Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth

Rik Panganiban's Prepcom Photos

Rik Panganiban of CONGO has put together a nice photo gallery of pictures he took at the recent WSIS Prepcom meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia. He got some nice pictures of the meeting halls and members of the civil society delegation, including some funny pictures of me. -andy

One Last Night in Hammamet

Following the final plenary, we left the meeting hall and spent some time hanging out in the medina plaza amongst a group of several hundred delegates who were enjoying the marvelous evening weather. Ralf Bendrath and Karen Banks had invited me to join a bunch of people heading to Hammamet for dinner. Though at first I was up for the idea, I became somewhat wishy-washy as I felt a severe headache and dehydration begin to overtake me. But thanks to some successful guilt-ridden peer pressure, namely from the likes of Ralf and Christine Wenzel of the Heinrich Boll Foundation and Marouen Mraihi of TakingITGlobal Tunisia, I soon caved and agreed to join them.

A large group of us headed out of Yasmine Medina one last time and hailed a group of taxis to take us the 19 kilometers into town. Traffic was rather heavy as people from all over the Hammamet region came into the city for a night on the town. Eventually, the taxi dropped us off several blocks from the Medina, where we met up with some of the others, while Ralf and his colleagues went back to their hotel to change clothes. The rest of us walked over to Sidi Bou Hdid, the oceanside café where I’d enjoyed mint tea and a shisha when I first arrived in Hammamet.

We grabbed a couple of tables and settled in for a while. Eventually, we grew to a posse of around 20 people, spread out over three or four tables, drinking our various fruit juices, teas and sodas as we finally began to wind down from the summit. As our hunger pangs advanced to hunger pains, we decided to go to Les Trois Moutons, a well-known seafood and couscous restaurant a few blocks from the Medina. As some of the group still hadn’t arrived at the café, we staggered ourselves, heading over to the restaurant in groups of 10 or so people.

Les Trois Moutons was a cozy, classy place, with impeccably dressed waiters showing off the fresh catch of the day. We gorged ourselves on classic Tunisian mezze plates, including tuna, harissa, olives and French bread. I ordered the couscous special, which featured a combination of chicken and lamb; it was a two-person order, so I split it with Norbert Klein. Some of the group, including colleagues from the Philippines and Mozambique, had never had couscous before, so they decided to give it a whirl, while others went for steaks or fish. Bertrand de la Chapelle managed to pick out an excellent Tunisian Muscat wine, which we ended up polishing off and requiring another bottle in short order.

We hung out at the restaurant until midnight, taking advantage of the short time we had left to spend with each other. Ralf, Christine and Christoph had to leave for the airport by 1am for a pre-dawn flight, while others were being recruited by Marouenfor a late-night shisha. As tempted as I was to enjoy one last puff before returning to my usual non-smoking self, I needed to get up in less than six hours to catch my shuttle bus to the airport. It was so difficult to say goodbye, given the rollercoaster of events we’d all gone through over the last 96 hours, particularly since yesterday afternoon. Most likely, I wouldn’t see any of them again until February in Geneva; until then, we’d just have to continue our work and our friendships online.

By the time I returned to the hotel, it was nearly 1am; our taxi had gotten stuck in a traffic jam in Hammamet’s night club neighborhood. The strip felt more like Miami Beach than Tunisia, with hundreds of young people in tight, skimpy clothes cruising the road and queuing at the clubs. I felt as if we were cruising as well, as the taxi driver turned on his radio and started blasting a Black Eyed Peas song. So very, very un-Tunisian. Or perhaps not.

Work Concludes at the Prepcom

Late into the evening this past Saturday, government delegations wrapped up work at the first preparatory meeting, or prepcom, for the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society. The final document produced by the governments has no major surprises in it. The governments agreed to work towards reaching a solution on outstanding issues related to Internet governance and funding mechasims to bridge the digital divide. They also agreed not to re-open any of the decisions made during the previous summit in Geneva last December; rather, they would work towards identifying actionable strategies to implement these previous decisions. The next Prepcom will take place in Geneva for seven working days, starting February 17 early next year.

The WSIS Secretariate has published a press release summarizing the results of the Prepcom; additionally, you can download the final document released at the end of the Prepcom.... -andy

Final Civil Society Plenary: Reflection, Exhaustion Win the Day

As the government plenary went into overtime Saturday night, civil society met for the last time at 6pm, hoping to tie up loose ends. Amir Barmaki of Iran chaired the meeting, which was attended by around 30 people. Compared to previous plenaries, it was calm and relatively orderly. It took several attempts for Amir to get audience members to comply with his request to stick with the agenda; rather, they tried to return to the previous debate over the human rights caucus speech. Eventually, Amir was able to get the group to focus on discussing a proposal for several taskforces to review civil society’s rules and procedures, in order to avoid having a similar debacle rear its ugly head in future prepcoms. These groups would publish reports on the matter early this autumn, then circulate them online for a month to collect comments and suggestions. They would then publish a final set of rules and procedures prior to the second Prepcom, scheduled for Geneva in February 2002.

Speakers for the audience were generally supportive, offering constructive criticisms to improve the proposed review process. Speakers representing Tunisian, Sub-Saharan African, and international NGOs all acknowledged the lamentable situation that had occurred over the previous 24 hours, stating that we must all make a concerted effort to rebuild trust and understanding amongst each other.

The plenary came to a close at 7:30pm, at which point the organizers of the Prepcom were expected to hold a press conference announcing the contents of their final report. But the press conference was pushed back to 8:30; it seemed pretty clear that the governments were going to have a long night ahead of them…. -andy

Governments Work on Draft Decision for Prepcom

Right now, representatives from more than 100 governments are meeting in plenary session at the WSIS Prepcom to complete a draft document outlining the decisions taken by them during this week's meeting. Prepcom President Karklins joked earlier that he hoped they could work hard so they could enjoy some of Tunisia's beautiful beaches later today, since tomorrow's forecast wasn't looking very positive.

Karklins is now speaking about how the final document must focus on practical, procedural matters for the two future Prepcoms, during which more substantive issues such as Internet governance and financing mechanisms will be addressed. The plenary is scheduled for a lunch break in about 20 minutes, then will reconvene at 3pm.

Tunisian Human Rights Activist Allowed to Speak at WSIS Prepcom

In a very dramatic turn of evetns this morning, Souhayr Belhassen of the Tunisian Human Rights League was given permission from the president of the WSIS Prepcom to speak in the governmental plenary on behalf of civil society. Other Tunisian representatives had tried to block her from participating, causing a major disruption in yesterday's sessions. Earlier today, civil society held another meeting to address the situation; while the meeting was much more orderly than yesterday's, it was apparent there was no chance of reaching an accord. Then, the governments announced they would invite Belhassen to speak in the plenary, despite the opposition by Tunisian representatives attending the civil society meetings.

The president noted the extraordinary circumstances of the situation, and allowed the representative speak during time specially alloted to her, not taking the time from the 15 minutes alloted to civil society. Other Tunisian and African groups, which had opposed her speech, were also given time to speak; in the end they simply read the same remarks that had been prepared for her, minus language they perceived as criticizing the Tunisian government.

Below is the text of her remarks, translated into English.

Civil Society statement on human rights
PrepCom1, WSIS second phase, Hammamet June 26 2004

I am Souhayr Belhassen, Vice-President of the International Federation for
Human Rights and Vice-President of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.

At the beginning of this WSIS second phase, civil society organizations
present in Hammamet wish to express their objectives and their working
priorities in view of the Tunis Summit in 2005.

