ICT4Peace is happy to endorse the Joint Statement of 13 Civil Society Organisations at the UN First Committee on Peace and Security in Cyberspace.
The full Joint Statement to the General Assembly First Committee can be found here and the recommendations are as follows:
“.. the 13 organisations endorsing this statement offer the following recommendations to member states at the First Committee:
- Halt the development and deployment of intentionally harmful cyber capabilities, strategies, and doctrines, in particular those directed against critical infrastructure, including health and information infrastructure, and the public core of the Internet.
- Implement the already-agreed norms for behaviour in cyber space while seeking common understandings about how international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, applies to state action in cyber space.
- States should follow through on the recommendations in the GGE and OEWG final reports to publicly release statements on how they understand their own obligations for responsible behaviour under international law.
- States should also invoke international law or refer to the UN norms when condemning state-led and -sponsored cyber actions to build awareness of and support for legal and normative limitations.
- Close the existing accountability gap by adopting multilateral mechanisms that will foster transparency, uphold state responsibility, and prevent conflict, as well as deter technology- enabled human rights abuses.
- States should establish a permanent forum to consider international cyber peace matters. After 23 years of UN cyber talks, ad-hoc deliberations do not go far enough to meaningfully address current and future threats. While the establishment of the second OEWG is welcome, continuity is important. In this regard, the proposal for a cyber programme of action, now supported by over 50 states, merits expedited examination.
- Whether in the second OEWG or a future permanent forum, states should prioritise establishing accountability mechanisms. Proposals have already been circulated in the OEWG and elsewhere, that variously outline possible peer review processes, surveys, reporting practices, and the creation of structures for independent and impartial attribution.
- Recognise the human rights impact of international cyber operations and refrain from using cyber security-related laws, policies, and practices as a pretext to violate human rights and fundamental freedoms.
- Ensure the regular and meaningful participation of non-governmental stakeholders in the second OEWG and in any future UN forums. Diverse actors have an established role to play in operationalising and promoting the cyber norms and relevant international law, building capacity and resilience, and in monitoring and responding to cyber incidents. This experience and expertise needs to be better integrated into UN cyber dialogues.
- Seek complementarity and communication between and among the various processes on cyber-related issues and digital security, including those established by the First Committee, the Third Committee, the UN Secretary-General, and related human rights and technical bodies.”
ICT4Peace is particularly pleased that the following two ICT4Peace Calls to Governments have been reflected in this Statement:
- 2019 ICT4Peace Call to Governments to publicly commit to the UN GGE Norm not to attack Critical Infrastructure at all times, delivered at the UN OEWG: Critical Infrastructure and Offensive Cyber Operations A Call to Governments
- To close the accountability gap ICT4Peace submitted to the OEWG a proposal for a State Peer-Review Mechanism: “States Cyber Peer Review Mechanism” for state-conducted foreign cyber operations
Kindly also see the following critical ICT4Peace Inputs and Commentaries on the UN OEWG and UN GGE Processes on Peace and Security in Cyberspace:
