Caros associados,
Hoje recebemos informação de Jaime Anstee, que faz a ligação entre a
Wikimedia Foundation e o Comité de Afiliações, sobre a nossa suspensão.
A Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) decidiu estender a suspensão da Wikimedia
Portugal (WMPT) enquanto espera por um parecer de um especialista da Lei
Portuguesa sobre queixas que receberam sobre a Assembleia Geral de 1 de
Setembro. Querem também que a actual direcção da WMPT demonstre que é
legítima legalmente.
A extensão da suspensão irá no máximo até dia 1 de Fevereiro de 2019,
altura em que o "chapter agreement" seria renovado automaticamente em
situações normais. O email que recebemos serve também como aviso de
terminação do acordo entre a WMF e a WMPT, de acordo com o prazo legal
definido aí.
Estamos ainda a tentar obter mais informação sobre o que exactamente eles
considerariam prova da legitimidade da direcção actual, e que problemas
lhes foram relatados.
Caso a WMF considere que os problemas apontados foram resolvidos ou
esclarecidos antes de dia 1 de Fevereiro, realizará novo acordo com a WMPT.
De outro modo, a WMPT deixará de ser um "chapter" reconhecido nesse dia.
Como imaginam, a direcção irá tentar com o restante das nossas forças
levantar esta suspensão o mais rapidamente possível. Ao mesmo tempo,
tentaremos manter o maior número de actividades possíveis nos próximos
meses, embora a extensão da suspensão nos impeça de pedir fundos à WMF para
as realizar.
Quando tivermos mais informações, voltamos a comunicar.
Melhores cumprimentos,
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
Reencaminho a mensagem que enviei ao Board of Trustees da Wikimedia
Foundation na passada quinta-feira.
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: GoEthe.wiki <goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com>
Date: quinta, 25/10/2018 à(s) 12:20
Subject: Lifting the suspension of Wikimedia Portugal
To: <board-l(a)wikimedia.org>
Cc: <maria(a)wikimedia.org>, <wikimediapt(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear members of the Board of Trustees,
We are writing to you in regards to the lifting of the suspension of
Wikimedia Portugal (WMPT) as a Wikimedia Affiliate.
As you may know, WMPT received a suspension notice in July from AffCom, and
was given a roadmap to follow that would lead to our de-suspension. During
the past months, we have followed the roadmap carefully and diligently.
Despite that, AffCom has now raised the possibility of de-recognition, for
unclear reasons, while acknowledging that the roadmap was fulfilled ahead
of the deadline.
>From the start, AffCom seemed to us to have served as an echo chamber for
the unsubstantiated claims of our former president, João Vasconcelos, and
has made decisions that seem to be based on a superficial reading of the
Portuguese Civil Code. We are certain that if AffCom had NOT intervened,
the situation in Wikimedia Portugal would be much more stable by this time
and the conflict with João Vasconcelos would probably have long been
resolved. From the very beginning we have been in close contact not only
with AffCom, but also to Wikimedia Legal and Trust and Safety departments,
which have helped us deal with some of João Vasconcelos’ attitudes, and
protect the Wikimedia movement.
João Vasconcelos resigned as President of WMPT in March of this year, and
in May said he wished to leave the association. We did not prevent him from
doing either, and it is unclear why he tried to derail our General Assembly
of September 1st, and keeps making threats, legal and otherwise, to members
of WMPT. Our consciences are clear, and AffCom is witness that we tried to
resolve the situation with João amicably from the start, but his actions
are unfortunately no longer compatible with membership in our association,
so we intend to take disciplinary action against him as soon as possible.
It is even more unclear to us why AffCom continues to make decisions
without listening to all parties, and to make rulings without obtaining and
reviewing proper legal advice. We are happy that finally, after we wrote a
public appeal to AffCom, they are consulting with a legal expert (even
though we have not been asked to provide any clarification to this expert
nor participate in the process). But we worry that if there is an intention
to de-recognize, other reasons could be raised to back such intentions,
without us having a possibility to counter-argue. We would like your
assurance that no de-recognition would happen without us being given a
chance to hear and respond to any concerns.
Despite all this, Wikimedia Portugal is today on a sustainable path. We
have been working with WMF departments in order to develop and improve our
capacities, we had months full of activities, many more to come. But
planing all this, along with João Vasconcelos’ menacing on top of AffCom’s
inability to deal with our situation, left us reaching our physical,
psychological, and motivational limit. A number of us have started to
question whether continuing to contribute to this movement under these
conditions is worthwhile.
We are at the mercy of AffCom and the Board of Trustees to remain an
Wikimedia Affiliate. We are tired and broken from the lack of support of
AffCom, and we feel that we have not been heard properly throughout the
last six months. It is no longer sustainable to continue to have this
shadow above us. We would like to ask the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees to allow us to prove, to you, to AffCom and to the Wikimedia
Movement, that Portugal can have a vibrant Chapter that you can be proud
of. Please help us by lifting this suspension.
Thank you for your attention!
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
Caros associados,
Nos próximos dias 2 a 6 de Novembro realiza-se, com o apoio da Wikimedia
Portugal, o “Congresso Padre Manuel Antunes – Repensar Portugal, a Europa e
a Globalização <http://centenariopadremanuelantunesj.pt/pt/apresentacao-2/>”,
um congresso internacional para celebrar o centenário do pedagogo Padre
Manuel Antunes através de um leque de conferências, debates, uma visita
guiada e eventos sociais.
O Congresso decorrerá na Assembleia da República, Fundação Gulbenkian e na
Sertã, terra natal do homenageado.
No dia 6 de Novembro, das 9.30 às 11h, a Wikipédia será o tema de um painel
temático na Fundação Gulbenkian com o título “Democratização e Globalização
do Conhecimento: O Caso Paradigmático da Wikipédia”. Terá a participação do
nosso colega Miguel García, da Wikimedia España, que irá falar sobre a
utopia da democratização global do conhecimento.
O preço normal da inscrição é 100€, sendo a entrada gratuita para os
associados da Wikimedia Portugal. Quem estiver interessado em participar no
congresso deverá enviar um e-mail para info(a)wikimedia.pt.
Atenciosamente,
Ana Cravo
Caro Gonçalo,
Obrigada pela mensagem. I am replying as Board liaison to the Affiliations
Committee.
Wikimedia Portugal received its suspension notice on July 2018, along with
a roadmap to resolve its outstanding issues and a deadline, October 30th.
You were to:
* Organize General Assembly meetings that comply with the relevant portions
of the Chapter's bylaws and applicable local laws and have a valid Board by
September 15th, which you submit you did on September 1st.
* Complete and submit the required overdue chapter 2017 financial
reporting, which you submitted on September 2nd.
* Submit a plan for active contributor involvement and improved chapter
capacity, which you submitted on October 1st.
