<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Certain issues seem to be arising in regards to speaker selection , especially the nomination of Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate as opening speaker . This for me is puzzling and indeed shocking.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Look, let's get real here! We are taking about a nobel peace prize laureate. Having two of them in the room - (her and Kofi Annan) will be a honour and make the event a very high profile one. That certain persons, particularly those from the host country would object - well, is not surprizing.</DIV><DIV><BR></DIV><DIV>Let me state the obvious... Efforts, actions or statements made by the host country and/or persons from the host country to block a nobel peace prize winner - will not be well received at all by Civil Society. </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>These actions, if they continue - will, without a doubt confirm the fact held by many in CS and many like-minded countries that there is inappropriate interference by the host country of Non Governmental Organisations and their members. Might I remind everyone of the statement made on behalf of 37 countries in plenary on the 30th of Sept at PrepCom 3. Tthe complete text in english and french is below.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Other than the "speaker selection issue", there is another pressing issue at hand...that of participation of CS in the resumed prepcom in Tunis.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Might I note that the exact location of the resumed prepcom in Tunisia has not been specified. Many in CS assume it will be in Tunis, at the Kram Centre. That is an assumption that may, or may not be correct.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The Kram centre may, or may not be available. If all we are told now is that the event will be in "Tunisia" , then it could be anywhere in the country. It could be in Hammamet, an hour's drive (at least), or it could be at a location that's even further. if the location is far, then hotel reservations might be needed - thus making hard, if not impossible for CS to participate....</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Why do I mention this - well, to make sure that while the discussion takes place about the summit speakers "issue" we don't lose track of other key issues either.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>regards</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Robert</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><P class="MsoTitle" align="left" style="text-align: auto;">---</P><P class="MsoTitle" align="left">WSIS Preparatory committee 3 </P><P class="MsoTitle" align="left">Second phase, Tunis</P><P class="MsoTitle" align="left">Geneva, 19-30 September 2005 </P><DIV class="MsoTitle"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoTitle">Statement </DIV><DIV class="MsoTitle"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV class="MsoTitle">Delivered by Canada</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Mr. Chairman, </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">I take the floor on behalf of the 25 member States of the European Union as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Monaco, Australia, the United States of America and Canada in order to emphasize that our Governments are dedicated to achieving a successful World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as demonstrated by our active involvement in the first phase and our continued engagement in the preparations for the second phase in Tunis. </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">We believe that the subject matter of the Summit is key to development for all members of the United Nations, whether developing or developed. Therefore, we wish to work closely with Tunisia, as host of the Summit in November, to ensure a successful outcome. </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">We find it necessary to make this statement because of several incidents which occurred during this Preparatory Committee, raising concerns about the participatory nature of the Summit. </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Our Governments expect the Governments, Institutions and non-State actors taking part in the WSIS process to respect fully the Declaration of Principles agreed in Geneva on 10 to 12 December 2003. </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>The Geneva Declaration reaffirms the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers. These rights must be upheld in all countries in order to promote the building of the global information society and ensure a successful second phase of the World Summit. We expect Tunisia, as host of this UN Summit, to demonstrate that it strongly upholds and promotes these rights. </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I> </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>As the Government of Tunisia will know, the Summit envisages an important and inclusive role for the private sector, civil society, international organizations, institutions of knowledge production and of editorially independent media both for the preparations and in the final Summit itself. We expect Tunisia, as host country, to do all it can to eliminate any grounds for concern and to ensure that arrangements for the Summit take account of and guarantee the unhindered participation of Non Governmental Organisations and their members. </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I> </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>This is the only way to make sure that this will be a Summit in Tunisia, not a Summit on Tunisia. </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><I> </I></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Thank you, Mr. Chairman</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>---</DIV><DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Monsieur le président,</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Je prends la parole au nom des 25 pays membres de l’Union Européenne ainsi que de la Roumanie, de la Bulgarie, de la Croatie, de la Serbie et Monténégro, de la Suisse, de la Norvège, de la Nouvelle Zélande, de l’Islande, de Monaco, de l’Australie, des États-Unis d’Amérique et du Canada afin de réaffirmer l’engagement de nos gouvernements envers un Sommet Mondial sur la Société de l’Information que nous souhaitons voir couronné de succès. Cet engagement a été démontré tant par notre participation active à la première phase, que par notre contribution à la préparation de la seconde phase devant se tenir à Tunis.</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Nous croyons que le sujet traité par le Sommet est d’une importance cruciale pour le développement de tous les membres de l’Organisation des Nations Unies, qu’ils soient en voie de développement ou développés. Nous souhaitons, par conséquent, travailler étroitement avec la Tunisie, en tant que pays hôte du Sommet devant se tenir en novembre, afin d’en assurer le plein succès.</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Nous avons jugé nécessaire de faire cette déclaration en raison de plusieurs incidents qui se sont déroulés au cours de ce Comité Préparatoire, et qui mettent en cause la nature inclusive du Sommet.</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal">Nos gouvernements s’attendent à ce que les gouvernements, institutions et acteurs non-étatiques participant au processus du Sommet respectent dans son intégralité la Déclaration de Principes agréée à Genève du 10 au 12 décembre 2003.</DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>La Déclaration de Genève réaffirme le droit à la liberté d'opinion et d'expression, ce qui implique le droit de ne pas être inquiété pour ses opinions et celui de chercher, de recevoir et de répandre, sans considération de frontière, les informations et les idées par quelque moyen d'expression que ce soit. Ces droits doivent être respectés dans tous les pays afin de promouvoir l’édification d’une Société de l’Information universelle et d’assurer le succès de la seconde phase du Sommet. Nous attendons de la Tunisie, en tant qu’hôte de ce sommet onusien, qu’elle démontre qu’elle respecte strictement et promeut ces droits. </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I> </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>Comme le gouvernement tunisien le sait, le Sommet prévoit l’inclusion et un rôle important pour le secteur privé, la société civile, les organisations internationales, les institutions génératrices de savoir et les médias indépendants, et ce, tant au cours de la phase préparatoire que durant le Sommet final lui-même. Nous attendons de la Tunisie, en tant que pays hôte, qu’elle prenne toutes les mesures pour éliminer toute source d’inquiétudes et qu’elle s’assure que les dispositions prises pour le Sommet prennent en compte et garantissent la participation sans entraves des Organisations Non-Gouvernementales et de leurs membres.</I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I> </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I>Ce n’est que de cette façon que l’on pourra s’assurer qu’il s’agisse d’un sommet en Tunisie et non sur la Tunisie.</I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"><B><I> </I></B></DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV class="MsoNormal"> </DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></DIV><BR><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><DIV style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; ">--</SPAN></DIV><DIV style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; ">Robert Guerra <<A href="mailto:rguerra@privaterra.org">rguerra@privaterra.org</A>></SPAN></DIV><DIV style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; ">Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)</SPAN></DIV><DIV style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; ">WSIS Civil Society Bureau, Focal Point for North America & Europe</SPAN><BR style="; text-align: justify; "></DIV><DIV style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: justify; ">Tel +1 416 893 0377 Fax +1 416 893 0374</SPAN></DIV></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN> </DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>