[Police Violence at Summit - see below]
A compromise agreement on oversight of the Internet is expected to be reached later Tuesday in advance of a U.N summit in Tunis, diplomats said Tuesday.
U.S. officials considered the vague language a signal that world leaders would ultimately agree to leaving the U.S. Commerce Department in charge of the Internet's addressing system.
"We're waiting until they pass something we can accept," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher.
Diplomats are eager to reach agreement before Wednesday's start of the World Summit on the Information Society, which is scheduled to last through Friday.
The summit was originally conceived to address the digital divide — the gap between information haves and have-nots — by raising both consciousness and funds for projects. Instead, it has centered largely around Internet governance: oversight of the main computers that control traffic on the Internet by acting as its master directories so Web browsers and e-mail programs can find other computers.
That job is handled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, a quasi-independent group that ultimately answers to the U.S. government.
Since the latest round of talks began Sunday, the specific wording of the summit's draft declaration has evolved from "international management of the Internet," written by Pakistan, to "new transparent, democratic and multilateral governance mechanism" to "ongoing evolution of the existing framework to maximize their transparency, democracy, multilateralism, and inclusion of governments, private sector, civil society and international organizations."
European Union officials say the wording would represent a genuine compromise, giving the international community some say. The EU has been mediating between the U.S. and China, Iran among others who want to replace ICANN with a new U.N.-monitored body.
"We're two-thirds of our way to a good compromise," EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said.
The Commerce Department caused a storm this summer when it announced it would delay approval for .xxx, a porn classification. ICANN had approved the suffix because its technical parameters were correct. But intense lobbying from Christian and family groups in the U.S. prompted Washington to order a review.
For other countries, this underscored the need for international oversight. "It's become apparent that we need more transparency and international decision-making on such questions," said Mr. Selmayr.
In July, the Bush administration re-asserted its refusal to change the way ICANN is run. U.S. officials say Washington has never interfered improperly [Mindfully.org note: It is essential to understand the meaning of "interfered improperly." It allows for interference that is deemed proper. Whoever has the power decides what is proper. In this case, it's the Bush administration. And we all know that means that if something is possible, then it will happen. ] with anybody's Internet access, and that the Web underscores the government's commitment to free speech.
ICANN officials say they don't want the system touched. "All the functionalities are there, the thing works," says general manager Theresa Swinehart. "I don't know what problem we're trying to fix."
Tunis, Tunisia — Under the incredulous eyes of the participants at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, Tunisia, journalists and human rights defenders were manhandled, insulted, and then beaten, said a press release from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).
APC is an international network of organisations that was founded in 1990 to provide communications infrastructure, including internet-based applications, to groups and individuals who work for peace, human rights, protection of the environment, and substainability.
At 9.30am on Monday, at the Place d’Afrique in Tunis, more than 30 plainclothes policemen were waiting for international and Tunisian delegates and members of civil society.
Omar Mestiri, director of the online magazine Kalima and a founder member of the National Council for Freedom in Tunisia, was seized as soon as he arrived at the site for the meeting of the coordinating committee of the Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS).
Bombarded with blows and insults, Mestiri kept his calm, before he was able to break away from the group of plainclothes policemen, said APC.
"There is democracy in Tunisia, but this is a bad lot", shouted one of the police officers before beating Mestiri about the head, then on his back.
When members of international NGOs, including APC, Human Rights Watch, the Danish Human Rights Institute and other civil society representatives tried to intervene, the police officers moved away, and manhandled the international delegates in turn.
"They grabbed hold of me and shook me violently as I sought to appeal for calm", said Anriette Esterhuysen, executive director of APC.
The citizens' summit is an initiative co-organised by independent Tunisian NGOs, the Tunisian free press, and international NGOs.
Frédéric Dubois, information coordinator for APC, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Tuesday that the Tunisian police had blocked the road to the CSIS conference at the Goethe Institute.
