[CS Bureau] Iranian authorities ban West Asia and Middle East WSIS Civil Society meeting on Kish Island (Iran) - Statement and Call to Action

[karen banks]

Dear Ambassador Karklins,

Please find below a statement that has been written and endorsed by a 
coalition of Civil Society organisations who were involved in the WSIS 
Regional Civil Society Forum on the Information Society for the Middle East 
and West Asia, scheduled for August 24th to 26th.

As the statement attests, the banning of the meeting, according to the 
current understanding of events, contravenes the core spirit and principles 
of the WSIS process.

We would request that, in your role as President of the PrepCom, and not 
withstanding and appreciating the enourmous load you have to carry at this 
time, that appropriate enquiries be made and an explanation be sought from 
the relevant authorities, as to how such an action came to be.

regards
Karen Banks
APC Networking and Advocacy Coordinator
---------

To: plenary at wsis-cs.org, africa at wsis-cs.org

FYI. Please use the text below to register your protest against the Iranian 
authorities' banning of a West Asia and Middle East regional meeting of 
civil society representatives that was scheduled for 24-256 August 2005 to 
discuss issues pertaining to the information society.

APC will be sending the document to the key figures involved in the WSIS. 
We hereby call on all activists to lobby their governments for positive 
action in inter-governmental fora - and at home - protect human rights, 
particularly those pertaining to communication rights.

To show solidarity and support, please disseminate this statement and call 
to action to (i) your government officials involved in the WSIS process, 
(ii) official representation of he Iranian government in your country, and 
(iii) international and national development partners.

**************************
*

*Kish** Statement - **August 25, 2005***
/

/

/IRAN//: Regional Civil Society Forum on the Information Society for the 
//Middle East// and //West Asia// unexpectedly banned by government 
authorities./


Iranian authorities this week banned a regional civil society forum in 
Iran, grouping 40 Iranian and international delegates to talk about the 
Internet and information society a few hours before the start of the event.

The second Regional Civil Society Forum on the Information Society for the 
Middle East and West Asia was to take place in the free trade zone of Kish 
Island, Iran on August 23-25. The Forum was organized by Volunteer Actors, 
an Iranian NGO which also serves as the civil society focal point for the 
WSIS for the Middle East and West Asia. The United Nations, the World Bank, 
UNESCO and the WSIS secretariat collaborated in the planning of the event. 
The Forum was designed to form recommendations from the region on the 
Internet and information policy to take to the UN-sponsored WSIS-2 summit 
scheduled for Tunisia in November, which all national governments and major 
international organizations will attend. Civil Society organizations have 
been an integral part of the WSIS process since its inception and have 
actively been engaged in drafting declarations.

We, the international organizations present, strongly regret the decision 
of the Iranian authorities to ban the civil society forum, which was to 
discuss the issues of access to information, freedom of expression on the 
Internet, and to build the capacities of civil society organizations and 
women’s NGOs through a series of ICT related training programs.

An Iranian governmental delegation attended the WSIS-1 summit in 2003 and 
Iran is an active participant and signatory to the WSIS Declaration and 
Plan of Action. It committed itself to the spirit and ambitions of the 
Summit and information society, which include the wide participation of 
government, private and NGO sector actors.

A similar conference to prepare for WSIS-1 was also held at Kish in August 
2003 with the full acceptance of the authorities.

Canceling the event is in violation of the established goals and principles 
of the WSIS. In Iran, as elsewhere, ICTs play an important part in the 
development of Iran’s economy and society, and its role in the region.

We sincerely hope that this decision was due to local administrative error, 
and not a considered policy at a strategic level by the Iranian authorities.

For further information please contact Mary Lawlor (English language), 
director, Front Line, +353 (0)1 212 3750, marylawlor at frontlinedefenders.org 
<mailto:marylawlor at frontlinedefenders.org>, or Gamal Eid (Arabic language) 
+20 2 5249544, info at hrinfo.net <mailto:info at hrinfo.net>

Statement issued by:

· Afghan Computer Science Association (Afghanistan)

· Agency for Public Transformations (Ukraine)

· Association for Progressive Communication (South Africa)

· Front Line (Ireland)

· Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos) 
(Netherlands)

· Internews Europe (France)

· Internews Pakistan (Pakistan)

· The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (Egypt)

· Women's Information Center (Georgia)

· Women'sNet (South Africa)

* *

*Call to action:*


The Iranian authorities:

· We would request that Iranian authorities clarify the reasons why this 
meeting was cancelled in violation of the spirit of both WSIS and Article 19.