Further concerns related to the ability to manage conflicts and to
fulfilling the basic transparency and disclosure commitments of your
jurisdiction and your governing documents in order to ensure open
participation.
As you know, the Affiliations Committee is currently reviewing the
documentation provided, and WMF has engaged the relevant Portuguese legal
expertise to ascertain that the September 1st General Assembly was indeed
valid and in accordance to your bylaws and local law. The Affiliations
Commitee is being thorough with its due diligence, as per our values
<https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Organizational_best_practi…>.
I do not diminish the strain this situation must hold for the members of
Wikimedia Portugal, while you await for AffComs' decision in the next few
days, nor the efforts you must have taken to improve the situation and
reactivate the local community - but we do come from a situation where the
chapter was not in compliance and was suspended, and there has to be a
review to determine its future viability. While it is regrettable that the
review may take a longer time than you might perhaps have expected
originally, it seems unavoidable under the circumstances. Your
characterisation of AffCom is unjust, we all want a strong, active and
engaging affiliate in Portugal - and I would make the argument that you'd
be the most invested in having AffCom conduct the most thorough review
possible, vis a vis the movement and your own local community. Your appeal
to the Board is premature, when AffCom has made no decision yet. I urge
you, in this period of uncertainty, to try to set an example and not give
in to frustration, challenging as it may be.
Wishing you the best,
Kind regards,
María
El jue., 25 oct. 2018 a las 12:21, GoEthe.wiki (<goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com>)
escribió:
> Dear members of the Board of Trustees,
>
> We are writing to you in regards to the lifting of the suspension of
> Wikimedia Portugal (WMPT) as a Wikimedia Affiliate.
>
> As you may know, WMPT received a suspension notice in July from AffCom,
> and was given a roadmap to follow that would lead to our de-suspension.
> During the past months, we have followed the roadmap carefully and
> diligently. Despite that, AffCom has now raised the possibility of
> de-recognition, for unclear reasons, while acknowledging that the roadmap
> was fulfilled ahead of the deadline.
>
> From the start, AffCom seemed to us to have served as an echo chamber for
> the unsubstantiated claims of our former president, João Vasconcelos, and
> has made decisions that seem to be based on a superficial reading of the
> Portuguese Civil Code. We are certain that if AffCom had NOT intervened,
> the situation in Wikimedia Portugal would be much more stable by this time
> and the conflict with João Vasconcelos would probably have long been
> resolved. From the very beginning we have been in close contact not only
> with AffCom, but also to Wikimedia Legal and Trust and Safety departments,
> which have helped us deal with some of João Vasconcelos’ attitudes, and
> protect the Wikimedia movement.
>
> João Vasconcelos resigned as President of WMPT in March of this year, and
> in May said he wished to leave the association. We did not prevent him from
> doing either, and it is unclear why he tried to derail our General Assembly
> of September 1st, and keeps making threats, legal and otherwise, to members
> of WMPT. Our consciences are clear, and AffCom is witness that we tried to
> resolve the situation with João amicably from the start, but his actions
> are unfortunately no longer compatible with membership in our association,
> so we intend to take disciplinary action against him as soon as possible.
>
> It is even more unclear to us why AffCom continues to make decisions
> without listening to all parties, and to make rulings without obtaining and
> reviewing proper legal advice. We are happy that finally, after we wrote a
> public appeal to AffCom, they are consulting with a legal expert (even
> though we have not been asked to provide any clarification to this expert
> nor participate in the process). But we worry that if there is an intention
> to de-recognize, other reasons could be raised to back such intentions,
> without us having a possibility to counter-argue. We would like your
> assurance that no de-recognition would happen without us being given a
> chance to hear and respond to any concerns.
>
> Despite all this, Wikimedia Portugal is today on a sustainable path. We
> have been working with WMF departments in order to develop and improve our
> capacities, we had months full of activities, many more to come. But
> planing all this, along with João Vasconcelos’ menacing on top of AffCom’s
> inability to deal with our situation, left us reaching our physical,
> psychological, and motivational limit. A number of us have started to
> question whether continuing to contribute to this movement under these
> conditions is worthwhile.
>
> We are at the mercy of AffCom and the Board of Trustees to remain an
> Wikimedia Affiliate. We are tired and broken from the lack of support of
> AffCom, and we feel that we have not been heard properly throughout the
> last six months. It is no longer sustainable to continue to have this
> shadow above us. We would like to ask the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
> Trustees to allow us to prove, to you, to AffCom and to the Wikimedia
> Movement, that Portugal can have a vibrant Chapter that you can be proud
> of. Please help us by lifting this suspension.
>
> Thank you for your attention!
>
>
> Gonçalo Themudo
>
> *Presidente*
> *Wikimedia Portugal*
> *Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
> *Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
> *Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
> todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
>
>
--
María Sefidari Huici
Chair of the Board
Wikimedia Foundation
wikimediafoundation.org
Cara Verónica,
Obrigado pela mensagem.
Estou a re-encaminhar esta mensagem para a nossa lista geral
wikimediapt(a)lists.wikimedia.org, uma vez que o email que usou é uma lista
usada mais para gestão interna, e tem menos subscritores, enquanto a lista
geral terá a grande maioria dos membros da Wikimedia Portugal. Espero que
tenha mais feedback assim.
Alguns dos membros mais ativos estão também disponíveis no nosso canal no
Telegram (https://t.me/wikimedia_pt) ou podemos agendar uma vídeo-chamada,
se preferir.
Talvez já conheça, mas a Wikimedia Portugal tem um projeto a decorrer neste
momento para dinamizar a inclusão de informação sobre a Guiné-Bissau não só
na Wikipédia, mas também em vários outros dos projetos Wikimedia (
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Portugal/Projecto_Guin%C3%A9-Biss…
).
Ambos os editores que mencionou subscrevem esta lista de email, por isso
espero que eles respondam a si diretamente, mas qualquer informação que
precise, estamos ao dispor para fornecer.
Cumprimentos,
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
Verónica Ferreira <vipferreir(a)gmail.com> escreveu no dia quinta, 25/10/2018
à(s) 13:16:
> Boa tarde caros associados da Wikimedia Portugal,
>
> Sou doutoranda no Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra e
> encontro-me de momento a desenvolver uma investigação que pretende analisar
> a construção de narrativas e representações da guerra colonial e das lutas
> de libertação na Wikipédia. É uma investigação de doutoramento que se
> insere no âmbito mais vasto de um projeto sobre a memória da Guerra
> Colonial/Lutas de Libertação em Portugal, Angola, Moçambique, Guiné-Bissau,
> São Tomé e Príncipe e Cabo Verde (website CROME: https://crome.ces.uc.pt
> ).
