[A2k] sign on by the Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP)

[Pedro Moniz]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
The Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP) asked me to
forward this sign on letter to mailing lists that might have some interest
on it.

According to them, signatures should be sent to claudio@abiaids.org.br


 THE LEME CHARTER



 This document is the outcome of the National Seminar "Intellectual
Property: Interfaces and Challenges", organized by the Brazilian Network fo=
r
the Integration of Peoples (REBRIP). At this seminar, the participants
debated the drawbacks imposed by Intellectual Property rules in different
areas of knowledge - intellectual property rules that serve to undermine th=
e
sustainability of, and the right to, full human, economic, social and
cultural development of peoples.


 To all governments, international institutions and peoples of the world.


 We, representatives of civil society organisations, professionals, student=
s
and researchers, committed to the democratization of access to knowledge, t=
o
full health and to food security, particularly for poor people, firmly
believe that if the current Intellectual Property regime is maintained,
technologically-dependent countries and their peoples will suffer from
having their human rights greatly undermined.


 Our understanding of Intellectual Property rights and their impact on the
developing world is diametrically opposed to the logic of free trade and
economic liberalization that forms the basis of prevailing negotiations
between countries under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation and in th=
e
ambit of other multilateral fora. We form part of a global organized civil
society movement which has consistently demonstrated the negative impact of
the above negotiations on poor peoples, on the environment and on
biodiversity.


 Exercising our citizenship:


 We *repudiate* the idea of using knowledge as just one more manufactured
good. Overbearing and aggressive capitalism is encroaching on developing an=
d
technologically dependent countries, encouraging the perverse appropriation
and privatization of intangible goods such as scientific knowledge,
information, the arts, pharmaceutical formulae and biodiversity, as well as
undermining the traditional knowledge possessed by communities.


 We *consider* that it is regrettable and inconceivable that knowledge
capable of bringing about economic and social development, improvements in
the quality of life and the survival of peoples should be treated as if it
were simply a product and, as such, to be monopolized and marketed by
developed countries.


 We *defend* the broader participation of organized civil society in all
decision-making spheres, whether national or international, concerning
aspects related to Intellectual Property, as the only way of exercising
adequate social control. We call for total transparency in the
decision-making processes involved in bilateral and multilateral commercial
agreements and in the adjustments effected to the domestic legislations of
individual countries.


 We call for the cessation of, and no further action on, new agreements
under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). We are now living th=
e
reality of a wretched situation resulting from the substantial inequality
that exists between producer nations and those that are merely consumers of
technology: in other words, between those countries that are holders of
patents and other intellectual protection mechanisms and those who are
dependent on them. The WTO has demonstrated that the organization does not
represent the interests of developing countries and excluded populations. O=
n
the contrary, it has contributed to the deepening poverty and the
asymmetries between rich and poor. Every effort must be made to guarantee
the right to access by all people to essential goods, to the maintenance of
and respect for current safeguards and to insist on trade aimed at producin=
g
more sustainable and fraternal integration among peoples.


 We *reject* the inclusion or continuation of discussion of topics related
to Intellectual Property in free trade agreements of a regional nature and
above all in north-south bilateral agreements, given that the inclusion of
such topics is fundamentally a kind of currency employed to take over
markets, increase the dependence of poor countries and exacerbate existing
inequalities.


 *We are radically opposed *to the rules that signify the spread of the
already restrictive WTO TRIPS agreements, which are abusive and inhuman.


 We declare that:


 1. The patents monopoly on essential medical drugs and the barriers impose=
d
against implementation of the legal flexibilities are the greatest obstacle=
s
impeding access of millions of people throughout the world to treatment and
to full exercise of their right to health. The WTO flexibilities designed t=
o
improve access to essential drugs, such as enshrined in the Doha Declaratio=
n
and the Resolution of 30 August, represent achievements by organized civil
society that has continuously clamored for priority to be given to respect
for the interests and the health of the less privileged populations. We
observe with regret that the norms that have as their principal aim respect
for human rights and that have become part of national legislations, such a=
s
the safeguards inherent in Intellectual Property matters, become
automatically "illegal" on the global level when efforts are instituted to
put them into practice. In other words, rights get transformed into crimes
and countries are considered a threat and suffer retaliation from the
holders of knowledge that could indeed be rendered flexible.


 2. The media is not only economically powerful. It possesses an substantia=
l
capacity to interfere in social and cultural processes. The media is a
classic oligopoly, consisting largely of major transnational corporations,
which distributes throughout the planet the same films, music, books, games
and news. The concept of Intellectual Property in this sector serves only t=
o
accentuate the power of these monopolies. At the same time, it undermines
cultural diversity (the basic key for the construction of democratic
societies) and fails to benefit those who actually produce culture. Quite
the contrary, it serves to inhibit free expression and the dissemination of
information.


 3. The validity of patenting "inventions implemented by computer" or in
other words the so-called 'software patents', is now a strategic concern,
given the economic, social and geopolitical power inherent in the use of
such patents. This is principally because the application of patents and
Intellectual Property rules in the information technology area involves: (a=
)
protecting major business empires that dominate almost the entire world
market in those goods and services that increasingly constitute an importan=
t
key to development; (b) putting obstacles in the way of solutions being
created as the result of the use of free software and open codes for the
democratization of knowledge, the creation of skills at local level and the
overall economic development of communities. The constant threats from the
north, above all from the United States, that software piracy is an economi=
c
problem of the south is a fallacious argument and conceals the real interes=
t
of the above which is to keep other countries technologically dependent.


 4. The spread of Intellectual Property rights to different areas of life
renders seeds, plants and even animals targets of patents protection. This
has caused serious harm to entire populations and particularly to farmers
and local communities. The latter have found it difficult to access natural
goods, thereby contributing to the erosion of biodiversity and occasioning
aggression to the food sovereignty of peoples while, at the same time,
providing incentives to bio-piracy and the expropriation of the knowledge
held by local populations.


 Within the framework of the struggle for the democratization of knowledge
and in order to ensure human rights as the main guiding light for agreement=
s
among nations, we propose establishing a space where joint action and
solidarity can be constructed in the defense of fair trade, of the
well-being and improved quality of life for all peoples and for the buildin=
g
of a more equal world. All peoples, organisations and social movements
committed to these principles are invited to join us in this struggle.


 REBRIP Executive Secretariat

Rua das Palmeiras 90 =96 Botafogo - Rio de Janeiro =96 CEP 22270-070

Tel: 21 536-735