Figueres, Teatre-Museu Dali, Catalonia. Flickr\/Ilya Bogin. Some rights reserved.Without claiming to
\nrepresent anyone but myself, I wish to focus my statement on what, under the present
\ncircumstances, I represent here today, namely civil society, as a member of
\ncivil society. <\/i><\/p>\n
The expertise I can
\ncontribute to the struggle against corruption and for democratic regeneration
\nhas not been acquired through my academic or professional training \u2013which is in
\nthe arts \u2013 but my experience as a person who, together with other people
\nsharing similar concerns and affected by the results of corruption and bad government,
\nhas decided to act now that it is clear that our institutions are neglecting
\ntheir functions. <\/p>\n
As I hope to show, I
\nbelieve that one of the keys to ending the problems this committee is
\nconfronting is precisely a joint effort between organised citizens working
\noutside the representative institutions on specific problems and needs, and
\norganised citizens working within these institutions, which is to say, you. All
\ntoo often I have seen how democracy regresses and is weakened when this circuit
\nof action is broken.<\/p>\n
What I can I have mainly been I started the Now, if you will I ask the question Another experience In this regard, I With this mailbox, Finally, another Having described the \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 While creating the This is a serious I have asserted that A discouraging picture The fact that What I am saying may As ordinary If we want to fight Finding myself in But we are now in As has also happened Hence, the first For me, this is what I have spent years I uphold To get back to the To sum up, it seems \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 To return to The pattern of In no way do I wish I believe my The solution It is precisely this In methodological Once again, I I am in favour of A government that I cannot elaborate \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 To return to the question of In a milieu in which, Although the This situation is so Working in an We are pleased to Finally, to conclude Anonymisation or, in The difference Trusting in the In brief, these We should all be To conclude<\/strong><\/p>\n I shall just The institutions Governance can be The solution, then, I therefore propose –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thank you very much.<\/p>\n (With thanks to \u00a0<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n Decalogue for The UN identifies \nEuropean Figueres, Teatre-Museu Dali, Catalonia. Flickr\/Ilya Bogin. Some rights reserved.Without claiming to represent anyone but myself, I wish to focus my statement on what, under the present circumstances, I represent here today, namely civil society, as a member of civil society. The expertise I can contribute to the struggle against corruption and for democratic regeneration has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ncontribute today is what I have learned working with the citizen platforms I
\nhave co-founded, Xnet and 15MpaRato [a wordplay meaning \u201cindignados<\/em> versus Rato\u201d \u2013 that is, former head of the IMF, former Spanish
\nMinister of the Economy and head of Bankia \u2013 and also \u201cindignados<\/em> for the long march\u201d].<\/p>\n
\nworking on Spanish cases of state-level corruption. However, having shared our results
\nwith other groups and people, for example those constituting the Citizens\u2019
\nAnti-Corruption Working Group in Catalonia, I can now say that the patterns of
\ncriminal behaviour we have identified, and the solutions we can glean from this
\nare very similar everywhere and, accordingly, useful for this Committee.<\/p>\n
\n15MpaRato movement in 2012. Long before any party or institution took action,
\nthis platform began the campaign which ended up in the Bankia case; which catalysed
\ncitizen contributions; took the Bankia case to the National High Court as a
\nprivate prosecution; made available to the public the \u201cBlesa Emails\u201d and
\ninformation concerning the \u201cBlack Cards\u201d [a tax-free, corporate credit
\ncard for Caja Madrid-Bankia cronies]; and provided and publicised the evidence
\nby means of which preferred stockholders in general, and Bankia shareholders as
\nwell, can now get their money back, as the Supreme Court has finally decreed, inter alia<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\npermit me, I should like to ask a question, although I know that, strictly
\nspeaking, you are the ones who ask the questions. I shall therefore leave it in
\nthe air as a sincere rhetorical question: are you aware that all the achievements
