[WSIS CS-Plenary] summit - expectations - who's coming...

Thu May 5 17:14:52 BST 2005

In this article of the current week it's only between 50 and 60 heads of 
state
http://www.tunishebdo.com.tn/article.php?rid=6&id=18579

Marouen 


2005/5/2, Meryem Marzouki <marzouki at ras.eu.org>:
> 
> Dear Francis,
> 
> Le dimanche, 1 mai 2005, à 17:48 Europe/Paris, Dr. Francis MUGUET a
> écrit :
> 
> > Dear Meryem
> >
> > There are many wild rumors floating around in Tunis as you know full
> > well.
> 
> This is exactly the reason why I commented and I asked for more
> precisions. Disseminating the "news" that all Tunis and suburbs hotels
> (an all in all capacity of about 19.000 beds, not rooms) are already
> booked and suggesting that it may occur that extra people would be
> lodged in Hammamet (60 kms from Tunis, 70 from the WSIS place) may well
> have been a "good idea" with a twofold objective:
> (1) disseminating the rumor that thousands of people have already made
> their plans to attend, the message being "hurry up" for those who have
> not yet done this. The expected result being to actually reach at least
> part of the alleged current situation
> (2) starting to have civil society accepting the idea to be lodged far
> from the WSIS site
> 
> This is the reason why I recommend that people like you, who are told
> by whoever - not necessarily officials, some people may well be "plus
> royaliste que le roi", as we say in French - this kind of rumor, should
> be a bit cautious before disseminating it in its turn as a factual
> information (or understood as such: I'm by no mean saying that you did
> that on purpose).
> 
> Regarding Sharon having been invited, the answer is "yes" to your 2
> questions:
> - Yes, Sharon has been directly and personally invited by President Ben
> Ali
> - Yes, Israel being one of the United Nations States, its Prime
> minister or any other representative of Israel may attend a UN Summit
> wherever it takes place, without any direct invitation by the host
> country.
> 
> I don't want either to discuss this issue on this list, which is not
> really the relevant place to do so. Those interested in my own opinion
> may read it (in French) at:
> http://www.alternatives-citoyennes.sgdg.org/num15/dossier-w.html
> What I mentioned in my message is that this invitation has caused
> important street demonstration in Tunisia and important repression as a
> follow-up. And if Sharon himself - an important part of the problem, as
> I see it, is Sharon himself, much more than an israeli representative,
> given his personal record as a killer (I should say a butcher) - indeed
> attend the Tunis Summit (as the israeli press reported), then we should
> be aware of that and of the consequences on the situation in Tunisia
> during the Summit, not only regarding security checks and blocking of
> streets, but also regarding the final decision of Tunisian independent
> civil society w.r.t. to boycott, and consequently the position of
> international CS.
> 
> Best,
> Meryem
> PS. And no, Monastir is not only a tourist place (like in other
> Tunisian towns, people are studying and working there...)
> PS2. I'm not sure I like your statement about the tourist industry and
> "what a big business opportunity that this WSIS is going to generate
> !". After all, this has been exactly the same big opportunity for the
> economy in Geneva for the 1st phase, as well as in any other big
> international event organized anywhere, be it a UN Summit or the world
> olympic games: all countries are fighting for that (e.g. Paris for the
> 2012 Olympics). I think there is a need here to make a clear
> distinction between Tunisian authorities very bad records on human
> rights (which indeed we should fight) and inappropriate - and somewhat
> condescending - arguments like the one you made. Sorry to be so direct,
> but sometimes it seems relevant to recall that Tunisia is not only its
> governement...
> 
> > The information that I got was no direct information and as such,
> > all what I informally posted on some group lists is an information
> > that must taken with a grain of salt.
> >> Hi all
> >>
> >> I share Robert's cautiousness. I attended a Council of Europe meeting
> >> on April 6-7, where Mr Geiger has been invited to provide the
> >> audience with news about WSIS and the summit organization. Recalling
> >> that only 44 heads of States and heads of governments attented Geneva
> >> Summit, Mr Geiger informed us that the Tunisian authorities were
> >> expecting (at that time) the attendance of 50 to 60 heads of states
> >> and of governments, and were very much hoping a good representation
> >> of northern countries.
> >>
> > Interesting information.
> >
> >> I see that the level of expectations has been raising (i.e. has
> >> tripled) between early April and mid-April, when Francis visited
> >> Tunis and got this new information. This taking into account that
> >> when the invitation of Ariel Sharon, Israel Prime minister, has been
> >> disclosed - which has led to many street demonstrations and
> >> repression in Tunisia
> >
> > The situation is quite tense when you speak with people in Tunisia
> > about this issue.
