UNITED NATIONS: A UN General Assembly committee yesterday called for an end to excessive electronic surveillance and expressed concern at the harm such scrutiny, including spying in foreign states and the mass collection of personal data, may have on human rights.
The UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with human rights issues, adopted the German and Brazilian-drafted resolution by consensus. It is expected to be put to a vote in the 193-member General Assembly next month.
“For the first time in the framework of the United Nations this resolution unequivocally states that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online,” German UN Ambassador Peter Wittig told the committee.
The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — known as the Five Eyes surveillance alliance — supported the draft resolution after language that had initially suggested foreign spying could be a human rights violation was weakened to appease them.
The draft text does not name specific countries but comes after former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden released details this year of a global spying program by the NSA, sparking international outrage.
“We firmly believe that privacy rights and the right to freedom of expression must be respected both online and offline,” US delegate Elizabeth Cousens told the committee after the draft resolution was adopted.
Cousens said it was imperative that human rights and civil society activists be able to use the Internet freely and without fear of reprisal to protect “dignity, fight against repression, and hold governments, including mine, accountable.”
The draft resolution notes “that while concerns about public security may justify the gathering and protection of certain sensitive information, States must ensure full compliance with their obligations under international human rights law.”
REUTERS