>
> Estou a contactá-los, em primeiro lugar, porque gostaria de conversar com
> os membros da Wikimedia Portugal sobre o funcionamento da Wikipédia
> lusófona. Em segundo lugar, porque seria importante entrar em contacto com
> os editores mais ativos das páginas (verbetes “Guerra Colonial Portuguesa”,
> “Guerra de Independência da Guiné-Bissau, “Guerra de Independência de
> Moçambique” e “Guerra de Independência de Angola”). Não sei se ainda se
> encontram ativos e qual a melhor maneira de entrar em contacto com eles
> (e.g. Nuno Tavares, propulsor do verbete “Guerra Colonial Portuguesa”,
> editou pela última vez em 2012 e Manuel Anastácio, que pertence à Wikimedia
> Portugal, embora disponibilize o seu email pessoal na vossa página, tem a
> sua última edição em 2016).
>
> Desde já agradeço a atenção e aguardo resposta.
>
> Saudações cordiais,
>
> *Verónica Ferreira*
> PhD student | Junior Researcher
>
> *CROME - Crossed Memories, Politics of Silence. *
> *The Colonial-Liberation Wars in Postcolonial Times*
> (European Research Council - ERC-2016-StG-715593)
>
> Centro de Estudos Sociais - Universidade de Coimbra (CES)
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-PT-internal mailing list
> Wikimedia-PT-internal(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-pt-internal
>
Bom dia!
O mestrado europeu European Master in Lexicography, junto com a
Universidade de Vigo, está a organizar o Primeiro EMLex Wiktionary HackFest
<https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:EMLex_Wiktionary_HackFest>, uma
wikimaratão arredor da lexicografia. Terá lugar en Pontevedra a sexta 16 de
novembro. Ha vir alunado dos campus das universidades de Santiago de
Compostela e Braga.
Estão convidados/as a participar, cubrindo o formulário
<https://sites.google.com/view/emlexhackfest/> de inscrição.
Com os melhores cumprimentos.
Adrián Estévez (Wikipedia en galego)
Some time ago, a Wikimedian friend told me AffCom is like the physician
that comes to help with the cure when an Affiliate is ill. But that's
really what they were in this WMPT case? This is a very bizarre situation,
of which I'm personally having a lot of difficulties finding rational
answers to it, let alone any conclusion. All I can offer is a personal
account of the situation, to those who would be kind enough to have an
interest on this case.
Last May we at WMPT were really not expecting seeing AffCom bursting
through the room in an emergency intervention, fixing what didn't need to
be fixed, and willing to moderate what didn't need any moderation. As in
the proverbial Monty Phyton scene[1], they quickly became the problem
themselves.
Many of us at WMPT are long-term Wikimedian volunteers, some of us for more
than a decade already, in perfect good standing in our communities, where
we hold and held responsibility roles. It includes current and former
bureaucrats, sysops, ArbCom members, very active contributors to a number
of Wikimedia projects. Most of us are founding members or directly
connected to WMPT since its inception in 2009.
Last March, when we took on ourselves this mission of fix and rebuild
Wikimedia Portugal, who had been dormant for about 5 years, we were not
expecting to face such a mighty and impenetrable adversary as AffCom has
proven to be.
For six months already we have been embroiled by AffCom in this Kafkian
suspension process, where we are generally not told what the accusations
are, and much less who is accusing us. It has been extremely painful,
exhausting, and frustrating for everyone involved.
We reached our limit. A number of us are now seriously considering
abandoning not only the chapter, but the Wikimedia projects entirely, if we
continue not being treated with the fairness and transparency we deserve.
It truly begs the existential question of what are we all doing here,
dedicating countless and very valuable hours of our lives for a Movement
that lets this happen, for a Foundation-run committee[3] that apparently
wants to kill us at all costs.
Personally, I'm still confident that we'll successfully pass through this
probation, and everything will become again the very optimistic scenario we
all had last April, when we successfully elected a working board, and
started working with great dedication in the many projects we have now
running here in Portugal. I can only imagine how painful it was and is
being for Gonçalo, to came here making this situation public and sharing it
with everybody. We all have our dignity, nobody at WMPT likes this at all.
For many months we tried to cope with this discreet and silently. But
everything has a limit.
Regards,
Paulo
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Inquisition_(Monty_Python)
[2] - As AffCom seems to be, despite what is written in their Meta page(
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee)
GoEthe.wiki <goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com> escreveu no dia terça, 9/10/2018 à(s)
11:13:
> The original message was rejected due to a filter rule match, but you can
> access it here:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-October/002698.html
> I am sending it below without the links. Please access the link above for
> the full version.
> __________
>
> Sorry in advance for the lengthy email – the tl;dr version is: Wikimedia
> Portugal has done all it was asked to do, so the suspension that was held
> conditional to performing those steps must be lifted accordingly. For the
> sake of transparency, we are sending this out to not only the AffCom
> mailing list, but also Wikimedia-l and WikimediaPT-l.
> _________
>
> Dear members of AffCom,
>
> (cc to the Wikimedia Portugal mailing list, Wikimedia mailing list)
>
> Last 5th October we were again surprised by the content of your email
> (quoted below) in response to us completing the roadmap we had agreed upon
> in order to remove the suspension of Wikimedia Portugal. On that message,
> you say you have once more received information whose substantiation is not
> mentioned, from sources that are not disclosed. And still you seem to
> accept it as the truth without even providing us with the opportunity to
> get properly acquainted with it, let alone rebate or contradict it. While
> you speak of transparency, that message is unsettlingly opaque, as have
> been multiple such messages relayed to us in the course of this whole
> process.
>
> As you are well aware, Wikimedia Portugal was faced in March with a
> situation where the president of the Board, João Vasconcelos, became
> demissionary without any previous warning [1]. It should be noted that when
> Vasconcelos was elected as president of the Board back in 2015, he wasn’t
> elected based on any background as a Wikimedia editor, as he has no history
> of contribution to any of the Wikimedia projects, but rather on his self
> proclaimed merits on organisational and conflict management (!). Despite
> the best efforts of several people from Wikimedia Portugal over the years,
> Vasconcelos sadly never really integrated well neither on Wikimedia
> Portugal, nor in the Portuguese Wikimedia community.
>
> So, in light of what looked like an existential threat for WMPT, I and a
> number of other WMPT members have publicly and transparently mobilized
> ourselves to organize an extraordinary General Election to elect the new
> Board. Vasconcelos was probably expecting/hoping that we would ask him to
> stay. But we have seen this sort of behavior elsewhere [a].We didn't.
> Instead, we handled the situation cooperatively, as a group, openly.
> Vasconcelos never voiced any desire to take part on this collective
> solution-building, as evidenced by his silence from the discussion on the
> Wikimedia Portugal mailing list in March [2] and April [3]. He was welcome
> to do so. His only message to the mailing list was two days (13 April)
> before the 15 April General Assembly, announcing that he considered the
> planned General Assembly null [4]. Given the lack of legal standing for
> that claim, we carried on with the General Assembly (the transparent,
> inclusive, democratic governing body of associations), summoned according
> to our by-laws. This General Assembly successfully elected new governing
> bodies, including the Board of Directors.
