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	Internet surveillance - Enemies of the Internet by Reporters Without Borders   Today, 12 March, World Day Against Cyber-Censorship, Reporters Without Borders is releasing a Special report on Internet surveillance, available at surveillance.rsf.org/en.   It looks at the way governments are increasingly using technology that monitors online activity and intercepts electronic communication in order to arrest journalists, citizen-journalists and dissidents. Around 180 netizens worldwide are currently in prison for providing news and information online.   For this year’s “Enemies of the Internet” report, Reporters Without Borders has identified Five State Enemies of the Internet, five “spy” states that conduct systematic online surveillance that results in serious human rights violations. They are Syria, China, Iran, Bahrain and Vietnam. Surveillance in these countries targets dissidents and has grown in recent months. Cyber-attacks and intrusions, including the use of malware against dissidents and their networks, are on the increase.   China, whose Electronic Great Wall is probably the world’s most sophisticated censorship system, has stepped up its war on the use of anonymization tools and has enlisted private-sector Internet companies to help monitor Internet users.   Iran has taken online surveillance to a new level by developing its own national Internet, or “Halal Internet.”   As regards Syria, Reporters Without Borders has obtained an unpublished document – a 1999 invitation by the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment to bid for a national Internet network in Syria – which shows that its Internet was designed from the outset to include extensive filtering and surveillance.   Without advanced technology, authoritarian regimes would not be able to spy on their citizens. Reporters Without Borders has for the first time compiled a list of five “Corporate Enemies of the Internet,” five private sector companies that it regards as “digital era mercenaries” because they sell products that are used by authoritarian governments to commit violations of human rights and freedom of information. They are Gamma, Trovicor, Hacking Team, Amesys and Blue Coat.   Trovicor’s surveillance and interception products have enabled Bahrain’s royal family to spy on news providers and arrest them. In Syria, Deep Packet Inspection products developed by Blue Coat made it possible for the regime to spy on dissidents and netizens throughout the country, and to arrest and torture them.   Eagle products supplied by Amesys were discovered in the offices of Muammar Gaddafi’s secret police. Malware designed by Hacking Team and Gamma has been used by governments to capture the passwords of journalists and netizens.   “Online surveillance is a growing danger for journalists, citizen-journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.   “Regimes seeking to control news and information increasingly prefer to act discreetly. Rather than resort to content blocking that generates bad publicity and is early circumvented, they prefer subtle forms of censorship and surveillance that their targets are often unaware of.   “As surveillance hardware and software provided by companies based in democratic countries is being used to commit grave human rights violations, and as the leaders of these countries say they condemn violations of online freedom of expression, it is time they took firm measures. Above all, they should impose strict controls on the export of digital arms to countries that flout fundamental rights.”   Negotiations between governments already led in July 1996 to the Wassenaar Arrangement, which aims to promote “transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilizing accumulations.” Forty countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States are nowadays party to the agreement.   By demonstrating the importance of online information, the Arab Spring reinforced authoritarian governments’ understanding of the advantages of monitoring and controlling Internet data and communication. Democratic countries also seem increasingly ready to yield to the siren song of the need for surveillance and cyber-security at any cost. This is evident from all the potentially repressive laws and bills such as FISAA and CISPA in the United States, the Communications Data Bill in Britain and the Wetgeving Bestrijding Cybercrime in the Netherlands.   Reporters Without Borders has made a “digital survival kit” available on the WeFightCensorship.org website in order to help online news providers evade increasingly active and intrusive surveillance. Visit the related web page
	Flogging violates the absolute prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman treatment by Amnesty International   March 2013   In a welcome move, the government of Maldives has added its voice to the mounting national and international concern about the sentence of flogging the Juvenile Court imposed on 15 year old girl.   The girl, who had been sexually abused, was sentenced on 26 February 2013 to 100 lashes and eight months’ house arrest on a charge of “fornication”.   Amnesty International called on the government of Maldives to ensure the girl is not flogged and the punishment is removed from Maldivian law.   In a statement, the government has acknowledged that the girl should be treated as a victim and not an offender and “her rights should be fully protected”.   Amnesty International supports the government’s view that all cases of child abuse including sexual abuse should be viewed “through a human rights lens” based on the “best interest of the child”.   