The United States and key allies are working to weaken rights that protect citizens against unlawful surveillance. And human rights groups want the United Nations to do something about it.
Germany and Brazil, alleged targets of US eavesdropping, have drafted a resolution that has remained mostly intact despite attempts by the “Five Eyes” - the US, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and Australia - to water it down.
Though there was a compromise in language, the resolution still contends that surveillance, especially conducted on a mass scale, can have “negative impact” on the “enjoyment of human rights.”
The group, which includes Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, is asking the UN’s human rights chief to report to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on these concerns, and the group believes the issue will receive international support.
The UN is expected to vote on the resolution next week. Ask the UN to protect our privacy online!
We, the undersigned, need support of the international community to ensure protection of rights to privacy online and against unlawful surveillance.
Although UN General Assembly rulings on resolutions are not legally binding, they do reflect the majority of international views and “carry moral and political weight," says an Associated Press report.
Germany’s UN spokesman Christian Doktor told the AP he believes the resolution is necessary and will receive strong international support because of widespread concern and anger over accounts of U.S eavesdropping on Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Certainly if computers of these powerful people can be hacked and their phone conversations intercepted, private individuals are even less protected from government eavesdropping.
Doktor added that the resolution is about protecting privacy against any kind of unlawful surveillance - no matter the author.
We request that the UN General Assembly vote to protect our privacy online.
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