[WSIS CS-Plenary] Moving forward on Shirin Ebadi

Fri Oct 14 14:46:47 BST 2005

Dear Meryem, Bertrand, Richard and all,

Shirin Ebadi would be an excellent speaker for the opening session and I
support the recommendation.  I too was at the annual UN DPI/NGO Conference
and Shirin Ebadi delivered a very articulate address on behalf of civil
society.  Please feel free to list my name individually.  I will also check
with my organizations which may take somewhat longer.  What is the time
frame for responses?

Best regards,

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Carll
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies;
UN NGO Committee on Mental Health;
Communications Coordination Committee for the UN
New York, USA
Tel: 1631-754-2424
Fax: 1631-754-5032
ecarll at optonline.net

-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
Behalf Of richard jordan
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 6:42 AM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: Re: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Moving forward on Shirin Ebadi

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Eloquently presented, Bertrand, and may I say that Shirin Ebadi was equally
eloquent at the recent DPI/NGO Conference held at UN Headquarters from 9-11
September 2005. It therefore makes sense to follow-up her appearance at that
major forum, where the UN Secretary-General was present also, with this
nomination.

I would second not only your nomination but your "explication du texte" if I
could borrow a phrase from my academic days in Comparative Literature.

Best regards, Richard Jordan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bertrand de La Chapelle" <bdelachapelle at gmail.com>
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Moving forward on Shirin Ebadi
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:13:55 +0200

>
> 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:
> >
> > [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire
list.
> > Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific
people]
> >
> > Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access automatic translation
of
> > 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
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Plenary mailing list
> > Plenary at wsis-cs.org
> > http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
> >

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