\nI have listed are the work of coordinated ordinary citizens? Strictly speaking, you are the ones who ask the questions, [but] are you
\naware that all the achievements I have listed are the work of coordinated
\nordinary citizens?<\/p>\n
\nbecause, in the event of your not knowing how such a relevant process began,
\nthe function of civil society must be stressed, and will be a key point in what
\nI have to say next.<\/p>\n
\nwhich I can contribute to the Committee is the result of the first. In order to
\nobtain proof of what we needed to reveal, while also ensuring that the people
\nwho provide this evidence were not subject to reprisals, in Xnet, another group
\nwith which I work, we learned about, and created the technical and legal
\nconditions for managing a safe mailbox through which we could receive anonymous
\ninformation about cases of corruption.<\/p>\n
\nhave been astounded to see the great number of relevant cases that have reached
\nus by this means. I refer to cases that had already been reported through the
\nofficial channels but without results or, worse still, leading to the persecution
\nof the person reporting the corruption, or the use of this information for
\npolitical ends, or for warning individuals and officeholders about whom
\ncomplaints had been made so that they could escape prosecution. I believe that
\nit is not necessary to give examples of what I am talking about since recent episodes
\ninvolving the previous management of the Catalan Anti-Fraud Office have occurred
\nduring this legislature.<\/p>\n
\nand aware of the vulnerability of people who have reported wrongdoing, we
\nourselves have had to create the rules of conduct for exchanges of information
\nand training among equals in order to help others to be more successful when presenting
\ntheir accusations.<\/p>\n
\nperspective from which I can make my contribution here concerns methodology in
\nthe strategic use of ICT for improving democracy. Since 2006 when, as a theatre
\ndirector, I was the victim of a false accusation of copyright infringement, I
\nhave been working to defend a free and open Internet, as a tool and as a
\nphilosophy.<\/p>\n
\nstandpoints from which I can make a contribution, I shall now share with you
\nsome proposals, in every case backed up by previous experience.<\/p>\n
\n*\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\n15MpaRato platform \u2013 which, as I said, is the operation and accusation which
\nled to the Bankia, Black Cards and Blesa Emails cases, et cetera \u2013 we learned a
\ngreat deal, and one thing that was totally unexpected: it is easier to hold
\nalleged offenders responsible for corruption \u2013 and, in fact, we have nearly
\neighty on our list \u2013 than it is to convey that this was NOT achieved by their
\npeers but by ordinary people, by real everyday people. Neither the press, nor
\nthe political parties, nor (with a few exceptions) judges and prosecutors, nor
\n(with a few exceptions) governments, are willing to publicly concede that
\nalmost anyone can do this.<\/p>\n
\nmatter, not only concerning the respect that is due and historical truth, but also
\nits eminently practical implications. To date, right now as I am talking, almost
\n70% of the cases of corruption which have been brought to court have not been denounced
\nby institutions or parties but by ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n
\nthe government, political parties and the mainstream media \u2013 and here I am not
\nreferring to journalists but to the media in general \u2013 have made great efforts
\nto claim undue credit for these achievements, or to conceal from public opinion
\nthe active and even necessary function of civil society.<\/p>\n
\nis offered of a world in which civil society is passive and irrelevant, a world
\nin which everything begins and ends with the monopoly of this trinity: the
\ngovernment and institutions, the parties, and the mass media. This does not
\nhappen as a result of a well-planned political conspiracy \u2013 if only it did! \u2013
\nbut is just marketing, the monopoly\u2019s product placement. <\/p>\n
\ncitizen agency \u2013 which, for example, is such an essential factor in getting
\nother people to denounce corruption \u2013 is denied must be taken very seriously. <\/p>\n
\nseem to be a clich\u00e9, or a generic kind of moaning. But I ask you to understand
\nit in all its realism. I can assure you, this is a surgically precise
\ndescription of what really happens.<\/p>\n
\ncitizens, working on specific cases, we are discovering how much effort it
\ntakes to achieve a report; to get evidence accepted in court; to ensure that
\nthe prosecution, if it represents the establishment, is not just a defence of
\nthe accused; to see that evidence from citizen sources is taken into consideration
