<div dir="ltr">Dear Corinne<div>I must thank you for sounding this off the blog, because I was thinking same after going through the Ombudsman piece.</div><div><br></div><div>In addition to serving the Ombudsman with the questions you raised for an official or formal response, it is important to also add or ask him why he choose to retire the case as serious as this with such levity which may not have basis in practical terms, especially using the alleged breach of procedure to exonerate his office from further action as far as this case is concerned.</div><div><br></div><div>If my reading of Ms Baruah's submission to the forum is correct, I think she was trying to put the records straight from her own perspective, therefore naming the alleged suspect, was not and should not be seen as out of place. Because for me for instance, if she did not include that in her submission to the forum, definitely I should have joined those doubting her story in the first instance and now using that as an alibi to hands off the case technically does not solve the problem.</div><div><br></div><div>One should have expected the Ombudsman to also note from her complaint that having undergone an alleged sexual harassment in the hand of a suspected male participant, and the ombudsman happens to be yet another male too puts her in a tight corner. Literally, there is ego in every human being and its like telling an African man to report to an ombudsman (a woman) that his wife slapped him. To a lot of African men, it would be a kind of double tragedy. Therefore naming her suspect in the case of Ms Baruah could be pardonable.</div><div><br></div><div>Also, in the part that Ms Baruah did not respond to the ombudsman set of inquires until after everyone has gone home, may be straightened in that if there was a follow up/ reminder to that effect before the end of Marrakesh meeting, including via telephone number if acknowledgement was not received within 24 hours as urgent as sexual harassment, considering there could be a serial sexual harasser (abuser) around unknown to participants of opposite sex.</div><div><br></div><div>This may also be a call for the office of ombudsman to be diversified to ensure gender balance at all times, which in this case should have availed the appointment of similar gender with the complainant to handle such a case, given the remark Ms Baruah made on the ombudsman office ab nitio, which for me means dissatisfaction from the outcome of the little interaction with that office, hence resulting to public forum to purge herself of the annoyance.</div><div><br></div><div>Frankly, I was disappointed and would like to add that since he the ombudsman has ruled out further amelioration, we (NCUC) may also solicit he hands-off this case entirely for further investigation to commence and ICANN should engage another person preferably a private investigator(s) or team of Alternative Dispute Arbitrators to finalise the job to give every party a level playing ground, because even the tune of the blog shows the office of ombudsman has compromised in this case.</div><div><br></div><div>Whichever way we -NCUC- may be looking at this, we ought to join forces with Ms Baruah and push for the sexual harassment policy to be enacted in ICANN beyond the staff and board with very clear definitions. </div><div><br></div><div>For now, the ball is in the court of NCUC and we must not wait for physical contact or further abuse before we wake up.</div><div><br></div><div>I rest my case for now. </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">____<div>REMMY NWEKE, Lead Strategist/Group Executive Editor, <br><span style="background-color:rgb(255,0,0)">DigitalSENSE Africa Media Ltd</span> <span>[<i>Multiple-award winning medium</i>]<br></span>(<a href="http://www.digitalsenseafrica.com.ng/businessnews" target="_blank">DigitalSENSE Business News</a>; <a href="http://www.itrealms.com.ng" target="_blank">ITREALMS</a>, <a href="http://www.naijaagronet.com.ng" target="_blank">NaijaAgroNet</a>)<br>Block F1, Shop 133 Moyosore Aboderin Plaza, Bolade Junction, Oshodi-Lagos<br>M: 234-8033592762, 8023122558, 8051000475, T: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ITRealms" target="_blank">@ITRealms<br></a><div>Author: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adecadeofictreportageinnigeria" target="_blank">A Decade of ICT Reportage in Nigeria</a><br><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153112418861429&set=a.119216361428.104226.716351428&type=1" target="_blank">NDSF 2016 June 2-3 @Golden Tulip Essential Lagos Airport Hotels, Lagos</a><br>_________________________________________________________________<br><font size="1">*Confidentiality Notice:* The information in this document and attachments are confidential and may also be privileged information. 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<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 6:56 PM, Corinne Cath <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:corinnecath@gmail.com" target="_blank">corinnecath@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">Dear all,
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">I welcome the statements made by the
Ombudsman on the necessity for opening a conversation about developing an
anti-harassment policy, but am quite surprised by some of the wording in his blog. <br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">I feel it leaves several questions unanswered, which I am
sharing with you below.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">1. Why is the breach of
confidentiality presented as a reason to being unable to further investigate
