Global Legal Monitor (GLM)
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Mali: Human rights - Human Rights Crisis
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(May. 22, 2012) In the last few weeks, two prominent nongovernmental human rights organizations have released statements on the human rights crisis in Mali, where internal strife has led to a host of abuses reportedly committed by all participating factions and created a humanitarian crisis due to displaced civilian populations. In a statement released on April 30, 2012, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated, "[s]eparatist Tuareg rebels, Islamist armed groups, and Arab militias who seized control of northern Mali in April 2012 have committed numerous war crimes, including rape, use of child soldiers, and pillaging of hospitals, schools, aid agencies, and government buildings." (Mali: War Crimes by Northern Rebels – Armed Groups Commit Rape, Use Child Soldiers, HRW (Apr. 30, 2012).) HRW added that it had "credible information that Malian army soldiers have arbitrarily detained and, in some instances, summarily executed ethnic Tuareg members of the security services and civilians." (Id.)
On May 16, 2012, Amnesty International (AI) released a report on the worsening human rights conditions in Mali. According to Gaetan Mootoo, an AI researcher focusing on West Africa, "[a]fter two decades of relative stability and peace, Mali is now facing its worst crisis since independence in 1960." (Mali's Worst Human Rights Situation in 50 Years, AI (May 16, 2012); Mali: Five Months of Crisis – Armed Rebellion and Military Coup, AI (last visited May 21, 2012).)
Among the problems reported by AI were extra-judicial killings by the government forces of unarmed individuals thought to be rebel spies and similar cases of execution, as well as cases of torture, of soldiers taken prisoner by the rebels. (Mali's Worst Human Rights Situation in 50 Years, supra.) AI called on all sides to respect international law, protect civilians, and allow humanitarian groups access to the region. Mootoo stated,
[w]ithout coordinated action to protect human rights, uphold international humanitarian law and the assistance of displaced and refugee populations, the entire sub-region risks destabilisation through the effects of political instability, armed conflict in the north and the food crisis which affects the whole of the Sahel. (Id.)
- Author: Constance Johnson
- Topic: Human rights
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Denmark: Communications and electronic information - Draft Laws on Digital Communication with the Public Sector
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(May. 22, 2012) It was reported on May 1, 2012, that two legislative proposals currently before the Danish Parliament, L 160 and L 159, will make the use of digital communication with the public sector, for which specific computer systems must be used, mandatory for Danish citizens. (New Danish Law Will Make Digital Communication with the Public Sector Mandatory, IT-POLITISK (May 1, 2012).)
L 160
Proposal L 160 is on the "public sector document box," the use of which would replace almost all paper letter communication conveyed from the public sector to citizens. The law requires that as of November 2014, all Danish citizens 15 years of age and above use the new service; before that date, its use is be voluntary. (Id.; L 160 Forslag til lov om Offentlig Digital Post, Folketinget [Danish parliament] website (Apr. 13, 2012).)
A digital letter delivered to the document box from a government organ to a citizen would have the same legal effect as the mailing of a regular paper letter, whether or not the citizen has actually registered with the document box service. In comments to the proposal, the Finance Minister justified this by drawing an analogy to physical mailboxes, which people (i.e., residential building owners) must set up in order to receive mail through the postal service. Unlike setting up a physical mailbox, however, using a document box requires that the citizen consent to register with a specific private company for service. (New Danish Law Will Make Digital Communication with the Public Sector Mandatory, supra.)
Under L 160, the Finance Minister is authorized to select a single vendor to manage the public sector document box system; citizens would have to register with that vendor and accept its terms of service. The public sector document box is already operational, with a vendor, e-Boks, selected at least until 2015, when its contract will be up for renewal. (Id.)
L 159
The other, related legislative proposal, L 159 , "makes it mandatory to use digital self-service systems (similar to online banking) for certain purposes." (Id.; L 159 Forslag til lov om ændring af lov om Det Centrale Personregister, lov om dag-, fritids- og klubtilbud m.v. til børn og unge, lov om folkeskolen og sundhedsloven, Folketinget website (Apr. 13, 2012).)
L 159 is the first stage of this plan of mandatory electronic self-service for all applications and registrations carried out by citizens. It covers children's school registrations, applications for child daycare service, national health care medical card applications, and moving registrations (citizens must register a new address with the local municipality within five days of their move or face a fine). For such tasks, most municipalities reportedly already have online self-service sytems; what is new is that L 159 makes the use of the systems, to be designed by each municipality, mandatory from December 2012. No specific requirements are set forth for the nature of the systems designed. (New Danish Law Will Make Digital Communication with the Public Sector Mandatory, supra.)
Comments included in L 159, which are "part of the preparatory work for the law, if passed," are ambiguous, however, about the situation in which a citizen refuses to register for NemID, the joint Internet banking login and digital signature system introduced in 2010 and used by all Danish banks. (Id.) It has been noted that "[w]hile L 159 does not specifically mandate that citizens use NemID, in practice this will be forced upon the Danish citizens since it will not be possible to use the (mandatory) self-service systems without NemID." (Id.)
