“[…]the Czech Republic recalls that the principles of sovereignty and sovereign equality of States are cornerstones of the UN Charter and thus concurs with the conclusion contained in the report of the UN GGE that in their use of ICT\u00b4s States are obliged to observe principles of international law, including the principle of sovereignty. The Czech Republic concurs with those considering the principle of sovereignty as an independent right and the respect to sovereignty as an independent obligation.\n <\/p>\n

The Czech Republic firmly believes that under this principle States may freely exercise without interference in any form by another State both aspects of sovereignty in cyberspace, be it an internal one, with the exclusive jurisdiction over the ICTs located on its territory, or the external one, including the determination of its foreign policy, subject only to obligations under international law. The Czech Republic considers the following cyber operations in a State\u2019s territory as violation of its sovereignty, if attributable to another State:\n <\/p>\n

A. a cyber operation causing death or injury to persons or significant physical damage;\n <\/p>\n

B.a cyber operation causing damage to or disruption of cyber or other infrastructure with a significant impact on national security, economy, public health or environment;\n <\/p>\n

C.a cyber operation interfering with any data or services which are essential for the exercise of inherently governmental functions, and thereby significantly disrupting the exercise of those functions; for example, distributing ransomware which encrypts the computers used by a government and thus significantly delaying the payment of retirement pensions;\n <\/p>\n

“[…]the Czech Republic also recognizes that the rights of states to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over the ICTs located on its territory gives rise not only to rights but also obligations. In particular, the Czech Republic wishes to reiterate that international human rights law is applicable to cyberspace in its entirety.\n <\/p>\n

Indeed, the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one\u2019s choice, in accordance with article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).\n <\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Czech Republic reiterates that freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, enshrined in Article 22 of the ICCPR, applies to cyberspace as much as it applies to the physical domain.\n <\/p>\n

In this context, the Czech Republic calls attention to the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur that call on states to ensure that any interference with the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association is \u201cprescribed by law\u201d. Furthermore, any restrictions implemented on the grounds of \u201cnational security\u201d, \u201cpublic safety\u201d or \u201cprotection of morals\u201d should be clearly and narrowly defined in law, so as to prevent their abuse by authorities.\n <\/p>\n

Finally, the Czech Republic recalls that the right to privacy, enshrined in Article 17 of the ICCPR, is fully applicable in the digital sphere. States must demonstrate that any interference with an individual\u2019s privacy is both necessary and proportionate to address the specific identified security risks. We see the role for a private sector here as well.\n <\/p>\n