[WSIS CS-Plenary] Moving forward on Shirin Ebadi

Fri Oct 14 11:13:55 BST 2005

Having Ms. Shirin Ebadi as opening speaker for Civil Society in Tunis would
present obvious advantages and her nomination could be forwarded to the
Secretariat after a simple endorsement process described below.
 *Main advantages*
 1) It would of course put human rights and gender balance at the forefront
of the building of inclusive information societies, uderlining that the WSIS
process is not only about technology, and that appropriate "enabling
environments" also mean freedom of expression and access to information, and
"capacity building" also means equal opportunities for men and women,
including access to education.
 2) She comes from a country that is very vocal during the WSIS process and
the last PrepCom in Internet Governance and Follow-up discussions : in the
first domain, the iranian national representative strongly advocates that
Internet Governance should be "transparent and democratic, with full
linvolvement of all stakeholders"; and in the second one, that follow-up at
all levels should be done with the participation of all stakeholders.
 If properly briefed on the status of discussions on the draft Tunis
Declaration and the written commitments that governments plan to make in
WSIS II, she would be in an ideal position to take governments at their own
words and describe in plain language how far from these commitments actual
practice in some countries really is. This is the opportunity to point the
often too large gap between what governments say in international arenas and
what they indeed practice at home.
 The WSIS has introduced something new in the international negociation
process : witnesses. Civil Society's participation was not what it should
have been; but enough organizations were nonetheless present during the
process to hear government representatives make commitments they now can be
held accountable for.
 Summits are not traditional bilateral negociations where secret is the
natural rule. Summit processes are the closest thing to a world Parliament
(far from it I know, but still the closest thing), where general principles
for our global community (Polity) are elaborated. The first absolute rule of
representative democracy is the publicity of debates.
  The ironic situation where citizens of countries (as CS actors) are not
even allowed by the rules of procedure to simply listen to what
representatives of their own government are saying on their behalf is
totally contradictory with the notion of democracy and the transparency
principle.
 3) Finally, Shirin Ebadi was, if I understand well, the first woman judge
in Iran. In most countries, the judiciary is a branch of the State and
rightly so. Therefore, she is now a Civil Society actor with a past in the
governmental sector, as are today many ex-ministers, presidents,
parlementarians and civil servants. This brings an interesting light to the
discussion that recently emerged around Adama or some "senators".
 Civil society is and should indeed be open to all individuals that,
irrespective of their past functions, engage in governance processes as
peers with all other actors, relinquishing whatever privilege they may still
have and accepting to be evaluated on their sole "capacity to contribute",
rather than the traditional intergovernmental rule of "equal right to
oppose" (which is, ultimately, the basic foundation of the UN system under
the expression "equal sovereignty of States").
 Choosing Shirin Ebadi is therefore also a symbol of the inclusiveness of
Civil Society.
 _______________
 *Endorsement process*
 Key question is now : if, as it seems from initial reactions, there is a
general agreement on her being the favorite CS choice for the opening
ceremony, how can this be secured ?
 1) The principle that Civil society actors accredited to the Summit process
should - at least - have the right to choose who is going to speak on behalf
of civil society for the opening ceremony must be strongly reaffirmed; this
is a "make or break" principle.
 2) For obvious reasons, there is no way an absolute consensus can be
achieved on the Plenary list and we should not waste time trying to obtain
it. We are therefore in the typical situation where rough consensus (as
practiced in the internet community) is the only way out. : - there is a
need to take a decision (only one slot and a real deadline)
- absolute consensus cannot be achieved
- a large majority seems to emerge on a specific name
- dissenting opinions do not seem to be able to provide an alternative that
would be accepted by all
 3) A two-fold process (taking inspiration from the notion of rough
consensus) could therefore be established :
- a general call on the Plenary list would ask individuals or accredited
entities to express support and a formal nomination paper would be
transmitted to the Secretariat and Amb. Karklins with an attachment listing
accredited entities and individuals supporting the nomination
- the call would simultaneously invite actors who might still have
objections to the nomination (if any) to indicate so and allow them to
submit a separate motion (sort of dissenting opinion) with : their name, all
potential connexions with participating governments (as a matter of
transparency) and - possibly - an alternative speaker they agree upon.
 The second element, that would allow the expression of minority positions,
is essential to make the process fully legitimate.
 4) On a separate basis, CS actors with particular connexions with their
governments could make them aware of the ongoing process and ask them to
support publicly or more privately to the Secretariat the right of civil
society to choose its opening speaker, outlining the bad press the Summit
would get if the name of Shirin Ebadi were to be voluntarily refused.
 I hope this will help move forward on this good idea.
 Best
 Bertrand
 -


 On 10/14/05, maseger at t-online.de <maseger at t-online.de> wrote:
>
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> this message!
> _______________________________________
>
> Hallo, Meryem! & Friends!
>
> On behalf of my (European umbrella-)Organisation
> I fully support the nomination of Mrs. Shirin Ebadi
> (2003 peace Nobel prize winner) as a keynote speaker
> for CS at the WSIS II Summit, TUNIS.
>
> And I thank Renata for her decision to step aside.
>
> MARIANNE
> (Gender Caucus and European Caucus)
>
> Marianne Seger
> permament European NGO observer
> at the U.N. New York and Geneva
> for
> EURAG European Federation of Older Persons
> GRAZ/AUSTRIA
> (www.eurag-europe.org <http://www.eurag-europe.org>)
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> > On behalf of the small organization which I
> > represent, I wish to say that we most strongly
> > support the nomination of Ms. Ebadi as a keynote
> > speaker for CS at the Tunis Summit, especially
> > under the circumstances and regardless of how
> > much solidarity Adama Samassékou feels with CS
> > (sorry Tracey--but we just don't believe that
> > he's an appropriate CS representative).
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Lisa
> > Union for Democratic Communications
> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > >Dear Amir,
> > >
> > >This is to confirm that Ms. Ebadi has finally managed to make herself
> > >available for the Tunis Summit, despite her busy agenda. We have got
> > >the news very late, that is the reason why I posted only yesterday the
> > >message and have sent yesterday also the letters to Mr Utsumi and to
> > >Amb. Karklins.
> > >The Human Rights caucus is in contact with her, through one of its
> > >members. Her participation is entirely confirmed.
> > >We would be happy to include the West-Asia Family in the list of CS
> > >entities proposing Ms. Ebadi as a speaker for WSIS opening.
> > >
> > >Kind regards,
> > >Meryem
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Lisa McLaughlin, Ph.D.
> > Associate Professor, Mass Communication & Women's Studies
> > Editor, Feminist Media Studies
> > Director of Graduate Studies, M.A. Program in Mass Communication
> > Union for Democratic Communications Representative,
> > World Summit on the Information Society (http://www.udc.org)
> >
> > Mass Communication
> > Williams Hall
> > Miami University-Ohio
> > Oxford, OH 45056
> > USA
> > Tele: 513-529-3547
> > Fax: 513-529-1835
>
>
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