Re: [hr-wsis] Re: IPS - Tunisian media counter conference to WSIS

["Ilka Bailey-Wiebecke" <ilka.b-w@bluewin.ch>]

Hi Meryem,

Do you have a list of participants in the HR caucus and you send it to me
after Tuesday? Before then, my computer will recognize any attachment as a
virus!

Thanks and regards
Ilka

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Meryem Marzouki" <marzouki@ras.eu.org>
To: <hr-wsis@iris.sgdg.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2004 10:03 AM
Subject: [hr-wsis] Re: IPS - Tunisian media counter conference to WSIS


> Hi Karen,
>
> There seem to be many initiatives in preparation, but I've heard of
> this one only through this IPS article I've read too. And, how can I
> say that... I'm not sure at all many national organizations are
> involved (yet).
> One should understand that NGOs (I mean the independent ones) in
> Tunisia are just like in other places of the world: diverse :-)
> Cheers,
> Meryem
>
> Le dimanche, 21 nov 2004, à 01:37 Europe/Paris, karen banks a écrit :
>
> > dear all
> >
> > colleagues are asking if any of us know about this initiative? stephan
> > leahy did send me a message asking about hammemt earlier this week,
> > but i hadn't responded at this point
> >
> > karen
> >
> >> From: "Bruce Girard" <bgirard@comunica.org>
> >> To: crisinfo@comunica.org
> >> Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 21:47:54 -0200
> >> Cc:
> >> Subject: [CRIS Info] IPS - Tunisian media counter conference to WSIS
> >>
> >> Tunisian Journalist Fights for Openness
> >> Stephen Leahy
> >>
> >> BROOKLIN, Canada, Nov 19 (IPS) - The Tunisian recipient of a Canadian
> >> award recognising her fight for media freedom in her homeland says
> >> she will organise a counter conference to a planned United Nations
> >> meeting on the "information society" in Tunis in 2005.
> >>
> >> Sihem Bensedrine was one of three winners of the 2004 International
> >> Press Freedom Award to be honoured by the group Canadian Journalists
> >> for Freedom of Expression in Toronto this week. The annual prize
> >> recognises courageous journalists who face personal risks in pursuit
> >> of the news.
> >> Also saluted were Guy-André Kieffer, a Canadian freelance journalist
> >> who disappeared in Côte d'Ivoire in April, and Zimbabwean newspaper
> >> 'The Daily News', forced to close down in February 2004 for its
> >> "uncompromising opposition to government repression."
> >> Last October, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was elected
> >> to a fourth, five-year term, reportedly by 99 percent of voters. His
> >> government will host the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society
> >> (WSIS) in 2005, phase two of a meeting whose themes include freedom
> >> of speech and how information and communications technologies (ICT)
> >> can help promote democracy.
> >>
> >> "There are no independent media in Tunisia," Bensedrine told IPS.
> >> "Hosting the WSIS is paradoxical."
> >> Although blocked by her government from participating in the summit,
> >> Bensedrine plans to organise a "Contra-Conference Against the
> >> Summit," including national and international human rights
> >> organisations.
> >>
> >> The move is just one example of Bensedrine's commitment and passion
> >> for truth and freedom despite having been arrested and tortured by
> >> Tunisian police. After speaking out about these issues to
> >> parliamentarians in Germany last December, she was beaten by unknown
> >> assailants shortly after returning to Tunisia.
> >> Bensedrine has faced continual harassment for many years working as a
> >> reporter and editor-in-chief at five newspapers, several of which
> >> were banned by the government, including 'Kalima!' and 'Blanc sur
> >> Noir'.
> >>
> >> She still attempts to publish 'Kalima!' as an online publication but
> >> cannot update it from within Tunisia because Internet access to the
> >> website is blocked.
> >> The northern African nation has a reasonably good Internet
> >> infrastructure, including 300 government-operated cyber cafés and all
> >> secondary schools and universities are reportedly "wired."
> >>
> >> Yet Internet access is strictly controlled by the government using
> >> software programmes and hundreds of technical experts who prevent
> >> Tunisians from accessing selected websites, such as Amnesty
> >> International, Human Rights Watch and others that deal with human
> >> rights and freedom of expression, said Bensedrine.
> >> In 2003 eight Internet users, seven of them aged between 17 and 22,
> >> were accused of promoting terrorist attacks on the sole basis of
> >> files they downloaded from the Internet. In July 2004 they were
> >> sentenced to 13 years in prison.
> >>
> >> But those convictions rested entirely on signed confessions extracted
> >> under torture, according to France-based Reporters Without Borders
> >> (RWB).
> >> Bensedrine has organised international campaigns to alert the world
> >> to the convictions and to push countries to pressure the government
> >> to overturn the verdicts.
> >> Tunisia has one of the most oppressive censorship regimes in the
> >> world, according to the International Press Institute (IPI), a global
> >> network of journalists and editors based in Vienna. For that reason
> >> the IPI and other press freedom organisations want the WSIS to
> >> abandon Tunisia as the site of its 2005 gathering.
> >> Recent events could support that argument.
> >>
> >> Any and all mention of Tunisia's ability and suitability as a place
> >> to discuss freedom of expression were shouted down at a major WSIS
> >> preparatory meeting involving civil society groups in Hamment,
> >> Tunisia in June, said Mark Bench of the World Press Freedom
> >> Committee, a U.S.-based coalition of 45 countries.
> >> "There were enormous interruptions, with microphones being grabbed
> >> away from people during meetings," Bench said in an interview.
> >> About 200 civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
> >> were involved in the meeting but at least 87 were Tunisian he said.
> >> The latter were responsible for the disruptions.
> >> Other complaints included lack of meeting and office space for
> >> international NGOs, and abruptly cancelled meetings.
> >> "If this is any indication of what will transpire in 2005, we're
> >> deeply concerned," added Bench.
> >> Committee members have visited Tunisian ambassadors in several
> >> countries to deliver the message that similar treatment next year
> >> will do the country's reputation little good.
> >> "We hope there will be a change of heart. And that there will be
> >> greater press freedom," Bench said.
> >> According to Bensedrine, only four or five NGOs in Tunisia are
> >> independent; the others are affiliated with the government. However,
> >> all groups have to obtain permission to operate legally.
> >> The journalist is hoping that when she returns home in December with
> >> a number of international organisations at her side, the NGO she
> >> works with, the National Committee for Rights in Tunisia, will get
> >> that approval.
> >> Tunisia, she pointed out, likes to portray itself a model of
> >> development and stability and is very sensitive to criticism from the
> >> international community.
> >> Support from that community is also crucial for the survival of
> >> independent Tunisian human rights and press freedom organisations,
> >> said Bensedrine. "It's our only weapon against this dictatorship."
> >> (END/2004)
> >> --
> >> Bruce Girard  -  <http://comunica.org/>www.comunica.org   -  +(598) 2
> >> 410.2979
> >> Dr. Pablo de María 1036, Montevideo, Uruguay
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS)
> >> For more information see http://www.crisinfo.org/ act@crisinfo.org
> >> CRIS Info is a public list for information and questions about the
> >> campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS).
> >> CRIS also has a Latin American regional list at:
> >> http://comunica.org/mailman/listinfo/crisal_comunica.org
> >> ________________________________________
> >>
> >> Crisinfo mailing list
> >> Send contributions to Crisinfo@comunica.org
> >> CRIS Info archives are at:
> >> http://comunica.org/mailman/listinfo/crisinfo_comunica.org
> >> This list is provided courtesy of Comunica - http://comunica.org
> >
> >
> >
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