Severance of Diplomatic Relations
Between the Osiris Fraternal Order and Global Right Alliance
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On 02 May 2014, First Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Bobs of Global Right Alliance posted the Second GRA April Update on the Osiris Fraternal Order forum. On 03 May, administrator Todd McCloud reported to the administrative team that he had removed an offensive image from that update which he believed was inappropriate for our forum and that may have violated Section 3.1b of the Zetaboards Terms of Use, which prohibits “obscene Content.” The administrative team agreed with and upheld Todd McCloud’s decision to remove the image from the Global Right Alliance update, and in his capacity as Scribe of Horus (Foreign Affairs), Cormac Somerset reported the removal of the image to First Minister Joe Bobs in the Global Right Alliance embassy. The offensive image was also removed from the Global Right Alliance update in The East Pacific and Lazarus, and in The South Pacific the ambassador from Global Right Alliance was asked to remove the image.
On 07 May, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Old Zertaxia proposed drafting of a “Statement Condemning Denying Freedom of Speech in Embassies of the Region by Foreign Powers” in the People’s Assembly of Global Right Alliance. In that proposal, he noted only The East Pacific and fellow Founderless Regions Alliance member region Lazarus (which he referred to as “Commieland”) for removing the offensive image, and included accusations that The South Pacific had “bullied [their] representatives” into removing the image. As discussion over this proposal progressed, Global Right Alliance became aware that the image had also been removed in Osiris and it became increasingly clear that the People’s Assembly of Global Right Alliance was prepared to condemn Todd McCloud for unilaterally removing the offensive image without input from other administrators in the regions in question, including Osiris.
On behalf of the Osiris Fraternal Order, Scribe Cormac Somerset sent a message to First Minister Joe Bobs clarifying that the administrative team of Osiris had agreed with and upheld Todd McCloud’s decision to remove the offensive image and gave the First Minister permission to share this information with the People’s Assembly. The First Minister did so, and at that time High General Joneswest requested clarification on how the image violated the Zetaboards Terms of Use. In response to this request, a clarification was posted in the Osiris Fraternal Order embassy on the Global Right Alliance forum. In that clarification, it was expressed to Global Right Alliance that the Osiris Fraternal Order respects its right to post whatever content on and take whatever risks with its own forum as it wishes, but Global Right Alliance was asked to demonstrate enough respect for relations between our regions not to post such content on or take such risks with our forum in the future.
In response to this clarification and further discussion, High General Joneswest made offensive statements in the Global Right Alliance IRC channel, including implying that Osiran forum administrators were fascists. In the Osiris Fraternal Order embassy on the Global Right Alliance forum, Internal Affairs Minister Sovereign Liberties posted an expletive-laden tirade directed at Osiran citizen Hobbes, condemned basic rules of decency and stated that “your region sucks for having them” (without clarifying to which region he was referring), stated that concerned officials and citizens of the regions in question “want to play with preteens,” and asked Hobbes if he was a pedophile.
The Osiris Fraternal Order will not tolerate such behavior from government officials in our embassies abroad, directed toward our region or our region’s citizens, or directed toward friendly and allied regions – particularly our fellow Game-Created Regions. The manner in which government officials of Global Right Alliance have conducted themselves throughout this controversy, a controversy created by government officials of Global Right Alliance and no one else, has been nothing short of shameful. It must be noted that not only has Global Right Alliance conducted its diplomatic affairs with non-allied regions like Osiris in an appalling fashion, but it has also been extremely disrespectful toward the People’s Republic of Lazarus, with which Global Right Alliance has a treaty alliance through the Founderless Regions Alliance Charter. The Osiris Fraternal Order regrets that Global Right Alliance lacks the diplomatic maturity to maintain basic relations with other regions, including its own treaty allies, and the damage such lack of diplomatic decorum has done to relations between our regions, but we will not stand for such behavior in our embassies abroad.
Effective 17 May 2014, the embassy of Global Right Alliance on the Osiris Fraternal Order forum will be closed and diplomatic relations between the Osiris Fraternal Order and Global Right Alliance will be severed. We hope that this step will encourage government officials of Global Right Alliance to behave with more respect toward other regions and their representatives, and to have more respect for the right of other regions to prohibit offensive content on their forums. We also hope that this step will serve as a warning to regions that currently have relations with Global Right Alliance or that may be approached by Global Right Alliance that the region’s leadership currently lacks any diplomatic respect for other regions and the integrity of their forums.
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Mandated by order of:
Cormac Somerset
Vizier of the Osiris Fraternal Order
Scribe of Horus (Foreign Affairs)
