[WSIS CS-Plenary] WSIS SOLIDARITY ACTION - Cancelled Events

[karen banks]

Dear all

The statement below is self-explanatory (and will be posted in french 
and spanish as soon as possible).

==> A press conference will be held at 4pm today in the media centre 
at the Kram. <==

We realise that some organisations are wishing to support the 
solidarity action and would like to associate their names with the 
list of cancelled events.

Please write to

contact at citizens-summit.org

with details of the event and we will compile a list which will be 
posted online.

We would also like to encourage groups to take whatever actions they 
feel appropriate, by, for example, raising awareness about the issues 
described, expressing support for the 4 points outlined below.

==> Please note:  as of 0800 this morning, the 
www.citizens-summit.org site remained blocked from several locations 
in Tunis but, as we post this message, the website is accessible, at 
least from within the Kram. <==

many thanks
karen banks
apc on behalf of the CSIS organising committee

Human rights solidarity action by international civil society 
organisations: Cancellation of several civil society side events on 
November 15 2005

In the light of events that occurred in Tunis in the last week 
several international civil society organisations are cancelling 
their side events at the WSIS on November 15 2005. This action was 
not planned in advance and is a direct response to the abnormal 
circumstances in which the Tunis Summit is taking place.

While the final PrepCom was taking place inside the heavily secured 
conference and exhibition centre, human rights advocates and 
journalists were being harrassed and even physically harmed on the 
streets of Tunis. Several websites, including the site of a WSIS side 
event, the Citizens Summit on the Information Society, were blocked 
from access inside Tunisia; and civil society organisations were 
prevented from holding small working meetings in central Tunis.

During PrepCom III in Geneva in September 2005, a coalition of 19 
organisations, consisting of international and national Tunisian 
NGOs, agreed to hold a Citizens' Summit on the Information Society 
(CSIS) as a side event to the WSIS in Tunis.

The CSIS would be another milestone in the long tradition of UN 
conferences being complemented with events organised by citizens 
groups. It would also complement the wide range of other side-events 
taking place at many different venues in Tunis during the Summit.

A preparatory meeting for CSIS was planned for Monday November 14th 
at the Goethe Insititute in Tunis. Tunisian authorities prevented the 
meeting from proceeding by blocking access to the Goethe Institute 
and physically forcing people away from the building. During this 
process several people delegates were insulted and violently beaten.

CSIS organising has been difficult since PrepCom III where planning 
meetings in Geneva were similarily disrupted. In Tunis confirmed, 
pre-paid bookings for the venue were cancelled due to pressure from 
the authorities. As of the night of 14 November the CSIS website has 
been blocked inside Tunisia, with the exception of the media centre 
inside the Kram. This solidarity action to cancel our side events on 
November 15 is intended to:

1. express our solidarity with the many Tunisian individuals and 
organisations whose basic human rights are routinely being violated

2. encourage all delegates at the WSIS to raise the issue of human 
rights violations in Tunis with their national delegations. These 
violations were clearly documented prior to the Summit by the IFEX 
Tunisia Monitoring Group (International Freedom of Expression) 
http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg/

3. be a firm reminder to everyone that the goals of the WSIS can not 
be achieved without respect for human rights, including freedom of 
expression, association and opinion, as outlined in paragraph 1 of 
the Geneva declaration

4. suggest that in future the United Nations gives careful 
consideration to hosting events of this nature in countries where the 
necessary preconditions for people meeting and working together 
peacefully do not exist

END


Members of the Citizens Summit on the Information Society coordinating group
Expressions of support: support at citizens-summit.org
Press enquiries: press at citizens-summit.org
General information: contact at citizens-summit.org
http://www.citizens-summit.org