At a time where the foundations of international human rights law are being
challenged by newly adopted laws and measures, everywhere in the world, in
the name of a fight against terrorism, it was important that the
Declaration of principles adopted in Geneva in 2003 makes reference to the
fundamental principles of universality and indivisibility of all human
rights, to the right to development, and specially reaffirms the necessary
respect of the integrality of Article 19 of the UDHR on freedom of
expression, of information and of communication.

This second phase must go beyond that. Indeed, we intend that it clarifies
these principles by also reaffirming the fundamental principle of non
discrimination, the necessity to respect international labor standards, and
the recognition that a true security can only be reached with measures
entirely compatible with internationally recognized human rights, not least
the right to privacy. In addition, we cannot accept that the Declaration of
principles admits that the rule of law is supposed to «reflect national
realities» rather than being in coherence with the legally binding
obligations of States according to the international human rights treaties
they have ratified.

The Tunis phase will focus on Internet governance and infrastructure
financing issues. We will take part in this work, making sure that its
results ensure the promotion of the effective implementation of the whole
set of human rights, and do not derogate from them.

Without effective implementation, the principles would indeed stay without
substance. We request that WSIS allow for these principles to be translated
into an information and communication society serving human rights. To this
end, we wish that the Summit define precise indicators allowing to evaluate
the realization of this objective and set up an international mechanism for
their assessment on this ground, at the local, regional and international
level.

Finally, we are entirely conscious of the fundamental importance of holding
WSIS here and for the people of all the global South countries, and we thus
wish its success. However, we wish to reaffirm that it is the duty of the
two host countries of the Summit to show exemplarity, especially in the
realization of freedom of expression, of information, of communication, as
well as of freedom of association and the right to privacy.

Paralysis at Tonight's Civil Society Meeting

This evening’s content and themes meeting of the civil society caucus degenerated into chaos, as some Tunisian and African NGO representatives overwhelmed the session, preventing chairs Karen Banks and Steve Buckley from leading a discussion on tomorrow’s various civil society speeches to the government plenary. With probably seven or eight Tunisians for every non-Tunisian in the room, they demanded that civil society take an immediate vote on whether language critical of the Tunisian government would be excised from the human rights caucus text.

The Tunisians, who did not participate in the human rights caucus session in which the language was drafted, demanded the right to overrule the text criticizing the Tunisian government, as well as change the speaker to someone they felt represented their view. They argued that a “vote” had been taken earlier in the afternoon during the previous civil society meeting -- rather, it was their supporters shouting acclamation -- and no consistent translation was offered to allow participants to make an informed decision.

For nearly two hours, the audience of nearly 100 people were completely deadlocked, with the Tunisians blocking calls for a discussion proposing that two people – one of their choosing and one chosen by the human rights caucus – be given time to speak tomorrow during the government plenary. On numerous occasions, Karen Banks was shouted down by Tunisian representatives, saying she wasn’t the legitimate chair of the meeting and that the chair that had presided over the chaotic afternoon session return to that position.

Eventually, Renate Bloem arrived, having come back from a meeting with government delegates, and implored the group to attempt to arrive at consensus. She said that if the session continued to be held hostage, it would become impossible for civil society to craft the speeches on other issues that need to be addressed during tomorrow’s plenary.

By this time it was just before 8pm, and the translators were off the clock and left the room. This made it impossible to continue the debate with adequate translation, and it was decided that a plenary to discuss the human rights issue would be convened first thing tomorrow morning so that the Content and Themes group could have an adequate amount of time tonight to plan tomorrow’s other speeches.

Transcript of George Christiansen's Civil Society Statement

Statement to the Plenary Session on Prepcom 1, WSIS Phase 2, Hammammet, 25 June 2004 - presented by George Christensen, AMARC-Africa

Civil society organisations, participating in the World Summit on the
Information Society believe a just and equitable information society must
be people-centred, based on respect for fundamental human rights and giving
priority to the reduction of poverty and the implementation of sustainable
development.

During the Geneva phase of the Summit, civil society organisations played a
full and active role. Despite significant constraints on dialogue and
communication within the process itself, civil society organisations
contributed extensively and with good effect.

At the completion of the Geneva Summit we can acknowledge three outcomes:
two intergovernmental documents the Declaration of Principles and the Plan
of Action, and one civil society document a declaration titled "Shaping
Information Societies for Human Needs" that was presented to governments at
the final plenary in Geneva.

Although there are several points on which the civil society position is
different from that of the governments we propose the Declaration of
Principles should not be re-opened.

They key principles in the intergovernmental Declaration - on sustainable
development and the millennium development goals, and on human rights and
freedom of expression - should form the measures against which actions in
the second phase are judged.

On the other hand, the Plan of Action, is not a document we can accept to
work with. It was hastily drafted in the final stages of the Geneva Summit,
with little input from civil society. In certain important respects it is
in contradiction with the Declaration of principles and it does not
adequately provide a basis for action and implementation.

We recommend this be reviewed to establish a new and measurable basis for
action.

As we commence the second phase of the World Summit on the Information
Society we would like to re-state our commitment to the priorities set out
in the civil society declaration presented in Geneva copies are available
here today.

We also wish to remind government that the role of civil society is not
simply one of assisting with implementation but also of observation,
monitoring and holding of governments to account. During the second phase
of the Summit we will continue to provide a constructive but critical input
to the process. We ask for the best conditions to do so in the firm belief
that our contribution will assist in achieving a better outcome.

Victoria Cabrera-Balleza's Civil Society Statement

Here is the second of three civil society statements read this morning to the Prepcom plenary. -andy

Victoria Cabrera-Balleza
ISIS International Manila

Statement to WSIS PrepCom Plenary
June 25, 2004

At the conclusion of the first phase of this World Summit the
international community agreed a vision and objectives, in the
Declaration of Principles, which are framed around the Millennium
Development Goals and other internationally agreed objectives for
sustainable development. In doing so the Geneva Summit committed to the
challenge of creating an information and communications environment
oriented towards the achievement of a world free of poverty and hunger.

In 2005 the Tunis Summit will coincide with the first five-year review
of international progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
Governments and multilateral institutions will measure the results of
the WSIS process on the basis of its contribution to the achievement of
universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and women's
empowerment, reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal
health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensuring
environmental sustainability and development of global partnerships for
development.

These are key targets against which action and implementation must be
measured.

We all acknowledge that ICTs can make a contribution to poverty
alleviation and the realization of all human rights, including the right
to development, health, education, and information thereby enabling
developing countries to participate as equal partners in the global
information and communication society. But our efforts are largely
failing and the so-called 'digital-divide' is in fact expanding.

The model that relies primarily on international private investment to
achieve those goals is not working. Markets only provide services for
those who can afford them; governments are unable to correct market
failures due to imposed constraints including external debt and IMF
conditionalities that limit their investments in infrastructure;
investment agreements constrain the delivery of public services and
intellectual property regimes make technology transfers unaffordable.

These contradictions have been most obviously exposed in the case of
efforts to reduce mortality from HIV/AIDS where the basic right of
patients to life has been restricted by international trade rules to
protect the intellectual property of manufacturers of the medicines
vital for effective treatment.

Despite these failures, the Action Plan agreed in Geneva, relies to a
large extent on a false logic. It assumes that investment in information
and communication technology products, services and applications, will
by itself contribute to the achievement of development goals. It
assumes, that setting targets for rolling out the ICT infrastructure,
will automatically lead to alleviation of poverty.

