Fwd: Modified letter to De Mello

[Meryem Marzouki <marzouki@ras.eu.org>]

Début du message réexpédié :

> De: rikp@bluewin.ch
> Date: Mar 3 juin 2003  10:11:35 Europe/Paris
> À: "Meryem Marzouki" <marzouki@ras.eu.org>
> Objet: RE: Modified letter to De Mello
>
> I will of course go along with the will of the caucus.  Please proceed 
> tout
> de suite!
>
> Rik
>
>> -- Original Message --
>> Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2003 16:52:13 +0200
>> Subject: Modified letter to De Mello
>> Cc: hr-wsis@iris.sgdg.org
>> To: Rik Panganiban <rikp@bluewin.ch>
>> From: Meryem Marzouki <marzouki@ras.eu.org>
>>
>>
>> Hi Rik,
>>
>> As for now, many members of the human rights caucus would be willing 
>> to
>
>> sign a letter to De Mello, and to circulate it among other HR NGOs,
>> provided that :
>>
>> 1/ The letter, though addressed to him, doesn't ask him directly to
>> participate to PrepCom3, since it would be quite "odd  for human 
>> rights
>
>> organizations to request he leaves the desperate situation in Iraq --
>> where phone lines are not even working -- to attend a prep com on
>> information technology", as one of the caucus members noticed. We 
>> could
>
>> however ask for his participation to the summit
>>
>> 2/ the first sentence of para 4 ("Like all scientific innovations,
>> information communications technologies in themselves are
>> value-neutral") should be removed. Indeed, most of us think that ICTs
>> are not "value-neutral" and, although this is not exactly what you
>> meant in the context of the letter, we prefer to avoid any ambiguity.
>>
>> Please tell us if you would agree with these slight modifiations (see
>> below).
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Meryem
>> =========
>> The letter would then become:
>>
>> June 2003
>>
>> Sergio Vieira de Mello
>> High Commissioner for Human Rights
>> United Nations
>> Geneva, Switzerland
>>
>> RE: Human Rights and the World Summit on the Information Society
>>
>>
>> Your Excellency Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello:
>>
>> The under-signed civil society organizations strongly encourage the
>> active participation of your Office at the highest representation 
>> level
>
>> in the preparatory committee and summit meeting of the World Summit on
>> the Information Society, taking place in September and December 2003,
>> respectively.  Human rights are an essential requirement of the
>> Information Society, as elaborated in the draft declaration of the 
>> WSIS
>
>> (WSIS/PCIP/DT/1-E):
>>
>> 10. The essential requirements for the development of an equitable
>> Information Society include: The respect for all internationally
>> recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms. Notably the right to
>> freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold 
>> opinions
>
>> without interference and seek to, receive and impart information and
>> ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers in accordance with
>> article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to
>> unhindered access by individuals to communication media and 
>> information
>
>> sources?
>>
>> As the United Nations highest human rights official, your good offices
>> are needed to ensure that human rights language in the WSIS process is
>> comprehensive, strong and consistent with resolutions and decisions
>> adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and build upon human rights
>> language developed through the various UN world summits and 
>> conferences.
>>
>> Civil society organizations view ICTs as having both tremendous
>> applications that enhance human rights, such as through the rapid
>> dissemination of action alerts and instant access to human rights
>> information, and disturbing capacities to greatly diminish human
>> rights, such as through enhanced surveillance and monitoring functions
>> of governments facilitated by ICTs.
>>
>> Only through the active participation of governments, civil society,
>> and international human rights institutions such as your Office can
>> these ICTs be best harnessed to maximize the protection of human 
>> rights
>
>> worldwide.
>>
>> We thank you for your consideration of this request and look forward 
>> to
>
>> seeing you in September.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>>
>> [under-signed NGOs]
>>
>> --
>> Meryem Marzouki - http://www.iris.sgdg.org
>> IRIS - Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire
>> 294 rue de Charenton - 75012 Paris
>> Tel/Fax. +33(0)144749239
>