the alleged harassment case? Why does/should such a breach impede the Ombudsman from
further investigating? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">2. “The matters alleged cannot be
considered serious by any standard. If in fact the action and statement were
made, it may have been a lapse of good manners and insensitive to gender. Such
issues need to be taken in proportion, and best practice is not to debate this
in a public forum where the issues are not yet clear. I note Ms. Baruah does
not agree with my view.” <br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">Why and how was this assessment of the seriousness of the alleged harassment made? What standards
has the Ombudsman looked at or taken into consideration when making this
judgment?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">3. Why is the issue of jurisdiction
mentioned in the blog? How is the issue of jurisdiction addressed in the
anti-harassment policy for the board and the ICANN staff? What would have been
the outcome of this case if it had been weighed according to the internal
anti-harassment policy? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">4. Does the overall language in this
blog strike a fair balance between the gravity of the alleged harassment case
and the breach of confidentiality?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">5. How has the Ombudsman weighed
these two issues (alleged harassment and the breach of confidentiality)? And to
what extent should they be separated and addressed individually?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">I look forward to hearing your
thoughts and comments on this important matter and I hope that as the NCUC we
can be part of the process to develop the necessary policies and procedures. <br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">Best,</p><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm">Corinne </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0cm"> </p>
</font></span></div></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 3:52 PM, Ayden Férdeline <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hostime@gmail.com" target="_blank">hostime@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<u></u>
<div style="word-wrap:normal;word-break:break-word">
<table valign="top" style="width:100%;margin-top:6px" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" lang="container">
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<td style="line-height:1.31;color:#222;font-family:arial,sans-serif" valign="top">
<div>Hello, all-</div><div><br></div><div>Shared without comment: Chris LaHatte, the Ombudsman, has published a post on his blog in relation to the alleged incident.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://omblog.icann.org/index.html?m=201603.html" target="_blank">https://omblog.icann.org/index.html?m=201603.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>Kind regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Ayden </div><div><div><div>
</div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 6:36 AM, Padmini <span dir="ltr"> <a href="mailto:pdmnbaruah@gmail.com" target="_blank">pdmnbaruah@gmail.com</a></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<u></u>
<div dir="ltr">Dear Stephanie<div>You are very spot on when you say more work needs to be done. I do believe there is an absolute vacuum on procedures for sexual harassment that are impartial, diverse and reflective of fairness. Therefore, on issues like say privacy, confidentiality, definition alone, there are significant lacunae. That is what I meant.<br></div></div><div><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Padmini Baruah<div>V Year, B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)</div><div>NLSIU, Bangalore</div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div>On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 11:03 AM, Stephanie Perrin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca" target="_blank">stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
ICANN's expected standards of behaviour are not fulsome, I agree,
but they do cover inappropriate conduct.
<a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/expected-standards-2012-05-15-en" target="_blank">https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/expected-standards-2012-05-15-en</a><br>
In particular, the following (bullet 3) section covers how we treat
one another at ICANN (including at meetings):<br>
<strong><br>
</strong>
<blockquote><strong>Treat</strong><strong></strong> all members of
the <abbr title="Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers">ICANN</abbr> community <b>equally,</b> irrespective of
nationality, gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs,
disability, age, or sexual orientation; members of the <abbr title="Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers">ICANN</abbr>
community should treat each other <b>with civility</b> both face
to face and online. [emphasis added]<br>
</blockquote>
Not a great deal of detail, but "equally", particularly when
accompanied by the following recital, goes a long way to addressing
gender bias and inappropriate behaviour, as does the expression
"with civility". The redress mechanism is the Ombudsman. The 2005
RMAF <a href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/rmaf-08feb05-en.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/rmaf-08feb05-en.pdf</a>
(Results-based Management Accountability Framework) details how the
model is expected to work. You might not think it is adequate, fair
enough, but it is not accurate to say there is nothing, in my view.
