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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 20 May 1994 09:03:53 -0700
From: Howard Frederick <hfrederick@IGC.APC.ORG>
Subject: People's Communication Charter (pls fwd!)

Dear Friends:  In this message you will find the draft version of the
<<People's Communication Charter>>, written by scholars and activists in
preparation of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 1998.  We wish to solicit individual and organization
endorsements over the next four-year period as we accelerate a campaign
for the adoption of this charter.  If you have comments, please direct
them to Centre for Communication & Human Rights, 111 Baden Powellweg, 1069
LD Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Telefax +31-20- 6104821 Email:
hamelink@antenna.nl

*********************************************************************

PEOPLE'S COMMUNICATION CHARTER

PREAMBLE.

Signatories of this Charter,

Affirming that communication is basic to the life of individuals and
peoples and that communication is crucial in the issues and crises
which affect all members of the world community;

Mindful that communication can be used as a force to support the
powerful and to victimize the powerless and that communication is
fundamental to the shaping of the cultural environment of every
society;


Affirming that communication should contribute towards the empowerment
of people and that the development of just and democratic societies
requires just and democratic communication structures;

Affirming that the formats and contents of communication in most
societies tend to disempower people by withholding information, by
distorting information, by overwhelming people with overloads of
information, or by obstructing people's access to communication
channels;

Recognizing that for many people there is no adequate access to
channels of communication;

Affirming the need that people develop their own communication
channels through which they can speak for themselves;

Recognizing that the rights of communication professionals need to be
secured, but that also the information and communication rights of the
public need to be protected;

Affirming the right of children to be born in a free, fair, diverse
and non-threatening cultural environment;

Recognizing that various forms of censorship, among them interference
with media contents by political, military and commercial interests,
threaten the independence of information provision;

Recognizing that the consolidation of commercial media into a small
number of transnational conglomerates endangers the provision of a
pluralism of opinions and a variety of cultural products;

Recognizing that in many countries information and culture are no
longer primarily provided as public service but for private profit
which may result in an erosion of the public sphere in many societies
and the weakening if not disappearance of existing public media;


Acknowledging that the insecurity of journalists working in situations
of armed conflict keeps news personnel from having the widest access
to sources of information, to travel unhampered, and to transmit
information without unreasonable or discriminatory limitation;

Mindful that in spite of the so called 'information revolution',
today's reality shows an increasing gap between the world's
information-rich and information-poor countries, and between
information-rich and information-poor sectors within societies;

Reaffirming with regard to the freedom of information, the social
responsibility of the mass media, the development of communication,
and the protection of cultural rights the pertinent provisions in
international law as listed in the Annex to the Charter;

Desirous of strengthening current provisions on information,
communication, and culture under international law, and in particular
the mechanisms for their implementation;

Desirous of promoting greater people's participation in the
communication processes of their societies that facilitate political,
economic and social development and secure a peaceful and democratic
order;

Desirous of creating a cultural environment that protects people's
interests and needs;

Convinced that the present Charter contributes to the development of
just and democratic communication processes;

Determined to take new steps towards securing a basic human right to
communicate for all people;

Agree on the adoption of this Charter and hereby set forth the
following guidelines.

OBJECTIVES.

The Charter intends to contribute to a critical understanding of the
significance of communication in the daily lives of individuals and
peoples;

The Charter articulates a shared position on communication from the
perspective of people's interests and needs;

The Charter aims to bring to (national and international) policy
making processes a set of claims that represent people's fundamental
right to communicate.


SCOPE OF APPLICATION.

Signatories to the Charter can be individuals and people's movements
(through their representatives) and as such the scope of application
of the provisions of the Charter will include all such parties.

DEFINITIONS.

The term Charter as used in this Charter means a set of guidelines
voluntarily adopted by parties and used as their common frame of
reference in addressing communication issues.

The term 'parties' as used in this Charter refers to all signatories
of the Charter.

The term 'communication' refers to all interactive processes through
which individuals and communities share opinions, information, and
ideas.

The term 'information' is understood in a very broad sense and
includes opinions and ideas presented in entertainment.

The term 'media' refers to publicly or privately owned mass media for
print or audiovisual communication.

The term 'information providers' refers to private or public
institutions that provide information to the general public and to
those individuals who provide information on behalf of such
institutions.

The term cultural producers refers to those individuals and
institutions who produce and distribute cultural products.

GUIDELINES
GENERAL STANDARDS.

Article 1.
Fundamental to these standards is the conviction that all people are
entitled to the respect of their dignity, integrity, equality, and
liberty.

Article 2.
People have the right to freedom of expression of opinions,
information, and ideas, without interference by public or private
parties. For people to exercise the fundamental right to freedom of
expression there should be free and independent channels of
communication. This means that media should be independent from
governmental, political or economic control or from control of
materials and infrastructures essential to the production and
dissemination of newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and broadcast
programs. Free media are pluralistic media. This means that monopolies
of any kind are impermissible and that current trends towards the
predominantly commercial provision of information and culture should
be controlled.

