[APCPress] APCNews - November 2005 - No. 58 - limited edition for press
Karen Higgs
khiggs at apc.org
Wed Nov 16 18:27:35 GMT 2005
We know you may be very busy. So here are some of the MAIN THEMES OF
INTEREST AT WSIS (Tunisia). We recommend you check out the APC blogs for
our latest perspectives.
If you would like a full version of APCNews, please write to me.
Please keep safe if you are in Tunisia, Karen
For APC
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SPECIAL *LIMITED* EDITION
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (WSIS)
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*APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
- November 2005 No. 58 -
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-- ON THE ISSUES: INTERNET GOVERNANCE --
-- ON THE ISSUES: HUMAN RIGHTS IN TUNISIA --
-- ON THE ISSUES: FINANCING OF ICT4D --
-- APC AT WSIS --
-- SNAPSHOTS FROM WSIS --
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The second World Summit on the Information Society has started. Today,
Wednesday November 2005, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and
Tunisian President Ben Ali opened the summit which has focussed
primarily on the twin issues of financing of ICT for development in
developing countries and internet governance since the first summit was
held in Geneva in December 2003. A controversial host for an
international 'information summit' given its well-documented suppression
of freedom of expression including on the internet, the Tunisian
authorities were openly criticised by Swiss President Samuel Schmid and
civil society representative Shirin Ebadi for their repressive acts
against local and international civil society prior to the summit
opening. The Tunis Agenda and the Tunis Commitment -the two summit
documents- were finalised on Tuesday after long negotiations.
Keep informed about the WSIS with APC. We covering events on the ground
from Tunis and logging it all on our blogs in English, French and Spanish.
English blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
Spanish blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
French blog: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog
RSS feeds also available:
RSS feed in English: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/rss.xml
RSS feed in Spanish: http://www.apc.org/espanol/wsis/blog/rss.xml
RSS feed in French: http://www.apc.org/francais/wsis/blog/rss.xml
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-- ON THE ISSUES: INTERNET GOVERNANCE --
The Tunis Commitment almost signed [By APCNews]
APCNews writing from TUNIS, Tunisia, 16/11/2005 09:15 -- By 10 pm
Tuesday, the chairperson, ambassador Khan, had concluded negotiations on
chapter 3 on internet governance and received a standing ovation from
all attending delegates. The outcome of the internet governance process
is to have a forum that will take up broad public policy issues on the
one hand, and a process of cooperation on the narrow principles that
relate to domain name, numbers and the root zone file on the other.
"This outcome has to be evaluated in terms of the balance of power in
the community of nations," said Willie Currie, APC's Communications and
Information Policy Programme Manager. "The U.S. clearly saw that its
strategic interest with regard to the war on terror and its dominant
role in the global economy meant that it had to retain its oversight
over the primary form of communications in the world, which today is the
internet," Currie added.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2466414
APC... recommendations on internet governance [By APC]
APC crystallizes a set of recommendations with regard to internet
governance for the final Summit in Tunis in November 2005 including for
an internet governance forum that has become reality in the Tunis
declaration. Recommendations available in English, Spanish and French.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2379688
Crucial drafting session in Tunis [By APCNews]
Late on Sunday night, November 13, 2005, an assembly of about 100 people
agreed to a series of minimal points of common ground related
to internet governance in Tunis. These points were then to be reported
back to the general plenary of what is called the resumed PrepCom 3
meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) for
definitive negotiation and implementation.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2418539
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-- ON THE ISSUES: HUMAN RIGHTS IN TUNISIA --
NEWS ALERT: Censorship by the host of THE UN summit on information?
People in Tunisia cannot access a number of websites because they are
being blocked. And the Citizens' Summit on the Information Society has
also been taken 'offline' for Tunisians. List of filtered websites:
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2436066
Flagrant violation of human rights at Tunis [By APCNews]
Under the incredulous eyes of the participants at the World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS), journalists and human rights defenders
were manhandled, insulted, and then violently beaten. APCNews reports
from Tunis. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2431813
Many civil society activities cancelled [By Markus Beckedahl]
Many international NGOs taking part in WSIS have collectively decided to
cancel their activities planned for today at WSIS. This measure is
intended to make government, private sector and civil society delegates
aware of the human rights violations that have been adding up since the
beginning of PrepCom3 resumed. It is also a clear showing of solidarity
with all independent NGOs in Tunisia who
seem to have to put up with police repression on a daily basis.
