An open letter to David Cameron

This is an open letter to David Cameron from a coalition of 70 of the leading human rights organisations in the world. I don't often appropriate other people's words, but in this case I'll make an exception and quote the letter and the signatories in full before adding my own comment at the end.

                

Dear Prime Minister,

We have joined together as an international coalition of free speech, media freedom and human rights organisations because we believe that the United Kingdom government's response to the revelations of mass surveillance of digital communications is eroding fundamental human rights in the country. The government's response has been to condemn, rather than celebrate, investigative journalism, which plays a crucial role in a healthy democratic society.

We are alarmed at the way in which the UK government has reacted, using national security legislation against those who have helped bring this public interest information to global attention. We are concerned about:

• The use of Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to detain the Brazilian media worker, David Miranda on 18 August 2013 at London Heathrow Airport. Miranda was carrying journalistic material on behalf of the UK's Guardian newspaper and is the partner of the journalist, Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story of mass surveillance of digital communications by the UK and USA
• The sustained pressure against the UK's Guardian newspaper for reporting the disclosures of whistleblower, Edward Snowden, including sending officials to force the Guardian to destroy hard drives allegedly containing information from Snowden
• Your call on 16 October 2013 for a House of Commons Select Committee to review whether the Guardian has damaged national security by publishing material provided by Edward Snowden, and a subsequent announcement that the review will be conducted by the Home Affairs Select Committee as part of their inquiry into anti-terrorism.

We believe these actions clearly violate the right to freedom of expression, which is protected under British, European and international law. Under such laws, the right to freedom of expression includes the protection of both journalists, and those that assist them in the course of their vital work.

The right to freedom of expression and media freedom enable the free flow of information in order for the public to hold their governments to account. While the protection of national security can be a legitimate ground for restricting the right under international law, such restrictions are narrowly defined. Governments must show that a restriction is necessary to achieve a legitimate purpose and must be proportionate to the aim pursued. The presumption in favour of freedom of expression requires governments to demonstrate that the expression will actually harm national security; it is not sufficient to simply say that it will.

National security should never be used to justify preventing disclosures of illegalities or wrongdoing, no matter how embarrassing such disclosures may be to the UK or other governments. In the case of Snowden and the Guardian, the disclosures have facilitated a much-needed public debate about mass surveillance in a democracy, and exposed the possible violation of the fundamental human rights of millions of people worldwide. As such, no liability should be incurred as the benefit to the public outweighs the demonstrable harm to national security.

We also believe that this use of national security will have dangerous consequences for the right to freedom of expression and media freedom in the UK and beyond, creating a hostile and intimidating environment and discouraging those who could reveal uncomfortable truths and hold those in power to account. We are concerned that this will further create negative consequences for the reputation of the UK as an advocate for the protection and realisation of the right to freedom of expression and media freedom worldwide. States with little regard for the human rights of their people will seek to use the UK's example to legitimise their own repressive practices.

The UK has a strong history of democracy, and while targeted surveillance may play an important role in protecting national security, in doing so it should not erode the very values it seeks to protect. We call on you to honour the UK's international obligations to defend and protect the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, and to end the UK government's pressure on the Guardian and those who assist them.

Yours Sincerely,

Gergana Jouleva, Access to Information Programme, Bulgaria
Mircea Toma, ActiveWatch, Romania
Ahmad Quraishi, Afghanistan Journalists Center
Remzi Lani, Albanian Media Institute
Thomas Hughes, ARTICLE 19, international
Zuliana Lainez, Asociacion Nacional de Periodistas del Peru (ANP)
Khaled Amami, Association of Citizenship and Digital Culture (ACCUN), Tunisia
Jasna Milanovic, Association of Independent Electronic Media, Serbia

Hans de Zwart, Bits for Freedom, Netherlands

Guilherme Alpendre, Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism
Yuri Dzhibladze, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Russia
Ramana Sorn, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
Laura Tribe, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Olexandra Matviichuk, Center for Civil Liberties, Ukraine
Ioana Avadani, Center for Independent Journalism, Romania
Masjaliza Hamzah, Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia
Paul Dawnson Formaran, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippines
Dr Leila Alieva, Center for National and International Studies, Azerbaijan
Edison Lanza, Centro de Archivos y Acceso a la Información Pública (CAinfo), Uruguay
Cristian Horchert, Chaos Computer Club, Germany

Kate Watters, Crude Accountability, USA

Jillian York, Electronic Frontier Foundation, international
Jo Glanville, English PEN
Shiva Gaunle, Federation of Nepali Journalists
Karim Lahidji, FIDH / International Federation for Human Rights
Andres D'Alessandro, Foro de Periodismo Argentino, Argentina
Chiranuch Jiew, Foundation for Community Educational Media (Prachatai), Thailand
Trevor Timm, Freedom of the Press Foundation, USA
Ayushjav Tumurbaatar, Globe International Center, Mongolia
Eka Popkhadze, GYLA, Georgia
Artus Sakunts, Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Armenia
Avetik Ishkhanyan, Helsinki Committee of Armenia

