Hi Bobby,
Thanks for your quick and timely input. I will incorporate your
feedback. I don't see the attachment though.
Sacha
Bobby Garcia wrote:
> Dear Sacha, Serena, et al I just poured through the five thousand or
> so emails, and frankly don't know where to begin or where to take off.
> Perhaps I'll just write a treatise on the perils of information
> overload in the Information Society ;-) I support the statement
> drafted by Serena, including the refinements and the diplomatic
> touches proposed by Al and Adam. I think it would be very difficult to
> organize an on-line deliberation on this, as we are all too
> preoccupied I'm sure. (Back here, an assassination of a former left
> leader happened just yesterday) My offhand comments/editing marks to
> the statement in BOLD, UPPER CASE LETTERS. Still tentative, as I
> haven't scrutinized it in detail yet. Lastly, attaching here an AP
> press statement that came out last January 15 re the WSIS and civil
> society participation, in case anybody missed it. Bye and regards to
> all. Bobby ps Sacha, thanks for the photo. Will send some later too.
> Joint Statement Calling for Press Freedom in <?xml:namespace prefix =
> st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
> />Malaysia<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
> "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
>
> January 23, 2003
>
> This is a joint statement of national, regional and international
> non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who participated in the Asia
> Pacific Regional Conference on the World Summit of Information Society
> (WSIS) 2003 as well as other civil society entities that are concerned
> about human rights issues in the information society.
>
> The statement is in support of the Malaysiakini for freedom of opinion
> and expressION, thus requesting the Malaysian authority to rule out
> any form of censorship at once.
>
> The Malaysiakini, an independent and alternative online media based
> in Malaysia, WAS RAIDED BY THE POLICE on Jan 20. Four servers and 15
> central processing units (CPUs) from the office were seized. (PERIOD)
> The raid was triggered by a police report accusing the media of
> publishing a ÷Ôeditiousî letter, which was alleged to have posed
> questions on the ÷Ôpecial rightsî of the Malays in the country.
>
> As the joint statement of participants in the Asia Civil Society Forum
> on WSIS (held last December in Bangkok) clearly stated, transcending
> the divides between enabled citizens and marginalized communities is a
> major challenge of globalization facing all stakeholders in the
> information society, including NGOs. The safeguard and promotion of
> free and balanced flow of information and communication with full
> respect for human rights plays an indispensable role in helping all
> bridge the gap.
>
> It is beyond doubt that the securing and promotion of the freedom
> should be guided by, inter alia, Article 19 of the Universal
> Declaration of Human Rights, which stipulates that ÷¦veryone has the
> rights (REMOVE 'S') to freedom of opinion and expression; 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.î
>
> As the aforementioned Bangkok statement affirms, civil societyùÔ
> vision is to evolve the global community into a truly communicative,
> just and peaceful one grounded in respect for diversity and
> plurality.
>
> All WSIS related events and the official summit to be held in Geneva
> this December will be absolutely pointless if we fail to uphold
> communication rightsÕhe fundamental human right to communicate, to
> access and disseminate informationÂs the touchstone of our
> information society. The raid on Malaysiakini, which broke out shortly
> after the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on WSIS in Tokyo where NGOs
> reiterated the significance of communication rights, is a total
> disgrace (CONSIDER REWORDING) to all that were committed to wide-range
> discussion in the WSIS preparatory process to better the information
> society.
>
> We, as civil society in full support of freedom of opinion AND
> expression, gravely condemn the raid, which has severely jeopardized
> press freedom. All violations to media freedom, such the police raid
> on Malaysiakini, are extremely abhorrent (CONSIDER REWORDING AGAIN --
> THEY MIGHT REFUSE TO READ THE STATEMENT ALTOGETHER IF IT COMES OUT TOO
> STRONG), undemocratic and detrimental to human rights and alternative
> views. They are also a severe setback to regional and global evolution
> of politics and economics.
>
> We hereby request the Malaysian government to RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS AND
> REFRAIN FROM EXERCISING ANY FORM OF CENSORSHIP. WE CALL UPON IT TO
> take actions to secure and promote open and free press rather than
> repressing journalists TACKLING critical and sensitive issues.
>
> It is absolutely unnecessary for the Malaysian authority to apply the
> Sedition Act against the Malyasiakini. Sensitive issues should be
> resolved through constructive and rational dialogues and debate rather
> than censorship.
>
> We FURTHER CALL UPON the Malaysian police to immediately return all
> seized items of the Malaysiakini and stop the interrogation over the
> mediaùÔ decision to publish the letter and identity of the letterùÔ
> writer.
>
> This statement is endorsed by:
> 1. Name of individual:
> 2. Organization:
> 3. Country:
> 4. Email:
attatchment (multipart/related) ignored