Interview with Anriette Esterhuysen of the APC.
In OGG format:
http://www.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/Interview_with_Anriette.ogg In MP3
format: http://www.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/Interview_with_Anriette.mp3
Online protest ... an alternative home [By Neila Charchour Hachicha]
Since the official website of the Online Protest is censored as you
can check for yourself here http://www.yezzi.org. I copied all pics
from the protest on flickr cause I thought you might like to discover
this online protest http://flickr.com/photos/yezzi/sets/1366354/. It is
a virtual online protest to say "Yezzi...Fock" which means "Enough is
Enough". They just cannot say we are disturbing the public order and
protesting is
a constitutional right. The Keyboard Revolution is doing its way so
help us keep the internet free from censorship.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2438705
In Tunis, internet governance rhymes with state control [By APCNews]
Today, the website of the Citizens' Summit on the Information Society
(CSIS) was effectively off-line for all web users in Tunisia. It appears
that Tunisian authorities have started to intensify their crackdown on
legitimate initiatives related to the World Summit on the information
Society (WSIS). Blocking the access to the www.citizens-summit.org is
the latest in a series of measures
introduced to silence voices critical of the government and its human
right record. http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2436066
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-- ON THE ISSUES: FINANCING OF ICT4D --
Making the ride to cyberspace affordable [By APCNews]
En route to the promised global village, the information superhighway is
plagued by poor access and high fares that the bulk of this planet
simply cannot afford. Reducing international internet costs is an
important priority, underlined in a set of recommendations from the APC
made to the WSIS stresses.
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2427753
Some figures... and hard facts [By FN]
Some figures, and hard facts, from a Highway Africa article, titled
ICT4 All expo to attract 40,000 participants: "According to the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the 942 million people
living in the world's developed economies enjoy five times better access
to fixed and mobile phone services, nine times better access to Internet
services, and own 13 times more personal computers than the 85 per cent
of the world's population living in low and lower-middle income
countries. ITU also estimates that 800,000 villages still lack
connection by telephone line, the internet or any other modern ICTs."
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2418346
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-- APC AT WSIS --
Programme of APC events in Tunis:
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/apc_wsis_programme.pdf (pdf to download
and print out)
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-- SNAPSHOTS FROM WSIS --
[Thanks to maxigas of Hungary, you can read more snapshots on the APC
WSIS blog and here
http://www.apc.org/english/wsis/blog/index.shtml?x=2452532]
Jeanette Hofmann (Member of the German Civil Society Coordination Group):
The U.S. is not willing to talk about internet government oversight.
Most likely the Summit will ask Kofi Annan the Secretary General of the
U.N. to set up a Forum on internet governance and the U.S. is expected
to participate. The Forum would take up a range of issues including
Information Technology for Development and political oversight.
Rikke Frank Jorgensen (Civil Society Human Rights Caucus):
"Many have asked about the human rights situation. [...] 10-15 of us
were to hold a coordination meeting at the Goethe Institute yesterday.
The Tunisian civil society people were not allowed to enter, and were
kept out by men in civilian clothes who introduced themselves as
"security personel". I am not sure what kind of police it was. When
myself and other members of the international civil society stayed
outside in solidarity, we were forcefully removed. Then we walked around
the city to find another place to peacefully gather - to exercise our
right for peaceful assembly. Each time we were removed again, we were
pushed, and some people were even tried to be taken into cars and taken
away. In the end the German ambassador arrived and tried to enter these
premises with his guests of his own choice but he was not allowed. After
that each of us contacted our respective delegations, and asked for
support from the governments to basically provide for a space where we
can have this Citizens' Summit."
Parmindeer Jeet Singh (Coordinator of the Civil Society Caucus for
Follow-up and Implementation):
"I am presenting the specific disappointment of the civil society. The
Tunis round was presented as a "Summit of Solutions" by its organisers.
We did not find any effective solutions to the problems that brought us
here, of using the new communication opportunities for more adequate
development in the developing countries. Countries of the North did not
show the political will to getting forward with the policy of internet
governance and did not establish any follow-up process. Financing ITC4D
(Information Technology for Development), which is a very important
issue, was not addressed at all and no commitments were made. At present
the governments are trying to cover up the possibility of a complete
failure of the implementation of the WSIS process."
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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are
distributed monthly by APC -- a worldwide network supporting the
use of internet and ICTs for social justice and sustainable
development since 1990. APCNews Archive:
http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/
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Licence 2.0 - 2005 Association for Progressive Communications
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