Draft Text Enhances Government Surveillance Across Borders but Offers Weak Checks and Balances
New York—On Wednesday, 23 August, at 1:30 pm Eastern Time (10:30 am Pacific Time, 6:30pm BST) ARTICLE 19 and experts from five international allies will brief reporters about critical flaws in the draft UN Cybercrime Treaty that threaten human rights.
The treaty, under negotiation by UN Member States for more than a year, is intended to foster international cooperation against cybercrime. It will facilitate the rewriting of criminal laws around the world, potentially expanding the criminalisation of online speech and expanding cross-border surveillance by law enforcement.
Without strong human rights safeguards, the draft treaty could severely undermine the privacy, freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights of millions of people, in particular journalists, activists, and people and groups who face discrimination and marginalisation.
Speakers at the briefing include experts on human and digital rights who are participating in treaty negotiations as observers. They will highlight key concerns emerging in the first week of the treaty’s sixth negotiating session, where the draft text will be reviewed. The session is scheduled at the UN in New York from 21 August through 1 September.
The briefing will be live-streamed from New York. Reporters are invited to attend in person or participate online. Registration details for online and in-person participation are below.
WHAT:
Media Briefing on critical human rights issues at stake in the draft UN Cybercrime Treaty.
To join the news conference remotely, please register using the following link to receive the webinar ID and password:
https://hrworg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M7XzpMzVQKKyElsF7g-MIA
Media accreditation for members of the press attending in person can be obtained here: https://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/accreditation.shtml
SPEAKERS:
Deborah Brown, Senior Researcher and Advocate on Technology and Rights, Human Rights Watch
Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Policy Director and Senior International Counsel, Access Now
Victor Kapiyo, Lawyer and Human Rights Defender, Kenya ICT Action Network
Katitza Rodriguez, Policy Director for Global Privacy, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Carey Shenkman, Human Rights Attorney, ARTICLE 19
Moderator:
Ioannis Kouvakas, Senior Legal Officer and Assistant General Counsel, Privacy International
WHEN:
Wednesday, 23 August at 1:30 p.m. EST/10:30 am PST/18:30 BST
WHERE:
United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Briefing Room
United Nations Secretariat Building
405 East 42nd Street
Room S-308
New York, NY 1001
For more about the latest draft of the UN Cybercrime Treaty:
Contact:
Natasha Schmidt
ARTICLE 19, +44 20 732 42500, [email protected], twitter: @article19org