[WSIS CS-Plenary] Speakers for the Summit / my position on nominations from Tunisia

[Robert Guerra]

With the help of Rik and others, the speakers nominating group is  
working hard to advance the work done in geneva to ready a list for  
the ITU. Numerous exchanges have taken  place so far, which is great.


In the spirit of transparency and openness, i thought it best to  
share my position (as focal point on the CSB for North America &  
Europe) on and about  nominations from Tunisia with the plenary list.


My position is as follows....


To be honest, the inclusion of  Tunisians as proposed speakers at the  
summit makes be personally shake in disbelief.  The names proposed  
(from Tunisia) are not  high enough level persons to speak at the  
plenary sessions. The caucus they represent  are problematic ones,  
ones which - many, myself included - believe are clearly infiltrated  
by the tunisian government .

There far better, and much less problematic speakers that MUST  be  
considered in their place. As a point of principle, if we are going  
to consider tunisians for rountables then  we SHOULD also  give an  
equal chance to "independent" civil society from the country. If that  
is not possible, then , there is no equal opportunity - no consensus,  
and as such the safest course of action  would be to not recommend  
any Tunisians at all to the ITU.

As you might imagine, this is a point of principle for me. I am  
passionate about this. There needs to be openness and transparency  
about this - very - sensitive issue.

Recommendation: remove all Tunisian names all together. If this group  
recommends  one Tunisian name vs. another, we will be lead into a  
dogfight we can not win. It's a political issue - let the ITU deal  
with it.

Alternatives: no doubt there are other names from other countries  
that are not only "less problematic" but, are higher level and  
involved in information society activities and/or initiatives at a  
higher level than the Tunisian nominees.


--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
WSIS Civil Society Bureau, Focal Point for North America & Europe
Tel +1 416 893 0377 Fax +1 416 893 0374