[English] Please sign on - Petition in support of HRIC accreditation to WSIS

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

Dear all,

As mentionned in the quick report of HR caucus activities (see CS 
plenary list), you'll find hereafter a petition initiated by the caucus 
in support of Human Rights in China (HRIC) Accreditation to WSIS. 
Please send the signature of your organization, providing its 
country/region of operation and website URL if any.
Signatures should be sent ASAP to : Meryem.Marzouki@iris.sgdg.org

The petition and signatures will then be sent to Mr Geiger, head of 
WSIS executif secretariat, so that it can be added to HRIC 
accreditation file, as well as to Ambassador Karklins (president of 
WSIS 2nd phase process), and certainly head of government delegations, 
including China. It will also be widely distributed.
We would like to collect as many signatures as we can before Wednesday 
February 23rd, so as to be able to send the petition to the press with 
a first list of signatories before the end of PrepCom2. Please feel 
free to redistribute the petition and this message to other contacts 
and mailing lists.

The petition is online at:
(English): 
http://www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/smsi/hr-wsis/petition-hric-en.html
(French): 
http://www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/smsi/hr-wsis/petition-hric-fr.html

Translation into any other language is most welcome.

Thank you in advance,
Meryem Marzouki,
HR caucus co-chair

==========
Petition from Civil Society Organizations
in Support of Human Rights in China (HRIC) Accreditation to WSIS

February 18, 2005

The civil society organizations present in Geneva for PrepCom2 of the 
second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have 
learnt that Human Rights in China (HRIC) was not on the list of NGOs 
recommended for accreditation, due to concerns expressed by the Mission 
of the People's Republic of China. This is the second time HRIC has not 
been put forward for WSIS accreditation.

HRIC is an international monitoring and advocacy non-governmental 
organization based in New York and Hong Kong. Founded in March 1989 by 
Chinese scientists and scholars, it conducts research, education and 
outreach programs to promote universally recognized human rights and 
advance the institutional protection of these rights in the People's 
Republic of China.

A member of the WSIS civil society human rights caucus, HRIC has 
15-year record of working constructively in areas relevant to WSIS. 
HRIC is an active and constructive contributor to multilateral and 
bilateral processes, including the WTO, the Berne Process, and the 
EU-China Dialogue Human Rights Seminars. HRIC has been present in the 
WSIS process, since its first phase and including in this PrepCom2, as 
an affiliate NGO of the International Federation of Human Rights 
Leagues (FIDH). Its participation and contributions have been highly 
appreciated by governments and civil society.

The undersigned civil society organizations consider that the exclusion 
of an independent and critical voice such as HRIC raises serious 
concerns about the inclusiveness, the transparency and the legitimacy 
of the WSIS process.

As HRIC is again applying for accreditation to PrepCom3 of WSIS second 
phase, the undersigned civil society organizations express their 
support to HRIC and call to ensure that the future review of HRIC and 
any NGO accreditation application be fairly conducted and not be 
subject to a politicized intervention.

 Petition proposed for signatures by the WSIS civil society Human 
Rights Caucus. For more information, see:
 - HRIC: www.hrichina.org
 - FIDH: www.fidh.org
 - HR Caucus: www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/smsi/hr-wsis

Please send signatures to HR caucus coordinators, Rikke Frank Jorgensen 
(DIHR, Denmark) and Meryem Marzouki  (IRIS, France) to the following 
mail address: Meryem.Marzouki@iris.sgdg.org


List of first organizations endorsing this statement:
...