- Author: Wendy Zeldin
- Topic: Communications and electronic information
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- Jurisdiction: Denmark
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Sri Lanka: Labor - MOU to Be Signed
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(May. 22, 2012) According to Dilan Perera, the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Oman and Sri Lanka are planning to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on manpower issues. On the whole, Perera said, conditions are good for workers from his country in Oman, and he added that, "compared to other countries in this region, Oman has lots of Sri Lankan professionals working in important sectors and Omani employers have been treating Sri Lankan workers well." (Mrudu Naik, Sri Lanka Set for Manpower MOU, THE TIMES OF OMAN (May 19, 2012).)
Perera met this month with Oman's Minister of Manpower, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Bakri. The draft of the MOU has been completed, and it is expected to be signed in about two months, following approval from the Sri Lankan government. (Id.)
The draft MOU covers a number of aspects of labor matters, including contracts, welfare issues, training, recruitment, and a social security plan. A joint commission will be established to work on the details. (Id.)
Perera also mentioned that Sri Lanka is working on a method to maintain the voting rights of migrant workers who have gone abroad, as well as a program to make it possible for workers who leave the country as migrants to have a pension. "We want to tell the migrant workers that the ministry has not forgotten their contributions and that we will evolve a pension scheme so that when they come back home or reach the retiring age, they will be entitled to pension," he added. (Id.)
A large number of Sri Lankan workers leave to work overseas each year. In 2010, 266,445 people left the country to work abroad, an increase of 7.8% over the previous year; 93% went to Middle Eastern countries, but only 6,370, about 2.4%, went to Oman. (Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Annual Statistical Report of Foreign Employment 2010 (Mar. 11, 2011).)
- Author: Constance Johnson
- Topic: Labor
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- Jurisdiction: Sri Lanka
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Norway: Communications and electronic information - Full Digitalization of Public Administration
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(May. 22, 2012) The Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on April 12, 2012, that "[c]orrespondence between the public and the administration will be based on digital mail," and that full digitalization of the public sector will be the next major government reform. Citizens who prefer paper-based communication will have to actively select it should they wish to continue using it. (Press Release, No. 45/2012, Office of the Prime Minister, Public Administration to Be Fully Digitalized (Apr. 12, 2012).)
In presenting the new digitalization program, Stoltenberg stated:
We will use information technology to make public services better, simpler and more efficient. We will meet the general public and the business sector where they are and when it suits them. Digitalisation will mean a more efficient public administration and will release resources to address major welfare issues ... . (Id.)
The program will first tackle three major tasks: amendment of the Public Administration Act and review of other legislation to remove obstacles to public sector digitalization; establishment of "a secure system of digital mailboxes" to allow each individual and company to receive digital mail from the public administration, so that such mail will eventually replace paper correspondence; and the holding of a tender for "high-security electronic identification solutions." Additionally, the government plans to develop "a system for contact information and reservations against digital post." (Id.; Act of 10 February 1967 Relating to Procedure in Cases Concerning the Public Administration as Subsequently Amended, Most Recently by Act of 1 August 2003 No. 86, University of Oslo Library website. )
The Government set forth a group of principles on which its digitalized administration system will be based, including:
· Digital communication is to be the main means of communication with the public administration.
· The public administration is to provide comprehensive and user-friendly digital services.
· Logging on to public services online is to be simple and secure.
· Each individual and company is to receive mail in a single, secure digital mailbox.
· Individuals and companies will be notified of incoming mail by text message and email.
· Personal data will be protected and information security assured. (Press Release, supra.)
- Author: Wendy Zeldin
- Topic: Communications and electronic information
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- Jurisdiction: Norway
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Indonesia / Singapore: Aviation - Airspace over Islands to Revert to Indonesia
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(May. 22, 2012) On May 16, 2012, an official from Singapore, Raj Kumar, stated that control of the airspace above the Indonesian Riau Islands could revert to Indonesia. Singapore has controlled that airspace since 1946, and Indonesia has been actively seeking to gain control since 1993. Kumar stated of the possible transfer of authority that "[t]here's no problem, if the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization] agrees to the matter," and added that Singapore would be willing to assist with transferring technology as well, once the ICAO agrees. (Fadli, Singapore Willing to Return Riau Islands Airspace, THE JAKARTA POST (May 18, 2012).)
The Riau Islands are an archipelago located to the south of Singapore. According to a member of the Riau Islands Regional Representatives Council, Zulaikah Nasution, control of the airspace would benefit the region. "We should be able to manage what we own, and enhance human resources. We should have sovereignty over our airspace, as the area's economic potential is also huge," he argued. (Id.)
The Secretary-General of Indonesia's Transportation Ministry, Afianti Samad, noted that Indonesia's Law on Aviation calls for the country to control all of its own airspace by 2024, at the latest. (Law No. 1, 2009, WORLD LAW GUIDE [scroll down to locate translation of Aviation Law & allow time for text to open]; text in Indonesian, LEMBARAN NEGARA REPUBLIK INDONESIA [Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia], Jan. 12, 2009, at 1-110, Global Legal Information Network, ID No. 237769.) He noted that at present, "Indonesia has sovereignty over its airspace, Singapore is just the party which manages it." (Fadli, supra.)
- Author: Constance Johnson
- Topic: Aviation
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- Jurisdiction: Indonesia / Singapore
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