Dear all,

To give an example of how human rights organisations deal with Internet-related cases in Saudi Arabia, the Amnesty International website has a page titled "Saudi Arabia: Release activist jailed for 34yrs for tweets: Salma al-Shehab":

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/5961/2022/en/

This gives an overview of the facts of the case and calls for the prisoner's immediate and unconditional release. It then presents a model letter titled "URGENT ACTION Release activist jailed for 34 yrs for tweets" and invites members of the public to write an appeal, based on his model letter or in their own words, addressed to the Office of His Majesty the King at the Royal Court in Riyadh.

Is it the Wikimedia Foundation Human Rights Team's contention that it would be harmful to Osama's and Ziyad's interests to have similar pages for them on the websites of Amnesty International and other human rights organisations? And that it would be harmful to Osama and Ziyad to have members of the community and the wider public write letters to the Saudi Royal Court, calling for their release?

Andreas



On Tue, Oct 10, 2023 at 10:44 PM effe iets anders <effeietsanders@gmail.com> wrote:
This does indeed seem to make some assumptions:
* That WMF is not already in contact with relevant human rights organizations
* That including these individuals in a writing campaign is indeed considered the best approach to help them at this point
* That a public association of this type is considered a best practice regarding the safety of other Wikimedians who are at risk, both now and in the future

I'm not sure if I see the benefit of tying a collaboration regarding the safety of individuals to a writing effort on Wikipedia. Shouldn't we be interested in improving those articles regardless? Wouldn't human rights organizations care about individuals such as these regardless? Tying them together could come across like we're horse trading - which would reflect poorly on both efforts on such a sensitive topic. 

I don't have the insight whether these assumptions would hold - but I appreciate your thinking along. What I hear throughout the discussion, is a group of community members that care, and seem to offer to help. I hope that the WMF human rights team takes that information into account as they evaluate the options. But I also realize that they do have a full plate, and responding to these discussions is probably not their first priority. I hope some of the voices here will participate in the to-be-announced office hours. 

Lodewijk

On Mon, Oct 9, 2023 at 10:12 PM Lauren Worden <laurenworden89@gmail.com> wrote:
There are some good ideas in this thread, but nothing concrete,
actionable, and to which Foundation officials have been able and
willing to give a clear, simple yes or no answer. Here is a simple and
concrete proposal which could be started immediately:

Foundation personnel should reach out to Amnesty International
leadership (i.e.,
https://www.amnesty.org/en/about-us/secretary-general-and-senior-leadership-team/)
asking them to include the jailed Arabic Wikipedia administrators in
their Write for Rights campaign
(https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/write-for-rights/) and in
return offering to fund a Wikipedian in Residence editor position at a
level sufficient to improve the articles on subjects of their
campaigns as the availability of reliable sources allow.

This would not require public discussion of individual cases by
Foundation officials. Presumably the Foundation would be able to act
on such a plan without additional authorization from the Trustees.

Are there any downsides?

