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Geneva, June
16th, 2003
Bertrand Ramcharan
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations
Geneva, Switzerland
RE: Human Rights
and the World Summit on the Information
Society
Your Excellency
Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan,
The under-signed
civil society organizations strongly
encourage your active participation 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):
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 by providing
governments with means enabling intrusive
surveillance and monitoring and therefore,
repression.
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 hope the
Office of the High Commissioner will become
involved in this event and we look forward
to our ongoing collaboration in ensuring
that the World Summit on the Information
Society has a strong human rights focus. In
particular we are hoping that you personally
will be able to attend the Third Prep Com,
to take place in Geneva in September 15-27,
2003, and we look forward to meeting with
you at that time.
We also hope that the Office of the High
Commissioner will be prominent in the
deliberations of the Summit in December, and
that we will harness the potential of
information technology to serve the cause of
human rights to the Summit in Tunisia and
beyond.
We look forward
to your reply.
Sincerely,
Rik Panganiban,
World Federalist Movement Rikke Frank
Jorgensen, Danish Institute for Human
Rights, co-coordinator of the WSIS Human
Rights Caucus Meryem Marzouki, Imaginons un
Réseau Internet Solidaire, co-coordinator of
the WSIS Human Rights Caucus
Copies:
Mr. Adama Samassekou, President of the WSIS
Preparatory Process
Mr. Pierre Gagné, Director of the Executive
Secretariat
List of
organizations endorsing this letter:
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Abantu for
Development (www.abantu.org). Diana
Mercorios: diana@abantu.org
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African Youth
Initiative (Ghana, www.ayinitiative.net).
'Gbenga Sesan: gbengasesan@yahoo.com
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Article 19
(www.article19.org). John M. Barker: johnb@article19.org.za
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Association
Femme et Promotion (AFEPRO, Congo
Democratic Republic). Josée Ngalula:
afepro@yahoo.fr
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Association
Malienne pour le Suivi et l'Orientation
des pratiques Traditionnelles (AMSOPT,
Mali, www.famafrique.org/femafrfranc/amsopt.html).
Maiga Aminata Ahoudou: amsopt@datatech.toolnet.org
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Association for
Progressive Communications (APC,
www.apc.org). Karen Banks; karenb@gn.apc.org
-
Carrefour
Mondial de l'Internet Citoyen (CMIC,
Canada, www.globalcn.org). Alain Ambrosi:
ambrosia@web.ca
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Center for
Democracy and Technology (CDT, USA,
www.cdt.org). James X. Dempsey: jdempsey@cdt.org
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Center for
Development of International Law (CDIL,
www.edrc.net/cdil.html). William R. Pace
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ConcienciAccion.org (USA,
www.concienciaccion.org). Angela-Jo
Medina: conciencia2@concienciaccion.org
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Consumer
Federation of America (CFA, USA,
www.consumerfed.org). Mark Silbergeld:
msilbergeld@yahoo.com
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Consumer
Project on Technology (CPTech, USA,
www.cptech.org). Manon Anne Ress:
manon.ress@cptech.org
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Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR,
www.cpsr.org). William J. McIver: mciver@albany.edu
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Cyber-Rights &
Cyber-Liberties (CR&CL, United Kingdom,
www.cyber-rights.org). Yaman Akdeniz:
lawya@cyber-rights.org
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Danish
Institute for Human Rights (Denmark,
www.humanrights.dk). Rikke Frank
Jorgensen: rfj@humanrights.dk
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Digital Rights
(Denmark, www.digitalrights.dk). Rikke
Frank Jorgensen: rfj@digitalrights.dk
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Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC, USA,
www.epic.org). Cedric Laurant: chlaurant@epic.org
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European
Digital Rights (EDRi, www.edri.org).
Meryem Marzouki: Meryem.Marzouki@edri.org
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Forum-Asia
(Thailand, www.forumasia.org). Sacha
Jotisalikorn: sacha@forumasia.org
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Foundation for
Information Policy Research (FIPR, United
Kingdom, www.fipr.org). Ian Brown: ian@fipr.org
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Foundation for
Media Alternatives (FMA, Philippines).
Alan Alegre : alalegre@fma.ph
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General Board
of Church and Society, the United
Methodist Church (UMC-GBCS, USA,
www.umc-gbcs.org). Liberato Bautista :
kstone@umc-gbcs.org
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Humanist
Institute for Co-operation with Developing
Countries (HIVOS, The Netherlands,
www.hivos.nl). Paul Maassen: p.maassen@hivos.nl
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Human Rights
Information Network (HURINET, Nigeria).
John Ntan: jntan@mail.wangonet.org
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Imaginons un
Réseau Internet Solidaire (IRIS, France,
www.iris.sgdg.org). Meryem Marzouki:
Meryem.Marzouki@iris.sgdg.org
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Internet
Society, Bulgarian Chapter (ISOC-BG,
Bulgaria, www.isoc.bg). Veni Markovski:
veni@veni.com
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McGill
University, Office of International
Research (Canada, www.mcgill.ca/international).
James Archibald: jak.archibald@mcgill.ca
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NEXUS Research
Cooperative (Ireland, www.nexus.ie). Sean
O Siochru: sean@nexus.ie
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Online Policy
Group, Inc. (OPG, USA,
www.onlinepolicy.org). Will Doherty:
doherty@onlinepolicy.org
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Organisation
Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT,
www.omct.org). Christine Ferrier: cf@omct.org
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Paradigm
Initiative Nigeria (Nigeria,
www.pin.itgo.com). 'Gbenga Sesan:
gbengasesan@yahoo.com
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Privacy Ukraine
(Ukraine, www.internetrights.org.ua).
Andriy Pazyuk: privacy@ukrnet.net
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PromoCulture/Centre
Africain d'Échanges culturels (Congo
Democratic Republic, www.web-africa.org/promoculture).
Baudouin Schombe: sam_bj2000@yahoo.fr
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Rights &
Democracy (International Centre for Human
Rights and Democratic Development, ICHRDD,
Canada, www.ichrdd.ca). Diana Bronson:
dbronson@ichrdd.ca
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SANGONeT (South
Africa, www.sangonet.org.za). Suraya Bibi
Khan: sbk@sangonet.org.za
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Swiss Coalition
of Development Organizations (Switzerland,
www.swisscoalition.ch). Michel Egger:
mm.egger@bluewin.ch
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Swiss Internet
User Group (SIUG, Switzerland, www.siug.ch).
Felix Rauch: felix.rauch@siug.ch
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Technology for
People Foundation (TEA, Hungary,
hu.bigbrotherawards.org). Zoltan Galantai
: zoltan.galantai@bigbrotherawards.org
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Union for
Democratic Communications (UDC, USA,
www.udc.org). Lisa McLaughlin: mclauglm@po.muohio.edu
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VIBE!AT
(Austria, www.vibe.at). Andreas Krisch:
andreas.krisch@vibe.at
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Virtual
Activism (www.virtualactivism.org). Marlyn
Tadros: info@virtualactivism.net
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World Catholic
Association for Communication (SIGNIS,
www.signis.net). Jim McDonnell:
jim.mcdonnel@signis.net
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World
Federalist Movement (WFM, www.wfm.org).
Rik Panganiban: rikp@bluewin.ch
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