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

[Anriette Esterhuysen]

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
>
>
>

-- 
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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