They concluded in the early nineties that the responsibility for the quality of information provision and communication services could not be left with governments and markets, but required broad civil action. This motivated the writing of the People's Communication Charter. The Charter is very well received by a growing number of NGO's, communication professionals and academics. In order to put the concerns that the Charter expresses on the public agenda, a series of international public hearings will be held to address violations of the Charter. This first Public Hearing focuses on Article 9 of the Charter.
All people have the right to a diversity of languages.
This includes the right to express themselves and have access to information in their own language, the right to use their languages in educational institutions funded by the state, and the right to have adequate provision created for the use of minority languages where needed. Since languages are essential to human identity, the denial to use one's mother tongue constitutes a serious human rights violation. So far the international community has failed to address this issue adequately and forcefully. The Hearing is organized around six exemplary cases of threats to linguistic human rights. During the Hearing actual testimonies will be given by victims of violations.