The signatories, as Latin American organizations working at the intersection between technology and human rights, see with concern and horror the response of our governments to the massive social protests that are taking place in Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador.
In particular, we reject the way in which governments are using different digital technologies to favor the repression, criminalization and persecution of protesters and their legitimate right to assemble and express themselves peacefully, in a way that can only be defined as undemocratic and contrary to fundamental rights.
In Ecuador, the evidence demonstrates affectations and temporary interruptions of certain social networks, mobile communications, websites and internet connection during the protest, substantially interfering with the right of people to organize, communicate and inform themselves. Although there is no conclusive evidence that the erratic behavior of the network was the product of a state exercise of repression, that possibility has not been ruled out either.
In Colombia, the Government has carried out an aggressive communication campaign to discourage protest, using all social media accounts of state institutions for that purpose. In addition, in the prelude to the date called for demonstrations, messages were sent to cellphone users via SMS to discourage participation . Additionally, abusive practices have been deployed by the police, such as the requirement to show their social networks and cell phone contacts in the requisitions for protesters.
In Chile, reports of investigations and intimidation actions initiated by the police have been reported, using data obtained as a result of monitoring social networks in search of such critics of the government and the police, and in favor of the protest. At the same time, the Metropolitan Municipality has announced the increase in the number of operational surveillance cameras in the city of Santiago and the implementation of a facial recognition system, which also coincides with a worrisome bill that qualifies the legitimate as an aggravating right to cover your face during a demonstration.
In Bolivia, it has been reported that some prominent social media accounts dedicated to the dissemination of relevant information regarding the protest have seen their activity restricted. At the same time, coordinated actions to censor relevant content have been denounced and a significant increase in violence against communicators and journalists, which include attacks, physical threats and actions to expose private information and online harassment. On the other hand, security forces have tried to limit the registration of their activities during the protests, through the confiscation of equipment, the indiscriminate use of tear gas and the threat of arrest against those who photograph and record police actions. Cases have also been reported in which police have seized devices with the objective of collecting private information.
It is relevant to note that the situations described here occur in a context in which protesters are being beaten, harassed, tortured, mutilated and killed by law enforcement – police and military. Thus, it becomes clear that the persecution of the protest on the internet or through digital technologies is an extension of the violence to which those who decide to go out to the streets to express their discontent are exposed.
To protest is a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights, and is one of the foundations of any truly democratic society, so it must be guaranteed, secured and promoted by the governments of the region. We strongly condemn the repression of the protest, the unusual violence that is unfolding and the use of technology to exacerbate it.
We demand that our governments give political solutions to the deep problems expressed by the citizens, in a framework of respect and commitment to democratic values and fundamental rights.
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Artículo 19
Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC)
Asociación parapor el Progreso de las Comunicaciones (APC)
C-Libre
Coding Rights
Colectiva de Feminista para el Desarrollo Local
Comité por la Libre Expresión (Honduras)
Cooperativa Tierra Común
Creative Commons Uruguay
Derechos Digitales
Espacio Público (Venezuela)
Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente
Fundación Datos Protegidos
Fundación Internet Bolivia
Fundación Karisma
Fundación Vía Libre
IPYS Venezuela
Intervozes
TEDIC
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