\nby the press and, in particular, that it is not appropriated by any party. The
\nchange in the struggle against corruption which has recently occurred \u2013 which is
\nto say since the 15M movement \u2013 is the result of the fact that there are more
\nand more citizens who are not going to let this go on, citizens who are
\norganising. It is clear to me, then, that this is not institutional change. In
\nfact, very little has changed in the institutions. This is social change. This is not institutional change. In fact, very little has changed in
\nthe institutions. This is social change.<\/p>\n
\ncorruption, this must not only be recognised but also encouraged, with new
\nrules and procedures regarding veracity, and free resources (such as reinforcing
\nlegal aid) that will encourage responses to and replications of this model.<\/p>\n
\nthe midst of all this, I am keeping this inertia in perspective. For some
\ncenturies now, only two political spheres have been taken into account: the
\npublic and the private. Government policies and party demands have oscillated between
\n\u201cmore public\u201d and \u201cmore private\u201d, which is still frequently the case.<\/p>\n
\nthe digital age and its chief characteristic is disintermediation, which is to
\nsay that the monopolisation of intermediaries in their access to culture,
\nknowledge, information, production, economics and politics too, has been undermined
\nby a radical advance in democratisation.<\/p>\n
\nwith other intermediaries of the pre-digital age, the function of political
\nparties has changed. I think this function should not be about extracting the
\nresources of others but one of facilitating. Recognition of civil society does
\nnot mean sucking it dry of its value, or forcing it into the associative
\nformats typical of the private sector but, rather, accepting its otherness and
\nthe fact that it, too, has something to offer on the gaming tables of
\ngovernance.<\/p>\n
\nthing I desire and request, in order to put an end to corruption and achieve
\nreal democracy, is that civil society should be recognised in equal place as a
\nthird political actor: \u201cpublic\u201d in the form of government, institutions and
\nalso parties; \u201cprivate\u201d in the form of businesses; and civil society in the
\nform of channels with resources which make possible simultaneously, collectively
\nand individually: (i) scrutiny or preventive monitoring of the institutions;
\n(ii) emendation, never starting from zero and in real time, in the process of
\ndrafting and amending which takes place here in the Parliament; and (iii)
\ntransfer of powers and responsibilities without loss of identity. For me, this is what the participation of civil society means in the
\ntwenty-first century.<\/p>\n
\nthe participation of civil society means in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
\nchampioning citizen participation but have never been referring to the kind of
\nparticipation which is currently in vogue. This is something that is, let us
\nsay, rather \u201coccupational\u201d or paternalistic, and I believe it amounts to a wilful,
\nsometimes oversimplifying and self-serving interpretation of the 15M movement.<\/p>\n
\nparticipation as co-responsibility in work, not as the proffering of ill-informed
\nopinions which are inconsequential for both the person opining and the person
\non the receiving end. (The latter, often called freedom of expression, at times
\nmeans not being able to tell the difference between chalk and cheese \u2013 or so it
\nseems to me.)<\/p>\n
\nnitty-gritty, it means participation as efficiency and excellence. In hacker
\nphilosophy it is termed Doismo<\/em>. This
\nis what we apply, and with very good results, in online communities of action,
\nand it is similarly used in the sphere of scientific development. We can also
\nfind examples in legislative experience, for example Marco Civil do Internet and
\nalso, at times, in the European Union.<\/p>\n
\nto me that the format of the democracy of the future should be as we have practised
\nit by deploying the scientific-experimental device of the Partit X (X Party).<\/p>\n
\n*\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\ntwenty-first-century intermediaries, in all the cases of corruption on which I
\nhave worked, the same pattern of criminal conduct is repeated. The origin of
\nthe corruption must always be sought in the same place: the political parties.<\/p>\n
\ncriminal conduct is a conspiracy hatched in the very core of the parties. Use
\nis made of a \u201cparty\u201d structure that already exists for its \u2013 many \u2013 honest
\nmembers, who are then set up as a cover, and selected trusty men (or women) are