>
> In May we were surprised by a message from AffCom demanding that we stop
> taking part in a conflict, and "refrain from representing ourselves as
> representatives of Wikimedia Portugal" (see quoted message in [5]
> <https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-May/002621.html
> >).This
> was the very first time the Committee contacted Wikimedia Portugal about
> this case. The message provided no legal precedent or framework for this
> demand, no indication of what this conflict was, or why AffCom thought the
> Board was a part of it.
>
> From what we understood, Vasconcelos went to the Wikimedia Conference in
> Berlin, where he seems to have convinced AffCom that our General Assembly
> of 15 April was legally void.
>
> We have repeatedly provided concrete evidence that t it was not the case,
> including quoting relevant court decisions backing this [6]
> <
> https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/(https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/priva…
> >.
> In response, AffCom reported having no time to read through legal texts,
> and therefore not being able to assess the validity of our declarations,
> but that is beyond our control. And yet AffCom accepted Vasconcelos’
> version without question. It is a legal imperative to be held innocent
> until proven guilty, and until it is legally proven there was some
> wrongdoing, General Assemblies are valid and binding.
>
> After the April General Assembly we were working, in addition to our
> activities and programs, to put the association in order in terms of
> obligations to the Portuguese state and the tax authorities, providing
> access to WMPT’s bank account to the persons designated on the 15 April GA,
> and so on. Things were getting on track...
>
> We were surprised again in July by a message from AffCom temporarily
> suspending Wikimedia Portugal’s recognition as a Wikimedia chapter [7]. In
> that message for the first time you laid out a concrete roadmap that, if
> followed (as we understood), would lead to lifting the suspension. The
> roadmap set out a list of demands from AffCom which we diligently
> fulfilled, even well ahead of the required deadlines. We organized and held
> a new General Assembly in September, summoned according to the
> interpretation of the Portuguese Civil Code that AffCom relayed to us (with
> the exception of anything we believed would make the proceeding illegal,
> which was communicated in due time to AffCom). This General Assembly had
> the same result as before [8]. The Assembly was normally held, despite
> severe attempts of sabotage from Vasconcelos, reported in due time to
> AffCom, Legal and the Safety team. In addition to the minutes [9], an audio
> recording of the assembly is available in Commons [10] ; video recording is
> also available on request.
>
> We then submitted our overdue Financial Report [11], demonstrated support
> from the community to the continuation of the chapter [12], and wrote a
> plan for improved chapter capacity [13]. All should be good now...
>
> Having done all this, despite our disagreement that a new Assembly was
> needed in the first place, we are now again surprised by the reception of
> the opaque message I mention in the beginning, sent by AffCom to my email
> (quoted below) affirming that the Committee had received reports from
> unstated persons with unspecified concerns about the General Assembly and
> the capacity of Wikimedia Portugal to run as a chapter. The message claims
> that "there were a number of issues with lack of transparency [as well as
> with] providing an opportunity to participate in an open, organizational
> process" while not specifying these issues at all. Your message questions
> whether we are "prepared as an Affiliate to prevent disruption in [our]
> organization's collective pursuit of the movement’s mission", even though
> we have so far been able to handle every attempt at disruption from
> Vasconcelos.
>
> If we rolled up our sleeves to activate the scattered energies of a stale
> organization in order to prepare and execute April’s General Assembly, it
> was because we were convinced that Wikimedia Portugal had a viable future
> ahead, and was of value to the Wikimedia movement. At the time, the actions
> of Vasconcelos were so absurd that the reaction to them even spurred some
> founders and (by then) inactive members of WMPT to offer their help in
> reestablishing a functional organization. Along with the help of a number
> of historic as well as new members who have been steadily returning and
> joining our ranks, that’s precisely what we are achieving.
>
> That’s why we’ve been working on fulfilling the AffCom roadmap requests,
> even if we didn’t like or agree with some aspects of it. All things
> considered, it was a clear path to resolving our situation, and we found
> that parts of it could be useful to the chapter. But AffCom’s validation of
> Vasconcelos’ actions and claims, even if unintentional, have real
> consequences for the mental state and safety of our members.
>
> Back in March, when Vasconcelos claimed he had requested our bank to lock
> the chapter’s bank account, started a process at the Public Prosecution
> Service, and he had talked with an attorney on that subject, can you
> imagine what André, our treasurer, felt waiting in line in the bank until
> he found what really happened? In the end, the bank account had not been
> locked because of any court order or legal reason as Vasconcelos implied,
> but rather because someone had tried to access the bank account without the
> proper credentials, and the system automatically locked the account.
>
> Before the General Assembly in September, Vasconcelos sent out legal
> threats and even menaces of police intervention to anyone participating. We
> still went through with it, but can you imagine how we felt, the pressure
> that was under some of us? It was all a bluff in the end, but this is what
> you put us through.
>
> Notwithstanding, WMPT activities were happening in parallel. They are
> listed on our activities plan for anyone to see [14], and more are planned.
> After several years of inactivity, we are happy to be on a sustainable
> growth path, gradually building capacity and doing the best we can with the
> resources available to us. We’ve also been using our personal contacts with
> other movements in order to increase our organization’s capacity. Ana,
> newly appointed to the Board, has just returned from Wiki Takes Zamora,
> where she was learning from Wikimedia Spain, relaunching the collaboration
> between both chapters. Two of the events we have planned for November are
> using this paradigm. We’ll celebrate Wikidata’s sixth anniversary with a
> local group of data enthusiasts in Porto, and near Lisbon we’re helping
> with the organization and will participate in a FOSS event, so in both
> cases we’ll also acquire event organization skills. This growth path is in
> peril if you continue to undermine our efforts.
>
> Over the last half year we’ve been attacked, offended, insulted, received
> multiple threats of judicial action by Vasconcelos, and even an actual
> intimidatory letter from a lawyer working for him (but purportedly on
> behalf of WMPT); and during this entire time we’ve tried not to escalate
> the situation, not to engage with such attempts at direct confrontation,
> nor make them public. You force us now to disclose this in order to clear
> our name and set the record straight. With the help and support of the
> legal and security departments of the Wikimedia Foundation, we have dealt
> with the actions of Vasconcelos so far. And we will follow the disciplinary
> procedures foreseen for these situations in our bylaws which may result in
> his removal from the chapter.
>
> We’ve repeatedly complied in unusually strict terms with legal
> requirements, and with AffCom’s roadmap, while dealing with Vasconcelos’
> actions as privately as we could in order not to affect the public image of
> the Wikimedia movement, nor its community – but honestly, we’re reaching
> the point of exhaustion in light of AffCom’s puzzling behavior along this
> process. We understand that AffCom may have reserves regarding our future,
> but the way it is dealing with the situation is clearly counterproductive.
