Conceptualising accountability and recourse - 2011 - Internet rights and democratisation
Posted in: Governance at 21/04/2012 21:34
Introduction
The modern foundations of international human rights rest on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Charter of the United Nations (UN). [The United Nations officially came into existence after ratification of the Charter on 24 October 1945. ] The UDHR affirmed human rights are universal, inalienable and interconnected. The human rights framework recognises both the right of states to govern and the duty of states to respect, protect and promote human rights.
The global transformation of human rights from moral or philosophical imperatives into a framework of rights that are legally recognised between nations continued into the 21st century, but this basic framework has been reaffirmed by UN member states and remains the foundation of human rights today [The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights reaffirmed that human rights are indivisible and interrelated and that no right is superior to another.
UN General Assembly (1993) Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, Article 5.] . The internet has been used to create new spaces in which human rights can be exercised and new spaces in which rights violations can take place. This report looks at human rights concepts, the internet and accountability mechanisms for internet-related human rights violations ["Accountability mechanisms" range from international mechanisms, to litigation, to community action and lawful forms of protest].
http://giswatch.org/en/internet-rights/conceptualising-accountability-and-recourse