> > There is a question that you might clarify for us, since I am not
> > well versed in politics :
> > Was Sharon invited by the Tunisian government at the occasion of the
> > WSIS ?
> > or
> > Is Sharon planning to come as the head of the Israeli delegation, and
> > Tunisia has nothing to say about it
> > since it is a UN summit ?
> > I heard the two views in Tunisia, and I could not discern which one
> > was correct ?
> > Now, since I feel like walking over a minefield, lets be clear that
> > I am not prepared to discuss on this list whether the fact that Sharon
> > would come is a
> > politically, ethically a good/bad thing.
> > I never alluded to Sharon visit in my post to the Finance group (the
> > one forwarded by Rik)
> > or other groups. Now, in relation to the logistics of the parallel
> > events, I agree
> > that Sharon as well as Bush possible visits may create extra security
> > checks
> > ( in case of bombing threats ) and blockade ( in case of
> > demonstrations )
> > that would create some material problems
> > that we must prepared to cope with. This is not going to be a tourist
> > trip.
> >
> >> - the Tunisian authorities said that about 120 invitations have been
> >> sent to heads of States/governments. This means that even non
> >> directly invited heads of states/governments are planning to attend.
> >> Good achievement indeed.
> >
> > May be this number of 120 jumped to 150, may be there is some
> > exageration.
> >
> >> There are other detailed information in Francis message forwarded by
> >> Rik (thanks for that, Rik, and BTW, Francis, was this visit
> >> officially related to WSIS ?
> >
> > No
> >
> >> I'm certainly not willing to ask private questions about your agenda:
> >
> > This is the problem of forwarding a mail from one list to another.
> > Rik left me
> > no time to send this info ( as I intended ) to the plenary with more
> > cautious words
> > and cross-checking. One may express oneself more spontaneously and more
> > jokingly in Group lists than on the Plenary list, and
> > I would appreciate in the future that this kind
> > of "scoop" reporting/forwarding shall not be reproduced, all the more
> > adding
> > some comments with the forward that should have been sent first on the
> > list where
> > it was originally posted.
> > Jean-Louis asked me the same question on the Finance list
> > with his direct and humourous way.
> > Let me forward my own anwer ( translated from French ) to the plenary :
> > ---------------
> >
> >>> Thanks Francis for this reporting ; I hope that the National Tourist
> >>> Office of Tunisia paid for your trip ( friendly joke ).
> >>
> > In fact, it is almost the case ! (Note for plenary: joke, of course
> > this was not the case )
> > I went to Monastir within the framework
> > of a scientific collaboration ( research on the structure of liquid
> > water )
> > the trip was paid by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
> > ( Note for Plenary : scientific cooperation, nothing to do with
> > politics ) and my stay was paid by the Monastir Rectorate.
> > Coming back from Monastir to Paris, I stopped in Tunis
> > This is for the transparency of my financing, which in many cases,
> > is from my own pocket, as you know full well.
> >
> > end of translated forwarding
> > --------------
> > Just for extra info, for those who might be under the impression that
> > Monastir is only a place for tourists :
> > the site of "Faculté des Sciences de Monastir"
> > http://www.fsm.rnu.tn
> > ( English visitors do not get a wrong impression, the site in English
> > is rudimentary, only the site in French is complete and quite well
> > made, French is the official language of Science Higher learning in
> > Tunisia )
> > and for those who might be under the impression that everything is
> > known
> > about liquid water http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/index.html
> > which is a major scientific enigma yet to be understood, and
> > very strangely enough not much publicized.
> > The visit to the Foire du Livre in Tunis was quite interesting,
> > roughly half of the books were in French, the other part in Arabic,
> > and I bought there technical and science books there at lower price
> > than in Paris. There was a booth about the WSIS and a WSIS-related
> > digital culture exhibition in the Foire (see my pictures
> > http://www.wsis-pct.org/kram-apr05.html
> > ) and I spoke rather extensively with the people on both booths
> > about the planned WSIS organization. I got the latest WSIS white
> > T-shirt and a cap.
> >> ), but just wanting to know if some WSIS CS people were invited there.
> >
> >
> > No, but I took the opportunity to meet Tunisian people involved in the
> > WSIS process.
> >
> >>
> >> This detailed information relates to the organization. I noticed that
> >> almost all Tunis hotels are said to be already booked, that 18.000
> >> participants have already registered (these people are really far
> >> sighted, specially since - correct me if I'm wrong, registration
> >> forms for the summit are not yet available.
