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Att skriva till riksdagsledamöter är gott och väl, och jag har som sagt skrivit till en sådan. Men de får ju i dessa dagar hundratals mail. Så mitt främsta bidrag till FRA-omröstningen är att jag nu totat ihop och sänt nedanstående brev till USA:s viktigaste MR-organisationer, samt en MR-kunnig redaktör (och gammal lärare till mig) på Associated Press.
Många av adressaterna är personer som jag kommit i kontakt med de senaste åren och, i flera fall, intervjuat om inskränkningar i medborgerliga rättigheter i den amerikanska lagstiftningen (se exempel här). Andra är personer som jag hört föreläsa i olika sammanhang, träffat personligen eller – i några fall – som jag av respektive organisations hemsida förstått följer liknande frågor i USA.
Vi får se om det leder till någon reaktion. Tyvärr fick jag denna idé först idag, inser att det är väldigt ont om tid för att det ska hinna hända något. Men om bara en enda av dessa organisationer reagerar på något vis så har vi "en internationell reaktion". Det tror jag kan göra intryck på en och annan riksdagsledamot.
Dessa MR-organisationer är förresten alla verkligt tunga inom sina områden. CCR är t ex en av de kanske minst kända i Sverige, men den har varit helt epokgörande i sitt arbete för Guantánamofångarnas rättigheter, och var en stor del av medborgarrättsrörelsen i den amerikanska Södern på 1960-talet. Jag har länkat till deras hemsidor för den som vill veta mer. När jag surfade runt där insåg jag hur pinsamt länge sedan det var jag hade möjlighet att skriva något om mänskliga rättigheter, jag har tappat massor av koll.
Avslutningsvis ett litet citat av Eleanor Roosevelt:
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where she works."/Gunilla
P S Det har varit svårt att få fram optimala mailadresser. Brevet har redan studsat från en del av mina adressater. Men jag ska försöka skicka om det så att det kommer fram till åtminstone en person inom varje organisation.
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Elisa Massimino, Human Rights First
Kenneth Roth, Human Rights WatchTom Malinowski, Human Rights Watch
Reed Brody, Human Rights Watch
Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights
Betsy Apple, SIPA
Steven Shapiro, ACLU
John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Kevin Bankston, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Samantha Power, Kennedy School of Government/Harvard University
Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights
Gitanjali Gutierrez, Center for Constitutional Rights
Peter J Spielmann, Associated Press/New York
and everyone else who is monitoring/covering civil rights in Europe and elsewhere
Swedish Parliament Might Enact Troubling Surveillance Law on Wednesday
Dear distinguished human rights advocates (many of you which I have interviewed via telephone or in personal meetings the last several years),
I am a New York-based freelance journalist and mainstream media reporter – usually not at all an activist. But I felt it was timely do make an exception.
I am contacting you in order to bring your attention to an imminent severe infringement on civil rights in Sweden. On Wednesday (June 18), the Swedish parliament is likely to enact a surveillance law, which will let the Swedish National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) scrutinize all communication crossing the borders to Sweden, including e-mails, SMS:s, phone calls, and Internet based information from January 1, 2009.
I don't think this issue has recieved the international attention that it merits at all, and would like to urge you and your organizations to take a close look.
Several Swedish civil rights organizations, journalist associations, scholars, The Swedish Bar Association, the political parties' youth associations, think tanks, most op-ed writers, and even the former head of the Swedish security service have critizised the law for severly restricting the integrity of all citizens, and for being way over the top in the adjustment between individual rights and national security. Google-Sweden has said they will no longer be able to keep servers in Sweden if the law goes into effect – and that the scope of the law brings states such as China and Saudi Arabia, rather than Sweden, to mind.
The law was orginially initiated a few years ago by the then socialdemocratic government, and is now proposed in a slightly altered form by the centre-right coalition government. Very strong pressure from the coalition's four party leaders are pushing all of their MPs to adjust, despite the fact that many of them were elected on a personal mandate and a platform promoting liberal, civil rights and have said they could never vote for a surveillance law.
Since only four individuals need to "switch side" in the vote on Wednesday in order for the law not to pass, there is now heavy campaigning towards potential renegades going on. Unfortunately, many of the MP's don't seem to understand what's on stake: the older don't realize how much of personal communication that goes on online these days, and the younger don't seem to have the experience and integrity to set up against internal pressure and threats they will not get re-nominated.
As I am sure you understand, this law is an extension of The USA Patriot Act and similar American surveillance laws. It violates provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 12) as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. The general public in Sweden – the media and myself included – have only recently started to realize what severe implications the law will have on everyone. A wide debate in the mainstream media has really started only the past week, even though the Swedish blogosphere has been on fire in an unprecedented way the last month.
Unfortunately, very little has been written about this in English. But if you would like to learn more – here are a few news paper texts and blog postings:
http://www.thelocal.se/12426/20080613
http://www.thelocal.se/12252/20080605
http://english.rickfalkvinge.se/2008/05/25/swedish-nsa-to-wiretap-all-phone-internet
http://english.rickfalkvinge.se/2008/06/04/more-on-the-ubiquitous-wiretapping-bill
http://stupid.domain.name/node/649
(A Swedish grassroots web site on the issue offers an automated Google translation into English.)
Feel free to pass this on to people within or without of your organizations who might be interested in giving attention to this issue – and feel free to contact me, if you would like to react to this and/or get recommendations of people in Sweden to learn more from.
The law will be debated in the Swedish parliament on Tuesday, and then the vote takes place on Wednesday morning. Immediate international attention to this issue would be very welcome.
Yours sincerely,
Gunilla Kinn
New York City
1 212 665 56 91/1 917 684 09 66
Freelance journalist
http://gunillakinn2867.sitewelder.com
New York stringer for the Swedish National News Agency
Master of International Affairs, Center for the Study of Human Rights/SIPA/Columbia University
Member of Swedish sections of Reporters Without Borders and Investigative Reporters and Editors
Citizen of Sweden
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Pingat hos Intressant.
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