\nsent out into the mafia-clientele network to occupy positions of authority in
\nthe public sector, as department heads, in advisory positions or in ministries,
\nand in the private sphere. The government then ends up being the executive arm
\nof a criminal conspiracy, legislating in its favour it or just avoiding
\njeopardising it.<\/p>\n
\nto show any lack of respect in describing this situation to you. In my years as
\nan activist I have been in contact with many of you as members of parliament,
\nand with others who have gone before you and, in most cases, I have found
\nhard-working, honest and committed people. However, I think we must avoid the
\ntrap of exculpatory clich\u00e9s. This is not a matter of a few rotten apples,
\ncorruptors or mere picaresque roguery. <\/p>\n
\nexperience demonstrates that this is a problem of the very structure of
\npolitical parties as we have inherited them.<\/p>\n
\npresently being held out is that parties should be more open. There is talk of
\nprimaries and one of the more recent panaceas, open lists, and so on. I believe
\nthat the problem with parties is not that they are not open. In fact, political
\nparties possibly have the most open structure in existence. There are very few
\norganisations one can join with so few requisites. <\/p>\n
\nkind of openness that encourages the creation of clientele structures. We have
\nseen that these networks of favours and fidelities are the spawning ground of corruption,
\nwith or without open lists and primaries. In a nutshell, I believe that
\npolitical parties, as we now know them, are mechanisms with a clear dissonance
\nbetween their structure \u2013 an open community, the more members the better, which
\nany people who think (or say they think) likewise can join, in which
\nideological fidelity and media ratings are valued above the ability to solve
\nproblems \u2013 and the role they have been allocated in society, namely to govern,
\nwith a very high degree of jurisdiction over the most sensitive questions in
\nthe life of the whole community.<\/p>\n
\nterms, it is obvious that this cannot work. <\/p>\n
\nbelieve and have positive proof that if civil society channels are allowed to
\nmature, we can lighten the burdens of party functioning, which means that the
\nparties can then work better. In this regard, I think thoroughgoing changes
\nneed to be made in the law, for example in party and electoral legislation, but
\nit is not my intention to venture into areas of authority that are beyond our
\nscope today.<\/p>\n
\nthe professionalisation of politics but in the sense of accepting this as a
\ntask of management contractually bound with the voters, based on vocation and
\nskills and with the same rights and duties as other workers have. <\/p>\n
\nrepresents us and not one that replaces us. A government that
\nrepresents us and not one that replaces us.<\/p>\n
\nfurther now but you will find this material brought together and systematised
\nin the Just Democracy blueprint.<\/p>\n
\n*\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\ndenunciation of corruption by civil society, I shall move on to one last point.\n<\/p>\n
\nas we have seen, a considerable proportion of anticorruption cases consists of
\naccusations made by ordinary citizens, there is no legislation in this domain,
\neither in Catalonia or in Spain. What the so-called whistle-blowers, informants
\nor accusers often receive in return are charges of defamation, slander and
\nlibel, harassment, persecution, unemployment and, all in all, a huge burden of
\nexpenses and aggression which deters most people from making an accusation. <\/p>\n
\nnational criminal code and other laws urge citizens to denounce corruption,
\nmaking an accusation is not feasible, as is the case in any situation of
\nunequal power relations. I use the English word \u201cwhistle-blower\u201d
\nbecause, until two years ago, there was no equivalent term in the European
\nRomance languages.<\/p>\n
\nextreme that I use the English word \u201cwhistle-blower\u201d because, until two years
\nago, there was no equivalent term in the European Romance languages. We had to
\nintroduce our own words [in Catalan, alertadors
\n<\/em>and denunciants<\/em>]. The Anglo-Saxon
\nworld has had laws protecting whistle-blowers since 1778 and the list of
\nreferences is very long. We need to have specific laws here too.<\/p>\n
\nideologically transversal way, individual members and organisations of civil
\nsociety have now produced a legislative Decalogue in defence of whistle-blowers
\nand people wishing to make an accusation. <\/p>\n
\nsee that this Decalogue, which is appended here with other documentation, is
\nbeing taken into consideration by several parties of a range of political hues.