Amnesty International looks forward to the quashing of the girl’s flogging sentence.   In addition, the girl must not be detained including under house arrest, because she has not committed a crime under international human rights law.   Her right to move about freely and safely must be respected.   The girl’s need for protection is all the more urgent as religious groups in Maldives have publicly supported her flogging.   Flogging violates the absolute prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.   The Maldives acceded to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on 20 April 2004, and must comply with its international law obligations.   Amnesty International calls on the Government of Maldives to ensure that no one is flogged.   The government must also act immediately to amend Maldivian law to remove the provisions that allow flogging.   Amnesty International also calls upon all political parties to support our call to end the practice of flogging in the Maldives.   Furthermore, any punishment for “fornication” amounts to the criminalization of consensual sexual activity inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression, privacy and sexual autonomy.   Recent media reports suggest that almost 90% of the individuals convicted of “fornication” in 2011 were women.   The Maldives acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women on 1 July 1993 and has the obligation to amend all laws or regulations which are discriminatory to women.   To this end, the government must ensure that the judicial process is initiated in order to overturn the conviction against the 15-year old girl for “fornication” and take action to remove provisions in the law which criminalize “fornication”.   Finally, as a survivor of rape, the girl also has a right to be provided with appropriate support services by the government.   This can include rehabilitation, treatment, counselling, and health and social services.   Amnesty International calls upon the Government of the Maldives to ensure that the girl has access to the care and protection she needs and further action is taken to prevent other girls from such harm.   Amnesty Report: No longer business as usual for injustice, by Salil Shetty.   The courage shown by protesters in the past 12 months has been matched by a failure of leadership that makes the UN Security Council seem tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose, Amnesty International said as it launched its 50th global human rights report with a call for a strong global Arms Trade Treaty later this year.   “Failed leadership has gone global in the last year, with politicians responding to protests with brutality or indifference. Governments must show legitimate leadership and reject injustice by protecting the powerless and restraining the powerful. It is time to put people before corporations and rights before profits,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International Secretary General.   The vocal and enthusiastic support for the protest movements shown by many global and regional powers in the early months of 2011, has not translated into action. As Egyptians go to the polls to vote for a new president, it looks increasingly as if the opportunities for change created by the protesters are being squandered.   “In the last year it has all too often become clear that opportunistic alliances and financial interests have trumped human rights as global powers jockey for influence in the Middle East and North Africa,” said Salil Shetty.   “The language of human rights is adopted when it serves political or corporate agendas, and shelved when inconvenient or standing in the way of profit.”   A failure to intervene in Sri Lanka and inaction over crimes against humanity in Syria – one of Russia’s main customers for arms – left the UN Security Council looking redundant as a guardian of global peace. The emerging powerhouses of India, Brazil and South Africa have too often been complicit through their silence.   “There is a clear and compelling case for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity. The determination of some UN Security Council members to shield Syria at any cost leaves accountability for these crimes elusive and is a betrayal of the Syrian people,” said Salil Shetty.   Amnesty International Report 2012 documents specific restrictions on free speech in at least 91 countries as well as cases of people tortured or otherwise ill-treated in at least 101 countries – in many cases for taking part in demonstrations.   “Ousting individual leaders – however tyrannical – is not enough to deliver long-term change. Governments must uphold freedom of expression at home and abroad, take international responsibilities seriously, and invest in systems and structures that ensure justice, freedom and equality before the law.”   The UN meeting to agree an Arms Trade Treaty in July will be an acid test for politicians to place rights over self-interest and profit. Without a strong treaty, the UN Security Council’s guardianship of global peace and security seems doomed to failure; its permanent members wielding an absolute veto on any resolution despite being the world’s largest arms suppliers.   “Protesters have shown that change is possible. They have thrown down a gauntlet demanding that governments stand up for justice, equality and dignity. They have shown that leaders who don’t meet these expectations will no longer be accepted. After an inauspicious start 2012 must become the year of action,” said Salil Shetty.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/report-2012-no-longer-business-usual-tyranny-and-injustice-2012-05-24 Visit the related web page
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