· We would also like to request the cooperation of the government in 
guaranteeing the ability to hold future meetings of civil society 
organizations.

· The Iranian government should live up to its international commitments 
and international human rights instruments.

· The Iranian government should recognize the important role of NGOs and 
CSOs in advancing social and economic development.

To international development partners and UN bodies:

· We would request you to use all networks and channels available to you to 
protest against the decision by the Iranian authorities.

· We also would like to request you to continue your support to Iranian 
CSOs, the strengthening of the Iranian civil society, the WSIS process and 
international human rights.


WSIS authorities:

· We would request you to lodge a protest with the Iranian authorities on 
the grounds that their restriction of this conference has contravened their 
own obligations under the WSIS framework, to which they are signatories.

· We also would like to request you to facilitate and monitor the 
participation of Iranian civil society and private sector in all aspects of 
the WSIS process.

National governments, regional and diplomatic communities

· We would request you to lodge a protest with the Iranian authorities on 
the grounds that their restriction of this conference has contravened their 
own obligations under the WSIS framework and the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, to which they are signatories.

· We also would like to request you to facilitate and monitor the 
participation of Iranian civil society and private sector in all aspects of 
the WSIS process.


*Annex: The events as they unfolded
*

/A month before the meeting:/

1 Organizers traveled to Kish and met with the Executive Director of the 
Kish Free Trade Zone, Mr. Ghasemi and Kish University to coordinate the 
logistics for the implementation of this meeting in Kish. The meetings were 
followed by official letters to both the University and the Kish Free Trade 
Zone and asking for their cooperation and coordination in convening the 
meeting. There were no problems or objections to convening this meeting 
expressed by the government.


/The day before the meeting:/

1 Officials from the Office of Amaken (Public Spaces) of the Police Force 
requested the organizers to submit to them a list of participants, both 
national and international.

2 Through telephone conversations the Office of Amaken (Public Spaces) of 
the Police Force informed the organizers that a license was necessary to 
convene the event.

3 The Office of Foreign Citizens contacted the organizers asking for an 
explanation for the participation of international organizations, 
especially those from outside the region. The organizers explained that the 
international participants are either qualified trainers or working in the 
region.

4 The organizers attempted to get a permit from the Kish authorities, who 
informed them that these types of meetings do not require a license. But at 
the same time, the organizers were perplexed because the Amaken office was 
requiring a license.

5 Finally, the Dept. of Social Affairs in Kish agreed to consider the 
organizers request for a license and then would respond promptly. The Dept. 
of Social Affairs convened a Provincial Security Council meeting.
/
Day 1 of the meeting (the scheduled opening):/

6 The authorities informed the organizers that the meeting was cancelled 
because - given the transitional state of the government - the meeting has 
political consequences for the Kish Free Trade Zone

7 Kish University officials contacted the organizers that they had also 
been contacted by the Kish authorities and told that the meeting was 
officially cancelled.

8 The organizers contacted the National High Council on ICT, the Iranian 
representative to the United Nations, and the Secretariat of the High 
Council on National Security to lobby for their support and to alter the 
decision. The organizers also contacted the Secretariat for Free Trade 
Zones with responsibility for Kish and other free trade zones in Iran.

9 These efforts and contacts resulted in a change in the position of local 
authorities which was that the conference could continue but only with 
certain conditions. The stipulations were that:

1. The conference could not make any comment on Iran.

2. The organizers should guarantee in writing that they would take 
responsibility for everything discussed at the meeting, including their 
opinions.

Discussion of conditions continued through the day and night of the first 
day of the scheduled conference.

/Day 2 of the meeting (as scheduled):/

1 The organizers asked for specifics on the terms to see if there steps 
that could be taken to accommodate the conference. At this point the 
conference was officially cancelled.

2 The officials announced telephonically to the hotel management that 
participants should not gather in groups.

3 A morning meeting intended to inform participants of the conference of 
the situation was interrupted and disbanded as it was an unsanctioned meeting.

4 The police arrived to inform hotel officials that conference participants 
are not allowed to gather.

-- 
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Natasha Primo, Executive Director
Women'sNet
Physical address: 31 Quinn Street, JOhannesburg 2001, South Africa
Mailing address: PO Box 62577, Marshalltown 2107, South Africa
Tel: +27-11-4290000, Fax: +27-11-8389871
Email: natasha at womensnet.org.za
URL: http://www.womensnet.org.za

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