13 December 2000
Source:
http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=00121202.glt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
See critique by Cyber-Rights.
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
_________________________________
12 December 2000
(Signing conference opens in Italy) (550)
The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
signing conference opened in Palermo, Italy December 11. Diplomats
from around the world have gathered to endorse the agreement which,
proponents say, will allow nations to better coordinate efforts to
apprehend and prosecute criminal syndicates operating across national
borders.
According to a December 12 United Nations Newservice release, U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan urged nations to sign and ratify the
agreement quickly in order to combat the surge of organized criminal
activity over the last decade.
The signing conference runs through December 15 in Palermo.
Washington File materials released upon the U.N. General Assembly's
November approval of the convention are available at
http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/traffic/archive/archive.htm
Following is the text of the U.N. Newservice press release.
(begin text)
U.N. Newservice
Signing Conference for UN Convention
Against Organized Crime Opens in Italy
12 December -- International efforts to combat organized crime
received a major boost today as diplomats from across the globe
gathered in Palermo, Italy, to sign a treaty aimed at combating
criminal networks worldwide.
The United Nations Convention against Organized Crime and its two
Protocols -- on trafficking in persons and on the smuggling of
migrants -- were opened for signature at the High-Level Political
Signing Conference, which would run through 15 December.
Addressing the gathering, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all
States to ratify the Convention as soon as possible so that it could
enter into force "as a matter of urgency." He also said that the
trafficking in persons was "one of the most egregious violations of
human rights" confronting the UN, and urged States to ratify the
relevant Protocol "to eliminate this reprehensible trade in human
beings."
"Criminal groups have wasted no time in embracing today's globalized
economy and the sophisticated technology that goes with it, but our
efforts to combat them have remained up to now very fragmented and our
weapons almost obsolete," Mr. Annan said. "The Palermo Convention
gives us a new tool to address the scourge of crime as global
problem."
The Secretary-General told the participants that by lending their
voices, individually and collectively, to the global effort against
organized crime, they would make an important statement -- "a
declaration that we will not accept a world where we must raise our
children in fear."
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Campi also underscored the urgency of
fighting organized crime, stressing, "We cannot waste time." Pointing
out that advancements in information technology had opened new paths
for the spread of criminal activities, he said, "It is up to us to
close off those paths."
The Executive Director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime
Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, said that because the treaty contained "the
most advanced toolkit ever" in the fight against organized crime, it
would constitute a powerful global weapon to combat the world's mafias
in the future.
Today's session began with a minute of silence in honour of those who
lost their lives in the fight against organized crime.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
From: "lawya@cyber-rights.org"
<lawya@cyber-rights.org>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 12:04:12 -0500
To: "press@cyber-rights.org" <press@cyber-rights.org>
Subject: Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) Palermo Statement
This was issued today in Palermo.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/palermo.htm
Cyber-Rights vs Cyber-Crimes
For "the E-media: an avenue for communication or cyber-crime?" United Nations Symposium for the Media on the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, 13 December 2000, Palermo, Italy
Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK) (http://www.cyber-rights.org), is a non profit organisation established to protect the interests of all honest, law abiding Internet users with the aim of promoting free speech and privacy on the Internet. It was founded in 1997 and has been actively involved with the Internet policy making process of the UK government, the European Union, Council of Europe, OECD, and the United Nations.
The Internet as an empowering tool
The Internet is a social, cultural, commercial, educational and entertainment global communications system the legitimate purpose of which is to benefit and empower online users, lowering the barriers to the creation and the distribution of expressions throughout the world. Governments, the Internet industry and the online users have each an important role to play in building and keeping open, consistent with this purpose, global communications networks.
A Proportionate and Effective Response?
We recognise and support the need to counter criminal use of the Internet. Moreover, we also recognise that in countering such use it may sometimes be necessary to infringe the rights of honest Internet users in order to secure the prosecution and conviction of guilty parties.
But in considering such action, we believe that it is necessary to apply the following tests to any proposals that are made:
1) That they provide clear net benefit for society. That is, the benefits are clear and are achievable by the measures proposed, with a detrimental impact on the rights of honest citizens that is as small as possible and one that is widely accepted as tolerable in the light of the gains secured.2) That the measures proposed discriminate effectively between criminals and honest, law abiding citizens. Therefore, they should be balanced and should not, in an impetuous desire to counter crime, expose all honest Internet users to such risks as government access to encryption keys.
3) That of all the options available they are the best in the sense that they are the most effective in countering criminals while having the least impact on honest citizens and the lowest costs for taxpayers and businesses.
4) They should be based on clearly defined policy objectives which citizens understand and which command widespread public support.
5) They should be enforceable, transparent, and accountable.
Respect for Human Rights
Privacy and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights recognised in all major international and regional agreements and treaties:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 12, article 19;The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 17, and article 19
European Convention on Human Rights, article 8 and article 10;
These important international documents should be taken into account while developing policies against cyber-crimes by governments, regional, and international organisations. Any co-ordinated policy initiative at a supranational level (e.g. the European Union or within the Council of Europe in relation to the adoption of the draft Convention on Cyber-crime), or at an international level (e.g. within the OECD, or within G8) should also offer the best protection for individual rights and liberties.
Openness and Transparency in the Policy Making Process
Transparency, openness and accountability are important features of a healthy society. We call for openness, and transparency in relation to cyber-crime policy making process by governments, regional, and international organisations. So far, we have not witnessed openness, and transparency in the drafting of the Council of Europe Cyber-Crime Convention, and in relation to G8 initiatives to fight cyber-crimes.
International forums that discuss policy issues related to cyber-crimes do not include the representatives of NGOs and public interests groups. It is important to consult all interested parties, and such organisations should be included within the policy making process.
Need for accountability in the Global Interception of Communications
Secret surveillance, and interception of all forms of communications including Internet communications cannot be acceptable in democratic societies. By welcoming the decision of the European Parliament to set up a temporary committee to verify the existence of the communications interception system known as ECHELON to assess the compatibility of such a system with Community law, we call for accountability in the global interception of communications. Privacy is not an absolute right, and no one is against the idea of lawful interception of communications. However, we are particularly concerned about the lack of democratic oversight on data being intercepted, stored and processed with systems like ECHELON.
Privacy, Data protection, and Security on the Internet should be encouraged
We call on the member countries of the United Nations to encourage privacy of communications, data protection, and security on the Internet. In developing encryption policies, governments and international organisations should avoid the inclusion of provisions for government access to encryption keys ("GAK") as such provisions could seriously undermine the security of computers and computer data, e-commerce and the integrity of service providers, as well as causing huge potential costs in global key revocation and change. It could also infringe important human rights.
Resist censorship of the Internet
New media historically face suspicion and are liable to excessive regulation as it sparks fears as to the potential detrimental effects it may have on society. Throughout history, governments have overreacted to all forms of communications technologies including the printing press, the telegraph, telephone, post, cinema, radio, television, satellite, and video. Now, the Internet is receiving the same kind of treatment with various attempts to censor its content. However, as the European Court of Human Rights stated "... freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society, one of the basic conditions for its progress," and censorship should be resisted at all costs.
Conclusion
Governments should recognise the value of the global communications networks both at an economic and cultural level and for the benefit of individual freedom and collective democracy. They should co-operate to respect fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression and privacy and should encourage rather than limit the peoples’ usage of the Internet through excessive regulation.
Written by Mr. Yaman Akdeniz,
Director of Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK),
E-mail:
lawya@cyber-rights.org
URL: http://www.cyber-rights.org
and http://www.cyber-rights.net
Phone: 0498 865116
Fax: 07092 199011
Postal Address: Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT.