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Canadian civil society affirms importance of free expression at WSIS
International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX)
Extracted of IFEX Communiqué Vol 14, No 25
June 21, 2005

Canadian civil society organisations have called on participants at the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia to respect the right to freedom of expression and apply that principle to the summit itself.

"Governments should not harass, threaten, or imprison individuals who exercise their fundamental right to freedom of expression. Individuals and organizations that defend human rights should have access to Summit activities, the right to speak, and unfettered access to the Internet," said the groups in a statement issued at a May 2005 conference in Winnipeg, Canada.

The purpose of the 13-15 May conference, organised by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and attended by 200 individuals, was to canvass the views of Canadian civil society ahead of phase two of the WSIS, which takes place in Tunis in November 2005.

The groups underlined the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlines the rights of every individual, and, in particular, Article 19: "Everyone has the right 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." They said the WSIS action plan that is to be launched in Tunis should not contain anything that would impair, restrict, or contradict this right.

They also said security considerations and the demands of the battle against crime, including terrorism, should not be used to justify Internet censorship and other restrictions on freedom of expression and press freedom.

The statement will soon be available on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO website: http://www.unesco.ca/en/

See:
-WSIS: http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.html
-OSCE/RSF Recommendations for Guaranteeing Internet Freedom: http://www.osce.org/documents/html/pdftohtml/15239_en.pdf.html
-Serious Concerns for Human Rights in Tunisia: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/66552/
-IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/50685/

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