Civil society has a different perspective on the priorities for action
needed to achieve the development goals and objectives set out in the
Declaration of Principles.

We believe policies and investment must be effective from the ground-up.

People and communities must themselves be enabled to take action to
improve their lives and conditions. Civil society initiatives and
community-driven development projects must be supported and encouraged
through improvements to the policy and regulatory environment for access
to information and to the means of communications and through investment
in traditional as well as new communication technologies.

WSIS II can be of enormous help in identifying the national and
international obstacles and the action which is needed to address them.

Full Text of Ralf Bendrath's Speech to Prepcom Plenary

Below is the official text that Ralf Bendrath presented to the Prepcom plenary on behalf of the civil society caucus.

Ralf Bendrath, Heinrich Böll Foundation

Statement to the PrepCom Plenary on behalf of the Civil Society plenary

25 June 2004

Dear friends,

The first phase of this summit was a major step forward in developing a
multi-stakeholder process on the global level. For the first time civil
society and others have participated in such a way.

We have worked very hard to use this opportunity in a constructive
manner. By doing so, we also have been reminding you of how a true
vision of a human-centred, just and inclusive information society could
and should look like.

We have to move on in this direction. Governments can not address these
issues alone. Any mechanism that does not closely associate civil
society and other stakeholders is not only unacceptable in principle, it
is also doomed to fail.

You all have acknowledged this. The importance of civil society
participation is evoked routinely by governments and in official WSIS
statements.

What we demand now is that the multi-stakeholder process is not just a
nice phrase, but becomes true reality.

This seems to be the case for the working groups on internet governance
and finance, where we have heard about and experienced very promising
approaches.

We insist that it also becomes a reality for the rest of the summit
process.

We are not convinced yet:

- The speaking time given to Civil Society reveals the ironic asymmetry
between the importance theoretically given to us and the actual reality.
Our speaking slots only amount to 2.7 per cent of the total plenary
time!

- In order to have meaningful discussion among all stakeholders, we need
to be able to speak to the points at the time they are raised. This is
not the case right now, though we already had this modality during the
Geneva phase!

- It is still not clear how we can contribute to the implementation of
the action plan with our knowledge and our experiences.

- Meaningful participation also needs to address the large part of civil
society that can not come to Tunis or Geneva. At this PrepCom, we do not
even have an internet broadcast as in phase one.

We want to make very clear that our further participation is depending
on some conditions:

- We insist that we don't fall back behind the highest levels of
inclusiveness and participation from the first phase. Instead, we even
want to improve them.

- All thematic and regional meetings have to be fully open to all
interested parties.

- Whatever Political Declaration is to be adopted in Tunis, appropriate
mechanisms have to guarantee that civil society is truly involved in any
drafting process and supported in commenting and proposing amendments in
a timely manner.

- We need modalities to ensure meaningful civil society consultation and
cooperation on all areas of the stock-taking exercises and the
implementation of the action plan.

- There must be a creative use of ICTs to ensure civil society
participation from all over the world. We have a lot of experience with
this from our own work.

- We were happy to hear about the participation fund yesterday. However,
we insist that the funding is used in a transparent manner, according to
the actual needs and with meaningful participation of already
established civil society structures on this.

To summarize:

We are not willing to play an alibi role or lend our legitimacy to a
process that excludes us from true meaningful participation. The summit
can only be a summit of successes if there is substantive progress in
our participation.

Videos of Civil Society Plenary on Human Rights

Just in case my blog entry didn't capture the chaos from earlier today, here are some videos of the civil society plenary in which Tunisian human rights activists fought with other Tunisian representatives over the human rights caucus document that was supposed to be delivered to the WSIS prepcom plenary.

http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/video/plenary.hr1.avi

http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/video/plenary.hr2.avi

http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/video/plenary.hr3.avi

Establishing a WSIS Conversation on Telecenters

This afternoon I hosted an informal gathering to discuss the possibility of forming an interdisciplinary telecenter taskforce within civil society’s WSIS-related activities. The session started with some confusion, as the room for the event changed three times on the illuminated signs advertising its location. Despite these initial difficulties, we had representatives from civil society, government and the private sector, hailing from France, Canada, Bangladesh, Guinea-Conakry, Taiwan, Denmark and the United States.

In the meeting, I gave a brief overview of discussions that had occurred at the Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) conference in Seattle two weeks ago. Given the interdisciplinary nature of telecenters, working in fields ranging from Internet access and education to content and human rights, their interests are spread out amongst the current working groups within civil society; therefore, some of the overarching goals of the telecenter movement might accidentally fall through the cracks, as different groups work to identify their particular work priorities.

We therefore decided to create a discussion list over the course of the next several weeks, allowing people ample time to join the list prior to the start of discussion. Discussions would occur in English, French and Spanish, utilizing translation software to assist the conversation. We would try to identify potential stakeholders within governments, civil society, the private sector, international agencies and donors with an interest in promoting successful, sustainable telecenters as a tool for reaching the Millennium Development Goals. The group would then brainstorm to identify specific projects that could serve the WSIS process, such as an international thematic conference; identifying networks of telecenters at the local, national and regional level in order to forge greater connections between them; collecting and disseminating case studies that demonstrate the rich diversity of telecenters, including programs run by libraries and community networks; and sharing of best practices and telecenter tools, translated for cultural and linguistic appropriateness.

Over the remaining time here at the Prepcom, I’ll continue having conversations with people on this issue; then in the coming weeks we’ll be able to start organizing more formal discussions via the Internet. Please stay tuned for a formal announcement on the launch of the discussion list and how to participate.

Civil Society Must not be an Alibi for Governments

Ralf Bendrath of the Heinrich Boll Foundation served as one of civil society’s speakers during today’s first plenary, immediately prior to the lunch break. Bendrath said that the Geneva stage of WSIS was “a major step forward in developing a multi-stakeholder process.” Governments cannot address ICT challenges alone, he noted; mechanisms must involve civil society if they are to succeed. “Governments routinely acknowledge civil society…. We demand that a multi-stakeholder approach becomes a reality.” Bendrath noted that a multi-stakeholder process is working in regards to efforts surrounding the issues of Internet governance and financing mechanisms, but it hasn’t worked well in other areas.

Additionally, Bendrath pointed out that civil society, with only 15 minutes to speak today and tomorrow, is thus given the equivalent of only 2.7 percent of total plenary time. Plus, their speaking slot is separated from the actual periods of debate. “We need to be able to speak to the point [of a particular issue] at the time they are raised,” he said. Bendrath also noted that only a small number of civil society representatives are participating here in person, leaving most of the community without an active voice.

Bendrath laid out a series of civil society’s concerns. He said that governments must not fall back from previous levels of civil society participation. Regional meetings must be open to all interest parties. Mechanisms must guarantee that civil society is involved in the drafting and amending process. There must be modalities for civil society involvement in implementing the action plan. There should be creative use of ICTs for civil society members around the world to participate. Bendrath also said that civil society was happy to hear about Tunisia’s offer to contribute 400,000 dinars for a civil society participation fund; however, the funds must be used in transparent manner.

“We are not willing to play an alibi role,” he said in his conclusion. “The summit can only be a success if there is substantive civil society involvement.”

Caucus Chaos over Human Rights

Following the suspension of the plenary session, civil society delegates met in the Didon Theatre to try to solve the impasse that had been reached over the human rights caucus statement. Saida Agrebi of Tunisia said the statement should say that all participating countries respect human rights rather than singling out Tunisia, and emphasized the need for an African to represent the caucus during the plenary. Other Tunisians concurred, with many of them dominating the first half of the discussion.

