Colombia´s comments on the initial “Pre-draft” of the report
of the OEWG on developments in the field of information and
telecommunications in the context of international security
April 16th, 2020
Colombia welcomes the initial pre-draft of the report of the United Nations OpenEnded Working Group (OEWG) on developments in the field of information and
telecommunications in the context of international security, circulated by the Chair,
Ambassador Jürg Lauber.
The Pre-draft is an excellent and comprehensive document, that summarizes the
principal discussions and contributions of the participants. However, Colombia wants
to submit the following general comments, and respectfully asks the Chair that they
could be considered for the final report:
First, it should be noted that the OEWG's work must not exceed or limit the scope of
the Resolution that determined its mandate, which decides to act on a consensus
basis. That is why it is important that the agreements, and the language used in the
final report, especially in the recommendations section, clearly reflects the common
positions expressed by all delegations in order to be able to reach consensus.
Colombia considers that general provisions and principles of international law could
also apply to cyberspace and, at the moment does not foresee the need to initiate
negotiations for a new legally binding instrument on the subject.
Colombia supports the view that current provisions of international law (including the
specialized regimes of international humanitarian law, international criminal law,
international human rights law, among others) complemented by voluntary, nonbinding norms that reflect consensus among States, could be entirely applicable for
the use of ICTs, and the efforts should therefore be directed to reaching common
understanding on how this framework applies and can be operationalized in this
area.
Rather than establishing a new set of legally binding rules of international law,
discussions should focus on the interpretation of these rules in the cyber context and
on the question of how to apply these obligations. Colombia agrees that the first step
to further develop common understandings could be to increase exchanges on how
international law applies to the use of ICTs by States.
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