> How can AffCom keep making new accusations without at least asking us for
> information or confirmations?
>
> Currently, our major source of disruption, distress and anxiety is each new
> message we receive from AffCom, as they repeatedly defy our expectations of
> a partner claiming to be attempting to help us getting back on our feet. We
> are actually wary that the next address could be an announcement that
> Wikimedia Portugal has been de-recognized, even after we have passed our
> “road of trials”, due to the ever moving goalposts. Several of our key
> people have reported insomnia, including myself, after receiving your
> communications. We’re reaching our physical, psychological, and
> motivational limit, in great part due to AffCom’s actions and inexplicable
> lack of support and transparency.
>
> It is time to stop this! Despite what we still believe were your best
> intentions, AffCom has inadvertently caused significant destabilization for
> Wikimedia Portugal.
>
> Please honor your part of the compromise, lift this suspension and let us
> proceed in the productive pursuit of our collective mission.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gonçalo
> Gonçalo Themudo
>
> *Presidente*
> *Wikimedia Portugal*
> *Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
> *Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
> *Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
> todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
With another misleading public statement from Maor regarding the Brazilian
situation I would like to publicly ask Affcom to clarify what was
inaccurate in my report.
It would also be a good idea to have responses on the page Affcom created
over 2 months ago asking for questions and has abandoned without responses.
[1]
Chico Venancio
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Affiliations_Committee/Brazil_Next_Ste…
Em dom, 14 de out de 2018 11:44, Maor Malul <maor_x(a)zoho.com> escreveu:
> *Hello,*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * As AffCom, we appreciate the interest in the situation with Wikimedia
> Portugal that you have expressed on this thread. Our current focus is on
> working to understand and resolve the conflicts and issues related to
> Wikimedia Portugal, as well as attend to our other duties. However, we did
> want to send a message to this list to clarify some points. First, we would
> like to caution readers of this list against making conclusions regarding
> this particular situation based solely on the information that has been
> shared here. This thread does not present a complete and accurate picture
> of the situation in Portugal (or the situation in Brazil, for that matter).
> Though not comprehensive, we would like to provide a brief summary of the
> situation, based on the information AffCom has received. As has mostly been
> outlined previously in this thread, after WMPT’s years of inactivity,
> recently, multiple individuals have become involved trying to create
> activity and revitalize the chapter. However, those individuals have
> conflicted with each other. Things escalated quickly, with various
> accusations and threats being made. Earlier this year, AffCom was informed
> of the conflict by the parties and began communicating with the individuals
> involved. Despite AffCom's efforts to de-escalate the situation, certain
> individual actions have kept intensifying it. As the conflict was
> preventing the chapter from being able to engage in productive activity,
> AffCom took the step of suspension, with clear requirements for the chapter
> to meet to lift the suspension and avoid de-recognition. One of the larger
> issues that WMPT has had to address is the lack of clear leadership of the
> chapter following its two previous general assemblies. As detailed in the
> suspension notice, there were issues reported to AffCom related to both IX
> General Assembly (held on December 14, 2017) as well as X General Assembly
> (held on April 15, 2018). In both cases, the best information available to
> AffCom suggests that the meetings did not comply with the relevant portions
> of the Chapter's bylaws and may not have complied with applicable local
> laws. Wikimedia organizations are expected to fulfill all of their legal
> and organizational governance requirements. These issues prompted the
> requirement that WMPT convene a new assembly and elections process (held on
> September 1, 2018), with the goal of holding an assembly which clearly
> follows the relevant procedural requirements. Along with convening the
> assembly, WMPT has currently met the requirements based on the timeline set
> in the suspension notice from AffCom in July. They submitted their required
> materials on time, and now AffCom is reviewing them. However, AffCom has
> also received other information relating to the chapter's compliance with
> particular governance requirements. AffCom is currently evaluating this
> information along with the materials submitted by the chapter. AffCom will
> be in touch with the chapter regarding any additional information we need.
> We want to emphasize that Wikimedia Portugal is not being held to a
> different or higher standard compared to other chapters, but is being held
> to the standard expectations for chapter status. While we understand that
> monitoring of compliance with those expectations may have been less
> consistent in the past, we have been working in recent years to ensure that
> all chapters are meeting the same basic standards. When a chapter is not in
> compliance, there are several reminders and opportunities for correction in
> advance of suspension. We suspend a chapter only if it does not
> self-correct in response to the repeated reminders and/or warnings. Once a
> chapter is suspended, we strive to provide a reasonable window for
> remediation. Wikimedia Portugal has been on the committee’s radar due to
> its years of minimal activity. As further conflict issues have surfaced,
> concerns over the group’s capacity have grown. The committee however has no
> wish to “kill” the community, but to ensure they are able to operate in a
> way that upholds Wikimedia movement values and expectations for affiliate
> organizations. A community cannot work effectively if its members are
> spending all their energy on an internal conflict. Significant internal
> conflict can also reflect poorly on the movement as a whole. We have
> responded to this thread because we felt we should weigh in. However, we
> cannot commit to continuing to participate in this conversation on
> wikimedia-l. The committee needs to focus our time and energy on trying to
> find and work toward the outcome in Portugal that is best for the Wikimedia
> movement. That said, we will do our best to monitor responses on this
> thread and take note of the questions, concerns, and criticisms expressed
> here. We encourage you also to share your thoughts and ideas relating to
> questions of movement governance and organization in the relevant movement
> strategy conversations:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20
> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20>
> Regards, Maor On Behalf of the Affiliations Committee *
>
> On 10/10/2018 8:31 p.m., Samuel Klein wrote:
>
> Gonçalo, Goethe, and all: Thank you for your work, which I appreciate
> dearly, and for the public discussion. I can also imagine this was a very
> hard letter to write.
>
> Paulo, to your concerns:
> > for a Foundation-run committee[3] that apparently wants to kill us at
> all costs.
>
> Euh... surely not .v_v.
> These troubles can come up in good faith, when two groups work intently
> and separately on the same issue, ando d not talk openly to one another for
> reasons of imagined duty + propriety. Tossing insults back and forth just
> makes it easier for people to shut down communication.
>
> Somehow I suspect that invocations of The Law and the intervention of
> legal anxieties (with their preoccupations with secrecy) has led to much of
> the trouble here. So Pine, to your point: /more/ legal counsel reporting
> to only one of the parties involved might not help. On the other hand, we
> as a movement deciding to share more openly our internal discussions around
> legal concerns — even if this means taking on slightly more legal risk —
> would reduce some of these evident social risks.
>
> Warmly,
> SJ
>
> On Wed, Oct 10, 2018 at 8:47 AM Paulo Santos Perneta <
> paulosperneta(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Some time ago, a Wikimedian friend told me AffCom is like the physician
>> that comes to help with the cure when an Affiliate is ill. But that's
>> really what they were in this WMPT case? This is a very bizarre situation,
>> of which I'm personally having a lot of difficulties finding rational
>> answers to it, let alone any conclusion. All I can offer is a personal
>> account of the situation, to those who would be kind enough to have an
>> interest on this case.
>>
>> Last May we at WMPT were really not expecting seeing AffCom bursting
>> through the room in an emergency intervention, fixing what didn't need to
>> be fixed, and willing to moderate what didn't need any moderation. As in
>> the proverbial Monty Phyton scene[1], they quickly became the problem
>> themselves.
>>
>> Many of us at WMPT are long-term Wikimedian volunteers, some of us for
>> more
>> than a decade already, in perfect good standing in our communities, where
>> we hold and held responsibility roles. It includes current and former
>> bureaucrats, sysops, ArbCom members, very active contributors to a number
>> of Wikimedia projects. Most of us are founding members or directly
>> connected to WMPT since its inception in 2009.
>>
>> Last March, when we took on ourselves this mission of fix and rebuild
>> Wikimedia Portugal, who had been dormant for about 5 years, we were not
>> expecting to face such a mighty and impenetrable adversary as AffCom has
>> proven to be.
>> For six months already we have been embroiled by AffCom in this Kafkian
>> suspension process, where we are generally not told what the accusations
>> are, and much less who is accusing us. It has been extremely painful,
>> exhausting, and frustrating for everyone involved.
>>
>> We reached our limit. A number of us are now seriously considering
>> abandoning not only the chapter, but the Wikimedia projects entirely, if
>> we
>> continue not being treated with the fairness and transparency we deserve.
>> It truly begs the existential question of what are we all doing here,
>> dedicating countless and very valuable hours of our lives for a Movement
>> that lets this happen, for a Foundation-run committee[3] that apparently
>> wants to kill us at all costs.
>>
>> Personally, I'm still confident that we'll successfully pass through this
>> probation, and everything will become again the very optimistic scenario
>> we
>> all had last April, when we successfully elected a working board, and
>> started working with great dedication in the many projects we have now
>> running here in Portugal. I can only imagine how painful it was and is
>> being for Gonçalo, to came here making this situation public and sharing
>> it
>> with everybody. We all have our dignity, nobody at WMPT likes this at all.
>> For many months we tried to cope with this discreet and silently. But
>> everything has a limit.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Paulo
>>
>> [1] -
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Inquisition_(Monty_Python)
>> [2] - As AffCom seems to be, despite what is written in their Meta page(
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee)
>>
>> GoEthe.wiki <goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com> escreveu no dia terça, 9/10/2018 à(s)
>> 11:13:
>>
>> > The original message was rejected due to a filter rule match, but you
>> can
>> > access it here:
>> >
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-October/002698.html
>> > I am sending it below without the links. Please access the link above
>> for
>> > the full version.
>> > __________
>> >
>> > Sorry in advance for the lengthy email – the tl;dr version is: Wikimedia
>> > Portugal has done all it was asked to do, so the suspension that was
>> held
>> > conditional to performing those steps must be lifted accordingly. For
>> the
>> > sake of transparency, we are sending this out to not only the AffCom
>> > mailing list, but also Wikimedia-l and WikimediaPT-l.
>> > _________
>> >
>> > Dear members of AffCom,
>> >
>> > (cc to the Wikimedia Portugal mailing list, Wikimedia mailing list)
>> >
>> > Last 5th October we were again surprised by the content of your email
>> > (quoted below) in response to us completing the roadmap we had agreed
>> upon
>> > in order to remove the suspension of Wikimedia Portugal. On that
>> message,
>> > you say you have once more received information whose substantiation is
>> not
>> > mentioned, from sources that are not disclosed. And still you seem to
>> > accept it as the truth without even providing us with the opportunity to
>> > get properly acquainted with it, let alone rebate or contradict it.
>> While
>> > you speak of transparency, that message is unsettlingly opaque, as have
>> > been multiple such messages relayed to us in the course of this whole
>> > process.
>> >
>> > As you are well aware, Wikimedia Portugal was faced in March with a
>> > situation where the president of the Board, João Vasconcelos, became
>> > demissionary without any previous warning [1]. It should be noted that
>> when
>> > Vasconcelos was elected as president of the Board back in 2015, he
>> wasn’t
>> > elected based on any background as a Wikimedia editor, as he has no
>> history
>> > of contribution to any of the Wikimedia projects, but rather on his self
>> > proclaimed merits on organisational and conflict management (!). Despite
>> > the best efforts of several people from Wikimedia Portugal over the
>> years,
>> > Vasconcelos sadly never really integrated well neither on Wikimedia
>> > Portugal, nor in the Portuguese Wikimedia community.
>> >
>> > So, in light of what looked like an existential threat for WMPT, I and a
>> > number of other WMPT members have publicly and transparently mobilized
>> > ourselves to organize an extraordinary General Election to elect the new
>> > Board. Vasconcelos was probably expecting/hoping that we would ask him
>> to
>> > stay. But we have seen this sort of behavior elsewhere [a].We didn't.
>> > Instead, we handled the situation cooperatively, as a group, openly.
>> > Vasconcelos never voiced any desire to take part on this collective
>> > solution-building, as evidenced by his silence from the discussion on
>> the
>> > Wikimedia Portugal mailing list in March [2] and April [3]. He was
>> welcome
>> > to do so. His only message to the mailing list was two days (13 April)
>> > before the 15 April General Assembly, announcing that he considered the
>> > planned General Assembly null [4]. Given the lack of legal standing for
>> > that claim, we carried on with the General Assembly (the transparent,
>> > inclusive, democratic governing body of associations), summoned
>> according
>> > to our by-laws. This General Assembly successfully elected new governing
>> > bodies, including the Board of Directors.
>> >
>> > In May we were surprised by a message from AffCom demanding that we stop
>> > taking part in a conflict, and "refrain from representing ourselves as
>> > representatives of Wikimedia Portugal" (see quoted message in [5]
>> > <https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediapt/2018-May/002621.html
>> > >).This
>> > was the very first time the Committee contacted Wikimedia Portugal about
>> > this case. The message provided no legal precedent or framework for this
>> > demand, no indication of what this conflict was, or why AffCom thought
>> the
>> > Board was a part of it.
>> >
>> > From what we understood, Vasconcelos went to the Wikimedia Conference in
>> > Berlin, where he seems to have convinced AffCom that our General
>> Assembly
>> > of 15 April was legally void.