> >
> > My understanding, but again it is more a guess than a certainty,
> > is that this number is related to the members of the state delegations,
> > which are making their registration very early with other channel than
> > the
> > general public.
> > Now the distinction between conference registration and Hotel
> > reservations
> > may have been blurred.
> >
> > Lets have a look at the statistics in Geneva, we had
> > /
> > Attendance/ Number of Participants Number of Entities Represented *
> > States* 4590 176 *
> > International Organizations* 225 50
> > *UN Bodies* 620 37 *
> > UN Agencies* 347 13
> > *Non-Governmental Organizations* 3310 481 *
> > Business* 514 98 *
> > Guests* 471 *
> > Media* 970 631
> > *TOTAL* 11047 1486
> >
> > We can see that in Geneva the NGOs only comprise about 30% of
> > the participants. We had about 7700 non-NGOs participants.
> > If those 18,000 participants are mostly related to delegations, then
> > it means that would
> > be more high profile govermental attendance in Geneva.
> >
> >> They also are rich,
> >
> > goverments are filthy rich ! and large official delegations filled
> > with non-essential bureaucrats are quite
> > often customary in sunny spots on winter time !
> > I would add that the Tunisia goverment is making a much stronger
> > diplomatic campaign to have a very large
> > diplomatic attendance than the more distributed Swiss government did
> > for Geneva. In Tunisia, the WSIS is the *big event* as it can be seen
> > to any person coming at the Airport.
> >
> >> if they made hotel reservation through the hotels proposed at
> >> www.smsitunis2005.tn <http://www.smsitunis2005.tn>) and I'm pleased to 
> learn where the US
> >> delegation will stay.
> >
> > This, I cross-checked with other sources. The fact that the US
> > embassy booked the whole Hotel in front
> > of its location does not mean necessarily that President Bush will
> > come,
> > only that a high ranking US official would come,
> > certainly of a higher rank than the Science adviser that was
> > dispatched in Geneva.
> >
> >> However, I see that this leads the organizers to envisage the
> >> accomodation of other participants in Hammamet and to bus them daily.
> >> Although Tunisia is not so large, and the distance between Tunis and
> >> Hammamet is only about 60km, I see this situation would really be a
> >> problem for people lodging in Hammamet to fully be able to decide by
> >> themselves of where and when they're willing to go.
> >
> > That's true, and this why I issued this warning for the parallel
> > events organizers who must be on site,
> > early in the morning, and stress the need of local organizers.
> > Now, with the Tunisians, according to their long experience with
> > their Tourist industry
> > ( what a big business opportunity that this WSIS is going to generate
> > ! ),
> > a good organization should be expected.
> > I was told that participants are to be welcome directly at the Airport
> > (rather small, likely to be congested ? ) , badges, hotel bookings
> > will be issued directly there.
> >
> > Now, I guess there are, on this list, quite a significant number of
> > CS people from Tunisia,
> > or that are coming back and forth to Tunis, and lileky to know a lot
> > more that
> > has been disclosed here. I would be good that those people would
> > inform us from
> > time to time of the evolution of the situation in Tunis in relationship
> > with the WSIS preparation.
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Francis
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Meryem
> >>
> >> Le jeudi, 28 avr 2005, à 21:43 Europe/Paris, Robert Guerra a écrit :
> >>
> >>> I read in an earlier post - perhaps it was Francis - where it was
> >>> stated that some 150 heads of state would be coming to the
> >>> summit.......
> >>>
> >>> hmmm.. i really doubt it. One must recal that during the first phase
> >>> an equal # (or higher) was also envisioned, but in the end - the
> >>> reality was quite different.
> >>>
> >>> I think it is way too premature to discuss which heads of state will
> >>> be coming. At least now. Let's wait for PC3
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> ###
> >>> Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
> >>> Privaterra - <http://www.privaterra.org>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Plenary mailing list
> >>> Plenary at wsis-cs.org
> >>> http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------ Francis F.
> > MUGUET Ph.D
> > MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
> > Associate Publisher
> > http://www.mdpi.org http://www.mdpi.net
> > muguet at mdpi.org muguet at mdpi.net
> >
> > ENSTA Paris, France
> > KNIS lab. Director "Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
> > muguet at ensta.fr http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet
> >
> > World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)
> > Civil Society Working Groups
> > Scientific Information : http://www.wsis-si.org chair
> > Patents & Copyrights : http://www.wsis-pct.org co-chair
> > Financing Mechanismns : http://www.wsis-finance.org web
> >
> > UNMSP project : http://www.unmsp.org
> > WTIS initiative: http://www.wtis.org
> > ------------------------------------------------------
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