
These speak to South Africa’s traumatic history of apartheid and its legacies.</p>
<p>In an attempt to address these problems, the country has, for example, passed legislation against hate speech. Its Promotion of Equality and Prevention of <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2000-004.pdf">Discrimination Act</a> specifically prohibits hate speech. Other laws with a bearing on free speech include those against child pornography or defamation. </p>
<p>Such restrictions are not unusual. Even the US, the bastion of the right to <a href="http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1.html">freedom of expression</a>, limits the right in the face of “fighting words” that may lead to violence. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/130363/original/image-20160713-12397-r81ps3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shutterstock.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The question is whether there should be any limitations on the right to freedom of expression online. If so, what considerations ought to be employed? </p>
<p>In other words, in balancing competing rights, which rights should prevail?</p>
<p>Current events in South Africa highlight the difficulty of balancing the right of freedom of expression with other rights. Examples include the much-publicised case of former KwaZulu-Natal realtor <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/its-just-the-facts-penny-sparrow-breaks-her-silence-20160104">Penny Sparrow</a>, who described black beach goers as monkeys on Facebook. Another involves Cape Town attorney <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-05-03-twitter-erupts-after-matthew-theunissen-racist-rant-goes-viral">Matthew Theunissen</a>. He posted racist views in response to a decision by the sports minister to ban certain sports from hosting major events due to their lack of racial transformation.</p>
<p>In such cases, there is a need to balance people’s rights to equality, dignity and not to be subjected to racist hate speech against other people’s right to freedom of expression. In racially bruised South Africa, the former rights outweigh the latter. </p>
<p>Similarly, legitimate security concerns might pressure governments to curb certain kinds of internet speech if they threaten public safety. And the rights of children and their need for protection provide legitimate reasons for outlawing child pornography.</p>
<h2>Where South Africa got it wrong</h2>
<p>South Africa erred in voting against the resolution because its concerns are actually addressed by the resolution. </p>
<p>The resolution takes cognisance of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of <a href="http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html">Human Rights</a> and the International Covenant on Civil and <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx">Political Rights</a>. These provide for the consideration of other rights in promoting the right to freedom of expression. </p>
<p>Significantly, South Africa’s constitution provides that free speech is not protected when it advocates hatred based on race, ethnicity, <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/SAConstitution-web-eng-02.pdf">gender and religion</a>. These limitations adequately address the government’s fears in relation to the UN resolution.</p>
<p>What is most disappointing about the South African response is the message it sends about its attitude to its human rights obligations. It also reflects negatively on the country’s standing as being committed to human rights. </p>
<p>South Africans should be concerned with the illiberal positions the government has taken at the UN over the past few years. These include its recent abstention from voting on the appointment of a UN Rapporteur for the protection of <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201607051071.html">sexual minorities</a>. Such actions diminish the aspirations espoused in the country’s <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">Bill of Rights</a>. South Africans deserve better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62112/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penelope Andrews does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>That South Africa has voted against rights enshrined in its globally celebrated, progressive constitution suggests a troubling indifference to its human rights commitments.Penelope Andrews, Dean of Law and Professor, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.