\nI believe that in the coming two years we shall achieve both a European
\ndirective and legislation at Spanish State level. Since a considerable part of
\nthe work has been carried out by our organisations in Catalonia, I should be
\nwell satisfied if Catalonia were in the avant-garde of drafting this type of
\nlaw. <\/p>\n
\nthis matter of accusations of corruption made by citizens, I need to deal
\nbriefly with anonymity and tools for guaranteeing it, a highly relevant
\nquestion after Edward Snowden\u2019s revelations. We in Xnet are recognised experts
\nin the field but, unfortunately, I cannot talk about it in any depth now as I
\nam running out of time. Instead I shall append two documents which defend
\nanonymity and encryption, one published by the United Nations and the other by
\nthe European Parliament.<\/p>\n
\nother words, the use of (often demonised) tools like Tor makes it possible to
\ncorrect the asymmetries of power I have mentioned. We must protect the
\nanonymity of private individuals because they are vulnerable. The difference between anonymity and confidentiality is that anonymity
\nenables the source to control the use that is made of the information.<\/p>\n
\nbetween anonymity and confidentiality is that anonymity enables the source to
\ncontrol the use that is made of the information.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cguaranteed\u201d confidentiality of the institutions is nothing more than an act of
\nfaith. Allowing all the power (information) to be concentrated in the hands of
\njust a few people (executive staff and managers) who become all-powerful and a
\nthreat to everyone is not, and never has been desirable. Experiences like the Catalan
\nAnti-Fraud Office scandal, on the one hand, and successful actions following
\nanonymous anticorruption leaks around the world in recent years, on the other,
\nmake this clear.<\/p>\n
\ninnovations contribute towards greater justice and democracy. We must integrate
\nthem in a positive way but without being disingenuous \u2013 wherever there are humans
\nthere can be abuse \u2013 instead of prohibiting them because we do not understand
\ntheir complexity.<\/p>\n
\naware, for example, that sending unencrypted emails is like sending a postcard
\nwithout sealing it in an envelope. Anyone along the route taken by this message
\ncan read it. We hope that, in a few years, encrypting emails will be as routine
\nas sealing envelopes.<\/p>\n
\nreiterate a few key points and offer some suggestions.<\/p>\n
\ncannot be their own watchdogs.<\/p>\n
\ndelegated under strict contractual conditions but the watchdog work of citizens
\ncannot be delegated because, as soon as this happens, the appointee becomes an
\ninstitution and, accordingly, a cog in the machine that is supposed to be
\nmonitored.<\/p>\n
\nis not to be found with a specific individual or thing but with what the
\ndigital technologies have now made possible: any person. Please note the nuance
\nhere. I have said \u201cany person\u201d not \u201ceveryone\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nthe following measures:<\/p>\n
\nPreventive transparency<\/strong> (before things are
\ndone) in institutions or businesses that affect more than 10% of the
\npopulation. The transparency of these entities is essential so that any person
\ncan have the information necessary to form an opinion and to detect flaws in
\nthe system.<\/p>\n
\nChannels for citizen co-responsibility<\/strong> (with rights and
\nduties), which is to say channels for monitoring, remedy and transfers of power
\nand, by this, I do not mean starting from zero.<\/p>\n
\nRemedying asymmetry with more privacy and anonymity for people confronting
\nthe great public-private powers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\nA law to protect whistle-blowers which, rather than offering state
\nassistance and protection<\/strong> recognises, in this context, the
\nwork of citizens.<\/p>\n
\nReforming the structure of party and electoral laws<\/strong> \u2013 tending to combine party lists with candidates chosen by constituency
\nand jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
\nLlu\u00efsa G.)<\/p>\n
\nthe Protection of Whistle-Blowers<\/p>\n
\ndata
\nencryption as a human right: \u201c[\u2026] encryption and anonymity provide
\nindividuals and groups with a zone of privacy online to hold opinions and
\nexercise freedom of expression without arbitrary and unlawful interference or
\nattacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nParliament Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) on Mass Surveillance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"