Ambassador Karklins, president of the Prepcom, then arrived and asked the group to resolve its differences. “We will give 15 minutes speaking time for NGOs. We cannot intervene in the decisionmaking process of NGOs, and we can give you time to sort out your internal questions, and I would ask Renate [Bloem] as your coordinator to give me a list of speakers at 12:40pm. The list should contain name, organization they represent, and speakers for their part should follow closely the rules of procedure… So therefore I will be very attentively following your intervention… and if I see that rules of procedure aren’t [followed] … I will intervene.”

Several speakers then noted that there is “extreme mistrust” between certain elements within the civil society family in terms of their position regarding the Tunisian government and human rights, and that it may be necessary to present both views, given them each time during the plenary speaking slot. Others suggested that the divide that exists within civil society should be acknowledged in the plenary for the sake of openness.

Rikke Frank Joergensen, co-chair of the human rights caucus, defended the process to date. “We followed the procedure that we’ve followed from the first phase of the summit,” she noted. She said that issues were discussed in yesterday’s civil society plenary, then people were invited to stay afterwards to help draft language. “The drafting group then decided on four speakers… including two African speakers, one on economic development and a woman from Tunisia on human rights.” Regarding the statement, she said it is consistent with statements the caucus had released in the past, and there is precedent to note any human rights issues in the host country, as had been the case in Geneva when there were problems with certain groups being allowed to speak and protest.

In the end, it appeared to be decided that there would be one speaker, a woman from Africa, who would leave out the language singling out Tunisia. There was no actual vote; while one was attempted, the Tunisian delegation overwhelmed the room with shouting and clapping. Additionally, the attempt at a vote was conducted without consistent translation into English, which meant many delegates were unable to participate or follow the proceedings.

As delegates left the room, a number of shouting matches broke out. The representative from the Tunisian Human Rights League called the apparent decision “a scandal,” with others shouting their opinion back and forth.

But the question still remains open; when civil society representatives spoke during the late morning plenary, just before lunch, the human rights caucus did not present their remarks, because it was clear that no democratic consensus had been reached on the issue. They will continue the debate later today, and hopefully strike some kind of agreement so they may present first thing tomorrow morning during the plenary session.

Prepcom Plenary Suspended Over Human Rights Dispute

Proceedings at the Prepcom have been suspended because some representatives from Tunisian civil society have objected to a Tunisian human rights activist who was scheduled to speak on behalf of the human rights caucus, as well as to some of the content in their presentation emphasizing the need to respect human rights, privacy and freedom of expression during the Tunis phase of WSIS. Sources say the objecting representatives from within Tunisian civil society complained to the Tunisian government minister in attendance at the Prepcom, who in turn objected to the president of the Prepcom. The agenda of the Prepcom has been suspended for 45 minutes. The dispute remains unresolved. Civil society representatives have scheduled an emergency meeting, which shall begin in a few minutes. More information soon.

Presentations by Intl Agencies, Private Sector - Then Meeting Suspended

The second morning of the WSIS Prepcom in Tunisia began with presentations from representatives of international agencies and the private sector, to be followed by civil society. Various international agencies discussed their priorities for the Tunis phase of WSIS, some offering to host thematic meetings on issues outlined in the plan of action. For example, UNCTAD and OECD stated they are going to host two thematic meetings between now and the Tunis summit in November 2005. First, they will co-host a meeting on ICT indicators and statistics, for monitoring ICT development around the world and help foster informed ICT policymaking; this event has been proposed for February 2005 in Geneva. Second, they outlined plans for an event to address the impact of ICTs on economic development, and exploring best practices for the use of ICTs to raise economic competitiveness of developing countries.

A representative from the private sector then noted their priorities and objectives for the Tunis phase of WSIS. Priorities:

- Observers should be able to attend all WSIS-related meetings to provide meaningful input to government delegates.

- Rules should allow observers to intervene in all meetings.

- transparency and timely distribution of information for documents, meetings and other resources.

Objectives:

- Negotiations during the Prepcoms should focus on unresolved issues, particularly financing mechanisms and Internet governance. Governments should from renegotiating issues that were resolved during the Geneva phase of WSIS.

- Assessment, evaluation and benchmarking of the WSIS Plan of Action should be focus of the Tunis summit.

- Thematic meetings should focus on key themes outlined in the Plan of Action. The meetings should not be used to open previously resolved issues.

At this point in the plenary, Ambassador Karklins suspended presentations for three minutes and called upon bureau representatives from the private sector and civil society to the podium for three minutes. After 15 minutes had elapsed, Karklins suddenly suspending the proceedings for 45 minutes and called for a meeting of the entire bureau. I hope to have more information soon.

An Evening of Work, Food and Music

Following the end of yesterday's plenary sessions, civil society hosted a meeting to discuss drafting the presentations it will give to the full plenary Saturday morning. Karen Banks and Steve Buckley moderated the session, outlining a series of themes they thought should be presented. For the next hour and a half, they took comments and questions from over a dozen members of the audience. Some offered suggestions to recognize cultural diversity, the role of youth in bridging the digital divide, and reiterating the importance of a commitment to human rights and free expression. Several participants argued the 15-minute speaking slot available to civil society on both Friday and Saturday was highly insufficient, and should press for more time in subsequent prepcoms. Additionally, the heated exchange that had occurred amongst Tunisian activists in the human rights caucus meeting earlier in the day spilled out again, provoking passionate arguments on several occasions.

Following the meeting, representatives from several of the caucuses went off to draft language for the presentations, while most of the group joined government and other delegates at the official welcome reception in the medina's plaza. Several hundred participants mingled amongst the rows of cocktail snacks and bartenders, while a group of young Tunisians wearing elaborate Thousand and One Nights costumes posed for pictures with attendees. On stage, a pair of male guitarists performing Django Reinhardt-like ditties dueled with an all-women Tunisian women's ensemble. The women were excellent performers and helped set the atmosphere, but the men, despite their talents, seemed a bit out of place considering the location....

Lamenting My Shameful Monolingualism

If there's one lesson I've learned so far here at the WSIS prepcom in Tunisia is that I really, really regret not maintaining and nuturing my French skills from high school. As an official UN event, the prepcom has simultaneous translations in the official languages of the UN -- English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Russian. But in reality, much of the one-on-one and small group conversations are taking place in French, Frenglish (a French-English melange) or Frengrabic (yes, a blend of French, English and Arabic). Many of the participants are quite fluent in French, and I've had several situations where a group of us would simply speak in the language we're most comfortable speaking, then assume the rest of the group knew enough French and English to get through the conversation. For example, in conversations I've had with delegates from Tunisia, France and Cameroon, we've just spoken in our language of choice and hoped for the best.

At some times I've actually been surprised that I've been able to get the gist of these conversations in French, but when this has happened, I've obviously given off some kind of misleading nonverbal signals suggesting my comprehension is stronger than it actually is, which then leads to a ramping up of French in the conversation. Then I am lost, absolument.

Nonetheless, it's really amazing being among so many people who are bilingual, trilingual, quadrilingual, polyglots to the Nth degree. The president of the Prepcom, a native Latvian speaker, flows between English, French and Russian without blinking, for example. And of course, it really makes me sad that American schools don't require students to start learning a second language in early primary school. What a lost opportunity.