Article 3.
People have the right to receive opinions, information and ideas.
This implies that people have the right to be informed about matters
of public interest. This includes the right to receive information
which is independent of commercial and political interests, and the
right to receive a range of information and cultural products designed
for a wide variety of tastes and interests.

Article 4.
People have the right to gather information. This includes the right
of access to government information and information on matters of
public interest held by public authorities or private interests. There
can only be restrictions on access to government and privately held
information of public interest if such restrictions are necessary for
the protection of a democratic society or the basic rights of others.

Article 5.
Since information of public interest will often be gathered on behalf
of the people by professionals, effective measures to ensure the
safety of journalists on dangerous missions are essential. To be
secure in their persons, journalists must be accorded full protection
of the law.  For journalists working in zones of armed conflict, the
appropriate provisions in international humanitarian law should be
respected and enforced.  In accordance with these provisions
journalists must be recognized as civilians enjoying rights and
immunities accorded to all civilians in order to conduct their
professional duties without harm. Journalists must have safe,
unrestricted access to sources of information in order to provide the
public with a balanced and adequate reflection of all sides of events.
If these rights are not guaranteed, journalists must be able to seek
justice through an international body protecting human rights.

Article 6.
People have the right to distribute information. This includes fair
and equitable access to media distribution channels and to adequate
resources and facilities.

Article 7.
People have the right of reply. In relation to information concerning
individuals published in any medium, the individuals concerned shall
have an effective possibility for correction, without undue delay, of
incorrect facts relating to them which they have a justified interest
in having corrected, such corrections being given, as far as
practical, the same prominence as the original expression. Individuals
shall have an effective remedy against expressions in any medium which
interfere with their privacy except where legitimate public interests
justify this interference, or against expressions which constitute
violations of their fundamental human rights.


Article 8.
People have the right to a diversity of languages. This includes the
right to express themselves in their own language. This implies the
need to create provisions for minority languages in the media and the
need to promote educational facilities to encourage language learning
by all people without discrimination.

Article 9.
People have the right to protect their cultural identity. This
includes the respect for people's free pursuit of their cultural
development and the right to express existing cultural variety through
the media as well as to receive a variety of cultural expressions.
People have the right to the protection of their local cultural space
and provisions for the protection of cultural heritage should be
established.

Article 10.
People have the right to knowledge. This right includes that no one
shall be arbitrarily deprived of sources of knowledge. The right shall
imply that all peoples and nations have the duty to share with one
another their knowledge. The right also entitles everyone to benefit
from the protection of the immaterial and material interests resulting
from the production of knowledge.

Article 11.
People have the right to participate in public decision making on the
provision of information. This means that there should be ample scope
for public participation in the formulation and implementation of
public information policies.

Article 12.
People have the right to participate in public decision making on the
development and utilisation of knowledge. This means that there should
be ample scope for public participation in the formulation and
implementation of public policies on the generation and application of
knowledge.

Article 13.
People have the right to participate in public decision making on the
preservation, protection and development of culture. This means that
there should be ample scope for public participation in the
formulation and implementation of public cultural policies.

Article 14.
People have the right to participate in public decision making on the
choice, development and application of communication technology. This
means that there should be ample scope for public participation in the
formulation and implementation of public technology policies and the
adoption of technology standards.


Article 15.
All forms of public regulation on communication should be transparent.
This includes the right of the public to receive full information on
public policies in the field of information, knowledge, culture and
communication technology. Public transparency should also extend to
the practices and organizational structures of large private
operators. This means that information on the ownership patterns of
large communication corporations should be publicly accessible.

PROTECTIVE STANDARDS.

Article 16.
People have the right to the protection by law against interference
with their privacy. The media should respect people's right to respect
for their private lives.
Privacy concerns private, family and home life, physical and moral
integrity, honour and reputation, avoidance of being placed in a false
light, non-revelation of irrelevant and embarrassing facts,
unauthorized publication of private photographs, protection against
misuse of private communication, protection from disclosure of
information given or received by the individual confidentially.

Article 17.
People have the right to the protection by law against prejudicial
treatment of their person in the media. This right to be treated in
non-biased ways implies that reporting by the media should refrain
from the use of images that distort the realities and complexities of
people's lives or that fuel prejudice by discriminatory descriptions
of people and situations, and that neglect the dignity and ability of
opponents in national, racial or ethnic conflict.
The media should also contribute to the modification of the social and
cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to
achieving the elimination of prejudice and all other practices which
are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either
of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

Article 18.
People have the right to respect for the standard of due process in
the coverage of criminal cases by the media. This standard implies
that the media should not declare defendants guilty before courts have
established a verdict of guilt.

Article 19.
People have the right to be protected against misleading and distorted
information. This right concerns the dissemination of news, the
provision of consumer information, and in particular advertising
directed at children.
News dissemination should be based on accuracy and impartiality.  The
provision of consumer information should be guided by the consumer's
right to protection of health and safety, to protection of economic
interests, the right of redress and the right of representation.