>> >
>> > We have repeatedly provided concrete evidence that t it was not the
>> case,
>> > including quoting relevant court decisions backing this [6]
>> > <
>> >
>> https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/(https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/priva…
>> > >.
>> > In response, AffCom reported having no time to read through legal texts,
>> > and therefore not being able to assess the validity of our declarations,
>> > but that is beyond our control. And yet AffCom accepted Vasconcelos’
>> > version without question. It is a legal imperative to be held innocent
>> > until proven guilty, and until it is legally proven there was some
>> > wrongdoing, General Assemblies are valid and binding.
>> >
>> > After the April General Assembly we were working, in addition to our
>> > activities and programs, to put the association in order in terms of
>> > obligations to the Portuguese state and the tax authorities, providing
>> > access to WMPT’s bank account to the persons designated on the 15 April
>> GA,
>> > and so on. Things were getting on track...
>> >
>> > We were surprised again in July by a message from AffCom temporarily
>> > suspending Wikimedia Portugal’s recognition as a Wikimedia chapter [7].
>> In
>> > that message for the first time you laid out a concrete roadmap that, if
>> > followed (as we understood), would lead to lifting the suspension. The
>> > roadmap set out a list of demands from AffCom which we diligently
>> > fulfilled, even well ahead of the required deadlines. We organized and
>> held
>> > a new General Assembly in September, summoned according to the
>> > interpretation of the Portuguese Civil Code that AffCom relayed to us
>> (with
>> > the exception of anything we believed would make the proceeding illegal,
>> > which was communicated in due time to AffCom). This General Assembly had
>> > the same result as before [8]. The Assembly was normally held, despite
>> > severe attempts of sabotage from Vasconcelos, reported in due time to
>> > AffCom, Legal and the Safety team. In addition to the minutes [9], an
>> audio
>> > recording of the assembly is available in Commons [10] ; video
>> recording is
>> > also available on request.
>> >
>> > We then submitted our overdue Financial Report [11], demonstrated
>> support
>> > from the community to the continuation of the chapter [12], and wrote a
>> > plan for improved chapter capacity [13]. All should be good now...
>> >
>> > Having done all this, despite our disagreement that a new Assembly was
>> > needed in the first place, we are now again surprised by the reception
>> of
>> > the opaque message I mention in the beginning, sent by AffCom to my
>> email
>> > (quoted below) affirming that the Committee had received reports from
>> > unstated persons with unspecified concerns about the General Assembly
>> and
>> > the capacity of Wikimedia Portugal to run as a chapter. The message
>> claims
>> > that "there were a number of issues with lack of transparency [as well
>> as
>> > with] providing an opportunity to participate in an open, organizational
>> > process" while not specifying these issues at all. Your message
>> questions
>> > whether we are "prepared as an Affiliate to prevent disruption in [our]
>> > organization's collective pursuit of the movement’s mission", even
>> though
>> > we have so far been able to handle every attempt at disruption from
>> > Vasconcelos.
>> >
>> > If we rolled up our sleeves to activate the scattered energies of a
>> stale
>> > organization in order to prepare and execute April’s General Assembly,
>> it
>> > was because we were convinced that Wikimedia Portugal had a viable
>> future
>> > ahead, and was of value to the Wikimedia movement. At the time, the
>> actions
>> > of Vasconcelos were so absurd that the reaction to them even spurred
>> some
>> > founders and (by then) inactive members of WMPT to offer their help in
>> > reestablishing a functional organization. Along with the help of a
>> number
>> > of historic as well as new members who have been steadily returning and
>> > joining our ranks, that’s precisely what we are achieving.
>> >
>> > That’s why we’ve been working on fulfilling the AffCom roadmap requests,
>> > even if we didn’t like or agree with some aspects of it. All things
>> > considered, it was a clear path to resolving our situation, and we found
>> > that parts of it could be useful to the chapter. But AffCom’s
>> validation of
>> > Vasconcelos’ actions and claims, even if unintentional, have real
>> > consequences for the mental state and safety of our members.
>> >
>> > Back in March, when Vasconcelos claimed he had requested our bank to
>> lock
>> > the chapter’s bank account, started a process at the Public Prosecution
>> > Service, and he had talked with an attorney on that subject, can you
>> > imagine what André, our treasurer, felt waiting in line in the bank
>> until
>> > he found what really happened? In the end, the bank account had not been
>> > locked because of any court order or legal reason as Vasconcelos
>> implied,
>> > but rather because someone had tried to access the bank account without
>> the
>> > proper credentials, and the system automatically locked the account.
>> >
>> > Before the General Assembly in September, Vasconcelos sent out legal
>> > threats and even menaces of police intervention to anyone
>> participating. We
>> > still went through with it, but can you imagine how we felt, the
>> pressure
>> > that was under some of us? It was all a bluff in the end, but this is
>> what
>> > you put us through.
>> >
>> > Notwithstanding, WMPT activities were happening in parallel. They are
>> > listed on our activities plan for anyone to see [14], and more are
>> planned.
>> > After several years of inactivity, we are happy to be on a sustainable
>> > growth path, gradually building capacity and doing the best we can with
>> the
>> > resources available to us. We’ve also been using our personal contacts
>> with
>> > other movements in order to increase our organization’s capacity. Ana,
>> > newly appointed to the Board, has just returned from Wiki Takes Zamora,
>> > where she was learning from Wikimedia Spain, relaunching the
>> collaboration
>> > between both chapters. Two of the events we have planned for November
>> are
>> > using this paradigm. We’ll celebrate Wikidata’s sixth anniversary with a
>> > local group of data enthusiasts in Porto, and near Lisbon we’re helping
>> > with the organization and will participate in a FOSS event, so in both
>> > cases we’ll also acquire event organization skills. This growth path is
>> in
>> > peril if you continue to undermine our efforts.
>> >
>> > Over the last half year we’ve been attacked, offended, insulted,
>> received
>> > multiple threats of judicial action by Vasconcelos, and even an actual
>> > intimidatory letter from a lawyer working for him (but purportedly on
>> > behalf of WMPT); and during this entire time we’ve tried not to escalate
>> > the situation, not to engage with such attempts at direct confrontation,
>> > nor make them public. You force us now to disclose this in order to
>> clear
>> > our name and set the record straight. With the help and support of the
>> > legal and security departments of the Wikimedia Foundation, we have
>> dealt
>> > with the actions of Vasconcelos so far. And we will follow the
>> disciplinary
>> > procedures foreseen for these situations in our bylaws which may result
>> in
>> > his removal from the chapter.
>> >
>> > We’ve repeatedly complied in unusually strict terms with legal
>> > requirements, and with AffCom’s roadmap, while dealing with Vasconcelos’
>> > actions as privately as we could in order not to affect the public
>> image of
>> > the Wikimedia movement, nor its community – but honestly, we’re reaching
>> > the point of exhaustion in light of AffCom’s puzzling behavior along
>> this
>> > process. We understand that AffCom may have reserves regarding our
>> future,
>> > but the way it is dealing with the situation is clearly
>> counterproductive.