So as soon as I step off the plane in Boston, next stop, Berlitz -- I really need a refresher course... -andy

Telecenters Discussion this Friday in Hammamet

Tomorrow I'll be hosting a discussion on the role of telecenters, community technology centers, libraries and other public access points to the Internet, in the World Summit on the Information Society. The issue of telecenters hasn't received much focus in the process so far, so I've been exploring whether delegates here in Tunisia would be interested in forming some kind of working group on the subject that would be a part of civil society's contribution to WSIS.

If you're in Hammamet, our meeting will take place at 2pm tomorrow in room A6 here at the Medina conference center. Hope to see some of you there; otherwise, I'll also post a summary here on my blog.... -andy

A Raucous Caucus

A brief, but large, video clip of the end of the Human Rights Caucus, in which a volatile debate broke out amongst human rights activists and others from Tunisia. Ralf Bendrath has also written a very good summary of the meeting.

Morning Plenary: An Elephant Parade of Speeches

Ambassador Janis Karklins of Latvia, newly-elected president of the Prepcoms for the Tunis phase of WSIS, was the first to speak during the during the first plenary session. “I would like to extend my profound gratitude to the govt of Tunisia for its warm hospitality. Conditions of work here are excellent and certainly stimulate fruitful debate and meaningful outcomes.” He paid tribute to Adama Samasekou, who chaired the first phase of Prepcoms for Geneva, then led a vote to adopt the proposed agenda for the three days of meetings.

Most of the morning was spent with countries giving brief statements reiterating their support for the WSIS, as well as outlining any financial contributions they’re making to the process. The session wrapped up just after 1pm, and is about to start again for the 3pm plenary, which is running a few minutes late. Ambassador Karklins has been banging the gavel for about five minutes, and is just getting the audience's attention.

Phlogging at the Prepcom

Rather than fill my blog's homepage with large photos, I've started to post some pictures to my photo blog at phlog.net. You can access them by clicking the previous hyperlink, or from the list of photos included on the left column of my blog's homepage. So far I've posted some pics of Renate Bloem, Bruno Oudet and myself. Enjoy.. -ac

Self Portrait: Andy at the Prepcom

Here's a picture of me blogging from the balcony of the plenary session.

Panorama of Prepcom Plenary Session

Here's a panorama photo of the Prepcom plenary session. It's also available as a much larger jpeg file or as a panoramic Quicktime VR file.

Prepcom Opening Ceremony

At the Yasmine Hammamet Medina in Tunisia this morning, Mr. Utsumi of the International Telecommunications Union opened the first preparatory meeting (prepcom) of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. He said we should now move beyond making declarations and embrace real action to bridge the digital divide. “I now call on governments, private sector and civil society to find common ground.” The representative of the Swiss government discussed a range of issues, including the role of civil society in the WSIS process. He said that he felt civil society’s contributions have helped stimulate ideas amongst governments, and reiterated the importance of civil society participating throughout the process.

The Tunisian government representative then welcomed the plenary audience on behalf of Tunisian President Ben Ali. “I am convinced that the complimentary of the summit process, with its first phase in Geneva and the second phase in Tunis… will strengthen the bonds of international solidarity,” he said. He then went on to reaffirm the importance of civil society and the private sector participating in the process. He added that civil society should “intensify” their participation in the process, saying they are “an essential element” for the establishment of the information society. As part of the Tunisian government’s support of civil society participation, he called for a permanent UN fund for financing the participation of civil society in the WSIS process. He then said the Tunisian government would contribute 400,000 dinars (USD $320,000) to help facilitate the participation of civil society representatives from the developing world, particularly groups representing youth, women and the disabled. He said these groups would also receive free space to display their activities at the Tunis summit. Similarly, he offered free space for small private sector companies interested in presenting at the summit.

Journalism Rights Brouhaha

It took less than an hour for the first argument to erupt over press freedoms to break out during the morning civil society plenary. Steve Buckley of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) gave an overview of yesterday’s media caucus breakout session, and summarized a letter the group has submitted to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking for guarantees that press freedoms will be protected during the Tunis phase of WSIS. Then, a Mr. Achour from Tunisia’s Doctors Without Borders stood up and gave a monologue on how he knew of no journalists who have been put on trial in Tunisia, and said the media caucus had been plotting in secret meetings. Immediately, Buckley then stood up and started to distribute documentation to people in the audience countering Achour’s arguments.

The Tunisian chair of the plenary called for a point of order, as did Renate Bloem, but Achour kept talking. Eventually, Rik Panganiban intervened and said that this plenary is solely for reviewing the caucus meetings from yesterday, and not for debating. The chairwomen then invited Achour to participate in the scheduled media caucus and human rights caucus, open to all attendees, in which he could feel free to debate the issue. Interestingly, Buckley’s call for openness and press freedoms were then reaffirmed by the Swiss government representative during his opening remarks of the Prepcom plenary, going on right now.

Janis Karklins and the Lella Baya House Band

Late last night, civil society representatives had the opportunity to chat with Ambassador Janis Karklins of Latvia, who has been nominated to become president of the Prepcom of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. Karklins, who literally arrived at the Lella Baya Hotel five minutes prior to the meeting at 10:30pm, quickly joined the group of 15 civil society representatives, hosted by Renate Bloem of CONGO. Sitting outside by the pool as a rather obnoxious dance band performed 100 meters away for a throng of gyrating Spanish tourists, Karklins described the basic procedures that had been adopted unanimously by the Prepcom bureau in Geneva. As the dance music throbbed in the background, the group asked questions on a variety of issues, including press freedoms during the Tunis phase, ensuring adequate speaking time for civil society representatives, human rights in the hot country and various procedural issues. Because of the extraordinarily loud music vibrating everyone to the bone, sometimes it was rather difficult to hear what was said; nonetheless, civil society representatives seemed to appreciate the 45 minutes he gave to the group at such a late hour.

UNDP Previews Financial Mechanisms Taskforce

Shoji Nishimoto, Assistant Administrator and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy, brief ed civil society members on a new UNDP taskforce which will discuss financing mechanisms for bridging the digital divide between developed and developing nations. The taskforce, yet to be formed, will feature representatives from government, civil society and the private sector, who will identify successful strategies for funding sustainable, replicable models to bridge the divide. Nishimoto said the UNDP will seek nominations for experts with experience in implementing funding programs and digital divide initiatives, including programs that have creatively addressed the divide from various perspectives, including infrastructure, education, content, etc.

Nishimoto expects the taskforce to be constituted by the end of July, with work commencing immediately via the Internet and occasional in-person meetings. Mark Malloch Brown, director of UNDP, has asked Nishimoto to report the findings of the taskforce by this December, in order to allow for time to review the report prior to the second Prepcom meeting, expected to be in Geneva early in 2005. Nishimoto predicted around 17 or 18 taskforce members; there will also likely be a mechanism for non-members of this taskforce to submit opinions on the subject via the Internet

Civil Society Content and Themes Plenary

The next plenary session focused on civil society’s work in the WSIS process in terms of generating content for official WSIS documents and activities. Renate Bloem opened the session noting that during the first prepcom meeting of the first round of WSIS, civil society was “totally excluded.” Complaints about this eventually led to the establishment of an official WSIS civil society bureau that would have a legitimate seat at the table, and would be able to submit input on various relevant topics by civil society organizations. During the second prepcom, civil society representatives divided themselves into various working groups on themes such as human rights, gender, Internet governance, etc, but this was limited to those people who were physically represented at the meeting, meaning that some potential topics might have fallen through the cracks.

“The idea of establishing a civil society bureau was a very, very good one, but we must make sure the process is as democratic and legitimate as possible,” she said. Over the next day, civil society groups will have to decide who amongst them will want to speak during two 15-minute time slots in the plenaries this Friday and Saturday morning.

Next, a representative from the civil society content and themes group offered more details on the process. These self-selected working groups were based upon various common interests and geographic regions. The groups would then develop positions on relevant Internet issues and submit them to the content and themes group, whose task it would be to develop the ideas into a unified position document representing all of civil society participating in WSIS. During the first round of WSIS, he said, civil society groups felt that their ideas weren’t being taken seriously, though almost half of the ideas suggested by civil society ended up making it into the official documents. Still, he said, this needs improvement, and we should push to re-open the issue so more of the positions of civil society get accepted by the participating governments.

Governments, he said, clearly have unfinished business to do regarding Internet governance and the financing of digital divide initiatives, but that should not stop us from advocating our ideas and trying to get them included in the final WSIS documents. The WSIS plan of action, he said, needs more specifics. Civil society should also hold governments accountable to what they’ve promised to do throught this process. Last, civil society must make sure that governments take human rights seriously; in particular, he cited the Tunisian government’s evolving policies as an important barometer for seeing if governments address the issue in ways that are satisfactory to civil society.

The final speaker was Bertrand de la Chapelle, who gave a demonstration of the website www.wsis-online.net. A community platform for civil society activists, the website is intended to be used by groups so they can coordinate their WSIS-related activities. The site allows users to create event listings, working groups, organizational and personal profiles, etc, all sorted by particular civil society interests. The website’s database then allows users to sort people and organizations based on these interests so they can identify each other and hopefully partner with each other to meet civil society goals.

Opening of the Civil Society Event

This morning at the Hammamet Medina, Civil Societybegan a day-long meeting regarding the WSIS prepcom meeting, which will officially open tomorrow morning. After opening comments from Renate Bloem, she then welcomed Charles Geiger of the WSIS Executive Secretariate.Geiger explained the history of the UN’s interest in hosting world summits. “Each summit creates their own rules,” he said. “This summit is special because it has two phases. On the first summit the governments decided on the rules of procedure…. A world summit is basically an intergovernmental summit, while businesses, international organizations and civil society act as observers.”

“The origins of this summit was that the Tunisian government proposed the summit at a meeting of the ITU in Minnesota in 1998…. It was then brought into the UN system, and there was a resolution that was the basis of this becoming a UN summit. They said the first phase would take place in Geneva in 2003, and the second phase would be in Tunisia in 2005.”

“There were two breakthroughs at WSIS. You were able to create civil society bureaus so you could speak with one voice. Plus there were joint bureau meetings in which civil society and business were invited to meet with governments. Governments don’t like to do new things, but once they do, they probably will continue.” Geiger said he couldn’t guarantee it would happen in this phase as well, but hoped it would, perhaps starting with a joint bureau meeting this Friday at 6pm.

“At the first summit we had two declarations, so the question now comes, what is left for phase two?” he said. “Here I can only make guesses, since I cannot speak for the governments. There is unfinished business on… Internet governance and financing mechanisms [for a digital divide fund].”

Geiger said there would probably be a second prepcom in Geneva next February, followed by a third prepcom in the late summer, either in Geneva or Tunis. There will also be regional meetings in Brazil, in Ghana in February and one hosted by the Arab League. He also noted that he expects the ITU to announce tomorrow the availability of UN funds to support the WSIS process, since WSIS to date has been an unfunded mandate and supported by various public and private sources.

Hammamet: Tunisia, Disney or Vegas?

For once, I managed to wake up before 8am; I must be finally adjusting to the time zone. After breakfast I finished packing my things and checked out of the hotel, ready to head to Hammamet for the rest of the week. I needed to catch a taxi to take me to the louage station – louages are shared minibus taxis that take people all over Tunisia. According to the woman at the front desk of the hotel, catching a louage would be faster than taking the bus, as long as I didn’t find myself being the first passenger in a particular taxi – otherwise, I’d have to wait until the taxi would leave, and sometimes that longer than you’d like it to be.

I went outside to hail a taxi; the first one stopped and said he’d charge me 10 dinars for the ride to the louage station, which was absolutely ludicrous, since it shouldn’t cost more than two dinars. I waved him off and grabbed the next one, who was decent enough to not try to rob me and turned on his meter as soon as I got inside the front seat next to him.

We weaved through Tunis to the south side of town until reaching the louage station. As soon as I stepped out on the curb an attendant asked where I was going.

“À Hammamet,” I replied.

“Les billets sont là-bas,” he said, pointing to the ticket agent.

When I got to the agent I noticed a sign posting the fares to various destinations. Just below Hammamet was Hammamet Sud – perfect, since I was actually going to a new resort and business complex called Yasmine Hammamet, about 10 miles south of Hammamet proper. I paid the four dinar fare and was immediately directed to a waiting louage that had only one seat available. As soon as my bags were in the trunk and I was in the seat, the louage was on its way, no waiting necessary.

The louage took the highway east out of Tunis towards Cap Bon, the peninsula that’s home to Hammamet and a collection of popular beach resorts. As we sped down the highway, I began to wonder if I’d made a mistake about not going to Kairouan yesterday, The louage was faster than I expected, not making stops along the way, so maybe I could have gotten there in less than three hours. Perhaps there’d be time on Saturday after the meetings wrap up; we’d just have to wait and see.

We rode along for about 50 minutes, listening to Tunisian pop music without anyone saying a word, except to answer their mobile phones, which kept going off every five or 10 minutes. Soon enough, we arrived in Hammamet Sud, and before I could get my bags out of the trunk, they’d already hailed me a cab to take me the rest of the way to Yasmine Hammamet. The taxi ride was probably no more than 10 minutes, and cost three dinars. As we pulled into Yasmine, I felt like we were entering a gated community. Leaving the highway, we drove along a wide boulevard with fresh asphalt, lined with palm trees on each side. We passed one resort hotel after another.

Then, we arrived at my hotel, the Lella Baya. Quite literally a postmodern sandcastle, the Lella Baya is an enormous structure, designed to look like castles made out of brown and white sand. Inside, the décor was so over the top it probably would have made Walt Disney blush; an Aladdin fantasy come to life, with huge vaulted Moorish ceilings and columns, once again made to look like sand. It took a while for me to get checked in; it was well before noon and technically they weren’t supposed to let you check until the afternoon. But after 15 minutes or so, my bags disappeared; a few minutes later I was whisked away to the third floor, where I found the bags waiting on my bed.

I had a little time before heading over to the conference center, so I took a quick walk down to the beach, right behind the hotel. The beach was jammed with Spanish and Italian tourists, lounging under thatched-roof umbrellas. I was caught somewhat off-guard when I realized some of the women were bathing topless; not a big surprise if this had been a beach in France or Spain, but it seemed both odd and awkward that they were doing it in an Arab country.

After my walk I went back into the hotel to find out where the conference center was. The man behind the front desk told me to go to the shop to get a map, and the shop keep was happy to charge my five dinars for the privilege to look at a map and find out. This was somewhat irritating because Yasmine Hammamet is so new, it’s not given much attention in the guidebooks, so there was no other way for me to look at a map than to buy one from the hotel. It seems they could have at least had one I could glance at with the concierge or something.

As it turns out, the conference center was in the medina, five minutes’ walk south from the hotel. I step outside onto the sweltering pavement – it was pushing 35 degrees Celsius today – and prayed I wouldn’t be a sweaty mess by the time I got there. A few minutes past the hotel I discovered Carthage World, an amusement park with a variety of rides, none of which seemed to be running at the moment. The entrance of the park was marked by two life-sized mannequins of war elephants; a pair of security guards smoked their cigarettes below the tusks, relaxing in the pachyderm shade. Beyond the elephants were other mannequins, mostly of Arab sailors and pirates – though the pirates were sporting Caribbean pirate garb rather than North African corsair accoutrements. The strangest thing about the park was that its logo was the ancient Punic symbol for children I’d seen at the Sanctuary of Tophet – the same symbol used to mark the place of children that had apparently been sacrificed in the names of Baal Hammon and Tanit.

Soon, I arrived at the medina – not a medina in the traditional sense of the word, though. Yasmine’s medina is brand-spanking new, a complex of restaurants, casinos, shops and conference space that would be my home for the next few days. The kitschiness of the place was breathtaking. It wasn’t even parallel to Disney – this was Vegas, baby, no doubt about it. In fact, the architect who built the Yasmine medina appeared to have done a PhD dissertation in the transformation of Vegas in the 1980s and 1990s: the developers of Circus Circus and the Mirage would have been proud of the medina.

I entered the medina through the southern side, not sure if I was supposed to have gone through the northern entrance, since it was labeled CASINO in huge letters (as opposed to UN CONFERENCE, which would have caught my eye). I passed a swanky café full of beautiful Tunisians having a late morning shisha and coffee. Weaving through the complex, I eventually saw the first evidence that the UN was having a meeting here: a map showing where you could go to pick up your badges for the event. I followed the map but discovered that they weren’t set up yet for accrediting people or handing out badges. In fact, most of the activity in the medina seemed to be geared towards putting on final coats of paint and sanding down any rough edges on doorways.

Along the way I stumbled upon a small post office. I’d be carrying around a batch of postcards that needed stamps, so I went inside to by some. The man working there spoke English, so I requested four stamps that would get my postcard to America.

“Where in USA are you from?” he asked.

“I live in Boston, but I grew up in Florida, near Disney World.”

“Welcome to our Disney World,” he said. “Hammamet is the best place in all of Tunisia. Have you been here before?”

“No, this is my first time, though I’ve traveled to other parts of North Africa and the Middle East.”

“Please enjoy Tunisia,” he said. “But maybe not Algerie, n’est ce pas?”

“Not this time,” I said. “Some day, Algeria and Libya, but now just Tunisie.”

Exploring the rest of the medina to get a feel for where the conference activities would be, I bumped into Renate Bloem and Rik Panganiban of CONGO, which promotes the interests of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the United Nations. Renate is one of the leaders of civil society’s representation at the UN summit, so it was nice to finally meet her in person. Eventually, they had to leave for another appointment, but Rik pointed me in the direction of the cybercafe, where I was able to settle down for a while and catch up on some work.

Later in the afternoon, since there weren’t any official events going on yet, I decided to catch a taxi to old Hammamet so I could visit its medina – a real medina, at least in comparison to Yasmine’s medina. It was a 15-minute drive to Hammamet, following the coast in a clockwise curve along the peninsula. Stepping out of the taxi, I was greeted by another sand castle – this one, at least, had been first built in the ninth century, and served as a military and commercial stronghold for over a thousand years. The Hammamet medina was a beautiful sight – a sandstone fortress on the outside with whitewashed houses on the inside. Sure, this was tourist central, but at least it wasn’t built for the tourists – it was one of the main reasons they came here in the first place.

The taxi had dropped me off at the northwest corner of the medina, right next to a wide, sandy beach. Rather than head directly to the medina, I crossed over the beach to enjoy the view of Hammamet Bay, filled with fishing boats and Tunisian kids swimming. Across the bay, I could see Hammamet Sud; further to the left, you could just make out Yasmine Hammamet, only because you could spot people parasailing along a small strip of waterfront.

Returning to the northwest corner of the medina, I discovered a charming café called the Sidi Bou Hsid. One of the best locations for an oceanfront café I’d ever seen, it had marvelous things to look at on three sides: the ocean, the walls of the medieval medina, and whitewashed, domed houses that looked like they were straight out of Star Wars (which they very well might have been since the Star Wars flicks were filmed all over Tunisia). Ordering a mint tea and a bottle of water, I sat down at the café under a tall umbrella, watching the fishing boats go by. This really was a charming place.

Leaving the café, I entered the medina from the northern side and went for a long walk, getting lost in its myriad alleyways and impasses. The medina was in marvelous condition, much more so than the Tunis medina, with everything freshly whitewashed; not a crumbling building in sight. Most of the medina on this end of the complex was jammed with souvenir shops, fairly similar to what I’d seen in Tunis. But within a few blocks you were able to reach its residential areas, where kids played football and happy cats snoozed on doorsteps. (The cats here also seemed healthier than the ones in Tunis; none of them were skinny, they were clean, and many wore collars.) The medina was also much less chaotic than Tunis; I’d actually enjoyed the chaos back in the capital, but the peacefulness of this place was very refreshing.

Eventually I came out of the medina on the southern side, then backtracked through part of the walled city until I found an exit on the eastern side. I went to look for a café in the newer part of town but couldn’t find anything that struck a chord with me, so I returned to the oceanside café that I first visited an hour or so earlier, and settled in over a tall glass of Diet Coke and my Lonely Planet guide, whose Tunisian History section I reread for the fourth or fifth time. The sun was getting low in the sky, causing the light to dance on the water . Many of the day-tripping tourists began to leave as locals replaced them in the café. At one point I spotted a young girl who was selling sprigs of jasmine tied into miniature bouquets – Tunisian men traditionally tuck them behind one ear. I asked if I could take a picture, and she said yes, so I snapped a few shots of her before dutifully buying some jasmine for one dinar, which she showed me to tuck it behind my left ear.

By now it was after 6pm, and I was tempted to head back to the hotel. But given the dearth of choices for dinner there, I decided I’d take advantage of my time in Hammamet and get a bite to eat in the neighborhood. Crossing the road from the medina, I found an Italian café that was full of locals, so I settled in for a Boga (Tunisian ginger ale) and a small pizza. I thought I’d ordered a vegetarian pizza, but it came with meat on it – include what I’m pretty sure was ham, another Tunisian surprise. Fortunately, a cute little cat found his way below my table and began to nuzzle against my leg. He stayed with me for the next 45 minutes as I ate my pizza and not-so-discreetly passed him my ham, to the delight of the Tunisian children sitting at the tables around me.

After dinner, I figured it was time to go back to the hotel. Rather than take a taxi back, I took the Hammamet Toy Train, which is similar to the car-trains you see pulling people around at Disney’s parking lot, or inside theme parks. Each car of the train was decorated like Thomas the Tank Engine and was painted pink. For two and a half dinars, I got to sit with a bunch of German tourists as we zoomed at 40 kilometers per hour down the highway in what was essentially a convoy of glorified golf carts.

And now it’s 9pm back at the hotel. Most of the guests are crowded around giant-screened TVs in the atrium watching Euro 2004 football matches. I’m sitting outside by the pool with my laptop, while an Arabic-language version of The Chicken Dance plays in the background. Only in Yasmine Hammamet.

Lost in the Medina

I really, really intended to get up early this morning, but once again my jetlag got the better of me. Despite the fact I set my alarm for 6:30am, I had to drag myself out of bed just before 9am – not a good start. My plan had been to get up and catch a shared taxi to Kairouan, three hours to the self. According to genealogy research I’ve done, the name Carvin, originally spelled Karawan, descends from a family of rabbis who taught at Kairouan’s Talmudic college in the 11th century.

