[governance] Pakistan: PTA blocks website against its own chief

Mon Sep 3 15:32:11 EDT 2012

Dear Sana,

Excellent update. Without a doubt the Court won't find it amusing as well.

It is good that you are exhausting all avenues locally within Pakistan to
get traction. It will also be great to work towards strategic expansion of
outreach into educating people in non confrontational, creative ways of
having respect for collaboration.

I have no doubt that you are already engaged in doing this. It will help to
start witha  few and peer education is critical whether trainings are for
Judges, Judges can train Judges so seeking assistance from countries where
they can allocate human resource training in specific areas. It will need a
long term strategic approach and the point is to identify all possible
fears such as "erosion of culture" or "trampling of values etc" and find
ways to build bridges.

A good neutral way to do this would be through projects where you can all
work on. You probably are already doing this. I am excited about the good
work that you are all doing in Pakistan. Well wishes Sana.

Best Regards,
Sala

On Tue, Sep 4, 2012 at 7:15 AM, Sana Saleem <sana at bolobhi.org> wrote:

> Hi Sala,
>
> You're spot on about suing constitutional rights to fight back. We along
> with other civil society members filed a constitutional petition for
> fundamental rights online and were able to get a stay order on ad hoc
> blocking by the PTA,
> see here:
> http://bolobhi.org/press-release-public-statements/press-releases/constitutional-petition-accepted-for-fundamental-rights-online/
>
> Also your point about other organizations teaming up is spot on, again.
>
> We issued a joint statement with ten global organizations working on
> freedom of expression and their support helped a great deal:
> http://bolobhi.org/press-release-public-statements/press-releases/global-coalition-of-ngos-call-for-official-withdrawal-of-censorship-plans/
>
> Important to note that all ad hoc blocking since after the stay order is
> contempt of court, and we are already working on following up and
> challenging it in Sindh, Islamabad and Lahore High Court with our Partner
> organization Subh-e-Nau.
> Meanwhile all these directives are being collected as proof, you can find
> e-legislation timeline since 2006 here:
>
> http://bolobhi.org/resources/state-of-internet-in-pakistan-e-regulations-timeline/
>
>
> Best and thank you for your support for freedom of expression and internet
> freedom in Pakistan.
>
> Best,
> Sana
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Executive Director, Bolo Bhi, Advocacy-Policy-Research [http://bolobhi.org]
>
> Blogger: Dawn.com [http://blog.dawn.com/author/sana-saleem/]
> Global Voices: [http://globalvoicesonline.org/author/sana-saleem/]
> The Guardian:[ www.guardian.co.uk/profile/sana-saleem]
> Blog: http://sanasaleem.com] Twitter: @sanasaleem<
> http://twitter.com/sanasaleem>
>  @bolobhi  <http://bolobhi.org/>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 11:41 PM, Shahzad Ahmad <shahzad at bytesforall.pk>wrote:
>
>> That may not work Sala for several reasons,
>>
>> Constitutional provisions are marred with several vague definitions and
>> qualifications ;)
>>
>> But yes we are consulting with our partners and will get back with
>> updates.
>>
>> Best wishes and regards
>> Shahzad
>>
>>
>>  From: "Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro" <
>> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>
>> Reply-To: <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>, "Salanieta T.
>> Tamanikaiwaimaro" <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>
>> Date: Monday, September 3, 2012 11:30 PM
>>
>> To: <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>, Shahzad Ahmad <
>> shahzad at bytesforall.pk>
>> Subject: Re: [governance] Pakistan: PTA blocks website against its own
>> chief
>>
>> Dear Shahzad,
>>
>> If your Constitution has certain civil liberties enshrined in it. Why
>> don't you consider constitutional redress and you can suss out if people
>> and organisations are keen to support you in sending in amicus briefs with
>> appropriate case authorities for the matter once it is in motion.
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>> Sala
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 4, 2012 at 4:39 AM, Shahzad Ahmad <shahzad at bytesforall.pk>wrote:
>>
>>> Folks,
>>>
>>> This is one classic example that how PTA will use different reasons and
>>> excuses to filter the Internet to curb citizens voices and that may
>>> eventually include political discourse.
>>>
>>> http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/latest-news/56863
>>>
>>> Best wishes and regards
>>>
>>> Shahzad
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> From: Shahzad Ahmad <shahzad at bytesforall.pk>
>>> Reply-To: <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>, Shahzad Ahmad <
>>> shahzad at bytesforall.pk>
>>> Date: Monday, September 3, 2012 12:47 PM
>>> To: "governance at lists.igcaucus.org" <governance at lists.igcaucus.org>
>>> Subject: [governance] New policy directive for Internet Filtering in
>>> Pakistan
>>>
>>> Dear Colleagues,
>>>
>>> More bad news coming out from Pakistan… so seemingly much talked about
>>> Internet filtering system effectively gets an implementation through this
>>> policy directive.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-17209-Govt-orders-blocking-of-all--blasphemous-pornographic-material-on-net
>>>
>>> Best wishes
>>> Shahzad
>>> www.bytesforall.pk
>>> *
>>> *
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
>> P.O. Box 17862
>> Suva
>> Fiji
>>
>> Twitter: @SalanietaT
>> Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
>> Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>

-- 
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
P.O. Box 17862
Suva
Fiji

Twitter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851
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