>> > How can AffCom keep making new accusations without at least asking us
>> for
>> > information or confirmations?
>> >
>> > Currently, our major source of disruption, distress and anxiety is each
>> new
>> > message we receive from AffCom, as they repeatedly defy our
>> expectations of
>> > a partner claiming to be attempting to help us getting back on our
>> feet. We
>> > are actually wary that the next address could be an announcement that
>> > Wikimedia Portugal has been de-recognized, even after we have passed our
>> > “road of trials”, due to the ever moving goalposts. Several of our key
>> > people have reported insomnia, including myself, after receiving your
>> > communications. We’re reaching our physical, psychological, and
>> > motivational limit, in great part due to AffCom’s actions and
>> inexplicable
>> > lack of support and transparency.
>> >
>> > It is time to stop this! Despite what we still believe were your best
>> > intentions, AffCom has inadvertently caused significant destabilization
>> for
>> > Wikimedia Portugal.
>> >
>> > Please honor your part of the compromise, lift this suspension and let
>> us
>> > proceed in the productive pursuit of our collective mission.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Gonçalo
>> > Gonçalo Themudo
>> >
>> > *Presidente*
>> > *Wikimedia Portugal*
>> > *Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
>> > *Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <
>> https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
>> > *Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma
>> de
>> > todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
>> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
>
>
> --
> Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> *"Jülüjain wane mmakat ein kapülain tü alijunakalirua jee wayuukanairua
> junain ekerolaa alümüin supüshuwayale etijaanaka. Ayatashi waya junain."*
> Maor Malul
> Socio, A.C. Wikimedia Venezuela | RIF J-40129321-2 | www.wikimedia.org.ve
> Member, Wikimedia Israel | www.wikimedia.org.il
> Member, Wikimedia Foundation Affiliations Committee
> Phone: +972-52-4869915
> Twitter: @maor_x
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Since the first reports about Vasconcelos from WMPT to AffCom, before the
15 April General Assembly, we were asking AffCom for legal support to deal
with the situation caused by Vasconcelos, as we are all volunteers and,
unlike AffCom, we have no easy access to lawyers - or at least are unable
to pay them. It was never provided. Instead, AffCom chose to put WMPT on
the freezer for six months already, while continuously listening to the
legal gibberish coming from the "other side", meaning Vasconcelos, a person
that was repeatedly reported to AffCom for severe harassment against WMPT
members. And during the whole process, AffCom was taking their own
conclusions from that legal gibberish, and trying to reach a "middle point"
between WMPT and Vasconcelos in a situation which is ruled by the law, like
if that would ever be possible, or even advisable at all.
We had to do everything by ourselves with our limited resources, without
any legal support facilitated by AffCom. We have extensively read the
country law and many court cases dealing with associations General
Assemblies, we have informally consulted lawyers and jurisconsults, we have
done the best we could to appease AffCom without breaking any country laws.
But, to me, everything would have been incredibly much easier, clearer and
smoother if AffCom had since the beginning requested the legal expertise we
were asking for.
But apparently, at last, after six months of this purgatory, we finally are
on the right path.
Regards,
Paulo
Em 12/10/2018 04:46, "Kirill Lokshin" <kirill.lokshin(a)gmail.com> escreveu:
> The Affiliations Committee has no intention whatsoever of changing the
> process; rather, we are simply trying to determine whether the conditions
> that we originally set out have in fact been met.
>
> It would, perhaps, have been easier for everyone if we could have done this
> without having to solicit specialized legal expertise, but the
> circumstances seem to have unfortunately precluded a procedure whose
> validity is obvious from a simple reading of the applicable rules.
>
> Regards,
> Kirill
>
> On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 8:17 PM Nathan <nawrich(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thank you for acknowledging the existence of this thread and the fact
> that
> > AffCom is still making some effort to bring the problem to a resolution.
> It
> > doesn't seem like it should be all that challenging, if one disputant is
> a
> > single individual and the other is a community of people led by those for
> > whom they have repeatedly expressed support.
> >
> > If, as described, AffCom laid out a procedure by which one side could
> > legitimize itself and then decided to revoke that procedure after much
> work
> > by those trying to follow it... AffCom could acknowledge an error and
> > apologize. That you have described your proposed next step is at least
> > progress in the right direction.
> >
> > In any case, I'm sure we all look forward to AffCom sharing the results
> of
> > its solicitation of advice with the Wikimedia public.
> >
> > On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 8:07 PM Kirill Lokshin <kirill.lokshin(a)gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > As I believe we mentioned the last time this particular topic came up,
> we
> > > are unlikely to resolve the intricacies of Portuguese nonprofit law by
> > > debating them on a mailing list.
> > >
> > > Gonçalo and his colleagues have quite clearly expressed their position:
> > > they believe that the process by which they came to control Wikimedia
> > > Portugal complies with the applicable provisions of Portuguese law. At
> > the
> > > same time, the other side in this conflict has expressed a contrary
> > > position: that the process in question does *not* comply with those
> > > provisions.
> > >
> > > The Affiliations Committee has obviously been unable to make any real
> > > headway here, particularly as the dispute hinges in no small part on
> > > interpretations of case law rather than a plain reading of the
> applicable
> > > legal codes; consequently, we've solicited advice from actual
> Portuguese
> > > legal experts, which we hope to receive in the near future. Until that
> > > happens, however, we are not going to be able to bring this to closure,
> > one
> > > way or the other.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Kirill
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Hi Illario,
Apologies, I probably explained myself poorly. I never said that a chapter
is a representative of the Wikimedia community, rather I was trying to
explain that João’s claimed experience (emphasis on claimed) in management
and conflict resolution was a major factor in him being elected to the
Board. At the time, WMPT thought that that could be very valuable to the
chapter. So, we agree, a heterogeneous board is absolutely an advantage,
but in this case the issue was not one of diversity, but rather of
competence and alignment to the movement goals and principles.
In practice, he did not contribute to the management of the chapter, and he
was not prepared to an increase of the chapter activities. He very quickly
started demonstrating uneasiness with any procedural decision he did not
personally vet (which are imperative in volunteer-based, collaborative
projects), and soon after, without any previous warning, started sending
legal threats going as far as using a lawyer to intimidate one of our most
active members on behalf of WMPT (without discussing it with anyone
beforehand), and resigned.
We have no intention to expose João even more in this public mailing list,
so we will not provide a comprehensive list of the problems we found with
his term on the board. But to make it clear, when this whole issue began to
be addressed, even though we did not ask him to stay on the Board, we did
invite him to continue on the chapter, working with us, as AffCom can
confirm. Just not in any role with legal responsibilities.
Cheers,
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*