Of course, I don’t have any family tree written down to prove any of this, but I’d always wanted to visit Kairouan just to check out the place, in case my ancestors once called it home. But as I had breakfast and though about it, the whole idea of traveling three hours each way just to visit for only a couple of hours didn’t seem worth it. Of course, I may end up regretting this decision, but I know I’ll be back to Tunisia at least once or twice in the next couple of years because of the World Summit on the Information Society, So next time I’m here, I’ll plan to go there at least on an overnight excursion rather than making a grueling day trip from Tunis.

With that decision settled, I decided I’d spend the day getting to know the Tunis medina a little better. There was a lot to see hidden in the souks and alleyways – I just needed the better part of a day to do it. Leaving the hotel around 10am, I walked west down Avenue Bourguiba and paid a brief visit to the Catholic cathedral of Tunis. The cathedral was constructed by the French in the late 1800s on the previous location of a much smaller church. Because the land was rather swampy at the time, they had to sink nearly 2400 Norwegian fir tree trunks to build a stable foundation. The interior of the church is rather modest by cathedral standards, but its use of Moorish arches in the vaulting gives it an exotic touch. High above the altar there’s a mosaic of Abraham blessing representatives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, appropriate given Tunisia’s relatively good history of religious tolerance.

Continuing west through the French Gate, I entered the medina and visited several shops on my way to the Great Mosque. Almost every shop owner called out to me, trying to get me to come inside. Oddly enough, almost of none of them thought I spoke English – instead they called out to me in Italian. On several occasions I played along, saying I was either Mexican, Norwegian and Scottish, depending on my mood. Only when I said I was Scottish did I seem to get a reaction – “Ah, whisky!” they all seemed to reply with a huge grin on their faces.

Of all the shops, I particularly liked Hanout Arab, which specialized in traditional Berber crafts. Compared to most of the shops along the main drag, Hanout Arab offered fair fixed prices with no pressure from the owners, so I was free to browse at my leisure. Perhaps I’d come back later in the afternoon and do some shopping; better do it later rather than drag around a bag of souvenirs all day.

Soon I arrived at the eastern entrance of the Great Mosque. It’s open for tourists a few hours each morning, so I wanted to visit before it closed for noon prayers. Coming upstairs to pay the entrance fee, a guide immediately latched on to me and offered to give me a tour of the place. I politely declined, but then he offered to take me on a quick visit to Koranic school and a terrace with a view of the Mosque. Since good views of the mosque were hard to come by, I decided to play along, even though it might cost a few dinars.

“Okay, but no shopping,” I said to him.

“Okay, not shopping,” he replied.

First, though, I spent a few minutes in the courtyard of the mosque, watching a group of men renovating the inner perimeter. Most of the courtyard was blocked off by the construction, which was disappointing, but I still had a nice view of the mosque’s beautiful 19th century minaret. Since I wasn’t able to explore any further, there wasn’t much point staying any longer, so I told the guide I was ready to go to visit the terrace. We walked south along the edge of the mosque; I had to walk briskly to keep up with the guy. Eventually he arrived at a carpet shop and went inside. I stood outside.

“Wait,” I said. “No shopping, remember?”

“Yes, yes, no shopping,” he replied. “Up.” He immediately bolted inside and up a staircase; I begrudgingly followed. Indeed, given the pace he was going, there was little chance I’d get to see any of the carpets inside, so I breathed a sigh of relief and went up several flights of stairs.

Soon I found myself looking at the Tunis medina from above, a forest of white buildings, sparse patches of green, with minarets in every direction. Immediately to my north, I could see the Great Mosque, making out its courtyard and interior prayer rooms based on the position of the minaret. Immediately I was glad I’d gone with this guy, since the view of the minaret from inside the courtyard simply hadn’t done it justice. I wandered the terrace, split on three different levels with tiled arches in between, appreciating the 360-degree view. It’s too bad the call to prayer was at least a couple of hours away; I couldn’t imagine a better spot for appreciating it.

As we left the terrace, I made sure I led the way downstairs, in case the guide wanted to come up with an excuse to stop and see the carpets.

“You see carpets, yes?” he asked just as my foot reached the door.

“I would like to see the medressa now,” I replied.

“Okay, okay, we go to medressa,” he said, looking resigned to the fact he wouldn’t be getting a commission this morning.

Soon he overtook my pace, and once again I had to struggle to keep up with him. Since he knew I didn’t have the patience for carpet shopping, he probably wanted to get this gig over with as quickly as possible. Weaving through the souk, we soon reached the entrance to the Slimania medressa, constructed by the Ottoman governor Ali Pasha in the mid-1700s. Because the Koranic school was now owned by a local medical college, some of the rooms were open to the public.

“I like this medressa because it is named Slimania, and my name is Suleiman,” he said as we entered.

Inside the courtyard, I had a flashback to the great mosque of Cordoba, with its series of bi-colored arches simulating a palm grove. The medressa was much smaller, much more sublime, but the courtyard arches were just as effective. We then visited the main room of the medressa, where Koranic scholars taught young students for over two centuries. Its interior was much more reminiscent of an Ottoman mosque, quite appropriate given its Turkish origins. The walls were covered with intricate Iznik tiles, while several small windows with colored glass created an illusion of a spectrum bouncing off the ceiling. A group of French tourists were inside, contemplating the room, while in the corner, an attendant sat reading the newspaper classifieds, smoking a tall shisha water pipe. Suleiman stood to the side while I explored the interior, attempting to take a few photos of the relatively dark room with my digital camera. I even managed to take a picture of the attendant, lost in his newspaper and water pipe; Suleiman gave me a devious smirk.

Back in the main courtyard, a cat had appeared, and was drinking from a puddle of water. Suleiman and I both made clicking noises with our tongues simultaneously, attempting to get the cat’s attention. Briefly it looked up at me and gave me a look as if to say, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Leaving the medressa, I made a pre-emptive strike and began thanking Suleiman for the brief tour. If I paused much longer, undoubtedly he would have asked me to go to a carpet shop. But my attempt didn’t seem to make a difference.

“But my father, my old father, he has a very nice bizz-ee-ness,” he said with a heartbroken expression, stretching out the word “business” for what felt like an eternity.

“I am sure it is a very nice business, but I am not interested,” I replied.

“Then you pay me trente dinar” he said sternly.

“Thirty dinars? No way,” I replied swiftly, struggling to suppress my laughter. “I’m not going to pay you 25 bucks for a 30-minute tour. In Sousse or Kairouan I could hire a guide all day for half that price.”

“Vignt dinar,” he replied tersely, lowering his offer by a third, but still within the realm of the absurd.

“Harem alek!” I replied to him in Arabic – shame on you! -- using one of the few phrases I knew by heart. I reached into my pocked and pulled out all the small change I had, amounting to around four or five dinars. He shook his head, clicked his tongue knowing the bargaining was over, and walked away. I guess I’d known it would have ended that way, but it could have been a lot worse. At least the carpet shop with the nice terrace wasn’t the shop owned by his father – that would have certainly been a hell of a lot harder to escape with my wallet intact.

Now that Suleiman and I had gone our separate ways, I weaved through the souk until I found, Café Chaoechin, where I’d stopped for a mint tea, shisha and Whitey Bulger a couple of days ago. It wasn’t too busy, so I had a better selection of seats this time, so I settled into a comfortable corner and took out my stack of postcards, ordering an espresso from the waiter. The coffee arrived as I started my second postcard; it was no more than a tablespoon of espresso, but it had enough coffee in it to power