17 December 2003
WSIS: IFEX MEMBERS FOCUS ON TUNISIA
As the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) ended in Geneva last week, IFEX members active at the summit focused attention on Tunisia, saying the second phase of the WSIS should not be held there because of the country's serious human rights abuses.
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) joined the World Press Freedom Committee, the International Press Institute and the Inter American Press Association in urging summit organisers to cancel plans to hold the 2005 follow-up meeting in Tunisia.
"The Tunisian press is censored, journalists are jailed along with hundreds of other political prisoners, and organisation of the Tunis summit has been assigned to a military general alleged to be responsible for the torture of political prisoners," the groups said in a statement.
They called for the 2005 meeting to be either held in a country known for respecting press freedom or cancelled.
WAN added that unless the Tunisian government improved human rights, holding the WSIS in Tunisia would bring the WSIS process into disrepute and "completely undermine [the WSIS] declaration's reaffirmation of the principles of free information and free expression."
In the Declaration of Principles agreed to by governments, freedom of expression was recognised as a vital component of the Information Society:
"We reaffirm, as an essential foundation of the Information Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
The declaration also affirmed the role of media as an important element:
"We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of freedom of the press and freedom of information, as well as those of the independence, pluralism and diversity of media, which are essential to the Information Society. Freedom to seek, receive, impart and use information for the creation, accumulation and dissemination of knowledge are important to the Information Society."
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) welcomed the declaration and action plan, but expressed concern that the 2015 deadline for meeting targets was too far away and that funding mechanisms had not been identified.
Libraries in communities around the globe "need to be strengthened by the provision of Internet bandwidth, low cost or free access to high quality information, resources for training and development, and mechanisms to stimulate the creation of local cultural and linguistic content," the group argued.
Meanwhile, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) said the declaration failed to acknowledge the role of community media in addressing the "digital divide" separating rich and poor countries. "The text makes no reference to the important role of community media, which shows the lack of real commitment to civil society by governments at the WSIS," AMARC notes.
Read the final declaration and action plan here: http://www.itu.int/wsis/
Read the alternative declaration issued by civil society organisations:
http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_en/WSIS-CS-Decl-08Dec2003-eng.rtf
See what various IFEX members are saying about the WSIS:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/50685/
For information on Internet censorship in Tunisia, visit:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7271
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