[WSIS CS-Plenary] South African Civil Society Submission

[nnenna nwakanma]

A million thanks to SANGONet and the all you guys for this.  Here are my few observations:
 
The mentioned group of South African CSOs does not claim to
speak for South African civil society in general. 
 
In as much as the question of representation exists, SANGONet represents,  to a large extent, the views of the South African Civil Society Network, and therefore, should not be minimized.
 
While we understand that the WSIS has no explicit normative nor programmatic objective (no treaty is expected out of it, nor does it have decision-making power to unleash new funding), we consider that it offers a unique framework at the international level, where not only different visions can be shared among a variety of stakeholders and cultures, but also basic agreements on the shape of future policies could emerge
 
It is therefore contrary to the spirit of the Summit, that Legal Instruments, like the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrimes be called into the process as a foundation to any action on Cybercrime.
 
We are opposed to the Council of Europe's Cybercrime Convention. Civil society organisations have been working for a number of years to educate and inform the convention's development to little avail and are now opposing its ratification because of its overly broad mandate, its insensitivity to local issues and its disregard for civil liberties. 
 
This Convention is yet to be accepted in Europe by the CSOs.  It is problematic in form and content.  The additional protocols are yet to get the Convention into an acceptable shape.  The issue gets more problematic when transposed to the African and Asian legal environments.  We believe that "consent" and "agreement" should underline all WSIS processes.  The Convention, being in contradiction to the basic international negotiation principles, should not figure anywhere in the WSIS Declaration and Action Plan.
 
 
Very best
 
Nnenna



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