Danuta Przywara, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Poland

Eldar Zeynalov, Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan
Rasul Jafarov, Human Rights Club, Azerbaijan
Robert Ssempala, Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda
Sanar Yurdatapan, Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Turkey
Emin Huseynov, Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Azerbaijan
Mayumi Ortecho, Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, Latin America
Elizabeth Ballantine, Inter American Press Association
Ann-Sofie Nyman, International Partnership for Human Rights, Belgium
Alison Bethel McKenzie, International Press Institute
Yevgeniy Zhovtis, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Mariya Yasenovska, Kharkiv Regional Foundation 'Public Alternative', Ukraine

Alban Muriqi, Kosova Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims

Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty, UK
Prof. Amal Jamal, Media Center for Arab Palestinians, Israel
Meri Bekeshova, Media Workers' Trade Union of Kyrgyz Republic
Nani Jansen, Media Legal Defence Initiative, UK
Soe Myint, Mizzima, Myanmar
Ludmilla Alexeeva, Moscow Helsinki Group
Omar Faruk Osman, National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)
Andre Loconte, Net Users' Rights Protection Association (NURPA), Belgium
Gunnar M. Ekelove-Slydal, Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Alberto Cerda, ONG Derechos Digitales, Chile
Makereta Komai, Pacific Islands News Association

Owais Aslam Ali, Pakistan Press Foundation

Mousa Rimawi, Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms
Larry Siems, PEN American Center
Tasleem Thawar, PEN Canada
Laura McVeigh and Anders Heger, PEN International
Gus Hosein, Privacy International
Natalia Taubina, Public Verdict, Russia
Christophe Deloire, Reporters Without Borders, international
Oleksandra Sverdlova, No Borders Project, Social Action Center, Ukraine
Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Southeast Asian Press Alliance
Nalini Elumalai, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Alison Meston, WAN-IFRA, international

Maria Pia Matta Cerna, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)

Arthur Gwagwa, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum

This letter makes a number of hugely important points, including the fact that investigative journalism is a vital part of democracy and that it is not sufficient for a government to simply claim that national security has been harmed, it is necessary for them to actually demonstrate it with empirical evidence (something that Cameron and his bully boys have abjectly failed to do). These are very important points, but for me the most important point of all is the assertion that "states with little regard for the human rights of their people will seek to use the UK's example to legitimise their own repressive practices". It is utterly appalling that human rights advocacy groups representing citizens suffering under horrific repressive regimes (such as Tunisia, Nepal, Palestine, Myanmar, Zimbabwe) are now pleading for David Cameron to stop his repressive practices because by doing so he's furnishing human rights abusers across the globe with the excuse that "if the UK can do it, then so can we".

I made a number of similar points in reaction to Cameron's efforts to punish the Guardian for daring to reveal the true scale of the NSA / GCHQ mass surveillance operation. You can read those here: David Cameron's witch hunt against truth and openness.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time a huge international coalition has damned David Cameron's government. In February 2013 an international coalition of civil liberties groups wrote a letter of protest against the introduction of Secret Courts in which they stated that "If the UK Parliament passes this proposal into law it will be a huge setback for those of us fighting to secure truth and fairness from our own governments and within our own justice systems across the world". Not only were the international community appalled by the introduction of secret courts, the UK legal profession was too. More than 700 legal professionals signed this letter which damned Secret Courts as a dangerous attack on fair and open justice.

David Cameron and his revolting allies in the Illiberal Democrats ignored all of these concerns and legislated secret courts into existence regardless. Perhaps the most appalling thing of all is that just a few months after voting secret courts into existence, Nick Clegg and the Illiberal Democrats have decided that they are now going to campaign against the totalitarian measures they themselves voted into existence.

One positive development is that there are a few members of the Tory party that seem to be waking up to the fact that David Cameron is a totalitarian with no regard for justice or human rights. Hopefully when Cameron is ejected as Tory leader, he will be replaced by someone from the (tiny) libertarian faction of the party such as David Davis, Dominic Raab or even Boris Johnson. They may still be Tories, but at least they have more respect for human rights, freedom of the press and individual liberties than the current leader of their party.

I fully endorse the contents of the letter to David Cameron. If you support it too, feel free to add your name in the comments section below and forward a link to this article to your local MP to request that they explain their stance on the issues of mass surveillance and secret courts. Your local MP has a statutory obligation to reply to you as long as you include your full name and address in the correspondence.

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