Arab caucus has reservations on Shirin Ebadi - Fwd: [WSIS CS-Plenary] CS Speaker Background Information and Recommendation of Ms. Abadi

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

Dear HR caucus members,

Please find below a message to Mr Utsumi on behalf of the CS selection 
committee, which also recommends Shirin Ebadi as speaker. I'm surprised 
by this mention: "[the selection committee] note the reservation of the 
representative of the Arab caucus to this recommendation."

We have on the HR caucus list some founding members of the Arab caucus. 
Are there two Arab caucuses ? The one represented in the selection 
committee is represented by Chekib Dhaouadi, a Tunisian, recently 
nominated Senator by Ben Ali.

Are we allowed to know on which arguments are founded the reservations, 
by the way ? Would be good for transparency.

Best,
Meryem

Début du message réexpédié :

> De: Rik Panganiban <rikp@earthlink.net>
> Date: Lun 17 oct 2005  18:00:34 Europe/Ljubljana
> À: plenary@wsis-cs.org
> Objet: [WSIS CS-Plenary] CS Speaker Background Information and 
> Recommendation of Ms. Abadi
> Répondre à: plenary@wsis-cs.org
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> The following memo was directed to the WSIS Executive Secretariat 
> today on behalf of the selection committee.  The background 
> information on the recommended speakers is a large file (over 1 Meg) 
> so I have uploaded it here:
>
>     http://www.ngocongo.org/ngomeet/WSIS/Tunisspeakerbios101705.doc
>
> Regards,
>
> Rik Panganiban
>
> Yoshio Utsumi
> Secretary-General
> World Summit on the Information Society
>  
>  
> Dear Mr. Utsumi:
>  
> Please find attached to this letter the recommended list of civil 
> society speakers with relevant background information for the various 
> speaking slots allotted to civil society during the World Summit on 
> the Information Society from November 16-18, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.
>  
> In addition, we understand that Ms. Shirin Abadi has been nominated by 
> numerous caucuses and civil society organizations to speak at the 
> opening ceremony of the WSIS (please see attachments 2 and 3). The 
> selection committee has deliberated on this request, and it recommends 
> that Ms. Abadi address the opening ceremony on behalf of civil 
> society. We note the reservation of the representative of the Arab 
> caucus to this recommendation.
>  
> We also inform you that Ms. Renata Bloem and Mr. Roberto Bissio, whom 
> we had earlier recommended for the opening ceremony, have both 
> indicated to us their support for Ms. Abadi and their willingness to 
> step aside to allow Ms. Abadi to speaking at the opening. Thus we 
> would request that Ms. Renata Bloem and Mr. Roberto Bissio be 
> considered for other speaking slots along with our other 
> recommendations.
>  
> We thank you for this opportunity to make the following 
> recommendations, and trust that it will receive your careful 
> consideration. Please contact us if we can provide any further 
> assistance or guidance.
>  
>  
> Sincerely,
>  
>  
> Rik Panganiban
> On behalf of the Civil Society Selection Committee
>
>  
>
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> ATTACHMENTS:
> 1. Background information on recommended speakers from civil society
> 2. Letter from Human Rights Caucus recommending Ms. Shirin Abadi dated 
> 12 October 2005
> 3. List of endorsing entities to Ms. Abadi’s recommendation (as of 16 
> October 2005)
>  
>  
>
>
>
> ===============================================
> RIK PANGANIBAN       Communications Coordinator
> Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United 
> Nations (CONGO) 
> web: http://www.ngocongo.org
> email: rik.panganiban@ngocongo.org
> mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524 
>
> * Information on the WSIS at http://www.ngocongo.org/wsis
> * Information on Millennium+5 at http://www.ngocongo.org/mdg