[EN] Please keep Signing in Support of Human Rights in China Accreditation to WSIS

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

Hi all,

Since many of you may have missed the first call for signatures sent 
during PrepCom2, this is reminder of a petition initiated by the human 
rights caucus in support of Human Rights in China (HRIC) Accreditation 
to WSIS. If you're not one of the 40 organizations that already signed, 
please add the signature of your organization in support of HRIC, 
providing its country/region of operation and website URL if any. 
Signatory organizations are not necessarily only those accredited to 
WSIS.
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.
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

Below you'll find the text of the petition. Signatures received so far 
are:

Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace, India - www.ambedkar.org
Article 19, International - www.article19.org
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong - www.ahrchk.net
Asociación de las Naciones Unidas en Venezuela (ANUV), Venezuela - 
www.anuv.org
Association des archivistes suisses (AAS), Switzerland
Associazione per la libertà nella comunicazione elletronica interattiva 
(ALCEI), Italy - www.alcei.it
Biens publics à l'échelle mondiale (BPEM), France - www.bpem.org
Carrefour mondial de l'internet citoyen (CMIC), Canada - 
www.globalcn.org
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), USA - www.cdt.org
Centre africain d'échange culturel (CAFEC), Democratic Republic of 
Congo - wsisdrc.gn.apc.org
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), International 
- www.cpsr.org
Digital Rights Denmark, Denmark - www.digitalrights.dk
Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme (FIDH), 
International - www.fidh.org
Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), Philippines - www.fma.ph
Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, Hong Kong - www.hkctu.org.hk
Humanist Institute for Development Co-operation (HIVOS), The 
Netherlands - www.hivos.nl
Human Rights First, USA - www.humanrightsfirst.org
Human Rights Watch (HRW), International - www.hrw.org
Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire (IRIS), France - 
www.iris.sgdg.org
Impressum, Fédération suisse des journalistes (FSJ), Switzerland - 
www.journalistes.ch
InfoSud, Switzerland - www.infosud.org
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), International - 
www.ictj.org
International PEN, International - www.internationalpen.org.uk
Internet and Public Policy Project (IP3), Georgia Institute of 
Technology, USA - www.ip3.gatech.edu
IP Justice, International - www.ipjustice.org
Japan Computer Access for Empowerment (JCAFE), Japan - www.jcafe.net
Jonction, Senegal - www.espacemetis.org/organizations/51
Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'homme (LTDH), Tunisia - www.ltdh.org
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USA - www.ned.org
Netzwerk Neue Medien, Germany - www.nnm-ev.de
Observatoire des Usages de l'Internet (OUI), France - oui.net
Organisation mondiale contre la torture (OMCT), International - 
www.omct.org
Pain pour le Prochain (Bread for All), Switzerland - www.ppp.ch
Privacy International (PI), International - www.privacyinternational.org
Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), International - www.rsf.org
Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations, Switzerland - 
www.swisscoalition.ch
VIBE!AT, Austria - www.vibe.at
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), 
International - www.amarc.org
World Catholic Association for Comunication (SIGNIS), International - 
www.signis.net
World Press Freedom Committee (WPFC), International - www.wpfc.org

Text of the petition:
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


--
Meryem Marzouki - http://www.iris.sgdg.org
IRIS - Imaginons un réseau Internet solidaire
294 rue de Charenton - 75012 Paris
Tel/Fax. +33(0)144749239