Member commitment
By joining the Rights and Democracy Network (the Network), members hereby pledge to respect and promote the fundamental principles related to human rights, in a spirit of equality and brotherhood:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Article 1
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htmRelations between members of the Network are based on recognition of the right to exercise rights and freedoms without distinction or exclusion based on, in particular, race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, civil status, religion, political opinions, language, ethnic or national origin, social condition or disability.
(Adapted from the principal international human rights instruments)
The Network’s team reserves the right to intervene if it deems that a member has failed to comply with the Rights and Democracy Network Code of Ethics.
The Forum of the Rights & Democracy Network
Objectives
The Forum of the Rights and Democracy Network was founded in order to facilitate the communication and exchange of information among members of the Network.
Discussion topics
Messages posted by members must bear an obvious connection to international human rights or democracy (with a focus on international cooperation and developing countries).
Community
The Network’s Forum is intended to bring Network members together as a community, despite the distances otherwise separating them. Thus, the messages posted within the Forum must be of interest to the community of members. Members who wish to address a single recipient are encouraged to email the latter directly.
Ethics within the Forum
Members who wish to post messages within the Network’s Forum pledge to do so in compliance with the Rights and Democracy Network Code of Ethics.
The Network team reserves the right to intervene if it deems that a member has failed to complywith this code or if a member makes statements that are inappropriate or that clearly bear no connection to the main subjects of the Forum: international human rights and democracy. An intervention of this sort may, specifically,take the form of an email notice or the deletion of a message, and may extend as far as revoking member status, as required.
Under no circumstances will it be tolerated that a member:
- make hateful, discriminatory or defamatory statements;
- make personal or gratuitous accusations;
- post the private email or postal address of another member without the latter’s permission;
- steal or falsify an identity.
Netiquette
Ne tiquette is a neologism used to designate the rules of good behaviour that apply specifically to Internet communications. These rules are as important to adhere to as conventional rules of politeness are, and we ask members to observe them in order to enable everyone to have a pleasant experience in the Network’s Forum
- Post messages in the appropriate section: When posting a message, be sure to do so in the appropriate section. That way, the message will enjoy good visibility among interested members and allow better management of discussion subjects.
- Clearly identify the subject of your posting : When creating a new message, it is very important to identify the subject. Users will choose to read or ignore the message depending on their interest in the subject indicated – whence the need to providing readers enough information on which to base their decision.
- Avoid writing messages in capital letters: Capital letters are used only to emphasize an important point or to distinguish a title or heading. A message written entirely in capital letters repels readers instead of attracting their attention. Furthermore, on the Web, it is generally acknowledged that writing a message in capital letters is equivalent to shouting at someone during a conversation – creates the impression of aggressiveness.
- Respect copyrights : It is important to respect copyrights and to wholly refrain from distributing a document (text, video, audio) or an article without receiving prior permission to do so. If the document or article is available on a Website, you may opt to create a hyperlink to it instead.
Everyone is entitled: […]To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Article 15 c)
- Indicate the source of your documents, articles and excerpts from texts : All quoted material, references and sources appearing in or cited in documents or articles attached to messages must be indicated as such.