-LW

On Sun, Oct 8, 2023 at 9:37 AM Christophe Henner
<christophe.henner@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Crap I?ve hit sent too early!
>
> I am not sure it exists, but in line with Lodewijk comment having a guide on how can people help and/or a place where people can list themselves to make it known they can be reached to help on those topics, could be ways to leverage our communities in those instances.
>
> Christophe
>
> On Oct 8, 2023, at 6:34?PM, Christophe Henner <christophe.henner@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ?Bassel was at a time when there was little to none activity on those topics.
>
> Since then the approach got professionalized.
>
> I understand the lack of information is frustrated, but most of the time any action taken has to be confidential.
>
> Having been on the other side of curtain a bit, it?s one of the toughest topic there is.
>
>
>
> On Oct 8, 2023, at 6:25?PM, Andreas Kolbe <jayen466@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ?
> Thanks, Lane.
>
> The WMF published numerous Diff posts on Bassel. I believe the first one was in October 2015, less than a week after Bassel was killed:
>
> #FREEBASSEL: Free culture advocate who built 3D renderings of Palmyra missing in Syria
> https://diff.wikimedia.org/2015/10/08/bassel-missing-syria/
>
> As for media coverage, in January 2016 Jimmy Wales wrote an article about Bassel for CNN:
>
> Wikipedia founder: Information can beat oppression
> https://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/20/opinions/wales-wikipedia-information-beats-oppression/index.html
>
> In March 2016, Jimmy Wales and Orit Kopel published an article on Bassel in The Guardian, again suggesting a hashtag:
>
> "The world needs to ask: #whereisBassel?"
> https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/mar/16/jimmy-wales-the-world-needs-to-ask-whereisbassel
>
> The Foundation's silence on Osama and Ziyad is in marked contrast to that.
>
> Andreas
>
> On Sun, Oct 8, 2023 at 3:04?PM Lane Rasberry <lanerasberry@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> "Have there been any recent cases where community voices were mobilized to contribute to national or international campaigns for someone's release?"
>>
>> We organized Wikipedia editing events in 2011-12 for Aaron Swartz. Events were not so documented back then, but there were wiki meetups in the United States before and after his death.
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz
>>
>> In 2016-17 we did events for Bassell, not knowing that he had already passed. Here is some of what I can find but the events were organized in anticipation of his release.
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bassel_Khartabil
>> https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Editathon_for_Bassel
>> https://www.wired.com/story/free-bassel-essay/
>>
>> For both of these, there was a lot of online and in-person Wikimedia activism in response to the legal accusations against them. I do not know if we ever had storytelling or journalism documenting that though.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 4:46?PM Samuel Klein <meta.sj@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Have there been any recent cases where community voices were mobilized to contribute to national or international campaigns for someone's release?
>>>
>>> It sounds like a community group, working to support others, might be an outlet for interest in advocating for those in jail, and maintaining up to date information on their condition and needs, ways to get letters to them, &c. They could get advice from the WMF team, and work with and through Amnesty (et al). The reasons that a specific org might not want to advocate openly for a victim may not apply to individuals, who have their own leverage and can advocate on behalf of humanity.
>>>
>>> SJ
>>>
>>>
>>> ????
>>>
>>> On Thu, Oct 5, 2023, 2:58 PM Maggie Dennis <mdennis@wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello, all.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I?m Maggie Dennis. I?m the VP who oversees our human rights team in its work. Reiterating what the team previously said about not being able to discuss particular situations, I can disclose a little more general points about our approach as you pose, LW, and, I hope, address some of your concerns, Lodewijk.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It?s devastating when community members face targeting for their dedication to supporting free knowledge. This matters a lot to me, to my team, and to all the Foundation. I know it matters to you as well.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Wikimedia Foundation does resource this important work. We have partners in this field with whom we collaborate closely. Our human rights team possesses extensive experience in addressing such issues and also maintains strong connections with NGOs specializing in these areas. We regularly engage with these organizations on both general matters and specific cases.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Every situation in which a community member is targeted is unique, and we recognize the need for specialized responses and support. Volunteer well-being is our priority, and we are committed to providing the right assistance for each case. While we believe in the importance of public discourse and transparency, safety always takes precedence. In some instances, the Foundation has found it appropriate to speak publicly to address these challenges and have done so. In others, we may be advised to handle matters differently.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In terms of some Wikimedians who might have concerns whether our strategy is the right one, I fully respect that there must be. Because each case is different and frequently these situations are highly complex, we know that even different expert organizations might rank the risk and the right response of a specific situation differently. We have sometimes sought multiple opinions on a case. At the end of the day, we collaborate closely with relevant groups on our response to ensure the safety and well-being of individuals affected and the broader community members who could be impacted. We do the best we can to uphold the principles of free knowledge while prioritizing safety for everyone.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> While I can?t discuss specific cases, I am always happy to talk about general matters of policy and approach in my quarterly community conversations. We will also answer questions to the extent that we believe we safely can that are posed about the team?s work to talktohumanrights@wikimedia.org. Depending on the case,the human rights team may provide ways to help or avenues to connect with  organizations who are supporting. They may also be able to advise when silence is regarded as the best response. (There are some risks to being too open about who we work with and how we work that we need to consider every time.)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> People can read more generally about the human rights team here.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> While this is not my area of focus in my role at the Foundation, I also want to generally call out that the Foundation also conducts human rights advocacy routinely in regards to legislation. Our Global Advocacy team not only meets with legislators around the world to fight for the rights that keep free knowledge free, but also considers and guides our work by providing proactive human rights assessments and policy development, such as the Human Rights Policy.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>>
