[bestbits] International civil society letter to Congress to follow up from HRC statement

[Kevin Bankston]

Thanks Anriette.  It seems like people are OK with my proposal so I stuck it in the Pad (along with CDT's name as a signer).

On Jun 12, 2013, at 3:45 PM, Anriette Esterhuysen <anriette at apc.org> wrote:

> Dear all
> 
> I think Anja puts it very well. Our letter will be part of a series of
> complimentary actions and we should feel comfortable with asking others
> from the Global South to sign on to it.
> 
> Kevin I am happy with your language as well.
> 
> What we do want to avoid in my view is to use language that will
> encourage readers to dismiss the message we try to get across as being
> crudely anti-US.
> 
> Who is doing the next clean draft?
> 
> I am happy to work on edits in the morning if needed.
> 
> Anriette
> 
> On 12/06/2013 21:25, Anja Kovacs wrote:
>> Dear Gene and all,
>> 
>> As this statement is supposed to be one of international civil society, I
>> think it is important to retain that flavour - I don't think there is a
>> point in simply replicating what US civil society has had to say.
>> 
>> This is my belief also because I don't see this intervention in isolation,
>> but as part of a broader engagement with US institutions, including with
>> the State Department, in which we attempt precisely to convey alternative
>> perspectives on core Internet issues, rather than simply feeding into an
>> agenda already set for us.
>> 
>> I can see that in this particular statement, we would want to think
>> carefully about which concerns to highlight and how to frame them, so as to
>> provide as much support as possible to the current momentum. But I do think
>> there are certain non-negotiables if a wide sign up to this statement is
>> desired. For example, at last year's Best Bits meeting, we already had a
>> discussion on how few of us in the Global South use the term "Internet
>> freedom" to describe the work we do for a whole range of highly political
>> reasons and so I would think not using that term is one such
>> non-negotiable. As long as we take such issues into account, I am sure a
>> sound compromise can be reached that will make for a strong statement
>> acceptable to all.
>> 
>> And I for one am happy with the framing suggested by Kevin on the
>> whistle-blowers issue, by the way.
>> 
>> Thanks and best regards,
>> Anja
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> -- 
> ------------------------------------------------------
> anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
> executive director, association for progressive communications
> www.apc.org
> po box 29755, melville 2109
> south africa
> tel/fax +27 11 726 1692
>