We need more, that's all.<br>
I am not criticising here, just trying to provide background
documents. As the statement says, more work on policies and
procedures needs to be done, and we in NCUC will help with that
work.<br>
<br>
Cheers Stephanie<div><div><br>
<div>On 2016-03-24 1:05, Padmini wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Thank you for this clear statement, and the support
for many of the issues I raised.
<div>I would just like to put on record that the phrases “<u style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic">substantive due
process</u>” and “<u style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic">evidentiary
burden being met</u>” have been echoed by me vocally and
repeatedly throughout the entire process, both to the
ombudsman and to many of you. I am a student of the law, and
have these principles, including natural justice well drilled
into my head. If there wasn't a failure of process, and such a
short time span to engage with the issue at the site of the
cause of action arising itself [given that the conference was
in Marrakech for 5 days], I might not have taken these steps
that I felt constrained to later.</div>
<div>Just pointing out, there is no trial, no court, and my
statement is my own, which I can back up with evidence. I do
not understand why issues of unfairness of procedure are being
raised when there is <i>no procedure in the first place</i>.</div>
<div>I would really appreciate it, generally, if that were
acknowledged.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Thanks everyone.</div>
</div>
<div><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">Padmini Baruah
<div>V Year, B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)</div>
<div>NLSIU, Bangalore</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div>On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 10:26 AM,
Stephanie Perrin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca" target="_blank">stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Thank you very much
for publishing this statement. I think it is very
helpful, and indeed crystallizes some of the issues. <br>
Stephanie Perrin
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
<div>On 2016-03-23 22:44, Rafik Dammak wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size:12.8px">STATEMENT
OF THE NONCOMMERCIAL USERS CONSTITUENCY
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (NCUC-EC) ON SEXUAL
HARASSMENT</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px">Accusations of
sexual harassment at ICANN 55 raise two issues,
which must be kept distinct. One is whether this
particular incident constituted sexual
harassment and if so, what would be an
appropriate response. The other is whether ICANN
needs to be better prepared to handle situations
like this with well-defined policies and
procedures. We believe that these two issues are
being confused.</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px">With regard to the
alleged incident, there is very little objective
evidence, and the community is grappling with
this issue in the absence of a clear, commonly
accepted definition of sexual harassment.* We
hope that this question is resolved fairly and
proportionately through further investigation
and verification rather than through allegations
in public forums and email lists.</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px">With regard to the
second issue, we strongly agree that action
needs to be taken and look forward to assisting
the staff and the board with the development of
appropriate policies and procedures. Since NCUC
is a rights-focused stakeholder group, the
Executive Committee takes a principled stance
toward the issue and requests that any sexual
harassment policy must:</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px"> a) be developed in
an atmosphere of impartial, open discussion in
which all viewpoints can be heard and respected;</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px"> b) be based on
clear, unambiguous definitions of sexual
harassment that can be readily understood and
applied by all ICANN participants;</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px"> c) respect the
privacy, procedural and substantive rights of
both the accuser and the accused</span><br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<br style="font-size:12.8px">
<span style="font-size:12.8px">* A typical
definition of SH from U.S. law is: “Unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature constitute sexual harassment when
submission to such conduct is made either
explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of
an individual's employment, submission to or
rejection of such conduct by an individual is
used as the basis for employment decisions
affecting such individuals, or such conduct has
the purpose or effect of unreasonably
interfering with an individual's work
performance or creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment. (29
C.F.R. § 1604.11 [1980])</span><br>
</div>
<br>
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</div><div><br></div></div></div><span><font color="#888888"><div><div style="line-height:17.03px">Ayden Férdeline</div><div style="line-height:17.03px"><a href="tel:%2B44.77.8018.7421" value="+447780187421" target="_blank">+44.77.8018.7421</a></div></div><img style="border:0;width:0px;min-height:0px" src="https://app.mixmax.com/api/track/v2/5KM8nBo425Rtt29rI/gIt92YuwWah12ZAVWbpR3cvhmI/IyZy9mLjV3Yu5yc0NXasB0czV3YzlGZtMWdj5mI/IyczV3YzlGZtMUVD5kI?sc=false" alt="" height="0" align="left" width="0">
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