>>>> Maggie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 3:14?AM Lauren Worden <laurenworden89@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear WMF Human Rights Team:
>>>>>
>>>>> I would like some clarification on your statement below. In
>>>>> particular, does your stated approach allow you to follow the best
>>>>> practices described at
>>>>> https://freedomhouse.org/2023/summit-for-democracy-political-prisoners
>>>>> to, e.g., "meet regularly with family members of political prisoners,
>>>>> advocacy groups, and media outlets and journalists, in public and in
>>>>> private, in their efforts to secure an individual?s release"?
>>>>>
>>>>> The literature review at
>>>>> https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/17277 states:
>>>>> "The theoretical and empirical literature attributes several potential
>>>>> roles to civil society in [security sector and justice reform]. These
>>>>> include making security and justice institutions accountable,
>>>>> mobilising a range of social groups for reform, publicising abuses and
>>>>> advocating for reform, offering technical expertise, and improving
>>>>> security-citizen relations."
>>>>>
>>>>> If the Foundation staff has prohibited itself from engaging with the
>>>>> public on freeing jailed wikipedians, orchestrating letter writing
>>>>> campaigns, or coordinating with other NGOs and government agencies,
>>>>> such as those Andreas has described as having no record of the
>>>>> imprisoned Arabic Wikipedia administrators, then I would hope that the
>>>>> CEO or Trustees would step in immediately to rectify any internal
>>>>> policies such that best practices can be upheld.
>>>>>
>>>>> -LW
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Oct 3, 2023 at 3:51?PM WMF Human Rights
>>>>> <talktohumanrights@wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>> >
>>>>> > In the interest of safeguarding confidential information and ensuring the safety of our community members, the Foundation will not publicly disclose details regarding human rights cases. The Human Rights Team recently updated its meta page to clarify this approach. Our primary concern is to uphold the safety and privacy of everyone involved. At the same time, our inability to discuss these matters should not be read as inaction. We care deeply about volunteer safety and our role, more generally, involves different levels of internal support, wider advocacy and partnerships with others depending on the circumstances of an event.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > On Tue, Oct 3, 2023 at 6:06?AM Andreas Kolbe <jayen466@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Let's put it a different way then:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Is anyone at the WMF doing anything in support of the two jailed Saudi Wikimedians, be it liaising with international or regional human rights organisations, the US State Department, briefing journalists so the wider public is aware of the situation, or anything else to make sure Osama and Ziyad aren't forgotten about as they start (by my calculation) their fourth year in jail?
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> I am asking because the press reports published at the start of this year do not seem to have led to any significant coverage of the two Wikimedians' plight on the websites of major human rights organisations. (If I have missed any, please let me know.)
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> For example, I found nothing at all on the website of Reporters without Borders. Similarly, the most recent Amnesty International report on the "crackdown on online expression" in Saudi Arabia includes several mentions of Twitter users but none of Wikipedians:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/saudi-arabia-alarming-crackdown-on-online-expression/
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Amnesty's report specifically mentions that a Twitter user was sentenced for supporting women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul but fails to mention that one of the jailed Wikimedians uploaded Loujain al-Hathloul's Commons picture, which is used in her Wikipedia articles.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> I didn't find anything about Osama and Ziyad or, more generally, Wikimedians in Saudi Arabia on the website of the EFF.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> There is a mention of Osama and Ziyad and the fact that they were Wikipedians on the PEN website:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> https://pen.org/report/freedom-to-write-index-2022/
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> The U.S. State Department's 2022 country report on Saudi Arabia, published in March 2023, includes a mention of Osama's 32-year prison sentence, but doesn't make clear that he was jailed for being a Wikipedian, and Ziyad is not mentioned:
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/saudi-arabia/
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Will this be remedied in the U.S. State Department's 2023 country report? I think each country report covers the period up to October of the preceding year, so this month will be the last chance to make sure the 2023 report published next spring will include information on Osama and Ziyad's prison sentences and their Wikipedia activity.
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> Andreas
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >>
>>>>> >> On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 11:09?PM The Cunctator <cunctator@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> Frankly, that's implausible.
>>>>> >>>
>>>>> >>> On Mon, Sep 25, 2023, 3:37 PM DerHexer via Wikimedia-l <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> I do think that posting any kind of response to these questions on a public mailing list would do more harm than good. Thank you.
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Best,
>>>>> >>>> DerHexer
>>>>> >>>> Wikimedia Steward
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Am Montag, 25. September 2023 um 21:20:21 MESZ hat Andreas Kolbe <jayen466@gmail.com> Folgendes geschrieben:
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Dear all,
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> As there was a recent press mention of Osama and Ziyad[1] (see "In the Media" in the current Signpost issue) ? does the WMF's Human Rights Team (cc'ed) have any update on their situation?
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Has anyone else heard any news? If I recall correctly, Osama had married not long before being jailed in 2020 ? has anyone been in touch with his wife?
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Is there anything the community can do?
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> Andreas
>>>>> >>>>
>>>>> >>>> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_imprisoned_for_editing_Wikipedia
>>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Maggie Dennis
>>>> She/her/hers
>>>> Vice President, Community Resilience & Sustainability
>>>> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Lane Rasberry
>> user:bluerasberry
>> ?????
>>
>>
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