Article 20.
People's fundamental right to communicate under international human
rights law can only be restricted if limitations are prescribed by
international law and are necessary in democratic societies.

ACCOUNTABILITY and LIABILITY.

Article 21.
The media should establish mechanisms to address their accountability
to the general public. This can be done through self-regulatory bodies
set up the media, and through the adoption of editorial statutes in
print and audio- visual media in order to strengthen editorial
independence. The media should undertake to submit to firm ethical
principles guaranteeing the freedom of expression and the fundamental
right of citizens to receive accurate and full information on matters
of public interest.

Article 22.
Media users should organize themselves and establish voluntary
associations through which they monitor and assess the performance of
the media. These associations could include experts from the academic
community.

Article 23.
People have the right to hold information providers accountable for
the accuracy of their information and establish liability in case
inaccurate information causes damage. This should not construe undue
limits for the freedom of expression, but if proven in a court of law
that an information provider has willfully disseminated inaccurate or
misleading information or has facilitated the dissemination of such
information by gross negligence people should have recourse to
compensation in case damage can be established.

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Article 24.
People have the right to acquire the skills necessary to participate
fully in public communication. This requires programmes for basic
literacy in reading and writing as well as media literacy and critical
education about the role of communication in society. This right
should enable people to become critical users and producers of
information and culture.

Article 25.
People have the right to participate in, contribute to and enjoy the
development of self-reliant communication infrastructures.  This right
includes international assistance to the development of independent
media, training programmes for professional mediaworkers, the
establishment of independent, representative associations, syndicates
or trade unions of journalists and associations of editors and
publishers, and international co- operation in the field of policy
making, regulation and management of media.

PEOPLE'S RESPONSIBILITIES.

Article 26.
In accordance with international law all people have the
responsibility to strive towards the respect of human rights.  In the
light of this responsibility we urge all people to contribute to the
implementation of the provisions of this Charter. We recommend
strongly that users of media should form (national and international)
coalitions to promote people's right to communicate.

ENFORCEMENT OF THE CHARTER

In order to ensure and promote the enforcement of the Charter, Parties
shall:

A.  General provisions:
a.  publicize and disseminate the Charter;
b.  ensure the enforcement of the provisions of the Charter within their
own movements;
c.  monitor in their own environment the performance of media and
information providers and producers of culture in the light of the
standards proposed in the Charter;
d.  report regularly about the enforcement of the Charter to a
Commission for the Enforcement of the Charter.

  B.  Institutional provisions:
A Commission for the Enforcement of the Charter shall be established
by all parties adopting the Charter.

Functions of the Commission.
a.  To coordinate the monitoring of the enforcement of the Charter;
b.  To receive complaints about violations of the provisions of the
Charter from parties and non-parties to the Charter.
c.  To arbitrate in cases of appeal.
d.  To specify, extend and adapt the Charter.
e.  To coordinate the regular review of the Charter.

Procedures.
ad b. Everyone who observes a violation of provisions of the Charter
by parties signatory to the Charter or by media, information providers
and producers of culture can lodge a written complaint against those
parties with the Commission. The Commission will inform Parties
involved through a copy of the letter of complaint and ask them for a
defence.
The Commission can decide to hear plaintiffs and defendants.
Plaintiff and defendant are informed in writing about the judgment the
Commission has achieved.
The Commission can judge a complaint to be well-founded or unfounded.
Arbitration will in cases of appeal will follow an agreed and
specified procedure.
ad e. The review should be re-current and the first formal review
should take place not later than five years after adoption of the
Charter.

ANNEX.

With regard to the freedom of information standards are set by Article
19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by Unesco
Resolutions 3.2. of 1983 and 4.1 of 1991 on the Right to Communicate;
by the provisions on information of the 1975 Final Act of the
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe; by the 1991 Unesco
Declaration of Windhoek; and by Article 13 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.

With regard to the social responsibility of mass media standards are
set by the 1978 Unesco Declaration on Fundamental Principles
concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace
and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and
to Countering Racialism, Apartheid and Incitement to War; by Article 4
of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination; by Article 5 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and by
Article 17 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

With regard to the development of communication standards are set by
the UN Declaration on the Right to Development of 196; and by Unesco
Resolution 4.1. of 1991 on Communication for development.

With regard to the protection cultural rights standards are set by
Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; by Article 15
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
and by the 1966 Unesco Declaration of the Principles of International
Cultural Co-operation.

[This is the fourth draft version of the Charter was coordindated by
Cees J. Hamelink and benefitted from contributions made by Howard
Frederick, George Gerbner, David Goldberg, Wolfgang Kleinwaechter,
Kaarle Nordenstreng and students at Ohio State University (USA), the
American University at Washington DC (USA), the University of
Amsterdam (the Netherlands), and the Institute of Social Studies at