"... I saw that the policemen were pushing and beating journalists; especially the Tunisian journalists. I was followed by the policemen for 200m or 250m while they pushed me around.
"We dispersed in different groups and went back to the WSIS venue later. In the evening a woman told me that they tried to meet again [for the Citizen Summit] but that different venue was also blocked by undercover policemen. Some people have been taken to prison."
Meanwhile, Tunisian authorities denied on Tuesday that a Belgian television crew reporting on freedom of expression in the country had been harassed and threatened in Tunis.
Belgian television station RTBF said late on Monday that one of its crews had been harassed, with the cameraman forced out of his car and his camera and video cassette confiscated.
Reporter Marianne Klaric was "threatened" and had "left the area for fear of being physical attacked", the station said, adding that the camera had been returned to the crew but not the tape.
"Contrary to the claims of the RTBF journalist, at no time was there any aggression or violence used against the journalist or her team," an official said, calling the claim "defamatory".
"It is a far cry, one could argue, from the duty of impartial and objective information you would expect from public service television," the official added.
On Friday, a journalist for France's Liberation newspaper, who was investigating human rights abuses in Tunisia, was gassed, beaten and stabbed near his hotel, his editors said.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is aimed at boosting access to modern telecommunications and the internet in the developing world.
source: http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=256619&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/ 15nov2005
Flagrant violation of human rights this morning alongside UN summit
Tunis, Tunisia — Under the incredulous eyes of the participants at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), journalists and human rights defenders were manhandled, insulted, and then violently beaten.
At 09.30 am on Monday, November 14, 2005, at the Place d’Afrique in Tunis, more than 30 plainclothes policemen impatiently awaited international and Tunisian delegates and members of civil society.
Omar Mestiri, Director of the online magazine Kalima and a founder member of the National Council for Freedom in Tunisia (Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie – CNLT) was seized as soon as he arrived at the site for the meeting of the coordinating committee of the Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS).
Bombarded with blows and insults, Mr. Mestiri kept his calm, before he was able to break away from the group of plainclothes policemen.
The 30 men in plainclothes first laid into Om Zied, the chief editor of Kalima magazine, a publication that investigates corruption, documents attacks on human rights, and highlights the improper operations of the Tunisian legal system, and facts of society.
Faced with incessant aggression by the authorities, Om Zied, a member of the CNLT (an organisation supported by the Dutch section of Amnesty International, amongst others) made his way to a taxi, and left the site.
The law enforcement agents shouted, manhandled, and tried to physically intimidate the on-site Tunisian journalists.
When members of international NGOs, such as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Human Rights Watch, the Danish Human Rights Institute and other civil society representatives tried to intervene, the police officers moved away, and manhandled the international delegates in turn.
"They grabbed hold of me and shook me violently as I sought to appeal for calm", explains an infuriated Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director of APC.
"There is democracy in Tunisia, but this is a bad lot", shouted one of the police officers before beating Omar Mestiri about the head, then on his back. Several taxis were called and flight was then possible.
This article was written in an apartment in the Passage area, in the centre of Tunis, where CNLT has its permanent headquarters. There, the telephone is blocked, and so are several websites.
CNLT permanent member and researcher, sociologist Sami Nasr explained to us that these repressive measures are a common occurrence, but mentions that "police brutality is particularly virulent against initiatives such as the CSIS".
This fringe event of the WSIS, which is linked to it, but held outside the exhibition hall, is an initiative co-organised by independent Tunisian NGOs, the Tunisian free press, and international NGOs.
The event, which is under a lot of pressure from the Tunisian authorities, is concerned with issues raised in the WSIS, but which do not have repercussions or a significant impact on internet governance negotiations.
Human rights and freedom of the press are a part of it. "We are not prepared to let this intimidation block our democratic will, the CSIS will take place," Mestiri finally adds, in a decided tone.
source: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=2430527 15nov2005
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